[dreamdiesel]

This was my travel guide that I prepared before my Munnar Road Trip. I had a printout of this which helped me to a great extent. The inputs were taken from various sources on the internet. Posting it here so that it might be helpful for fellow TBHPians who intend to visit Munnar.

Places to Visit at Munnar:
The places in and around are basically divided in four roads or directions from Munnar Town:

1. Mattupetty: In this direction you have these places to visit
A. Photo Point: Good place to take snaps in the tea garden. (4 kms)
B. Mattupetty Dam: Is a storage masonry dam built in the mountains of Kerala. The District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), Idukki provides boating facilities in the Mattupetty Dam. Speed launch, slow speedboat and motorboats are available on hire. (11 kms)
C. Dairy Farm Indo-Swiss Project: The dairy farm is a unique one of its kind with several varieties of high-yielding cattle being reared. (13 kms)
D. Cinema Shooting Point: An enchanting spot where a small hillock of uniformly spread grass with an even more enchanting backdrop of trees, high rise mountains with their white misty hood. Place where many south Indian movies have been shot. (14 kms)
E. Echo Point: It also offers panoramic views. An excellent place, especially for young travelers to disembark for a while and yell out — and listen to your voice coming back to you! (17 kms)
F. Elephant Arrival Spot: Is just a 100sqm glade in the banks of the Mattupetty reservoir. The glade has elephant trails and morsels of elephant dung here and there, which suggest frequenting of these huge mammals. (20 kms)
G. Kundala Lake: Kundala Lake and its surrounding area offer a calm and quiet atmosphere with quiet natural beauty. Beautiful Kashmiri Shikkara boats, pedal boats and row boats are available on rent. Boating in this dam is an experience beyond words. (25 kms)
H. Kundala Golf Course: The tourists can make a visit to the Golf Course that belongs to the Tata Tea Ltd. (28 kms)
I. Top Station (about 6300 ft above the sea level): This is in the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu; there is a way to Kodai from this place. We need to walk down for about a 1 km to reach this stop from the road, it is a terrific sight, and you can also see the world’s highest tea plant from this place. (32 kms)

2. Coimbatore: In this direction you have these places to visit
A. Anaimudi: (about 8853 ft above the sea level) it is Highest Peak in South India. The north and south slopes are gentle, while the east and west slopes are steeper, with more difficult rock faces. (20 kms)
B. Nyayamakad Waterfalls: Located between Munnar and Rajamala, Nyayamakad is a land of breathtaking waterfalls. The waters cascade down a hill from a height of about 1600 meters. The enchanting surroundings make an excellent picnic spot and trekking point. (8 kms)
C. Eravikulam (Rajamalai) National Park: You get great view of Munnar from this national park. You will also find a rare and endangered wild goat (Nilgiri Tahr) on the mountains. (13 kms)
D. Lakkam Falls: Lakkam Waterfalls awaits you in the wilds near Lakkam a place near the Vagavurai Estate. It takes 5 minutes to reach from the road. (26 kms
E. Sandal Wood Forest: This is the only natural sandalwood forest in the state. Travelers can visit the ‘Sandalwood regeneration experimental plot’, which is good enough to satisfy their curiosity about the fragrant tree. The state Forest Department runs a sandalwood depot here where travelers can learn the treatment, classification and processing of sandal. (35 kms)
F. Children’s Park: A children's park extending across one hectare of land under the canopy of a single Banyan tree, all of which attract tourists in large numbers. (43 kms)
G. Wildlife Sanctuary (Chinnar): You can also go trekking here to a falls which flows through the jungle; the falls is about 8 kms from the road. Please take care not to honk or make noise when going through the forest as there are good chances you may miss some wild life (63 kms)
H. Amaravathi Dam: Dam built on River Amaravathi. (78 kms)
I. Crocodile Park: You can find crocodiles at different ages here. (79 kms)

3. Cochin: In this direction you have these places to visit
A. Blossom Park: Beautiful gardens with rare varieties of plants and flowers, shady trees, facilities for water cycling, boating cycling for kids, roller skating etc are amusing. In addition Tree houses, ropeways and swings are arranged. Anybody who wants to spend some leisure time at the lap of serene natural beauty will find this park, the right place. (3 kms)
B. Pothamedu View Point: A beautiful view spot for Sunset. The panoramic view of greenish tea, coffee and cardamom plantation and the cloud kissing mountain is exciting one. The rolling hills, the lush mountain and the breathtaking scenery here are ideal for trekking and long mountain walks. (5 km)
C. Attukkadu Water Falls: The sight of water falling down steeply creating milky foam is quiet spectacular. Even summer the sight is usual. Dangerous waterfalls not recommended for bathing. (10 km)

