I am not from Munnar. Honestly!! I never lived there. My stays in Munnar during school days were about three or four short summer vacations visiting relatives. Though my ancestors were from there I was born and brought up in the plains of Tamil Nadu. So i wasn't a mountain boy. But it all changed after my college. The mountains kept calling and i responded!!
Leeches feasted on me. Had close encounters in the wild. The most scary encounter was the hissing greeting from a biggest cobra that i ever saw, within few feet of my inviting thigh.!! (Lungi is not the proper attire for a walk in the jungle.!!) Once a lone tusker had me running for my dear life through the undergrowth. (I never told my mum all these.) I had more bruises in one day than what i had in about a month of learning to ride a bicycle when i was a youngster. My mostly sure-footed steps stumbled and slipped many times. Trekked the hills traversing where i pleased. Rode my bike through every accessible path i could find. Had steaming cups of kattanchai (black-tea) with strangers. And now after all these i can honestly say i belong in the mountains in Munnar!!!
A holiday break is a cocktail of many good things. Breathes life into the mundane. Helps us discover ourselves. A perfect holiday break needs a perfect setting. The mountains would always top my list of such a settings. India is a united land of diversity. So diverse in it's natural beauty also. One of those diverse mesmerising beauty of our country is the Western Ghats range. The jewel in many shades of green that runs along the west coast.
If Kerala is the God's Own Country then Munnar region is definitely is the God's Own county!! The plantation town of Munnar is on the high ranges of the Western Ghats in Kerala. The Anamudi peak near Munnar, is the tallest peak south of the Himalayas. Munnar is the heart of this region. All traffic flows towards Munnar. A plantation country of carpeted tea plantations, spice gardens, beautiful orchards, and above all the pristine rain forests that adore the ridges.
Munnar is not just about three rivers. It is a land of many rivers. Pour a bucket of water on a heap of sand. Water flows down through every which way it can. That's what the monsoon and the many natural springs do to the ranges. Rivers and streams are everywhere you turn your head. Water the elixir of life keeps this region full of life. Many varieties of fauna and flora thrive on these magnificent mountain ranges, some of them endemic and very rare.
The eminence of the densely foliaged ridges and the elegance of the lush valleys are poetry that pleases the senses and cleanses the soul.
This is a region that needs a longer holiday break and not just few days. From what i observed most tourists spend a few tightly scheduled days and go back with a memory card full of photos and videos.!! This certainly is not the way to holiday in the hills.
Most tourists zoom around in their transport. Pit-stop at the tick-list locations. Let out a few wows, spend a while, snack on biscuits and hot bajjis, sip a tea and jump back into their transport. Zoom again to the next location. Litter around all along wherever they go. At the end of the tiring day turn in and sleep of the zooming!!! This type of holidaying helps you have some fun and helps the industry make some bucks.
This region of Munnar is the cathedral of ridges, holy shrines of the Mother Earth and the Mecca of soul-cleansing religion called "Be among the Mountains."
More detailed writings on this region and the ways to holiday in the High Alters of nature in the posts to come.!!!
Be seeing you!! Thanks.
Leeches feasted on me. Had close encounters in the wild. The most scary encounter was the hissing greeting from a biggest cobra that i ever saw, within few feet of my inviting thigh.!! (Lungi is not the proper attire for a walk in the jungle.!!) Once a lone tusker had me running for my dear life through the undergrowth. (I never told my mum all these.) I had more bruises in one day than what i had in about a month of learning to ride a bicycle when i was a youngster. My mostly sure-footed steps stumbled and slipped many times. Trekked the hills traversing where i pleased. Rode my bike through every accessible path i could find. Had steaming cups of kattanchai (black-tea) with strangers. And now after all these i can honestly say i belong in the mountains in Munnar!!!
A holiday break is a cocktail of many good things. Breathes life into the mundane. Helps us discover ourselves. A perfect holiday break needs a perfect setting. The mountains would always top my list of such a settings. India is a united land of diversity. So diverse in it's natural beauty also. One of those diverse mesmerising beauty of our country is the Western Ghats range. The jewel in many shades of green that runs along the west coast.
If Kerala is the God's Own Country then Munnar region is definitely is the God's Own county!! The plantation town of Munnar is on the high ranges of the Western Ghats in Kerala. The Anamudi peak near Munnar, is the tallest peak south of the Himalayas. Munnar is the heart of this region. All traffic flows towards Munnar. A plantation country of carpeted tea plantations, spice gardens, beautiful orchards, and above all the pristine rain forests that adore the ridges.
Munnar is not just about three rivers. It is a land of many rivers. Pour a bucket of water on a heap of sand. Water flows down through every which way it can. That's what the monsoon and the many natural springs do to the ranges. Rivers and streams are everywhere you turn your head. Water the elixir of life keeps this region full of life. Many varieties of fauna and flora thrive on these magnificent mountain ranges, some of them endemic and very rare.
The eminence of the densely foliaged ridges and the elegance of the lush valleys are poetry that pleases the senses and cleanses the soul.
Most tourists zoom around in their transport. Pit-stop at the tick-list locations. Let out a few wows, spend a while, snack on biscuits and hot bajjis, sip a tea and jump back into their transport. Zoom again to the next location. Litter around all along wherever they go. At the end of the tiring day turn in and sleep of the zooming!!! This type of holidaying helps you have some fun and helps the industry make some bucks.
This region of Munnar is the cathedral of ridges, holy shrines of the Mother Earth and the Mecca of soul-cleansing religion called "Be among the Mountains."
More detailed writings on this region and the ways to holiday in the High Alters of nature in the posts to come.!!!
Be seeing you!! Thanks.
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