The quarterly alarm started ringing in my head from the beginning of September as 3 months had elapsed since my last tour of Goa & as per my personal new normal, a holiday was due. So after exploring all the suitable options, a package tour of Kerala offered by Yatra was booked.
The selection was done due to the variety of attractions available in the same trip - hill station of Munnar, Jungle safari at Thekkady, beach at Alleppey. This was my first experience of a package tour which was quite pleasant especially as all the daytime transportations were included - there was no night life to go for anyway.
Day 1 - Kochi to Munnar
About 100 km drive on narrow roads surrounded completely by trees takes you to Munnar from Kochi airport. As you get closer to Munnar, hills with tea plantations add to the beauty of the scenic route. Also, random water falls may come in the way to provide you an excuse to stop for drinks, tea or cigarette breaks.
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| View Point photography |
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| Tea plantations |
The journey cum site seeing tour ended at the hotel in the evening of the day 1. Photos & videos capture it nicely but not exactly as we can't feel the hilly surroundings & atmosphere by looking at the monitor. Anyway it was time to freshen up & look forward to check out what the night in Munnar looks like. But only activity I managed to find was to have some drinks at the bar. Temperature starts to drop as soon as the Sun sets here & you can't move around without sweater/jacket during up to early morning.
Day 2 - Munnar
Before Sunrise I was out of the bed & ready for my morning walk in search of tea. I was wearing the jacket only till 9 in the morning as after that it starts getting hot as usual.
First destination was Eravikulam national park where I didn't see any animals at all. Highlight of the site is the bus journey through narrow, steep roads which can barely accommodate a bus & yet buses continuously keep going up & down on the same road. The 10 minute journey was the scariest of my life. After reaching on the bus stop on the hill, I immediately started worrying about the same scary road back to the park office.
Next came the tea museum where you can observe the making of tea from leaves & also know about the history of tea estates in Munnar. The museum didn't appeal me much just like the tea of Munnar which didn't suit my taste buds.
Today's story ends with the eco point photography & my attempt to combine 2 photos with the help of paint.
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| Eco Point |
I captured above beautiful clicks at eco point instead of testing my eco & moved ahead towards rose garden on the way back to Munnar town. I noticed variety of cactuses were more than that of roses in the rose garden. And here I grabbed the opportunity to get myself clicked wearing a fancy new shirt & moved forward to have a fancy lunch at Alibaba & 41 dishes.
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| Rose Garden, Munnar |
After the scary bus ride at Eravikulam national park, it was time for a hair-raising jeep safari in Munnar. The jeep safari takes you to the beautiful Ripple water falls, peaceful Eco point & historical hanging bridge & ends with a picturesque Sunset view amongst the hills of Munnar.
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| Sunset Point |
The frighteningly descending narrow roads took me back to the starting point & then we got back to our hotel. Dinner was skipped as a rare occurrence but was justified due to the late lunch.
Day 3 - Thekkady
Morning rituals were the same on the 2nd day in Munnar. After checkout began the 90 Kms journey to Thekkady for the next leg of the tour. The famous spice garden tour was done on the way & somehow I ended up buying medicine for IBS.
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| Periyar river bank |
Now a days nobody expects to see wild animals in national parks or sanctuaries & likewise I entered the Periyar tiger reserve just to enjoy the scenery it offers. A bus takes visitors to the river bank where you go for about one & a half hour boat ride with the view of a seemingly dense jungle all around. During boating, the bus staff armed with binoculars keep looking for wild animals on river banks to make your visit worthwhile. Here you will most probably miss seeing a tiger but you can surely enjoy the fascinating river with its beautiful surroundings.
Next was a glimpse of native cultural phenomena of Kerala - Kathakali showed the drama of life the dancing way & Kalarippayattu displayed the fight for life spectacularly. The videos speak much better than words about these shows.
Somehow the day seemed tiring & hence we left early to retire at my hotel.
So it was time again to face the evening blues & having no clue to overcome it, I started searching a bar to pass thorough the evening. Bar was found about a kilometer away & there ended the day with one or two new drinks accompanied by a delicious Egg bhurji.
Day 4 - Alleppey
After the tiring day & exhausting evening at Thekkady, morning started late at around 6 am when the alarm bell started ringing. Memories of Thekkady will also include Periyar tiger cafe & restaurant for serving a tasty lunch on the previous day & nice breakfast before embarking on a 4 hour journey to Alleppey.
My travel companion cum driver had already fixed the famous Kerala backwaters ride in a shikara but the surprise package was a simple yet tasty lunch on the backwater route. The boat ride could be an enchanting experience in the late evening but in the afternoon it felt quite dull & disappointing.
Boating took time but it did end finally & there came the last evening of the tour. At last there was the Alleppey beach to make up for the disappointing Shikara ride.
The story ends here with my last click of a couple trying to capture their own memories with the background of the captivating sunset at Alleppey beach.
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