KERALA & LAKSHADWEEP TRIP
Day 1–
Started from Mumbai by Jet 403 at 1.30pm and reached at Kochi Airport at 3.25pm. Took a prepaid cab to ATS Willingdon Hotel by paying Rs.1100. The new airport is about 40kms from Kochi city and about 45kms from Willingdon Island where our hotel is located. Reached the hotel at about 5.15pm, and the place is near the Cochin harbour and closer to Naval Base and old Airport. The hotel was looking great from outside. Room 102 on the ground floor back side was big and had two rooms in the suite. Settled down and had tea. The island is away from the main Cochin city and caters to the tourists coming to visit Koch fort and seafarers. After about one hour we wanted to explore the Cochin city and took a local bus to MG Road and paid Rs.27 for three tickets. Almost all shops were closed as it was a Sunday. The road to marine drive was dark and did not explore the area as auto was not available. Walked and picked up a plum cake from Hot Breads and waited for bus to take us to the island side. No sign of bus and after waiting for 30minutes or then took an auto for Rs.150 to reach the hotel. Ordered some fish food (roast), rice and noodles. Bill was Rs.650 for 3 people. Retired early to bed as we have a long day ahead.
Day 2–
Got up at 6.15am. No hot water and called up the reception to send buckets of hot water. Made tea and coffee in the meantime. Weather was good and sky was clear. Hot water problem could not be solved by the hotel guys. Had to depend on buckets of hot water. Finished bath and got ready for breakfast. Complimentary breakfast was made of Appam and Idli with Sambar and white stew of vegetables. Finished with coffee. Took a round around the place and we’re ready by 9.15am to start for the SPORTS (Society for Promotion of Nature Tourism and Sports) reporting center to get the Boarding Pass. Initially the driver took us to a far off place which was earlier used for Ssmudram reporting and after enquiring with the people there we were guided to the Wharf area which is currently used for Lakshadweep embarkation and disembarkation. Paid Rs.100 for the travel of 2kms. Collected the Boarding Pass, T-Shirts, badges for three as well as luggage tags from first floor office of SPORTS. Then we stood in the queue to board the bus which will take us to the harbour shaft from where we will get the MV Kavaratti.The place is manned by Coast Guards and with check of identity and baggage scanning people are allowed inside the bus bay. The place was orderly managed both by SPORTS OFFICIALS as well as Coast Guard. The SPORTS PEOPLE have kept everything ready for tourists who have registered for the package. No hassles. It was a cake walk. There are tourists as well as island passengers who have to use the ship for reaching their home or work. The bus drive to Wharf was about 15 minutes. The luggage were sent in a separate vehicle and hand luggage can be taken in person. We were informed that the ship is fully booked as per capacity of 740 with Tourists being 182 (both first and second class). The second class passengers have to buy food themselves during their voyage and the fare to Kavaratti is only Rs.500 per head for second class local passengers. First Class Tourists have been provided food buffet with veg and non-veg separately. We boarded the ship at about10.30am and went to our room 468 and 472 which were near each other on the 4th level. There were five levels in the ship with 4th and 5th kept got first class and other floors have second class and common dormitory kind of bunk beds. Our Luggage reached before we could reach our rooms.Initial enthusiasm made us to explore the ship in various levels and we could have a good view of Cochin city from the wharf. We saw the German luxury Liner which had arrived previous day with 2000 tourists on board and stopping at various places for Tourism purpose. It was getting hot and sunny and lunch was served at about 1.30pm for tourists. The announcements are clear about passengers and tourists. Passengers are provided lunch first and then the tourists. Finished lunch at about 2.15pm and there was chaos as 182 tourists have to be accommodated in dining area which has searing capacity of 108. Food was okay and Bhangda fish fry was very tasty. After lunch went to room for little rest.The ship was getting ready to leave as MMD inspectors have cleared the ship to start. We waited in the deck to see the ship starting. The pulling boat came to pull the ship from wharf and brought it to about 300 meters from the boarding point and then left it to be on its own. Slowly the ship left the harbour and entered deep waters. We saw many dolphins somersault. Tried to take snaps but was not successful as they were fast. Tea was served at 4.15pm and then went up upper deck at level 5 and 6. There was a briefing for all passengers in the recreation room at level 5. After briefing we spent some time in the deck and sunset was missed because of the briefing. We stayed in the deck till 7.30pm watching the crescent moon and stars though the sky was not very clear. The cool breeze was very soothing and all tourists were in the decks enjoying the ship ride excitement. We saw some planes fly by in the sky. We could see lights of ships from far off places in the sea. It was some kind of a unique experience. Talked to lot of people. Met one girl who had completed her B. Pharm but not keen to come out of her home in the island Alluna near Karavatti to do a job in Cochin. Talked to lot of islanders who travel regularly between mainland and island for various activities. Dinner was served at about 8.00pm and we finished our dinner at about 9.00pm and retired for the night to our bunk beds. Beds were comfortable. Nicely slept.
