Are you the one who longs for the morning first cup of tea
which makes your morning fresh? Is this cup of tea the most amazing thing that
happens to you in the entire day? Then you perfectly belong to my Zone. Here I
am to share with you those few mornings which gave me the best cup of tea.
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| Munnar - Tea Estate View |
How to Reach Munnar
Munnar can be reached either via air or by railways. Nearest
airport to Munnar is located in Cochin as already mentioned which is
called as Cochin International Airport.
Nearest Railway Station to Munnar is again situated in
Cochin City. One is located in Ernakulam and another one in Aluva.
Both of them are at a distance of approximately 150 Kilometer from Munnar.
It is a journey of
approximately 2 days from Delhi to Kerala via railways. So Airways is mostly
preferred by people travelling from North India
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| Munnar View |
Our Arrival at Cochin
International Airport
I am talking about those days, when I was on a trip to
Kerala with Nitin. It was around 7 PM in the evening when we landed at the
Cochin International Airport situated in the city of Kochi, in the
state of Kerala. It is also known to be the world’s first fully solar
powered airport. Atlas Hotel Airport Apartmentlocated just 500 meters from the Airport was pre booked by us for one night
stay in Cochin.
Hotel nearby airport was chosen intentionally. We had to
head straight to Munnar early morning which is a travel of around 110
kilometers (approximately 4 hours). We
didn’t want to exhaust ourselves in travel just for one night stay at Cochin. Also
it is preferable to get your stay nearby Airport only, So that you can take
rest for the maximum time before you proceed further for the trip.
Budget and Decent Hotels near Cochin International Airport
Public transportation was not a problem. As we stepped out
of the Airport, we got a decent taxi option to drop us to our destination stay
in Cochin that is Atlas Airport Hotel. He charged us an amount of Rs. 50. Also
to inform you in advance (about which we
got to know a little later), many hotels in Cochin which are located nearby
airport provides the facility of free pick and drop from Airport. So you can
easily avail that facility which is just a phone call away.
My Stay at Atlas Airport Apartment in Cochin
It was around 8 PM and we were inside hotel vicinity. We
were at the reception for check in formalities. After all the formalities were
done, one of the attendent came to help us reach our room. The entire look and
feel of the hotel is in the form of Apartments. It is said that this apartment
got into some legal issue due to which the property is being used by the hotel
now. You may feel a little secluded at times because of its structure, but
overall the stay was decent.
The place is clean and tidy. Each room had a separate
kitchen and a living area. Size of rooms though are small as compared to rooms
of other hotels but is alright for a stay of one night. All the basic items
were all present and we found no issues staying there. We had our morning breakfast from the
restaurant located just in front of Atlas Hotel. Food and ambience were all
okay.
Please be noted that, two bedroom and three bedroom kind of
rooms are also available for families.
Mode of Transport for
Kerala Tourism
Kerala tourism consists of states including Munnar, Alleppey,
Thekkady, Kovalam and Kanyakumari to be the main points of interest. All these
states are located at a distance of minimum 150 kilometers from each other. In
such case, you need to hire a taxi. The concept of Kerala tourism says that
this taxi along with driver will stay with the guest for the entire tour. The
driver has got expertise in all the sightseeing places in Kerala. He will be
responsible for your entire tour and sightseeing.
Until now we were not prepared with the hired car which will
stay with us for the next 6 days. After breakfast we searched for Kerala taxi
services on internet and also investigated few from reception at Atlas AirportHotel. We made phone calls to few of them and consult their pricing. Finally we
got Kottayam
Taxi Services with the reasonable pricing.
We are now done with the mode of transportation part. The driver
had to reach us in next half hour. Till then we prepared our bags and collected
our luggage to the reception. This is the time when our journey actually had to
start.
About Service of
Kottayam Taxi
Driver with us was really an expert and was aware of all the
places that could interest us. He was able to speak in English that too in
South Indian Style. Hindi language is not their cup of tea. Still our driver
was showing keen interest in learning Hindi. We got friends with him on the way
itself. He used to carry a notebook with him all the time. He has a habit of
noting down Hindi words and their meanings in English and Malayalam (south Indian Language) in order to learn
and remember.
Driver was giving us a stoppage at every small interval to
let us enjoy the view. He was also showing interest in our enjoyment. He was
asking himself to let him take our pictures on the way. I must say he is a good
photographer too. May be this activity is an add-on to his performance in his
career.
Driver was able to judge our keen interest in travel from
the way we were busy mostly in gaining detailed facts about places and related
stuffs. We were mostly taking pictures and trying to take a good shot of
everything. So he also gained interest in helping us learn more about his state
Kerala. He wanted to show the most of it.
Journey from Cochin
to Munnar
Munnar is a hill station in Kerala which is widely known for
its Tea
Plantation. One another factor that makes it one of the most attracting
places for visitors is its cool climate. Munnar has got the highest Peak in
South India and that spot is famous as ‘Anamudi’. This spot is thus ideal
for trekking purpose in South India.
