Adventures, everyone wants to go on one but in reality, it wouldn’t be that of an adventure without problems. Adventures are a mix of everything; fun, joy, travel, horror, food, memories and moments.
I am 14 years old and in grade 9, travelling with my dad, mom and my 6-year-old sister. We live in Bahrain, a place so deserted that we rarely get to see greenery. But at least we get to see camels.
We were planning to buy a car for almost a year. In the end, we bought the all new Ford Endeavour. Buying this 4x4 tough built SUV, we wanted to take it somewhere. We were thinking of some place different from usual, something that excite us, thrill us and take us on an adventure.
Munnar is one place I would think of those are green almost throughout the year, no matter the weather, climate, temperature and rainfall. Kolukumalai is another place that would be great for an off-road experience. The beauty of the green tea estates and mountains make you feel like you’re in a Green Paradise and what I’m going to tell you is what I experienced in Munnar and Kolukumalai. So pack up your adventurous side and get set.
We got our Ford Endeavour a few days before our trip so that we could cruise through Munnar. We were excited as this was the first trip with the car.
This whole travelogue is going to be of 4 segments:
• 27 July: Madurai to Udumalai
• 28 July: Drive to Munnar
• 29 July: Munnar Exploration
• 30 July: Kolukumalai Sunrise
So here’s the plan:
o We go to Madurai from Nagercoil
o We start the trip from Madurai and go to Udumalai
o My father’s friends and their families would meet there
o There will be a total of 5 families
o We will go to Munnar from Udumalai in four cars
o In Munnar, the first day’s stay is Ela Ecoland jungle resort
o The second day’s stay is Munnar Pramic tent
o The third day’s special is sunrise in Kolukumalai
o We leave after sunrise 27 JULY: Madurai to Udumalai
We came from Nagercoil to Madurai to my Aunt’s house and so it all started in Madurai, at Thursday, July 27. We packed up, ate breakfast and left home at 9 am. We left the Madurai city and entered the national highway in about 20 minutes.
We were heading to Udumalai but before that, we were doing a small side mission. We were going to pass through Dindigul and thought we could have the Venu Biriyani for lunch.
I took pictures while my mom and dad took turns driving and my sister was sightseeing. We stopped often in the drive to take some pictures or for tea breaks.
The first time we stopped to take pictures was in the highway before entering Dindigul.
The road zoomed into the mountains seen in the distance.
We continued on the road for some time and once we reached Dindigul, we separated from the highway into a narrow road leading into the city where we can have our lunch.
We ordered mutton biriyani served with mutton curry.
The food was very delicious; it was the best biriyani you could ever eat. After food, we continued on the same road and joined the highway once again.
We were following the navigation to get to Udumalai and came to a point where two roads diverged. According to the navigation, both roads led to the same place and at the same time.
One road was the Coimbatore road and the other was the Kolumam road. We have travelled on both roads before and so we chose the Kolumam road. The Coimbatore road is smooth but we would have to go through traffic if we chose that road. The Kolumam road has many twists and turns but it has good views and no traffic.
We stopped at a small shop by the road for tea and snacks.
This beautiful tree by the road caught my attention.
This is the beautiful flower of the tree that caught my eye.
At about 3 pm on the same day, we reached our destination. In Udumalai, we met our friends who would be accompanying us to our main destination.
We stayed there for the rest of the day and were excited for tomorrow.
28 JULY: Drive to Munnar
The day started at 6 am when I woke up and got all set to go. The rest of the people had come making the total number of people as 20. We packed up and got ready at 9:30 am and drove to Munnar in 4 cars.
We overtook each other at times going at varying speeds.
The only animal we saw was a monkey. It was sitting on the handrail of a small bridge we were crossing.
At first, the area seemed to be dry, which made it look like we were passing through a road in the middle of an African savannah.
Later, we came to a check post that indicated we left Tamil Nadu and entered Kerala. Once we entered the Kerala side, the everything changed from yellow and brown to green and green only. We were welcomed with a beautiful sight of green tea estates and forests, mountains and streams.
We stopped our cars to take some pictures by a tiny cascade.
Then we stopped yet again for more shots.
The air was very refreshing and so we decided to turn off the AC and keep the windows down and opened the panorama sunroof.
The sky too gave beauty to the green landscapes.
The place was so beautiful and so photogenic that we had to stop many times just for pictures. But that made it more exciting than just sitting in the car and sightseeing.
We then stopped by another cascade quite larger than the one we saw previously. We stood there and took some shots.
As we proceeded further, it started to drizzle. Soon enough, the rain showered heavily, but not for too long.
By around 2 pm, we reached Munnar town. We decided to have lunch there. After lunch, we proceeded to a resort that is 18 km away from Munnar town towards Kochin road. We booked a stay in the jungle resort of Ela Ecoland. We got our navigation all set in Munnar Town itself as that’s one of the few places where you get internet.
By 4 pm, we reached our destination with difficulty as we had to go through narrow gaps and ride on rocky roads to get there.
Once there, we got off and took the necessary things like clothes into the resort. The whole area was a deep jungle consisting of two tent houses, two rock houses and a treehouse and we had the whole resort for a day.
Each family chose their stay and moved their things in. The view from the treehouse was amazing, but the overall best was the rock house which was pretty much a tree house but was built on rock.
We had to walk and climb through mud and dirt to get anywhere, so we had a complete jungle experience.
Everything sounds amazing but no, if you need jungle experience, you need at least some form of trouble. And trouble came.
The area had leeches at places and you wouldn’t know if it grabbed on to your leg. When it bites, it would insert an anesthetic so strong that you won’t know that it had been sucking your blood until you see it.
A few of us got bitten and we were given salt to keep safe. As it became night, we went to a building where we sat to eat. The kids and some others sat inside the building while some of the other stood out to make barbeque. It was a buffet along with the barbeque as starters.
Even though all these enjoyments, some of us who stood outside got bitten by leeches and so we were given some safety instructions.
They told us to wear slippers and not shoes or sneakers as we cannot see if a leech gets into our shoes. We were told to wear shorts or 3/4ths as leeches climb into long pants and we would not be able to see them. Finally, they told us that white dresses would be best to spot a leech if it climbed onto us.
Some kids got terrified seeing the leeches and kept jumping on the way back their stays. On the way back there, you could hear sounds of insects which made the place a little bit creepier.
It gave us a real jungle experience and overall everything was excellent.
29 JULY: Munnar Exploration
The day started off by me taking the camera and exploring the place keeping my fingers crossed for leeches.
This is the rock house having two separate rooms. This is where I stayed for the day.
This is the treehouse, the amazing thing about this is that it had a tree passing inside it.
This is the tent house. It may not necessarily look like a tent but it is made of tent materials if you see from the inside.
The paths we had to walk through gave a real Jungle Book effect.