Day 3–
Got up early at about 5.00am and wanted to see sun rise but the cloudy weather made it impossible. Spent some in the upper deck and tried to catch glimpses of dolphins. The ship was running little slow due to high wind speed and was delayed by about one hour or so. At 6am tea was served and at 7am breakfast of uttapam, chutney and bread and egg burji. Finished breakfast at 7.30am. The ship reached Kavaratti at about 8am. Only Airtel and BSNL works here. The passengers were allowed to get down first and small boats were used to carry passengers from the ship to island. There was total chaos and tourists were allowed to get down at about 9.30am onwards and we could take the 3rd vessel to reach island at about 10am. Got down at the jetty and walked to the resort which is run by SPORTS WHIVH IS BETH CKISE TO THE JETTY. Before getting down we could see the island from the ship. The light house was at the tip of the island.
Welcome drink was tender coconut water and after welcome drink, tourists were informed about the water sports options available. The island was really beautiful and surrounded by turquoise and emerald blue water. The small vessels and coastal police boats as well as Lakshwadeep administration vessels were floating around. The glass bottom boater ride of 30 minutes duration was free with the package. Other sports like scuba and snorkeling was payable. After finishing our glass bottom boat ride we went for swimming. The beach with white sand with crystal clear emerald blue water made our swimming most enchanting experience. After spending more than two hours in water, we went for clean bath. Luckily we carried towels as no towels are available in changing rooms. Many people were having problem as no towels were available. Some enterprising guy was selling towels for 100 per piece. After bath, we went for lunch. The yellow fin tuna fish curry was not very tasty and we digged on chicken, chapati and rice. Sweet (payasam) was good. After finishing lunch, managed to get three chairs in the shade to rest for some time.At about 4.00pm they served tea and samosa and then there was a programme of folk music by local people. Then some tourists got enthused and started singing thought without any concept of Sur and Taal. Good entertainment. After singing we drive about half kilometer in small vehicles and visited local fisheries museum and aquarium. A narrow pucca road connects the entire island as a ring road which runs arrived the island. The driver took a round of the island and brought us back to the resorts. Some species of sea animals like sea anemone, sea cucumber, zebra fish, surge ion fish, bat fish, lion fish, etc. were kept in the aquarium. The museum was also small but well maintained. Our ship has also arrived from Agati island and ready to take us. The small vessels started plying from island jetty to the ship carrying passengers first and then tourists. We got into the second vessels and the waves were splashing high into our vessel. Got into the ship at about 6.00pm and immediately went to the top deck to see is sun set can be seen. It was cloudy but could take few snaps of sun setting down the horizon. Came back to room for little snacks and water. Put all gadgets for charging. After some time, we went to the top deck to feel the sea breeze. On first day the top deck was very crowded but today not many. We understood from the crew that the ship will start after 10pm as Kalpenny is only 5-6 hours from Karavatti. The ship actually started at about 8pm. Dinner started at 8.00pm for level 4 tourists. Finished dinner at about 9.00pm and retired to bed. Dinner was rice chapati veg curry dal and chicken. The day was well spent on water and lagoons. Airtel and BSNL mobiles work in the island.
