Munnar and Thekkady by Road

Our trip to Munnar and Thekkady
If it sounds arrogant when the Malayalees proclaim their state of Kerala as "God's Own Country", well, they are entitled to ... they are blessed with a state which is but a sliver of the whole country's land mass, but endowed with hill stations, beaches and a rich culture and heritage and the foresight and wherewithal to develop these into revenue earners which are diligently milked for all they are worth...kudos to them - ther deserve every bit of it.

Ranga and I got stir crazy and decided to take a few days off from the mad humdrum of day to day life in Bangalore, despite the weather being beautiful, it was getting monotonous, so I called Club Mahindra and after a lil adjustment of dates booked their Lake View and Tusker Trails resorts respectively at Munnar and Thekkady. Did some internet trawling and got our road directions in place and armed with some light woollens, we took off in our 1 month old Santro at 5am sharp, as planned on Wednesday, Nov 11th 2009.

Day 1 - 11/11/09

Crossing Hosur, we took a tangential right road to Denkanikotai as through this is some of the most scenic drives to Munnar, about 50 kms of this stretch which is mostly District Roads is bad, otherwise the roads across Tamil Nadu which is the bulk of the jouney are fairly good. The route is so beautifully scenic, the cool misty morning drive from Hosur itself (now I know why Hosur is called Little England), the mountains wearing a crown of clouds, the lake close to the Hogennakkal Falls (yes, we got to see these up close and personal on this route!) are all enough to melt the hardest heart and mine of course was just putty. We stopped near Hogenakkal for some homemade chapattis and subzi with hot coffee for breakfast and continued after just 15min in which Ranga took some breathtaking shots with our camera. A light sweater kept us warm as we drove on through the backstreets of Tamil Nadu encountering villagers and cattle who behave remarkably alike, thereby forcing us to drive more slowly that we would've liked and reached Tiruppur around 1pm. We should have been able to take a bypass to Udumalaipettai but due to the flooding of a low level causeway, were forced to drive through a horrendously chaotic town before resuming our journey. A good 1 1/2 hours of lost time. A brief 20min halt for a mini meal lunch at A2B and some more coffee, and we took off to enter the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary which is where the ghat section to Munnar begins. A 59km journey which is so wonderful, its like a whole different world...a world cut off from the rot of civilisation, nestled in the lap of nature, bordered by pruned tea estates, the entire climb takes over 3 hours, as it is full of hairpin bends and narrow roads, where the only aberration are the jeep drivers who apparently have a death wish, but since we had no such inclinations, we were left angrily muttering as these speed demons rocket through these ghats endangering all in their path and disturbing the beautiful and serene landscape. Anyways thanks to the loss of time and the slow progress we made on the roads during the day we reached Munnar only by 6pm. By then, it was dusk and nightfall is very rapid, the Club Mahindra Lake View Resort is 22 kms away from Munnar town on the way to Kochi, so we plodded on for another 45min., in ever increasing fog, with defogger on, lights on and a prayer that no jeeps would come hurtling down as the roads at some places are ridiculously narrow with blind turns. After reaching the resort, both of us let out our collectively held breath with a whoosh. Check in was swift and room overlooked the wonderful tea gardens as promised. We had a quiet dinner, breathed in lungful of clean, crisp, cool mountain air and settled down for the night listening to crickets.

Day 2 - 12/11/09

Woke up around 7am, and went for a walk, breathing in the oxygen so in short supply in cities, had a lavish breakfast at the Tea Room, their multicuisine restaurant, and relived the drive through the mountains and the lovely gurgling streams and waterfalls which dot the entire drive up at regular intervals, like silver streaks in a lush green carpet. Went through the tea gardens, enjoyed the sunset, had a leisurely dinner watching the clouds kiss our resort and only then we realised how many times during the day, we had sighed in sheer pleasure. After watching a movie on the portable DVD player which is part of our standard gear, which hubby dear connected to the room's TV, we snuggled into our beds for a cosy sleep. Resort is luxurious clean and comfortable, service is excellent and worth every penny.

