Munnar – A Journey to Kerala’s Natural Paradise

The idea to explore Munnar took root in me during March end when Cochin was reeling under the summer’s heat. Being a nature lover, my social news feed always had pictures about Munnar’s lush greenery, misty mornings, water bodies and so on. The very sight of these images itself was a relief.

So it was natural that when a long weekend was approaching, my searches were more like ‘how to reach Munnar from Cochin by road’, ‘where to stay in Munnar’, ‘offbeat sights to see in Munnar’, ‘history of Munnar’ and so on.

I am happy that I did the research early on. It helped me know the history about Munnar in detail that made the trip not just another tour but one that was truly intimate and memorable. It was interesting to know that the name ‘Munnar’ means the confluence of three rivers: Madhurapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly which in Malayalam translates into Munnar meaning three rivers.

The Road Journey Up Into the Mountains

Google Maps showed that Munnar was approximately 130 kilometers from Cochin if I took the NH 85 route. Although 100 odd kilometers can be easily covered under two hours, Munnar’s elevation of 5,200 ft from sea level made the climb time consuming. Nevertheless, it remains as my best memory of the journey. The roads with all its twists and bends is an absolute delight to drive compared to the bumper to bumper traffic in Cochin.

Every direction I turned, it was just greenery in full glory. Neatly maintained tea estates rolled out into the distance like a green carpet. It was such a relief for a soul battered by the mechanical scenes of the urban jungle.

But, that didn’t last for long as one of my travel companions started having motion sickness. Two of my friends from work had accompanied me for the trip. Despite my warnings they loaded a heavy breakfast which caused them acute motion sickness. Even for a seasoned traveler, the twists and bends can be quite an ordeal. My suggestion would be to have a light meal before driving into the mountains. Skip oil and junk foods since they make the situation even worse.

Day 1: First Destination – Eravikulam National Park

Amidst all drama that my friends threw up and the so many ‘wow’ moments that the tea estates gave us, we finally rolled into the Eravikulam National Park. From the long queue of tourists who stood to get the tickets, we thought it was going to take forever to see the insides of the park.

Luckily, my friend Anil had already booked the tickets online. The official website of the park, http://eravikulam.org/ allows users to book entry tickets online. The tickets have to be bought at least 48 hours before the day you are planning to make the visit.

Spread across 97 sq. km this was indeed the best destination to meet diverse flora and fauna in their true form. Since it was well past the morning hours, there was little hope to see any leopards or wild cats. But, our guide did spot us some Nilgiri Tahr which is the most dominant animal life in the park. After a short round trip through the forest region, the minibus which gave us the ride into the park dropped us back at the entrance from where me and my friends headed off to the next destination.

Second Pit Stop – Mattupetty Dam

From Eravikulam National Park, we steered towards Mattupetty Dam, the massive hydroelectricity and water source for Kerala as well as neighboring states. It was only when we reached here did it strike us that this has been the location for the Tamil movie Myna and many other Malayalam movies. We spent about an hour or so walking the length of the dam and gaping at the beauty of the water body stretching into the horizon.

A group of bikers were also strolling the distance behind us and we heard them refer to the Photo Point excitedly. The photographer in me was invoked. We had few more hours left before light will fall and we can call it a day. So without losing much time we raced back to our car and turned towards our next destination – the Photo Point.

3rd Stop: Lost and Found – Photo Point

The Photo Point is a natural splendor and a photographer’s delight. It is located close to the Echo Point and is a quick drive away from the dam location, perhaps some 5 or 6 kms drive. We reached there close to 4 PM when the light had started falling and we had few precious moments to get the most of the view.

The photo point is part of a tea estate which is located at the foot of a hill. The tea bushes arranged in geometric perfection and trimmed to equal heights is a scene to behold. Especially, when the mist starts rolling over it, it is nothing but a piece of heaven on earth. All of a sudden, it started drizzling slightly.

We had expected Munnar to throw rain mayhem unexpectedly and had come prepared with rain coats and umbrellas. Luckily, the drizzle was a weak one and we were able to click photos endlessly without getting wet. The photo op combined with the long day’s drive had made us all weary. We just wanted to crash and call it a day.

Day 2: Romancing the Tea Estates

All this while we were just passing through the tea estates. Although the view from the window panes were tempting enough to stop the car and run amidst the bushes. As we had limited time to be everywhere, we decided to set aside a whole day to explore the historical tea estates of Munnar.

We met a local named Shiva on a road side shop that was selling several types of tea, including chocolate tea! Shiva has been living in Munnar since 18 years, almost his entire lifetime.

We were surprised to know that tea plantation has been around in Munnar since 1880s! Shiva told us about the Muthuvan tribal communities who lived in Munnar since generations before the British invasion happened.

A tryst with history – Exploring the origins of Munnar

Seeing our excitement to know about Munnar’s history, Shiva guided us towards the tea museums of Munnar where the entire tea plantation history was living in the form of old equipments, photographs, artifacts and so on.

We found time to visit two Tea Museums, one owned by Tata Tea and another by Kannan Devan. The official at the Kannan Devan Tea Museum told us about the lease agreement that will turn Munnar into the tea plantation destination.

John Daniel Munro is regarded as the first planter who struck a lease deal with the then royal Kerala Varma Valiya Raja. The lease was for an annual rent of Rs. 3,000 along with a refundable security deposit of Rs. 5,000. On another note, the night before, we paid more than that for a sleepover at the hotel!

Time flew at Munnar. I totally forgot keeping track of time. As Sunday came to a close, we had to trace our way back to Cochin, back to the usual grind in the concrete jungle.

We left with a plan to visit again in September when the climate is at its best. In this trip, we missed to cover the exotic waterfalls of Munnar like Nayamakad, Lakkam, Powerhouse among the many other unnamed and undiscovered waterfalls. One trip to Munnar is not enough to experience the terrain, the weather and the greenery. You need to keep going. Munnar will not disappoint you.