On the way from Cochin to Munnar we encountered multiple tea
gardens that look amazing in their own way. The beauty of Munnar lies in the
tea plantation. Most of which is taken over by the Tata Group. Few other tea
estates include Harrison, Brooke Bond, etc. To add on to the fame of Munnar for
its tea plantation, Tata Tea opened a Tea Museum in Munnar for the travelers.
And so the Munnar is one of the biggest tea trade centers. We did take halt in
between to enjoy some these tea gardens.
Cheeyappara
Waterfalls was also visited by us on the way from Cochin to Munnar. It is located
on Cochin to Madurai Highway. It cascades down in seven steps and is
one another famous spot for trekking in Kerala. We took a halt of around half
an hour over here. Initially we were only watching the water fall. It was the
driver who asked to get inside the fall and he will click the pictures of us. We
started moving up step by step. It was all wet and little slippery. We had to
move on slowly. I could now feel the droplets on me. It was so cool. We reached
the end point and enjoyed the droplets falling on us. We didn’t want to
completely get wet. We still had few hours to reach Munnar.
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| Cheeyappara Waterfall - Munnar |
There were lots of Vendors selling Fresh Fruits and Coconut
Water. There was also one corn vendor. I am a huge fan of Corns in any form.
They may be popcorns, sweet corns or may be crispy corns. I dint miss the
chance to buy it. They were delicious. Later I also had one Coconut Water. It
is also counted among one of my Favorites. Ha-Ha. I am such a foodie I guess.
But mostly I am foodie for healthy stuffs. I don’t like Burgers. Seriously! It
doesn’t mean that I hate them; I can still have them in case of emergency. ;-)
Valara Waterfalls
is another waterfall located just few kilometers from Cheeyapara. It is also
located on the Cochin- Madurai Highway. We did take a halt here to enjoy the
nature but not as much as we did at Cheeyapara. May be that much of
getting wet was enough for us. Ha-ha
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| Valara WaterFall - Munnar |
Spice Garden was
encountered on the way itself where we had a halt of approximately an hour. It
was a ticket system. It was not that costly. So we bought the tickets amounting
to Rs. 100 per person to experience it once. Garden expert took us on
the tour and explain varied variety of plants with their usage in day to day
life. There was another old aged pair with us on the same Garden Tour. These
much experienced people helped me learn about the plants and their usage much
better. Old is Gold!
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| Ayappana - In Spice Garden - Munnar |
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| Pine Apple - In Spice Garden - Munnar |
These people also provide an Elephant ride. We didn’t buy
that deal as we found it expensive. Also we thought that the Elephant ride can
be done at our upcoming destination ‘Thekkady’ in ‘Periyar Wildlife Santuary’.
Munnar Arrival at
Misty Mountain
Then we headed straight to our destination stay at Misty
Mountain in Munnar. It was around 5 or 6 PM in the evening. Misty
Mountain is one of the renowned property of Munnar when comes to
standard stay. It is a kind of small resort. But to add further, the view it
provides is just out of the world. It seems the entire Munnar can be seen from
here.
There exist two categories of rooms; one of a kind is facing
the fantabulous View of the Munnar and others at the back side of the Hotel. So I
suggest inquiring about your room location before getting it booked. Pricing of the room also depends upon
its location. Also the size of the room on the back side of the hotel is
smaller comparatively.
Proper parking is available for the
visitor. Our driver faced no issues staying there for a night and waiting for
the next day sightseeing. There is one Terrace Garden where we had our
lovely evening.
There were two restaurants in the hotel
vicinity itself. One of them serves buffet (which
was included in our package) and the other one serves Ala-Carte. Buffet
restaurant as experienced by me provides the best of the view. The view from
the glasses of the restaurant was the first thing that attracted me.
So I chose
the table facing the view to enhance the quality of my breakfast. The food
options were mainly South Indian. In fact the other Non-South-Indian stuffs were also cooked little bit in South Indian
style. I ended up with South Indian dishes including Idli – Sambhar and few of the fresh fruits. Fresh Orange / Mango Juice
are my favorite so I never miss it in my meal if available. Other food items
including Paranthas and Chhole were also available.
I must say, the South
Indian Dishes here tastes little different comparative to what is cooked here
in North India. Probably it’s the difference in the spices they use.
Places to Visit in
Munnar
Punarjani Traditional
Village is famous for its Martial Arts (Kalaripayattu) and Kathakali
Show. It is located just at a distance of 1 kilometer from Misty
Mountain. We went for the show in the evening on the first day of arrival to
Munnar. We thought of leaving the next entire day for sightseeing purpose. It took us hardly 5-10 minutes to reach. Only
five minutes were left for the commencement of the show which was at 5:00 PM. We
bought the tickets costing Rs. 250 per person for both the shows.
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| Kathakali Show at Punarjani Traditional village - Munnar |
The stage was all set and many local and outside visitors
were already there to enjoy the show. I have keen interest in such kind of
shows. I and Nitin, settled down on our seat and the show started. It was my
first time to experience the live show of traditional dance of Kerala known as ‘kathakali’.
The artists wear the perfect traditional attire and the Duration of the first show
‘Kathakali’ was of 1 hour.
