Kerala, God’s Own Country – 2

Date: Oct 9, 2014

I wrote about the experiences of first day of Kerala trip in my previous and first blog of the series Kerala, God’s Own Country – Part 1

Next day our plan was of Munnar sightseeing, but before that we should be fresh and energetic. In night there was some cold but the rooms were comfortable. I woke up at 5 am next day just to watch the sunrise because sunrise is always a sight which one should never miss and it’s even better if it is near sea or mountain, the sunrise is always a sight which allure the eyes. The atmosphere in the morning was shiny and there was no clouds in the sky. The sky was clear and there was cold winds.

The group members who didn’t enjoyed the swimming pool last evening, planned to do in the morning after breakfast before leaving for the Munnar tour. The breakfast served had complete South Indian touch with a vast variety. After the breakfast we spend time in swimming pool and the sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds.

At 1:00 pm, we left for the sightseeing in the traveller. The weather was changing in moment, in few minutes it’s sunshine and next minute there was cloud. The hide and seek of sun and cloud was continued. As our resort was on top of the hill, so we are going down the hill.

On the way, we stopped at another waterfall which we saw on previous day but not able to spend time due to the long travel and tiredness. This waterfall was the proof that the extreme power is very creative. The water was so clean that you can drink it. We may have stayed for just ten minutes, but it happened what I was feared. The rain started in full swing and due to which we forced to move from there.

We were driving through Lockhart gap, the area on both sides of road was covered from tea plantation and the weather changed again. This time the rain was replaced by dense fog. Nothing was visible. The fog was so dense that even the road was not visible for few inches ahead because of which the traveller was dragging. But this fog was completely different from the Delhi fog. I was getting a divine feeling, felt like god lives at a place like this.

If your married life is boring, Munnar is the place which ignites spark in it, again. The unpredictable weather is one thing which you can easily feel in Kerala. Only advice, if you have kids less than 5 years, avoid taking them with you else it is tough to live the moment.

We reached elephant park at 2:15 pm. The elephant park is the place where you can take a ride of elephant. The ticket was not costly if we look at the maintenance of these giant mammals but if we look at the duration of the ride then it was not worth. The ride was too short. Apart from the elephant ride you can hire a photographer with some extra cost. On the completion of the ride, if you want to feed the elephant then you have to spend some more bucks. This is the one of the best way of earning money. They used every bit of resource to earn,  commercialization was at it’s best. Don’t expect much from the elephant park, if you never took elephant ride in your life and want to feel it, only then go for it. Also, compare to Munnar it is better to do elephant ride in Thekkady.

After elephant park, we left for echo point. The echo point, as the name suggested, is famous for echoing your voice and giving you the pleasure of hearing your voice again and again, the only condition is you have to shout loud. But I would say that is not the main attraction, the real attraction is the scenic and raw beauty of the place. The water reservoir surrounded by the lush green hills and hills were covered by the mist.  The place is a paradise for the photographers. There was no commercialization around the place, only some people were present who were busy in fishing.

While coming back from Echo Point, we stopped at a small market for some shopping. On a handicraft shop, I found a unique wood item (atleast for me). At first glance the item looks like a wood plate, but on pulling the handle it converted into a basket which one can use for keeping fruits, flowers, vegetables etc. The uniqueness of the thing is that it is handmade and created from a single piece of Sheesham wood.

After spending sometime in market we left for Mattupetty Dam. We reached Dam by 4:30 pm. The reservoir was created to conserve water for hydroelectricity generation. The place is worth to spend time. There was stalls, if you want to purchase or eat something. It is another nice place for photographers to do some creativity. We leave soon from Mattupetty Dam as we had to reach flower garden before it closed. The closing time is 6:00 pm, but we reached flower garden well before closing time.

It is maintained by Floriculture Centre of Kerala Forest Development Corporation by charging a nominal entrance fee from visitors. Enormous variety of flowers and plants were maintained there. It is good for educational tour for children and for the people who love to see different variety of flowers. After the flower garden tour we left for the hotel.

The day was awesome but end of the day saw an unpleasant sight of a bus which was running quite alarmingly. Beware of the buses on the road else there are chances of accident.