Day 4–
Got up early and moved to deck for capturing sun rise. But the cloud covered the sun and did not get a good scene. The ship slowed down at about 6.00am as the light house at Kalpeni was flickering bright light showing direction to the ship. Tea was served at 6.00am and breakfast at 7.00pm. The tourists were advised to come to embarkation point for going to the island. The small boats carried about 20-25 tourists in one trip with a ride of about 20 minutes to reach the jetty. The SPORTS resort at Kalpeni is about 2kms from the jetty. It took about 7 minutes to reach the resort from jetty by vans arranged by SPORTS. The island has a one lane ring road which runs around the island connecting north tip to south tip. The island is about 7km in length. People speak a language called Jassir which is a spoken language but written language is Malayalam. Our driver was Salim who is from the island and has completed first year graduation. He informed that the island has a population of about 8000 now and people depend on Government jobs and fishing. The place depends on Cochin for everything. The island survives on coconuts and fishing, Tuna is the most abundant fish in the island. We were welcomed with coconut water. The coconuts were very small with little water on it. But sweet and tasty. The manager announced that the programme is changed a bit because of low tide. Sports activities which start first will be done only after 11.30am and hence we will visit the coconut oil processing plant and hosiery unit.
The small units were well managed – the coconut oil extraction plant employed about 25 people with a salary of about Rs.6000-7000 per month per employee. Friday is off day for staff. The hosiery unit is also small one and employed about 30 people. We purchased quite a few coconut products like massage oil and cooking oil. Also purchased few tins of tuna and coconut sweets. From hosiery units, we purchased couple of t-shirts. Then the vehicles drove us to northern tip of the island which had a small sand beach with shallow water but it is difficult to swim, it was more for a walk in the sand. The northern tip goes under water during high tide and comes out during low tide. After spending some time there we drove through the island ring road to reach the resort to start water sports.Water sports are done in a different sub-island which is about 10 minutes boat tide from Kalpeni resort. The island is not inhabited and used by SPORTS for water sports for tourists. We started swimming as there was a big queue for snorkeling and kayaking. After about half an hour we could get three sets of masks for snorkeling. About half an hour was allotted to each person for the sport. We could see live corals and various types of fishes and feel the sea cucumber which were plenty in availability. The white sand beach has shallow water but lot of small stones everywhere making walk in bare feet difficult. Have to be very careful while walking in water. After finishing our snorkeling we went for kayaking. Spent another half an hour on the same. At about 1.45pm we rode back to the resort to take bath and change. Lunch was served in the resort with rice, chapati, cabbage, dal, sambar, chicken moli, fish fry and fruit custard. The food was okay but the tuna fish fry was cold and very hard to chew. After lunch we took rest in the shade till 4.30pm. Less space for rest and less comfortable chairs.The cultural programne of folk dance started with tea. The tourists also started dancing and the same went on till 5.45pm with lot of fun. Then we were advised to travel to the jetty by buses and cars to head back to ship which had arrived from Andrott island with passengers. The sun set was about to start when we were asked to leave for jetty and hence missed the sun set as the weather was very good and clear for sun set. We reached the ship by riding another small boat for about 7-8 minutes. Dinner was at 8.00pm and retired to bed at about 9.30pm. The ship started at about 8.00pm to Minicoy which is about 200km from Kalpeni. Only BSNL mobiles works here
Day 5–
Got up early and the lights from Minicoy island can be seen from the widow of our cabin. It was about 5.40am and pitch dark. We had to wait for some time before we can disembark to reach the mainland. The cloudy and overcast sky made sun rise viewing a big no. Tea was served at 6am and breakfast at 7am. Breakfast consisted of uttapam, bread, egg. After finishing breakfast got ready for disembarkation at Minicoy. The ship stands in about 30minutes small vessel ride from the jetty at Minicoy. The small vessel ride was memorable as it rained badly while driving to mainland. Got totally wet. From the jetty, open matador vans were used to carry passengers from jetty to SPORTS resort. IT WAS ABOUT 10 minutes drive using the small and narrow outer ring road. The resort is on the beach. Originally we were supposed to be welcomed at the Light house (second oldest) with coconut water but due to rain, the trip to light house was cancelled. The welcome coconut water was served at the resort. After coconut water drink, went to water for kayaking and swim.