The performance was based on the story of Lord Krishna of
his childhood days. The performance was all action based. There was no
narration but only music. Still we were able to recognize the theme of the
show. That was amazing. I salute their hard work to get ready with such heavy
attires and loud make up before each show they represent. Another amazing part of the show is that it is
performed by the males. Males were wearing those attires and wearing make up.
Terrific! The show was entertaining.
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| Kathakali Attire |
Awaited was the next show based on ‘Martial Arts’. Martial
Art is another tradition in South India. They believe in giving such skills to
all including males and females. The duration of Martial Arts show was around
45 minutes.
Kalaripayattu is the style of Martial Arts originated in
Kerala. What amazed me over here was that the performers of Martial Arts were a
group of 10 to 12 artists which include both male and females. The females were
competitively performing the skills with confidence. That impressed me a lot. This
group has one master. I and Nitin, were seated on the very front part of so I
could see the master narrating the performance. Each time before any artist come
up to the stage they were doing Pranama to their master by touching
his feet. I was overwhelmed by witnessing such love and respect for their
Master.
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| Kalaripayattu - Martial Arts - Punarjani Tradtional Village - Munnar |
The show was fantabulous. It was performed using swords and
sticks. I was impressed by the way they were fighting and showcasing the moves
of Martial Arts. The seats were arranged
in staircase manner so we found it very comfortable to view the show from
anywhere. The ambience was also very pleasant.
In a nutshell, we spent two hours thoroughly enjoying the
show and worth spending 250 rupees.
Tea Estate view
though started on the way from Cochin to Munnar itself and the count is
endless. It seems the land of Munnar is all equipped with tea plants. The way
this plantation is done left a remarkable impression on us. I can say tea
plantation also adds on to the scenic beauty of Munnar.
Driver gave us a halt on the way at around two of the tea
estates one of which belonged to Tata Group. We took lot of pictures of nature
and us too. Driver also took some pictures of us together. Initially we were
hesitating to hand over the camera to him. After the first trial we gained
confidence on him as well his photography too. Our Driver was also enjoying the sightseeing I must say.
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| In the Tea Estates - Munnar |
Plantation in the form of terrace was just mesmerizing.
Every branch is cut in a way to give fancy look to the entire garden. Clouds
were passing by our face and sometimes blocking the view. Then quickly
traversing through the land vanishes in few minutes. I was quite stunned by
what nature is providing me with. The weather was cool and romantic at the same
time, even though it was the month of June. I wanted to keep on walking all the way to
Garden. It seems there is no limit and I can just hide myself inside in order
to witness what more nature has to gift me.
Mattupetty Dam is
located at a distance of around 18 kilometers from Misty Mountain
which is a ride of around 1 hour. After our visit to Tea Estate we headed
straight to Mattupetty Dam. The climate was again very cool and romantic.
Another thing that charms is the location of the Dam inside the hills of
Munnar. There exists a lake along with the Dam for visitors to enjoy boat ride.
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| Lake at Mattupetty Dam - Munnar |
The Dam is built for the purpose of conservation of water
for generation of hydroelectricity. It is also a continuous source of water for
many wild animals and birds. In order to enhance tourism the boat ride system
was initiated at the lake. Though the charges per boat seems little expensive
to me.
Echo Point is
situated nearby to Mattupetty Dam which is a ride of approximately 15 minutes. As
clear from the name itself the place is popular for its ability to echo back
the voice. It is a very renowned picnic spot where tourists come to experience
nature and enjoy the misty Mountains. Boating option is available here also and
lots of fruits and snacks vendors can also be found.
The place is so quiet and serene that I can hear the sweet
voices of birds chirping and wind blowing through my face. More the nature was
gifting me something new to experience, more I was getting into it to know more
about it.
Top Station is
located far way from Mattupetty Dam that is a ride of around one hour more. So
finishing off with Dam and Echo Point which were located in between the way to
Top Station, we headed straight to Top Station.
To advise you in advance, there is no night life in Kerala and the
drivers also prefer coming back to the city by the evening. So plan your
itinerary according to that only.
Top Station located in the hills of Munnar at the height of
approximately 6000 ft provides us the enlarged view of Western Ghats. What made
this place more amazing is the peace giving journey of an hour by road. It
charges an entry ticket of Rs 20 per person.
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| Blooming Lotus in Munnar |
All over Munnar or we say Kerala; it’s the greenery that
took my heart away. Even describing what we saw at each tourist spot in Munnar
would be a replication of my thoughts. It was that time when I was travelling
on the roads of Munnar I could feel the pure air I was breathing in. As the
time was passing by, I knew that the time still had to come when I had to head
back to my native place; I was not in favor of leaving the place. Probably I
have written much but still I feel from inside that I am not able to explain my
feelings.
The beauty of Kerala will surely leave
you speechless.
Read Also:
Thekkady - A Home to Natural Spices among Wildlife
Backwater that Redefines Alleppey & Deshadan Backwater Resort
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Your tour dairies are really exciting for me and I am really interested to know more about them. You are the only person that has been able to tell me about many new places.
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