4.Thekkady: In this direction you have these places to visit
A. Sita Devi Lake: As the name indicates, the lake is associated with the goddess Sita. Belief is that, Sita had bathed in the lake and made it sacred. Prior permission from Tata Tea Corporation is required to visit the lake. (7 km)
B. Lock Heart Gap View: This is an ideal place for adventure tourism and trekking. The fresh mountain air, the mist-clad hills and panoramic view make it worthy of a visit. (14 km)
C. Power House Water Falls: This waterfall on the way to Thekkady from Munnar cascades down a steep rock 2000 m above sea level. The spot is enriched with the scenic western mountain ranges, and is an ideal place for a break on the way to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Thekkady. (17 km)
D. Resorts Village View (18 km)
E. Anaiyirankal Dam View (18 km)

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by B.R.S.Rao

A couple of years ago I have visited Munnar in my 118NE. I have taken few snaps of a peak in Munnar. I cannot recall the name of it. Enclosed the pictures. Great place compared to Ooty.
Regards

Its indeed a great place when compared to Ooty. But the distance to Munnar from Bangalore is the only drawback. The peak is Anaimudi IMO. Tallest peak in South India. Nice place!!!

Originally Posted by sami316

Hi DreamDiesel Awesome travelogue with awesome pics. After watching these snaps cant wait to take the car out and head out to these dreamland. Maybe Insha Allah will go after Ramzan. Awaiting more pics.

Thanks sami. Hill Stations during Off-Season has a charm of its own. Munnar after monsoons is just splendid.

Originally Posted by Gandhi

Fantastic Travelogue as usual DD. Keep 'em rolling.

Waiting for the next part.

Thanks Gandhi..

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Great pics DD. Looks like you are feasting us only of waterfalls.. Just kidding.

Thanks snaronikar..

Originally Posted by Majic

Dream Diesel, man the travelogue is shaping up nicely, off all the different posts on Munnar, yours stand out with freshness with images and also splendid narration, do continue. How was the roads to Chinnar and also the traffic? The FE of Swift? Belated wishes to your wife, nice thought of completing the posting with a picture of the cake and the candle.

Thanks Majic. Roads through Chinnar is in good condition. Single lane road. Not much traffic being an off season. I got an overall mileage of 19.9kmpl with almost 70% AC usage. Thanks for the wishes....

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

Woww...!! I hope that you really enjoyed your trip to Kerala,The God's Own Country .I really liked your travelogue and the pictures...Great pictures brother,which camera are you using..? By the way I would like to see more pictures of your trip

Thanks Klub.. I absolutely loved the trip to Kerala.. Will be back for more. The camera is a 3 yr old basic Sony P&S.

Originally Posted by kutlee

flying puri was hilarious. nice trip there. enjoy. so it looks like a total of 10 hours.

Thanks kutlee. hilarious yes..breakfast was a disaster there. About 9.5hrs of travelling time including little more than an hour of stops.

[krish3]

Beautiful Travelogue. All your trip logs are well written and supported by very good pics. You detailed descriptions makes it easy for anyone who wants to visit these places. KEEP IT UP!

It seems like you do trips far more frequently than the once in 3 months mentioned. I envy you on this but love your spirit of touring. And you've got the perfect partner to support you.

Keenly awaiting the rest of the logs.

[vijaythacker]

DreamDiesel, awesome travelogue with detailed narrations to each of pictures which makes it worth reading as well as watching them.Munnar and Thekkedy makes one fresh just looking at those pictures and you got my old memories of this trips refreshed.wow waiting for another part of your log.
loved this picture,splendid.

[dreamdiesel]

Apologies for not updating the route and distance for the previous post of Day 2. So here it is..

Day 2 (06th September, 2009): Munnar – Mattupetty – Echo Point – Kundala Dam/Lake – Top Station – Munnar
Trip Meter – 463kms to 554kms

***For Day 2 log and photos please go through the previous post***

Day 3 (07th September, 2009): Munnar – Devikulam – Kumily – Thekkady - Kumily
Trip Meter – 554kms to 677kms

I am up by 9:30AM after a good night’s sleep. The heavy curtains in the room kept the light out and I did not have sense of time. But again, I am on a holiday and just like it when I wake up refreshed not by an alarm. Today we travel south towards Kumily. Kumily is a good 120kms from Munnar and the travel time I have estimated is about 3hrs. We decide to leave Munnar by 11:00AM so that we are in Thekkady by 2:30PM for the 4:00PM boat ride at Periyar National Park. We just get ready for breakfast and drive down to Hotel Saravana Bhavan at Munnar town center. We quickly finish our breakfast, some shopping and while coming back to the hotel fill up diesel (Rs.1130/31lts.) at the IOC bunk near the bridge. Back to the hotel, pack the entire luggage back, take bath and check out by 11:15AM. By the time we leave Munnar it’s about 11:30AM.