The island has the largest lagoons in Lakshadweep and the water was about knee high for at least 2-3km. The people are generally very nice and the language they speak is called Mohil and is different from the language spoken in other islands. The script is like Arabic. The island is about 6 hours journey by ship from Maldives. Originally the place was part of Maldives region. The beach has white sand with crystal clear blue and emerald water. The surrounding was really beautiful with coconut trees all around. The resort has 20 rooms for tourists who can come through SPORTS authority. Some islands have staying facility and Minicoy is one of them.Registered for Scuba diving by paying 2000. Float up g in water was very pleasant as the shallow water allows one to move the body in all directions and remain afloat. Spent about 2.5hours swimming and at about 11.45am, went for scuba diving. The platform for scuba activity is about 2km from the resort beach and there are professional trainers to help tourists to see under water life. The activity was a guided activity but you have to sign a noc and disclaimer before registering for scuba, the rain had stopped allowing us to have a good swim before the scuba. The guys were very helpful and I spent more than 20 minutes under water following instructions of the trainer. Finished scuba at about 1.30pm and came back to resort for bath and lunch at around 2pm. Lunch was tasty with tuna fry and chicken curry and sweet was Miniocy Payasam (with rice in milk). After lunch rested for about one hour or so and waited for cd of scuba diving. Then drove to the fishing village side for tea. Saw a big snake boat well decorated at the beach. The village women group served us tea and local snacks like Mugoo Appan and Pootunku (sweet dosa wrapped in a leaf). It was about 3.45pm and time to leave for the ship as the boat ride is about 30 minutes from the jetty. The ride was smooth.The ship started at about 4.45pm as the distance to cover is 498km. After freshening up, went to the top deck to spend some time looking at the sea. The ship was moving at its highest speed of 30kmh. In the deck met a gentleman from the island who is going to Kochi for his wife’s delivery as ships do not allow movement of pregnant women once they are into 8 months and the island does not have facility for maternity wards as Doctor is not available. Other islands also do not provide much hope as complication may force hiring a helicopter yo shift s patient to Kochi. Very hard life.Dinner was served at 8pm with chicken biryanis and Kheer. After dinner we went to see the engine room as a special invitee of a service engineer of the ship whom we had befriended during our voyage. He explained each and every part of the functions of engine and generators. There are two engines of 4-strokes each and four generator. Engine is not stopped till it is docked at Kochi. Two generators work for providing light and ax to the ship. The engine is running at 12.6knots (12.6*1.8km) which is about half the maximum speed of the ship. It is expected to reach Kochi by 9.30am. The engine room is hot and noisy but the control room is fully ac. We returned to our rooms at about 9.20pm. There was a cultural programme at 9.30pm organized by Ship people. But we are sleepy and decided to skip the same
Day 6–
Got up early at about 6.00am for tea. The night was little stormy and the sleep was disturbed a bit because of continuous flipping. The weather was cloudy and no sign of sun rise. Spent some time at the deck area and then went to pack up things as we are nearing Cochin and our trip was coming for close. We could see some fishing boats at the far horizon. Breakfast was served at 7.00am and after a long time we had good bath in the ship. After breakfast we kept our luggage near the door do that it can be picked up by the unloaders. The ship reached the harbour at about 9am and we started embarkation at 9.30am. The luggage were slow to arrive as they used ropes to drop the luggage. It was almost 11.15am when we got our luggage and proceeded towards Old Scanning Center which is the drop off point for SPORTS. We found many people have reached there but their luggage has not come.We got into our Taxi (Innova) and started for Munnar at about 11.30am. We drove through Cochin city and took the Munnar-Kochi road. The road was good but serpentine and hence can have motion sickness. Munnar is 145km from Cochin. We stopped on the road to have lunch at about 1.00pm at Nanys Restaurant. After lunch we drove towards Munnar and reached the place of our stay at about 4.00pm. The place is about 