Thursday 25 August 2016

Short Trip to Munnar Kerala - AVB0097569

We reached Munnar at around 6 pm in the evening. The first thing I felt was that the chill was not that spine-cracking compared to that in Kodaikanal or other higher hill stations that I had visited previously but this chill was pleasurable. Munnar has a varying altitude from around 1500 to 2700 metres, with the highest peak – Anamudi being located here at around 2700 mtrs.


The driver took us to the Abad Copper Castle Resort, the hotel booked for us by the Antilog Vacations. The hotel had an interesting entry as we had to take a sharp incline from the main road to reach the entrance of the Copper Castle. It was flanked by a car parking space and a viewing porch located by its side. The view from the porch was charming with lush green forests and pine trees dotting the hotel from the sides. This provided a nice backdrop to the resort as it was located along a valley.


The hotel had rooms in the basement, the ground floor and first floor. We had booked a family suite and a double bed room for us 6 people. I personally did not like the rooms very much as the rooms had an old feel and the plaster of the wall was peeling off at some places. There was a strange smell in the rooms too. The suite was large though, around 550 square feet and had 2 rooms – a dining cum drawing room and a bedroom. Electric kettle, a necessity in hill stations was present. The service of the waiters though left a lot to be desired as they took ages to bring the luggage to our rooms. We had dinner at the hotel and it was a nice combination of South Indian and north Indian delicacies.


Next morning we had a good look of the hotel and found out that the first floor had a games room consisting of table tennis and carom tables. The dining hall was located just beside the games room. After breakfast, we left for the local sightseeing in the Qualis. We were told that Munnar is the meeting point of 3 main rivers of the area – Mattupetti, Nallathanni and Periavani. However the three rivers are not located in Munnar proper and hence it is not easily accessible.


So, first we went to the Tata Tea Museum where the famous Kannan Devan Tea is made. We were shown a film about the history of the Kannan Devan which was followed by a tour of various tea artifacts and the actual tea processing centre, where in the green tea leaves is converted to the final packaged form. It was a great learning experience for all ‘urban’ people like us who usually take that cup of tea for granted, not worrying about all the efforts that go behind it.


The Kundala Lake was our next stopover. It is a beautiful lake nested amidst green hills on all sides. The Echo point is located nearby, but it was a disappointment as despite our best shouts the echo was not very clear!! The Top Station is the highest point in Munnar and was around 1 hour drive from our hotel. The road is quite uneven to the top. The place though is quite picturesque and definitely worth a visit because of the view of the valleys and gorges. You can feel the clouds as they are at your level or even sometimes below you. After lunch on our way back to the hotel we saw various tea plantations, waterfalls and the Mattupetty Dam.

We checked out of the hotel early next day and reached the Kochi. It was a great visit with the efforts of dedicated Antilog Vacations Team. GOOD LUCK!

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