[shrk_18]

Fantastic travelogue with breathtaking pictures, especially Top Station. I have been here twice once when everything was visible from Top Station and once when everything was cloudy. But the place never stops mesmerizing me

The water droplets picture is out of this world !!! Wallpaper stuff really.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

We visited Top Station at the right time. The climate was apt and there were not many tourists too.

Munnar is getting polluted just like ooty and kodai and every time I visit, I find lot of changes in the landscape but not in the right direction.

For trek lovers, you have pampadum shola forest beyond Topstation to go in for a thrilling forest experience. This route was earlier used to connect kodai berijam lake and munnar and was a motorable one. Alternatively, you can stay at guest house at the forest after doing some 4 km trekking with the help of guide. Places like Nadukani, bodimettu, and aanaiyirangal around munnar are also worth the visit.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by TheHkrish

Hi Dhanush,

Your portraits makes the picturesque Munnar even breath taking.

Its great to see Munnar in its full glory.

How is the area where the landslide happened ?

You didn't encounter any rain while climbing right ?.

Thanks a lot for your kind words of encouragement.
I did not face any rains on the uphill.
However, I did get some drizzle as I started out from Kochi, on the initial phase.
The last I knew, the places of lanslide are still in bad shape. Not exactly motorable, but somehow manageable.
I do not have first hand experience as I did not go towards that area.
When I asked around, I was told that the landslide area is south of Vellathooval from Pallivaasal side.

We, Kochi Bhpians are planning a drive to Munnar this weekend. The destination is Aruvi resorts, near Vellathooval. Shall keep an eye open and update if we get to know something.

Originally Posted by shrk_18

Fantastic travelogue with breathtaking pictures, especially Top Station. I have been here twice once when everything was visible from Top Station and once when everything was cloudy. But the place never stops mesmerizing me

The water droplets picture is out of this world !!! Wallpaper stuff really.

Thanks a lot shrk_18

Originally Posted by Gokrish

Munnar is getting polluted just like ooty and kodai and every time I visit, I find lot of changes in the landscape but not in the right direction.

For trek lovers, you have pampadum shola forest beyond Topstation to go in for a thrilling forest experience. This route was earlier used to connect kodai berijam lake and munnar and was a motorable one. Alternatively, you can stay at guest house at the forest after doing some 4 km trekking with the help of guide. Places like Nadukani, bodimettu, and aanaiyirangal around munnar are also worth the visit.

True Gokrish. I agree with you on the pollution part. I only hope that people get some civic sense, sooner or later.
Is the pambadum chola forest route still motorable?
That was a great piece of info.

I have visited Bodimettu and Nadugaani.
Amazing places.
Also ramakkalmedu
I think I should put that on a separate travelogue for Thekkady and Bodi.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

True Gokrish. I agree with you on the pollution part. I only hope that people get some civic sense, sooner or later.
Is the pambadum chola forest route still motorable?
That was a great piece of info.

I have visited Bodimettu and Nadugaani.
Amazing places.
Also ramakkalmedu
I think I should put that on a separate travelogue for Thekkady and Bodi.

No vehicles inside shola forests but trekking till TN boundry allowed.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

No vehicles inside shola forests but trekking till TN boundry allowed.

Most of my travels are with my wife and kids in tow.
And my wife isn't too benevolent about trekking.

Looks like I have to pep her up for trekking too in future

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Most of my travels are with my wife and kids in tow. And my wife isn't too benevolent about trekking. Looks like I have to pep her up for trekking too in future

In fact, in my case the accompanying guard was so kind that he carried my daughter on his shoulder for most part of the trek. Trekking in forest is something my whole family enjoys and once in a year we definitely visit the Mother Nature.

[vaisakhr]

Fantastic pics bro. Loved the narration too. Really enjoyed reading it.

[naveen.raju]

Brilliant. All photos came out really well. Wallpaper stuff. Waiting to see more of this in the coming months.

PS - It would be great if you can add pics of the roads throughout the trip. This will help us get an idea of the roads.

[adimicra]

Superb pics and nice travelogue.
I am planning to visit Munnar during November. Yet to book the hotel.
Can you please share your feedback about Blue Haze resort?

Currently, I have shortlisted Blackberry resorts and Debonshire greens based on tripadvisor reviews and feedback on other portals.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Brilliant. All photos came out really well. Wallpaper stuff. Waiting to see more of this in the coming months. PS - It would be great if you can add pics of the roads throughout the trip. This will help us get an idea of the roads.

Thanks Naveen.
We should definitely see more of this in the next few days- on our TBhp drive!!!

The roads all the way till pallivasal was good. It was however compensated after that till Munnar. I didn't have enough time to click snaps in between negotiating those craters.
Shall make amends for those snaps in the up coming trip.

Originally Posted by adimicra

Superb pics and nice travelogue. I am planning to visit Munnar during November. Yet to book the hotel. Can you please share your feedback about Blue Haze resort? Currently, I have shortlisted Blackberry resorts and Debonshire greens based on tripadvisor reviews and feedback on other portals.