We take the road towards Devikulam out of Munnar. No rain today but it’s cloudy. The roads out are pretty OK and broken at some places due to rains. Devikulam is about 7kms from Munnar and we take the road going right before a kilometer to Devikulam. Just about 3-5kms from Devikulam the scenery opens up of wide open spaces covered with tea gardens. The place called Lock Heart is just too beautiful to describe. Stop the car and we take some pictures and also go for a small walk among the tea plantations for some time. No rains, little windy and somewhat clear view with no fog was just perfect. After about 20mins we continue our drive towards Kumily.


Vast tea Gardens out of Munnar after Devikulam


Towards Kumily


Towards Lock Heart Gap View


Towards Lock Heart Gap View


At Lock Heart Gap View


At Lock Heart Gap View


Swift D at Lock Heart Gap View


Your truely at the tea gardens


Swift D at Lock Heart Gap View


At Lock Heart Gap View

A little further ahead we come across a huge waterfall just next to the road. I don’t remember the name of the waterfall. We again stop at this place; take some photographs and much on hot roasted maize and continue our drive towards Kumily.


Approcahing the waterfalls towards Kumily


Waterfalls - Dont remember the name


Waterfalls


Towards Kumily - Descending the hills

The tea gardens continue for another 20kms till we make our descent through the hills. The roads till here were slightly broken and then thick vegetation of spices starts. The roads now have been newly done from here and I up my pace sometimes clocking past 110KMPH on this twisty 2 lane road. Roads are almost empty with very few oncoming vehicles and I push the Swift into corners. These roads through thick spice plantations were just too good. We see a crowd gathered looking into the spice plantations and we stop to find out what it’s about. We see a herd of elephants deep inside the plantation. Sorry no photographs of this. We then continue on our way. About 35-30kms before Kumily the good roads abruptly end; its broken tarmac till some stretch, then it’s just stones and slush from then on. The roads are being made and stones have been dumped on either side of the road. We slowly make our way through the mess and are back on good roads about 15-20kms to Kumily. We reach Kumily by 3:00PM.


Beatiful road towards Kumily


Beatiful road towards Kumily

We first have to find a decent accommodation to dump our entire luggage. In Kumily there are various options to stay. Numerous resorts, hotels and home stays dot the entire town. We decide to take the option of Home stay as we were looking for a budget place to stay. We come across Tiger Land Cottages on the main road at Kumily. Very nice cottages with lots of privacy and calm place though it’s on the main road. Nice parking place too. The care taker there Suresh from Nepal was a very helpful guy suggesting various things we can do at Thekkady. They have Double Rooms at Rs.650 which my wife bargained for some discount. Very clean rooms with 24 hours hot water and TV. After dumping the luggage into the room we freshen up and headed towards Thekkady which is 4KMS from Kumily.

We are the entrance to Periyar National Park by 3:30PM. But entry tickets (Rs.25/head) and LMV entry (Rs.50). We drive for another 4kms near the Boating area, park the car and we have about 20mins to spare. But tickets for the Upper level on the boat (Rs.150) and Camera fee (Rs.25). Hungry as we only had breakfast in the morning we head towards the restaurant at Periyar NP and munch on some snacks. Close to 4:00PM we board the boat and take our seats at the upper level. By 4:15PM the boat starts off into the lake at Periyar National Park. Along with our boat 2 other boats leave filled with tourists.

The boat ride takes you deep inside the Periyar NP on the calm waters. The entire boat ride is about 1.5 hours. The boat ride through the forests was beautiful. We only spotted a herd of deer’s, wild boars and bison. We were a little disappointed not spotting any elephants. We are back to the shore by 6:00PM and quickly head back to the car and make our way to our cottage.


The boating area at Thekkady


The boats at Thekkady


Calm waters at Thekkady


We start the boat ride


Inside Thekkady


Beautiful nature


Herd of deers at Thekkady


The other boats at Thekkady


Bisons at Thekkady viewed from the boat


Returning back after the boat ride


Lush green surroundings around the lake

Suresh the care taker suggests us to visit Mudra Kathakali Center to watch a Kathakali performance. The makeup starts by 6:30PM and dance by 7:00PM. The performance is for an hour and tickets are priced as Rs.150/head. When we went for the boating to Periyar NP we had got the tickets booked early which guaranteed seats close to the stage through Suresh. Mudra Kathakali Center is the Thekkady – Kottayam junction, a few meters towards Thekkady road on the right. They also organize Kalaripayattu presentation at the same location around 5:30PM and tickets are priced around Rs.200/head. We were at Mudra Kathakali Center by 7:00PM which is a 10min walk from the place we stayed and makeup was just getting completed. By 7:15PM the performance started firstly by giving a brief description of Kathakali in English and the narrator gave us an explanation about the 5 important natural colors used for the makeup. Apart from the 2 people performing the Kathakali there were one person who played the traditional drum with two drum sticks and another person who sang the story. The visitors were given a crash course about the various facial expressions and body movements of Kathakali. We were also given a printout of the evening’s story. Then the actual demonstration began which was a story from Mahabharata.

