Munnar Diary

1. I first visited Munnar with my family in April 2000. At that time it was a small hill station in Eastern Kerala. Nevertheless we were really taken by the beauty of the place with miles and miles of tea plantations.

2. Therefore, I and my wife Nandini decided to visit Munnar again this March. Now it has become a bustling place with lots of hotels and restaurants. The beauty of the surrounding hills with miles and miles of tea plantations is still there though the town has become polluted and crowded.

3. We reached Munnar from Cochin airport in about three and half hours. The road is excellent and the traffic during weekday was light. In fact, in our entire Kerala trip we found excellent roads. This is very different from poor and pot holed roads of Maharashtra.

4. We stayed in the lovely High Range Club. For 2 days we were the only occupants of the club. It is a lovely place to stay with old world charm. The lovely grounds (small 9-hole Golf course in front) provided a nice place to walk. The weather was cool (night temperatures of 11-140 C ) and the sky was clear; it was lovely to walk around.

5. We walked daily on the deserted road behind the Golf Club. It goes through the tea gardens and a steep climb of about 2-3 km was really exhilarating and good for the heart; the cool morning breeze evaporated the sweat readily.

6. Eravikulam National Park, where one can see the famed Tahr (ibex) goats was closed because their breeding season had started. So we could not visit it. Last time in 2000 we had climbed Anaimudi View and had touched a few of these goats. They were quite friendly.

©Anil K Rajvanshi. March 2016 2

7. Area around Munnar is dotted with beautiful lakes. Some of them produce power (2-30 MW) and are also tourist attractions with sightseeing boating trips. Hence we visited lakes made by Mattupetty, Kundale and Anayirankal dams – all within 25-30 kms radius of Munnar.

8. On a clear day one can see Tamil Nadu from Top Station - a view point 32 km from Munnar. Though the mornings were clear, by the time we reached Top Station the clouds and mist had started and so we could not get a clear view of Tamil Nadu. However in between when the mist lifted we could get a glimpse of the majestic hills and the valley below.

9. We also visited Vagamon – another hill station on the way to Kottayam. It is at a lower elevation than Munnar. Because of the lack of rains for last 3-4 years the place looked dry and reminded us of Mahabaleshwar topography.

10. We stayed in Kottayam with the family of Philip Thomas, a dear friend of ours. He has a lovely house in Chingavanam. He took us on his speedboat with his family through the Vembanad lake and back waters of Kerala. The weather was clear and lovely, and the cool breeze made the ride very enjoyable.

11. We enjoyed the Kerala food including excellent fish and our journey ended in Fort Cochin where Philip and his family treated us to a sumptuous Kerala breakfast of appam, puttu, kadala (chickpea curry) and egg curry. The restaurant was opposite to Old Courtyard Hotel where we had stayed 16 years ago. It brought back happy memories of our 2000 Kerala visit.

12. When one travels on the winding roads of Kerala there is not an inch of place on both sides of road that is not populated. Kerala seems like one continuous city!

13. We flew out of Cochin, which is India’s first solar powered airport.

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©Anil K Rajvanshi. March 2016 3

Photo montage

Club grounds Club entrance

View from Top Station Another view of club grounds

View from the top of our daily walk View of Anayirankal Dam lake from the road

Getting ready to get in Philip Thomas On Anayirankal Dam speedboat in Kottayam sailing club

View of backwaters from Purity Hotel, Kottayam

Nandini with Philip Thomas family Anil and Philip in front of Old Courtyard Hotel

Julie Thomas with Anil and Nandini in the Solar PV arrays at Cochin Airport

Courtyard Hotel

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