13km before Munnar city and in a bypass road from Anchal and very close to the Panarimic View Hotel at Anchal. The small kuccha road going downhill will take you to the Wild Munnar Fragrance. The house is belonging to an ex-Tata Tea executive and they have made two extra rooms for their sons who stay away from home for work. Hence they use the facility for homestay for tourists. The surrounding area is totally green and serene and backside you have hills. It is about 4000 ft above sea level. The hosts were very nice and spent some time with us. The facilities are very basic as they also charge reasonable amount for stay. We had booked through ibibo and got some discounts. The room was large and the living room was used by us to put an extra bed as we were three. We settled down a bit and then decided to go to nearest Dam and boating joint and Munnar city to see. Boating was closed and the garden will get closed at 6.00pm. Spent some time there. The cafe was closed. We decided to have food at homestay only as the food joints are about 3km from the place and did not want to drive in foggy weather. The homestay place is very peaceful and sitting in balcony of the room you can enjoy the serene beauty of the place with birds chirping and occasional sound of vehicles passing on main road. This is an ideal place for destressing and unwinding. Ideal for people who do not want to move out and would like to sit at one place to enjoy the beauty of the place. It is not very cold in the evening or very hot in the day because of its locational height.We saw many rubber plantations, pineapple plantations, banana plantations and tea gardens on our way to this place. In the evening we explored the Munnar main market area and purchased tea from KDHP show room which sells the best quality tea. The town is small and larger number of tourists all around with their vehicles bring parked on road dudes everywhere making the place crowded and not easy to walk around. We came back at about 7.45pm and had dinner at 9.00pm. Talked to hosts for some time and retired to bed at 10.00pm. Before going to bed spent few minutes at the balcony seeing the thousands and thousands of stars in the clear sky. Don’t remember if we have seen so many stars in the sky in recent times except when I go to my village.
Day 7–
We wanted to go to Eravikkulam sanctuary in the morning but our programme was changed a bit and we decided to do the Munnar sightseeing for the day by visiting Top Station View point, Medduputty Dam, Kundala lake and Dam, Rose garden, etc. We drove through serpentine hilly road passing through picturesque tea gardens and long pine trees for about 1.5hours to reach the Top Station after starting from Homestay at about 9.40am. Top station is about 35km from Munnar and it is a place from where Kodaikanal can be seen on a clear day. There were clouds everywhere and visibility was about 15ft or so. The view point is about 600 meters from the Taxi parking place. The Jersla vehicles typically park in Kerala geo locations while the Tamil Nadu vehicles go inside as the place comes under Tamil Nadu. The place was used as the shipping joint for tea leaves plucked in high regions to the factory located down using rope way in British period. Now the rope way is gone. We roamed around the place for some time and did not go down about 600meters by paying entry fees as there was poor visibility. We drove to Meddupatty dam which is 7km backward. Spent some time in the dam for taking photos. It is a huge dam with huge lake and boating is allowed in the lake. The rains previous day has made the road little wet and lot of crowd was making the place very noisy. After spending some time we drive to back to Eco Point which is again on Kundala Lake with boating facility. The sound echoed near the boating reception area of the lake. We returned to Kundala dam and then drove to rose garden. They charge 20 per person as entry fees to the garden and 20 for camera. It is well maintained by Forest Development Corporation. Lot of flowers and plants inside the garden. However the place was full of tourists and it was very noisy. They have a ship selling few typical Kerala products. We returned to Munnar town at about 5.15am and went to KDHP to pick up few stuffs. Had some good food in Annapurna restaurant. Came back to see Kalaripayattu near our Homestay at 6.00pm. Finished the show at 7pm and drive back. Sky was overcast with possibility of rain. Dinner was at 9.00pm with egg curry and rice. Retired to bed at 10.00pm as have to pack up and get ready to start for our next destination at about 7.30am next day.