It’s about Nakrathundi (Servant of the powerful demon Nakasura) who is sent to heaven to kidnap heavenly beauties for Nakasura. Instead, she finds there Lord Indra’s handsome son -Jayantha. Overwhelmed, she transforms into a beautiful woman Lalitha and tries to seduce him. Nakrathundi of course doesn’t want to involve his father in this game so she “tries to embrace him with her lustful desires”, but it makes Jayantha only angry. Then Lalitha unveils her real demonic identity. She informs him that she came there to kidnap him, what only makes Jayantha furious. As a result he cuts of her ear, nose and breasts bringing a drastic end to Nakrathundi. The performance was indeed fascinating with the story narration and drum being played in sync. The performance is over by 8:00PM and we have an appointment set for a Kerala Ayurvedic massage tomorrow morning by 8:30AM at Mantra Ayurvedic Massage Center right opposite to Mudra Kathakali Center before we head back to our cottage.


Kathakali performance at Mudra Kathakali Center


The artist with the face painted green is Jayantha and the other artist with the face painted yellow is Nakrathundi transformed into Lalitha..


With the artists at Mudra Kathakali Center

Around 9:00PM we head back out for dinner at Curry Leaf Restaurant inside Hotel Sithara International at Kumily junction. It’s a good Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian restaurant. After a delicious dinner we walk back to our cottage and off to sleep early as we had to wake up early for the Ayurvedic massage.

Continued....

[samish_g]

Hello, Dream Diesel. Very nice pictures. The clarity is fantastic even in low light.
Eagerly waiting for the narration to continue.
Belated wishes to your wife.

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by krish3

Beautiful Travelogue. All your trip logs are well written and supported by very good pics. You detailed descriptions makes it easy for anyone who wants to visit these places. KEEP IT UP!

It seems like you do trips far more frequently than the once in 3 months mentioned. I envy you on this but love your spirit of touring. And you've got the perfect partner to support you.

Keenly awaiting the rest of the logs.

Thank You krish.. Ya the trips are actaully happening more frequently than once in 3 months.. I just hope my boss keeps approving the leaves for these frequent trips that I make... Yes a great partner to support me..

Originally Posted by vijaythacker

DreamDiesel, awesome travelogue with detailed narrations to each of pictures which makes it worth reading as well as watching them.Munnar and Thekkedy makes one fresh just looking at those pictures and you got my old memories of this trips refreshed.wow waiting for another part of your log.
loved this picture,splendid.

Thank you Vijay. Munnar and Thekkady was first time visit for us. Loved these places..

Originally Posted by samish_g

Hello, Dream Diesel. Very nice pictures. The clarity is fantastic even in low light.
Eagerly waiting for the narration to continue.
Belated wishes to your wife.

Thanks you Samish...

[Indizen08]

Lovely views of the green tea plantations, mist and waterfalls.
The Swift looks spectacular in vantage locations.
The post on places around Munnar is very informative.
All in all, a great travelogue.

[Fordy]

Great. I read almost all of your travelogues. You go to lot of places dude and thanks for the detailed explanation. Next time you go somewhere, let me know I will join with my family too.

[pramod]

Brilliant Snaps... Brillant Weather to travel Munnar!
I did that in May/June awaiting the monsoons... was not as green as it is in ur snaps.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

This was my travel guide that I prepared before my Munnar Road Trip. I had a printout of this which helped me to a great extent.

excellent compilation DD, thanks!

[mjothi]

Your first pics of the Day 2 spot, is very fav for many of us here. You can see almost in all our Munnar travelogues this particular pics

Very nice travelogue. Cheers..

[mech]

Very detailed Travelogue and wonderful snaps. Would love to go there anytime

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Perundurai – Chennimalai – Kangayam – Dharapuram – Udumalaipettai – Marayoor – Munnar

How was the road conditions here. I go via Bhavani to Coimbatore from Bangalore, but haven't tried in these roads.

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Breakfast at A2B was a disappointment. The place was really crowded and I had to wait a long time in the queue.

Yes its really pathetic. You find this A2B busy every Saturday.

[amip]

Wow! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Brought back memories of a Monsoon roadtrip through Kerala