Heaven's Garden ..... MUNNAR

It was a lovely  morning and we were very much excited.Quickly we finished our breakfast and get ready for our next destination.We started our journey around 8:30 am and our first destination for that day was Cheeyappara waterfalls.which will come on the way to munnar .From kochi to Cheeyappara  it will take around 1and half hours.Cheeyappara waterfalls was not so big as other two waterfalls(Athirapaly and Vazhachal).

Cheeyappara waterfall is one of the most awesome attraction on the way to Munnar. It is around 70 KM from Ernakulum, Cochin on the Cochin-Madurai highway. This is a nation highway – NH49. The major attraction of the Cheeyappara waterfall is it’s falling water (as with all other waterfalls). The water comes down from a height of 1000 feet, falls on 13 rock slabs step by step to fall very very close to NH-49. If you are lucky enough to be there in the morning, you can enjoy another natural beauty – a rainbow upon the spray of water. This happens only in morning sunshine.
Cheeyappara waterfall is one of few waterfall that you can view from the bottom standing so close to the water. Besides, there is an area set apart touching the waterfall. Here you can safely take bath in the shower of water or standing there you can enjoy the spray of cool water.
There is a bridge on the National Highway (NH-49) that crosses the waterfall. Water flows beneath the bridge. This is the only road that cresses a huge waterfall.After that we started for the next ,Valara  waterfall is often mentioned together with Cheeyappara fall.

They both are road side attractions of Cochin – Munnar highway. However, the distance between them is about 12 kms.Unlike Cheeyappara, Valara fall is not right next to the road. It is not too far either. Located about 50 metres or a bit more from the highway, can be seen in its full glory right from the road.The stream that creates the waterfall is surrounded by dense growth of trees all around. The patch of rock where water cascades down is the only exception. The cascade is alive even in summer, however the size is greatly reduced then.
       

There is no access to the waterfall. So the only thing to do is view it from the road side.                          Finally after spending 4 hours we are in munnar. Mr jeevan suggested that there is a fun park which is best for couples so we decided to go there .The dreamland fun park was very nice place ,there also you have to take entry tickets which costs rs 600 per head.There you will have 26 activities to do  and believe me you will just love it .

And the fun stops with a horror activity in the dreamland fun park.we spent around 3 and half hours there and enjoyed all the activities. . Since  lunch time was almost up so we decided to have our lunch and then proceed . We went to a roadside restaurant named GURU and had Kerala Fish meals.

                                Munnar city center is little crowded and concentrated. Hotels there are cheap but since we wanted so stay a little closer to nature thats why our travel planner choose  "Bracknell Forest" which is a little far from the city centre. In the evening we watched  Kathakali and Kalarippayattu (traditonal martial art).

They have daily shows in the evening at a hall very near to the hotel. Ticket price is Rs 200 for each show per person .this was a hectic day and we were tired so finally we moved to our hotel "bracknell forest"

it was very good hotel,the attendants were also very much supporting.You need to order your lunch and dinner a few hours before as they will buy raw material and specifically cook what you ordered.  There was a long list of places to be seen the next day      That included:                                                                                                                  

1.  Mattupetty Dam and Lake   
2.   Echo point  view point 
3.  Eravikulam National Park   

It was around 5:30 am ,we woke up and we went for a walk and believe me it was a beautiful morning .

The morning was cold and yet pleasant ,we took many photos ,as we dnt have much time so we went back and get ready for our next destination .We started early as usual around 7:30 AM. Our first stop was Mattupetty lake.

When we reached the lake there was no tourists or buses so early in the morning. It is a very big lake and looks very beautiful. We clicked to our heart's content. Boating facilities are available for tourists.  
                              We crossed the dam for our next destination  Echo Point. Echo Point is near to Matupetty lake.Echo Point is a lovely place.... the water in the lake so tranquil and reflections on the water so clear. But people have made this place so dirty. There was litter all around.

There are many local shops in the side ways of Eco point,one can get different fragrant home made soaps,hand made chocolates and many types of decorative things.

 Between Mutupetty and Echo Point there is a place called Cattle Point that falls on the way. Though it is not a tourist place, the place looks beautiful and we got down from our car to take a few snaps.  From there we again retraced our way back to Munnar.

When we reached Matupetty Dam again, this time it was full of tourists and vehicles. We were lucky to have seen this place early the day else with so many people around it would have been difficult to get decent shots.   Our  destination was Eravikulam National Park.

