An incomplete ride to Munnar

                                 I was a bit confused initially, whether I should write about this trip which was filled with plenty of disappointments. However, decided to go on with the blog trying to focus just on the positives of the trip. This trip was done after meticulous planning a month before; finalized the destination, decided the routes, booked stays., more importantly finalized members as well. In all the planned trips so far, at least one of the members pulling out in the last minute has become a norm. This didn’t happen for us this time, but we never knew a number of unpleasant surprises were waiting us on the way. Let’s talk as we travel...

A bike ride to Munnar was always one of the top priorities in my bucket list. So this place was the obvious choice for the bike trip in January, and was quite acceptable for the other members too. Finally, at the very early morning on that Republic day, when the whole country was sleeping the RE Classic 350 and the Yamaha FZ roared to life and started off from Trivandrum each carrying two people on their backs. After a couple of tea breaks and a breakfast break, we reached Thommankuthu waterfalls – our first target of the day.

This scenic seven-step waterfall in Idukki district of Kerala, is maintained by the Thommankuthu Ecotourism Center. After getting the passes, we walked through the forest towards the falls. The water flows gently along the trek path, occasionally forming tiny steps of waterfalls. The waterfall that was not in full glory, owing to the lack of abundant rainfall, however had its own grace even with the little water it had. We walked a little further and found a shallow pool of water surrounded by rocks. Leaving our accessories in the rocks, we plunged into the cool water. There are plenty of such spots throughout which helps in enjoying without disrupting privacy of others. We spend more than an hour in the waters, and left the place with our bodies completely rejuvenated, without any hint of the tiredness of driving all those 200 kms.

We resumed our journey to reach Munnar by the evening. Google maps got us into trouble at times, by making us travel through some really bad and less-used roads. However, a local guy in a bike offered to show us a shortcut to reach our destination, and we followed his bike. To our surprise he took us through places which looked like backyard of somebody’s home, some very dusty tracks. At one point we had to climb a small hill which looked exactly like the ones they use in dirt bike racing. It was really an experience and I felt sorry for not having a Go-Pro to record all these fun. After bidding good bye to the local guy, we continued the route he suggested. Here too the drive was very adventurous. Felt like we are riding through tarmac(filled with potholes) laid on valleys and steep hills, one after the other. RE kept on crawling through these hills without any signs of tiredness, the FZ however found it really hard to make, especially with a pillion passenger. We took breaks in between just for the sake of getting rest for the FZ. 

Neriyamangalam diversion dam- on the way to Munnar

Finally after an eventful drive, we reached the busy Munnar town by 6PM, and it took more than hour from there to reach Munnar Top Station owing to the heavy traffic. We reached Periyar Residency by 7.15, and after refreshments the hotel guys took us to the nearby cliff where the tent camping for the night was arranged.

The hotel guys offered us tent stay along with Camp fire, Barbecue etc., when booked. But due to the huge rush on that holiday, they have somehow arranged all those just for the name sake. It was quite disappointing for all of us, and the place we were allotted were not the best in that hill. No barbecue grill stand, no proper seating, no lights(initially), very small tents., the service was really bad. It took us some time to cope-up with, but we (not everyone though) decided to enjoy with whatever little we got there. We went for sleep after spending an hour or so around the fire.

The first thing I did waking up the next morning was searching for the camera. With half-opened eyes, I came out of the tent to capture the beautiful sunrise. There was no clouds floating in the valley below us, as we saw in the pictures. However, the scenes were very beautiful even without them. Some early morning clicks:

After spending almost an hour basking in the morning sun, we left the place. The hotel guys had arranged a complimentary breakfast as well. With the destination being Kottakamboor, we started our second day’s ride, and reached the check-post at the top station, only to face yet another disappointment. The officers in the check-post warned us it’s risky to visit Kottakamboor & Vattavada that day, as it was harthal in those places. Some guy was stabbed by people from his political opponents, which created political tensions leading to the harthal. With no other option left, we left the returned with heavy hearts. I was hugely disappointed since it was one of the best parts of the plan, for me.

However, we used the time to visit the tea plantations, and we even took our bikes into the settlements with the plantations. We met the supervisor of that particular sector of plantations, and he happily explained us about various processing, plantation techniques etc. While we left the place all of us got an idea of what's happening in tea processing and cultivation. Also, our visit into the estate helped us in getting a glimpse of the life of the laborers working in these plantations. 

People at work in the estates

They say this is a regular visiting spot of wild elephants. But, all we could saw was these herd of cattle 

On our way back from the Topstation, we visited all the usual spots in Munnar such as Kundala Lake, Echo point, Mattupetty Dam etc.

Kundala Lake

Echo point

Mattupetty Dam

One of us, who was very much not okay with the stay arranged the previous night expressed his desire to leave the trip halfway and go back to home. Compelling a person to continue despite knowing that he is not at all comfortable, was the last thing we needed in this trip. By 3 PM we dropped him at the bus stand, and went on with our altered plan. Our plan for the final day included an early morning trek to the famous Meeshappulimala. With only just three of us left in the trip, we knew it’s not economically feasible to continue with the trek and decided to drop it – next disappointment of the day. We booked a small lodge in Munnar town, after a couple of negotiations and went in for a small nap, just to be disturbed by a knock on our door in a short while. The guy who knocked, informed us that a taxi had hit our bikes parked in front of the lodge. We rushed to the scene, meanwhile my heart was pounding fast more than others’ since mine was a rented bike. As expected, the locals were talking in favor of the taxi guy, but no one could explain how a taxi crashed into these bikes parked well away from the road. Luckily, the accident has not caused much damage to the bikes, except a few scratches here and there. It made me sigh with relief, as the last tragedy for the day was not that damaging. We roamed through the Munnar town that night just to get the hang of nightlife in the town, had dinner and retired to bed for the day.

En route Devikulam

The next morning, after a small shopping for tea, chocolates, spices etc., we left Munnar town by 9AM with our return drive planned via the scenic Devikulam – Gap Road route. All the previous days in the trip presented us their share of disappointments. The final day was no different too. A few kilometers after Devikulam, we asked a local guy for the route to Gap Road. He informed us that the Gap Road is closed for renovation and will be opened only after six months. One more added to the list of disappointments. 

Tea estates at Kuttikanam

We took the Munnar – Nedumkandam – Kattappana – Pathanamthitta – Trivandrum route for the return journey. On the way, we stopped for a late lunch at the ‘Tharavadu’ toddy shop in Mundakkayam. The food there was so delicious such that it happened to be one of the few moments in the trip to remember. After having a yummy and really satisfying lunch, we continued the ride. 

The ride through SH19 surrounded by Cardamom Plantations, Tea estates in Kuttikanam was enjoyable. But the number of places we couldn’t visit due to different reasons, haunted my mind throughout. The Kottakamboor-Vattavada ride, Meeshappulimala trek, Gap Road… more than half our entire trip plan. However, voice of the never tiring traveler in me said – “We’ll do it later, for sure”.