Day 8–
Breakfast at 7.15am and Started from Homestay at 7.45am and went to Tourism Information Office to book reservation for Eravikulam trip. But the office was closed and we proceeded to Eravikulam directly which is about 10-12km from Munnar. Reached the Forest Booking Office at about 8.40pm and stood in the queue where already more than 200 people were already standing for buying tickets. The weather had been foggy and drizzling and it was a bit chilly. We stood in the queue for more than 1.5hours and got the ticket to ride to the Sanctuary. The small buses carry 31 passengers in one trip and drop tourists at the entry point which is about 5km away from main gate. Then tourists are required to walk uphill to see the Nilgiri Tahr. We reached the drop off point by bus and had tea in the cafeteria managed by forest DEPT. But it started raining and we did not have any rain gear to protect us from rain. Many like us did not have any rain cover and there was no sign of rain stopping. We waited for about half an hour and the situation did not change for better. So we decided to return and continue our journey to Valparai. The road to Valparaiis one of the most beautiful section in our trip. The serpentine road passes through jungles and tea gardens intermingling between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We entered Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary and drove through the forests using the Udumalpet Road. The driver was trying to see both sides of the road to notice elephants but no luck. On our way we found a large herd of Indian Gaurs on the road. The road also passed through Anaimalai Tiger Reserves twice before we reached Aliyar Nagar. The directions and names were written in Tamil and our driver had not earlier visited Valparai, hence we depended on GPS to take us to our destination. However, there was no listing of our extract destination in GPS and we have to Valparai Bus Stand to find our way. After crossing Aliyar dam we called up the hosts and took down direction. After Aliyar Dam we have to enter again Anaimalai Tiger Reserves and drive through Ghats. The visibility started depleting as everywhere we could see the mist and foggy clouds. The rain was also giving company.
The road to Valparai through ghat section passes through 40 hairpin bends and the view of the large water body/lake from the road was awesome though cloudy day could prevent us to have a clear view. Entire Tamil Nadu was experiencing heavy rain and so also this part.In summer time or when there are no rains the place must be very beautiful. The drive through hilly terrain was marvelous experience for us. After some time, we could tea plantations on both sides of the road. After 28th hairpin bend we could notice our destination. We entered inside the tea estate to drive to Indraprastha Bunglow in Waterfall Tea Estate. We drove for 5 minutes before we meet someone and he talked to us total Tamil but we could make out that he would show us the road to reach our Bunglow as he had been informed about our visit and booking. We reached the Bunglow at about 4pm. He took us to the Bunglow and helped us to unload our luggage. The other caretaker, Mr. Gopal also helped us to unload our luggage. The bungalows were huge and was constructed by British people for their Tea garden Managers and Assistant Managers. We were given the bigger room of the three and there were no other guests and hence the entire Bunglow of three rooms, a large living room and a huge dinning place belongs to us only. The fire places were in the bed room, living room and dining place. They are not used any more but maintained well. The rooms were large and spacious and veranda outside is most widely used to sit and enjoy the tranquility of the place. It was raining and we did not have much of a choice to go out. We were served hot tea by Gopal to cheer up our spirit and improve our depleted energy seeing the rainy weather. He informed us that the weather has turn bad since last two days and not likely to improve for next few days. The Bunglow is on a hillock overlooking vast tea gardens and tall pine trees from all four directions. The full green cover of the place is most enchanting. The place was really good and matched excellently to our expectations. After initial appreciation of the choice of English people in creating awesome places and tea gardens for their business and stay far away from home, we started taking photograph of the various rooms inside the Bunglow. It was almost dark outside and we were advised by Gopal that leopards and panthers are common sights and bisons come in the evening.We were advised to remain inside the Bunglow premises after 6.00pm as the main gate will be closed not to allow wild animals venturing into the Bunglow. We were also advised not to go out of the Bunglow premises before 7.00am as we may encounter some wild animals. My wife saw a baby deer just in front of our Bunglow gate. We looked around the place and sat in the veranda for some time to enjoy the most and fog. The air was getting denser and denser as the evening descended and we decided to take dinner early and retire for the night at about 9.00pm. Had nice sleep. During midnight got up when I heard sound of bisons. We could make out that couple of bisons are making sound outside the hedge boundary of the Bunglow. Tried to see through the window but it was totally dark. Again went to sleep and got up at about 6.00am.
