[GeneralJazz]

"Travel far, travel wide, for there, amidst the majestic mountains and enchanting forests, you will uncover not only the world's wonders but also the hidden realms within your own soul."

Prologue

"Valparai again?" joked my better half when I shared the plan with her. It had only been a couple of months since our last trip to Valparai (My Travel Diary: Weekend drive to Valparai, the 7th Heaven) and I was planning to go there yet again. This time, it was an impromptu office team outing. With WFH and hybrid work setups with team members from different states, there never had been a time when the entire team was in the office at the same time. With a whole lot of planning, a bit of miscommunication and a pinch of confusion, suddenly we all found ourselves in the office together. This was as good a chance as any for a team outing. We quickly made up some rough plans and decided to just wing it the rest of the way.


Places to Visit

More than just sightseeing, it was the journey together that we were looking forward to. Still, we made plans to visit the following places:

1. Aliyar Dam Park
2. Hornbill View point
3. Thalanaar Snow Point
4. Nallamudi Poonchola View point
5. Carver Marsh Statue
6. Nirar Dam
7. Rayan Village
8. Chinna Kallar Waterfalls





The Team

From the left, Mahesh, Siva, yours truly, Sunil, Sreegesh, Chiro, Manohar, Prasila and Ilakkiya.





The Rides

Our rides for the trip were my Rapid and Mahesh's Swift. Both of them performed flawlessly on the windy twisty roads. Some of the sections near Sirukundra were in really bad shape but they both managed without any under-body hits.






The Stay

We stayed at one of the cottages inside the Upasi Tea Research campus. Our host was Sreegesh's relative Dr.Rabeesh, who was working for Upasi as an Entomologist (study of insects). It is located near the Nirar Dam and has more than 150 acres of land dedicated to tea plantation and research.

[GeneralJazz]

Day 1

We planned to start by 6:30 AM from Saravanampatty, but it was well past 7 by the time we actually got going. By that time, traffic had started to build up and took us a lot of time to get outside of the city.





Breakfast

We stopped at Amutha Surabhi for breakfast. Even though its not strictly along our route, we preferred it for its delicious food and clean restrooms.




The mandatory after food selfie. Siva couldn't make it due to his extra long bio break





Aliyar Dam Park

Our first stop of the day was the Aliyar Dam Park. There was almost no crowd due to it being a working day morning, and we had the entire park to ourselves.




We spent a lot of time here at the top, walking to the end of the dam, and taking in the spectacular scenery all around.





Hornbill View Point

Next, we visited the Hornbill view point. Even though it was sunny, there was a cool breeze blowing.





We sat their for quite a while, enjoying the beautiful view of the mountains. The rustling of the leaves in the breeze was the only sound we could hear!





Tea / Snacks Break


We stopped at this roadside tea shop for tea and snacks. It isn't anything fancy, but their tea is simply brilliant. We always stop here during our Valparai drives, just for their tea.





The owner of the shop was busy managing the customers at the counter, and dispatched his human servants to serve us food.





The owner came to us to demand his share of the cuddles, which I happily obliged. Prasila wasn't too pleased though, and nearly bolted out of the shop!





Thalanaar View Point

With the view point as our next destination, we left the main road. There is a check post a few hundred meters along the way where entry passes had to be purchased. Don't know if it was on seeing the KL registered vehicles, or a bunch of guys in the cars, they asked for Rs.250 per person and Rs.500 per car. That comes to Rs.3250 in total, which wasn't worth it. The fact that they weren't ready to give us the receipt itself was a red flag. We also heard them arguing among themselves about reducing the rates. 100% convinced that they were just trying to rip us off, we turned back from there. Some unsavoury comments were passed among us, equating their behaviour with the animal that was walking on the road in front of us!






Carver Marsh Statue

In 1864, R.J. Lowry of the Carnatic Coffee Company applied for land on the western slopes of Anamallai, which the Government at that time had classified as ‘waste’. This was when the first estates of Anamallais, Waterfall and the Waverley estates were started, after which no other permission for acquisition of land was granted by the Government until 1876.
In the year 1897, the first set of planters who were the real pioneers of Anamallais arrived. Among them were G. A. Marsh (better known as ‘Carver’ Marsh and considered to be the father of Anamallais) and C.R.T. Congreve.