The park is famous for nilgiri tahr. Previously nilgiri tahr were found all across the Nilgiris but now Eravikulam National Park is their last resort. The park is generally closed for few months every year, mostly from Feb to April end for calving.  We reached the park at 10:30 AM. After buying the entry tickets we walked about 1km as private vechiles are not allowed inside.  It was very hot and there was a long queue at the ticket counter.  .   So our trip of heaven's garden, Munnar, was over. while returning there was a tea garden named  Devikulam. Devikulam is an ever green landscape of undulating tea gardens.And here our munnar trip came to an end .after visiting munar i can say yes truely MUNNAR  is Heaven's Garden.

The Untouched beauty of Kerala – Athirapally and Vazahal

This blog shares my travel experiences and my journey starts with KOLKATA
1st october-  Hello kolkata

    we got off to a happy start in kolkata ,we(me and my husband) reached Netaji Subhash Chandra bose international airport by time.The Indian Airlines flight was quite comfortable and we enjoyed the snacks offered by the airlines.Then by two hours we reached Mumbai airport.Their our next flight to cochin was delayed by 5 hrs ,it was quite irritating .Whole night  we spend roaming here and there in the airport .Finally at the early morning our cochin flight was called.

    2nd october- cochin

we arrived in cochin in the morning,stepping out of the terminal building we saw a tall man standing and holding a board named NITUN KUMAR (its my husband's name)  the tall man was the driver or you can say our guide for the whole trip.Thankfully the cab provided by the Travel agent was an AC vehicle ,which provide a great relief from the outer heat.Our driver mr Jeevan raj was good in english but he can't speak hindi much.but he can understand hindi,which was sum-how making us comfortable.we had to visit two waterfalls on the same day and mr jeevan suggested us to start early ,since both are situated on the edge of sholayar forest range and the entry is restricted after 5:30 pm as for safety of people.so firstly we went to the resort (The Villa Romantica)

which was quite near to the Cochin airport.we dumped our bags,get freshed...had coffee and get out for our first destination i.e Athirapally waterfalls.It was 10:00 clock morning,it was a sunny day when we start our journey but after sometime it become cloudy in the month of october ,its the perfect time to visit athirapally falls.Its also named as niagara Falls of India,this time the flow of the fall was at maximum.Athirapally water falls is approximately 60km from kochi airport and it took around 1 and half hours to reach there,the water fall is located 30 km from Chalakudy Town.The one hour drive through the forest of Chalakudy itself was enjoyable.The falls can be viewed from the top where one can see the chalakudy river flowing down the falls.

                                        Athirapally is the most loved and favorite shooting spot of director Mani ratnam and it can spotted in his movies like Dilse ,Raavan,Guru to name a few.The shooting of many Malayalam and bollywood movies have been done here .And the recent one is Bahubali which was quite popular .It was around 12:10 pm and we reached our first destination The Athirapally falls and after a walk of around 5 minutes with continuous sweating ,we had the first glance of the majestic waterfall  and we forgot all our tiredness and we were just amazed of seeing the natural beauty .My husband started taking some snaps of the lovely scenic and suddenly rain started and we could see the source of the waterfall before flowing down the  falls and witnessed a stunning atmosphere around the falls. To enjoy the waterfall at it best ,we walked across the forest through slippery steps.the area was hard to take any photographs,as the tiny droplets carried by wind just settled on the lens of my camera.One should take care not to cross the border lines marked by the security staff,which is the safety measures taken by the authorities to prevent accidents.
 After seeing the continuous rain we decided to have ice-cream and believe me ice-cream in rain was a awesome combination .After spending around 45-50 minutes we moved towards our    next waterfall i.e CHARPA and VAZHACHAL waterfall

                                In all the waterfalls you have to take entry fee ,which counter you can get on the sideways .One thing to remember that you have reach the by 5 pm as the counter get closed at 5pm.From  Athirapally .Vazhachal is 5km apart and it takes hardly 10-15 minutes by car.Charpa fall is close to Athirapally falls and it seems to be almost plunges on the road.Vazhachal was very nice and calm place.The place was surrounded by gardens,some benches were there to relax and enjoy the scenic beauty of waterfalls.

                              Vazhachal fall is close to dense green forests and is a part of the chalakudy river.This largest waterfall in Kerala is set at the entrace of the sholayar ranges and originaes from Anamudi mountains of the western ghats.The garden was monitored and administrated by Vazhachal Forest department as it was around 2pm ,so we were very much hungry then our
driver suggested that there is no good restaurant near by so its better to take lunch at cochin.so he took us a restaurant named Open kitchen,there we had chicken biryani which cost only rs 130.After lunch we were back to villa romantica,we were very much tired so just took a small nap.By By 8.30 they arranged a fantastic candle night dinner followed by very nice ice-cream.It was a pleasant stay.