Kerala, God’s Own Country – 1

Date: Oct 8, 2014

Since my travel to Jaisalmer in winters of December 2013, I didn’t get the chance for outing due to some commitments. The explorer inside me was flapping to came out of the usual routine and went to explore new place. So, when my brother mentioned that he was planning for a trip to Kerala in October and asked me whether I would like to join, I said yes without giving another thought because the explorer inside me was waiting for this opportunity.

In the coming days the plan for travel and the group of people was decided. The dates for travel was finalized was 8th Oct 2014 to 14th Oct 2014. The group of people included other than me was my brother, my cousin, my brother’s friend and their family. The group in total consisted of seven adults and five kids.

On 7th Oct, I left office little early so that I took some sleep before the travel as our flight departure was at 6:05 am in the morning. But as it happened to many of you also, I wasn’t able to sleep in the night due to the excitement of the trip. In the morning of 8th Oct, we left home at 4:00 am for the IGI airport, New Delhi with cousin’s family. There was traffic on the roads but unlike the daytime in Delhi the roads were free from traffic jam. Most of the traffic included either of commercial vehicles which was ban to enter in Delhi during the daytime or most of the people who were also going to airport. We reach airport around 5:00 am. My brother’s friend had already reached their before us and is in the queue of the ticket counter. As we had infant travelling with us, so we were not allowed for the online boarding ticket.  After spending around 30 minutes in the queue of SpiceJet counter, we got free from the boarding formalities.

Due to not able to book the seats online, we got the seats over the wings which meant we lost the benefit of window seat, that means we stand no chance of getting the best views of clouds and terrain. But as it was a short flight so it doesn’t matter much but for longer journey you must consider getting the best seats which suits you. The flight took off at 6:05 am which was the departure time. There was no delay in that. The flight was not direct flight to Kochi which was our destination, it halted at Hyderabad. The flight landed Hyderabad at 8:11 am. After dropping the passengers who were travelling till Hyderabad and boarding the passengers from Hyderabad who were going to Kochi, it left at 8:58 am. By that time, most of us was anxious to reach our destination as we knew that we have to spend around four hours to travel further to our destination. The flight reached Kochi at 10:20 am, the journey was uneventful. The temperature was 25° Celsius in the Kochi that time.

At the airport, our travel organizer from Intersight Holidays was waiting. My brother got busy with him in completing the necessary formalities before starting the tour in the meantime the kids are running like they got out from jail. They were stuck in the plane for around four and half hours, which was a torture for them. After, the completion of formalities the organizer called the tempo traveller. It was a 12 seater vehicle which was with us for complete tour.

By 11:00 am we left the airport for our stay Mountain Club Resort in our first destination Munnar. Situated at the confluence of three mountain streams – Mudrapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundale, Munnar is 1600 Meter above sea level. This majestic hill station was once the summer resort of the British government in South India. The distance to the resort is 126 km from the airport. The road outside the airport is not much wide and on either side of the road was quite green, notably most of the green surroundings was covered by coconut and banana trees. Even there are coconut and banana trees inside the parameter of houses. Unlike Delhi they maintained the nature with the development. Getting the feeling of God’s country.

The atmosphere was clean and there was no dust in the surroundings, probably there was rain a while ago. During the journey to Munnar we went through various places. In Kalady, I noticed that the houses were simple and there was no multistorey buildings. Kalady is located east of the Periyar river. It is the birthplace of Sri Adi Shankara and a popular destination for pilgrims. We crossed Periyar river, Periyar means big river. It is the longest river with the length of 244 km. The river provides water for irrigation and domestic use apart from supporting a rich fishery, due to which it is named as ‘Lifeline of Kerala’. On the banks of the river there was lush green environment due to the trees and plantation which makes the view beautiful and picturesque.

On the journey we reach Chelamattom which is a suburban region of Kochi. This is one of the oldest place in history, life is here since B.C. 28000. I noticed the houses are in hut shapes there. This place reminded me of Agartala. After that we reached Pattal. It is a sub-locality but I remembered it because of an strange view. It is well known fact that Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India. But I say they are most disciplined too because I noticed that even on the liquor shop people stand in queue.

On the way to Munnar, we crossed Cherukunnam, Okkal and then Nellikuzhi. Nellikuzhi is a prominent furniture market which attracts workers from across India. Also, it is an important educational hub in Kerala. I noticed that there are no glasses on the window of the buses, instead of glasses they had shutter. Then we reach Kothamangalam which is famous as a trading center for spices and forest products. It is rich in flora and fauna. In the region you can found moist deciduous, semi-evergreen and tropical evergreen forests. It is also famous for its ancient Syrian Christian churches. After Kothamangalam, our caravan passed through Nellimattom and Oonnukal villages.

By now we have travelled for around 2 hours and it was the time to take a break. We stopped at Rasa restaurant to fill our empty stomach. We stayed there for round a hour before resuming the journey.

The humidity in the atmosphere was replaced by cold breeze when we entered the hill area. We crossed another bridge over Periyar river, the water current was much stronger compared to the earlier. The roads are not much wide but covered with full of trees and plants on either side. The rich and clean greenery looked pleasant to the eyes. The speed of the traveller is reduced to 30-35 kmph as we were not the only visitors. The weather was changed and the raining started which further enhanced the beauty of the place. The weather is very unpredictable at that time of year.

The rain stopped after sometime and we took another stop at Cheeyappara waterfall at Adimaly. This waterfall cascades down in seven steps which is a real feast for the eyes. Although we didn’t do it because of tiredness but this place is also great for trekking. The weather again changed drastically into beautiful view, black (clouds) in sky and green (plants) on earth. We moved as there was chances that rain starts at anytime. We were travelling through tea gardens on both side of the roads. We all were exhausted due to this long travel but at the same time excited too. This is the beauty of nature which you never feel in Delhi.  We were still 8 km away from the resort and it’s raining again.

Finally, after travelling for six hours we reached at Mountain Club Resort at 5:00 pm. The resort was beautiful and well maintained, it was seven year old and spread into seven acres. After putting the luggage in the rooms, I with cousin went for the swimming pool. Although the weather was cold but after long journey like this, only swimming can provide the necessary relaxation to the body. The food was served at 7:00pm and we all were hungry, to much of relaxation the food was awesome with a varied choices. The first day of the tour was ended and we went into our rooms for taking necessary rest so that we will be fresh for the next day fun.