Day 9–
The weather has not changed a bit and morning was welcomed by drizzling and mist and fig everywhere. Chirping of birds everywhere with Myna, Bulbul, Bobblers, etc. making their presence felt among rain and mist. The atmosphere was ideal for lazying around. The morning tea freshened us up and we decided to capture birds in our cameras. We decided against going to Parambikulam as the weather is likely to be the same there and a long drive through hilly terrain may not be very good experience for us as we cannot see much through the dense mist surrounding us, we decided to go to Valparai and see the local attractions in and around the place. Breakfast was served with freshly made idli and dosa supported by coconut chutney, sambar and omelet. Finished with hot coffee to feel freshness. We roamed around the tea estate for some time and saw lot of birds. We wanted to visit few places in and around Valparai and hence started from the Bunglow at about 9.30am and drive towards Valparai town.
We went through the tea gardens by climbing up the hilly terrain and it was mist everywhere and visibility dropped to few feels. We were in the clouds and the drive was very pleasant. We crossed few hairpin bends and moved towards jungle after tea estates and passed through dense forest area. Everywhere there were sign boards advising drivers to be careful about wild animals crossing. We did not see any wild animal on our way. We started descending from the top hill and moved to the opposite side of the hill and suddenly found the weather completely different as the sky was blue with sunshine and no rain and no mist. We drove among tea gardens to Balaji temple for which we have to take a detour on the main road and the place is located on a hillock which is 7km away from the main road and witching Peria Karamalai tea estate. The cars are not allowed after a point and we have walk uphill for about 1km to reach GR temple. We met the Pujari there and offered our prayers to the deity. Then we drive back to the main road on other side to drive towards Valparai town. It is a small town and people mostly work in tea gardens for livelihood. Very few hotels in Valparai but we found many sign boards for Homestay as the place is mostly used by Trekkers for stay. There are few dams and waterfalls witching 35-40km radius of the town.We drove to Siddhivinayak temple which is 5km drive uphill among tea estates of Jayashree tea group (B K Birla group)and offered our prayers to Elephant lord. The place is very scenic and there was no sign of mist or rain like Balaji Temple side. Came back to the town to draw some money from ATM. There were large queue in front of SBI and Indian Bank ATMs. The security guard was helping everybody to draw money from ATM by keying in their pin code. One lady showed me a slip to ask me in Tamil as to why the money is not coming out from ATM. The slip showed that the wrong pin has been entered. I helped her to draw money from the ATM with correct pin. As most people are illiterate tea garden workers, English language ATMs becoming a big issue there. Though there is risk of sharing the pin code with others but these people had very little choice. Banks should educate them properly for stoppage of misuse. After ATM withdrawal we searched for a hotel to have our lunch and one taxi driver directed us to an eating joint. We found it to be new one (Friendz Cafe) attached to a newly opened hotel Sri Krishna Inn. We befriended the manager and gathered that it is open only one month ago. We had food here and drive back through the jungle and tea gardens to our Bunglow. We saw s black Macau monkey on our way. The weather has not changed in our staying area. We went to the Waterfall nearby and spent some time there. Slowly the most and cloud filled the place and visibility dropped. We spotted a wild boar happily searching for food. We roamed around in tea gardens and talked to the workers plucking tea leaves for grit daily work. They work daily till 4.45pm and have to pluck minimum quantity of leaves. It was getting dark and they had their day’s work completed. We retreated back to our Bunglow after watching many birds. The day was spent totally lazying around as the weather did not improve to take us to various other attractions in and around our Bunglow. Had tea and early dinner at 8.00am and went to sleep by 9.09pm.