Blue Haze had great ambience for the infrastructure and the view of the green valley it provided. The building looked as if it had been set in some colonial era. All rooms have a balcony overlooking the valley and fog covered mountains.
However the build quality was not great.
Some rooms did not have hot water and in the room in which my friend stayed, the tap was leaking.
The hotel needs to do some serious maintenance work.
The food is not too costly and the dining room also gave an amazing view. It was worth the money we paid

[dhanushmenon]

I did a drive to Munnar once more on 20 Oct 13 with the team Bhp members of Kochi.
The details of the drive is updated on this thread, with pictures of other members too. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...e-kochi-5.html

I am uploading these snaps as a reference for others who are searching the forum for Munnar.

Cheeyappara water falls







Karadippara view point Vaisakhr capturing the beauty through his lens



The first sight of lush green tea plantations



The winding roads







The bird's eye view. Figo_mba's car.









Top station. Unlike last time, by the time we reached, it was almost dark. The beauty of the place is still awesome.









Hot tea in the bone chilling cold.



The hill top tea vendor and his urn

[dhanushmenon]

The resort at which we stayed- Aruvi resort.
Aruvi, in Malayalam means- Stream.
The resort however, had three full waterfalls near by in addition to the relishing stream which buzzed in a soothening background score.



The pic above is the view I was welcomed to when I walked into the balcony in the morning. Couldnt get more refreshing than this!!



This is the first fall which is visible from the balcony









Cocoa.



The second water fall. This is located on the top part of the first fall. It was on a walkable distance from the resort.





My son was adamant on rock climbing...



He really did have a field day!!









The third fall for yet another chilling dip. This fall is not visible from the resort. However, if you walk upto the bottom of the main fall, this falls lies besides it and is far more safer than the deep plunge of the former.
This falls had few baby pools where we could easily enjoy kind of a Jacuzzi, sans the hot water part

Rather, the water was chilling!!





We had a fantastic trip in company of wonderful people.
All thanks to revintup for suggesting the resort.

The drive in a convoy, waterfalls and a drive through thick fog at night were undoubtedly the highlights.

[arjuunz]

It was getting very hot and terribly boring at my place, so, myself and my friends decided to have a drive to Munnar (It was around 180 kms and climate there was awesome). We took my friends Polo GT TDi and hit the road at around 1 a.m. from Chengannur so that we could reach Munnar before sun rises. The road wasn't very good (because of the route we took) and we couldn't hit speed as we expected. It was a route suggested by Google maps full of byroads, frankly we had no idea where we were. After an hour of bad roads and slow driving, we finally reached the beautiful hills of Munnar.

I have been here several times, but still, every time I come here, it's an entirely new experience. Around 6 a.m. we stopped to enjoy the chilled air and the refreshing view of hills. The Polo's outside temperature reading was 9 degree Celsius!

At early morning the temparature was so cold, we could barely stand outside for 15 minutes. After having a nice hot coffee, we set off. We cruised through the hilly roads for around an hour. By noon we decided to have our return. We decided to take the better road via Adimali - Muvattupuzha - Kottayam to chengannur. Since it was noon the traffic was pretty bad and it took around 4.5 hours to get back.

In a span of 13 hours we travelled around 380 kms, and we were on the move for almost 10 hours. Even though it was a short trip, the drive was amazing and we enjoyed every moment of it. Driving through the hills, early morning, a great experience!

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by arjuunz

We took my friends Polo GT TDi and hit the road at around 1 a.m. from Chengannur so that we could reach Munnar before sun rises. The road wasn't very good (because of the route we took) and we couldn't hit speed as we expected. It was a route suggested by Google maps full of byroads, frankly we had no idea where we were. After an hour of bad roads and slow driving, we finally reached the beautiful hills of Munnar.

That's a beautiful white steed your friend has got.
Thanks for uploading the pics.
The last one is simply outstanding.
Good eye for photography you have.

Looks like you missed Top Station. It was anyway tight on a one day schedule.
On the next visit, try visiting Marayoor and Topstation

A few questions
Which is that place on the last snap?
On which date did you go?
Is it still lush green as is the characteristic of Munnar, even in this horrid April heat?

[arjuunz]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

A few questions
Which is that place on the last snap?
On which date did you go?
Is it still lush green as is the characteristic of Munnar, even in this horrid April heat?

Thank you for the compliments and I'm happy that you liked the pictures, but the last one was taken by my friend. He is a photographer and it was taken by his Nikon D4.

We were actually planning to stay there for a day and visit few places, but unfortunately something came up and we had to come back fast. Regarding the questions:

1. The last photo was taken near a stream or something behind the ksrtc stand munnar. It was looking very beautiful at that time, the stream was covered by mist and we thought it would make a good snapshot.

2. The date was 4th morning.

3. Munnar isn't at it best right now, most people say you have to visit munnar during the rains. The place gets even more cold and the natural greenery is at its best. It at that time you get that thick green landscape.