Day 3 - 13/11/09

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise and went and cleaned the car thoroughly (no car wash facility available, which was a blessing in disguise) so we worked up a good appetite, had a simple breakfast and checked out at 9am for our drive to Thekkady which is about 95kms and 3 hours of driving through lush green forests and dotted with waterfalls and streams at a leisurely pace brought us to Kumily. On the way, we stopped at the Tata Tea Museum and bought ourselves some packets of tea(what else?!) and continued after downing a hot cup of divine masala chai at a roadside shack. Club Mahindra Tusker Trails Resort is between Kumily and Thekkady. Before we checked in we had a typical Kerala meal at a restaurant called Spice Chimney. The resort is wonderful, it apparently was earlier the Taj Garden Retreat before being aquired by Mahindra last year. Cottages are built on stilts with thatch on regular RCC roofs to give a rustic feel. Wonderfully quaint with a stained glass window, the cottage is a delight. They could of course re-do the bathrooms as they have a dated 80s look to them, not to say that they are not comfortable, they are, but the makeover will make it more today rather than yesterday. The weather was mild and so after a brief nap, a hot cup of coffee, a dip in the pool was just what tired bodies needed. We returned feeling fresh, had a drink and had some hot cup-o-noodles and soup for dinner. We drifted off to sleep with mellow music from the i-pod listening to frogs and crickets joining the orchestra. Nature's symphony has a soothing effect and we fell fast asleep.

Day 4 - 14/11/09

Woke up to rain drumming on the roof and this went on for quite some time. In a brief lull, rushed to the dining hall for some hot breakfast and then drove around town looking for a petrol bunk, where we tanked up and pleasantly observed that the petrol was cheaper by Rs.5 than Bangalore. Chellarkovil is a lovely view point which leaves you stunned and speechless at the sheer beauty and bounty of nature. Driving to the Periyar Lake was a formality only as the recent boat tragedy had prompted closure of all boating activities (though we were told that these would resume on 16th. - well, we missed it!). After spending some time at this serene place which was very quiet due to lack of tourits (which, if you ask me, was a good thing!!), we drove out to a shop selling model boats (Kettuvellams) and bought one of about 3 feet long and gingerly placed it on the rear seat, some knick knacks and a bagful of spices later, we returned to our resort for a simple lunch. The very air as we strolled was permeated with spices and the exotic smells are passe' for the locals but invigorating for us city beings. After the nap, just when we decided to go for a stroll, the skies opened up again and we had to cower and run to the restaurant for a lovely dinner. Too much of fresh air can make you indolent and groggy!! We slept early as we wanted to leave early on our drive back home.

Day 5 - 15/11/09
At 6am sharp with the skies still dark and mist enveloping the car and all the we could (barely) see, we inched out of the resort, but as we crossed Cambam, the mist disappeared like magic, and we could go faster. We were hungry and stopped at the Travancore Paragon hotel at Periyakulam for breakfast. Tucked into a lovely ghee roast and took off again, sated. After Dindigul, you enter NH 45 and right through to Bangalore you are on NH, clocking a great 100+ averaging over 60kms/hr. Route we took was Kumily - Cambam - Periyakulam, Theni, Dindigul, Karur, Salem, Nammakal, Krishnagiri, Hosur, Bangalore. A must mention is the penchant for Tamil Nadu drivers to drive on the wrong side of the road, even on NHs, brazenly, as if it is their God given right, not only being a pain in the butt but potential accidents waiting to happen. We paid a toll of about Rs.175 in all but the road was worth it and we reached home after driving 505kms in 8 1/2 hours, with a 20min halt for lunch after Krishnagiri at A2B. Bangalore traffic was busy for a Sunday and the memories of a leisurely paced life of the hills we had just left behind hit us and made us feel sad about how we city folk have managed to screw up our lives...well, thank God for getaways, we can have brief interludes of peace and quiet at least. The car had averaged 17 on the way up and on the return gave a mileage of about 20 so an average of 18+, I think is fabulous :)