Day 10–
The early morning was welcomed by dense mist all around the tea estate with very little visibility. The sky was also overcast with clouds. Birds were chirping slowly and intermittently. Could see only few Bulbuls and Bobblers. Sat in the Veranda for onetime to watch the tranquility prevailing in the atmosphere. Suddenly the wild pheasants started making sound indicating movement of a leopard nearby. Leopards and panthers are common in the tea estate and every now and then workers notice them but without Imani botheration. Tea was served at about 6.45am and enjoyed the cuppa tea watching the mist spreading all over. As we have to check out for moving to Athirapally, we wanted to finish packing and getting ready for clearing out dues. Breakfast was served with Dosa and Hot Sambar and chutney . Food was delicious.
We were ready by 9.30am and started moving to Waterfall Office for making payment and factory visit, after completing payment formalities, we went to see the tea factory. It was a very big one with production going on. The old wooden tea workshop was destroyed in fire and this one was constructed about 25 years ago. We were explained the process of tea making and moved from one section to another sequentially. As it was a maintenance day, we could not see live tea manufacturing but could see only packaging. Air tight packing was find with 35kg net wright of tea was loaded into one box. After visit to tea factory was over, we started to drive to Athirapally via Valparai. We passed through tea and coffee estates and dense forests in our way. We stopped at Sholayar Dam for sometime on our way. The road was passing through most scenic places all through. Hardly any vehicles pass through the road and most ideal place to wild animals freely roaming around. We could not see much as the sky was overcast and at times drizzling making it little cooler. At times dense fog and at times clear sky welcomes us during our drive from Valparai yo Athirapally. We passed through many check posts of TN and Kerala Police. We found many signs of Elephants being present nearby but did not see any. Saw many types of birds on our way. Reached Athirspally area at about 2.30pm and went for lunch at Green Valley restaurant. After finishing lunch we checked into our pre-booked accommodation at Plantation Valley Farm Resort.We were given the same rooms here we stayed last time. The place has not changed a bit and remained awesome. The sound of flowing river out of the waterfall is enchanting. The birds are everywhere. It started raining a bit and we enjoyed rain sitting in the veranda. Had tea and decided to move to see the waterfall. The ticket is 30 per person plus camera and car parking cost comes to 130 which allows entry up to 5pm to Vazhachal and Athirapally waterfalls. Vazhachal is about 5km from Athirapally. First went to Vazhachal and spent some time there and came back to Athirapally. The walk is for about 10 minutes from the entrance. Spent some time there watching the waterfall pumping gallons of water into the river. Some enterprising people were taking bath at the top and enjoying their time. Came back at 5.45pm which is closing time for the waterfall. Ordered dinner to be served at 8.30pm. Spent time walking around the farm resort. Dinner was served in the raised platform on river overlooking the river on both sides. The bright moon was almost full as we were approaching full moon night next day. However at times cloud was engulfing the moon preventing it to show in full. Retired to bed at about 10pm.
Day 11–
The early morning was very cloudy. Got up at 5.30am and looked around to see if we get anyone to make tea for us. Sat down in veranda and watched the sky to light up slowly. The sound of running water in the river was resounding in the years. Roamed around the garden for some time and watched birds flying around and chirping. Tea was served at about 6.30am and sat in the platform on the river to have our tea. Breakfast was served at about 7.30am as we wanted to go to the Waterfall at 8.00am (opening time) before people start crowding in. We reached the Waterfall at about 8.15am and went down to the full view area of the waterfall. It is a big walk of about 2km from the main entrance and we have to go downhill to the bottom of the waterfall to have full view. The water was in full force and we had great time there. We left waterfall at about 10.30am as we have to check out from resort and move to Cochin for our flight at 4.00pm. It is about 2 hours drive and we finished our bath and packing and finally checked out at 12.15pm. Picked up few stuffs on our way and had lunch at Hotel Malabar. Reached Airport at about 2.45pm. Cochin airport is only airport in India which runs on solar power. Flight left little late and reached Mumbai by 6.20pm and were home by 7.00pm. Our trip ends on a very satisfying and happy note.