In 1890, W. Wintil and Nordan bought a huge portion of land in Valparai from the Madras State Government under the British Raj. Wintil deforested the area and planted tea and coffee. He was assisted by Carver Marsh, an experienced planter for a salary of 250 rupees.

The monument was in a sorry state with vandals carving their names all over it. I really hope it gets renovated. However, the view from the point was nothing short of spectacular. We only left the place once our tummies started grumbling.





Lunch


For lunch, we drove to Krishna Inn, which was smack in the middle of Valparai town. It was nearly 3PM by the time we reached, and so only limited items were available. Food was decent, though nothing to write about. Thankfully the washrooms were quite clean.





From this point, we were able to get a panoramic view of Valparai town.





Nallamudi View Point

After lunch, we went to the Nallamudi Pooncholai. It was pouring rain by the time we reached. Since the entry closes at 5PM, we didn't have time to wait out the rain.





We broke out our rain coats and made our way to the view point. The brightly colored rain coats gave us all a cartoon-ish appearance!





By the time we reached the viewing tower, rain had stopped and was replaced by a thick fog! This was all we could see! The entire area was blanketed by a thick, almost solid layer of fog! For reference, this was the view when we visited the place a couple of months ago.





Just as we were about to return disappointed, a sudden gust of wind shifted the fog and we were able to catch a glimpse of the hills. The sight of the fog lifting upwards from the trees gave it a mystical feel!





The wind kept shifting the fog, giving us a dazzling show of spectrum of green.





We also got a view of several waterfalls around us.




Day 1 to be continued....

[GeneralJazz]

Day 1 continued...

Just as we were starting to enjoy the view, the guard came and asked us to leave as it was closing time. We took a few more pics from the viewing tower before staring our walk back.





The setting sun and the shifting fog resulted in the tea fields displaying all manner of greens!





After an uneventful drive back to town, we managed to find some parking space near the main market and went shopping for groceries. We were planning to prepare dinner ourselves and went to buy all the necessary ingredients. Meat shops were thankfully still open and we managed to get some chicken and beef as well.





The grocery team managed to finish their task first and took the time to chill while waiting for the meat team.





Upasi Tea Research Campus


With the shopping all done, we made our way towards the campus. Night had fallen by now and the road was completely dark as we left Valparai.





As we neared our destination, the roads deteriorated. It was pitch black, no mobile connectivity, and it was a known elephant route. Not the best place or time to get stuck. It was a scary experience, to say the truth.





After what seemed like an eternity driving through the pitch darkness, we reached the cabin. Anyone who's played Alan Wake can relate when I say how relieved I was to see the light!





We immediately started working on dinner. Sreegesh took on the chicken while I tackled the beef. Everyone else went about chopping and slicing and dicing. I have to say, we were far more efficient here than we ever were working on SW releases! Hunger is a far better motivator than project deadlines!





The smell of dinner brought the guys floating to the kitchen just like in cartoons! Especially Chiro and Mahesh We had to keep shooing them away!





Dinner is served!





Just as we were done, we heard some commotion outside. A family of wild pigs had invaded the front lawn, probably searching for food or shelter. Rabeesh tells us that while they were quite dangerous, the staff there were far more afraid of the predators that would come to hunt them.





With dinner all done, we gathered in the living room for a few games of cards.




Little did we know that the fun and games would go on all night! I retired to the bedroom around 3:30 AM, since I had a long drive ahead of me (I would be driving to Coimbatore to drop the team, then immediately drive to Kochi). Some of the other didn't go to bed at all!

End of Day 1

[GeneralJazz]

Day 2

Woke up early in the morning to find people curled up sleeping all over the place. A quick headcount revealed that few must have gone out exploring already. So I went out to find and join them. This is the view of the cottage in the daylight.





The front area. This was where we spotted the family of wild pigs. Rabeesh had told us that he had seen elephants, bears and multiple wild cats in this area.





I soon caught up to the others and we went exploring the estate.





The staff at Upasi are researching types of plants that can be grown along with tea plants to make better use of the land. Rabeesh calls the tea estates "Green Deserts", as the soil acidity needed for the tea plants make it unsuitable for pretty much every other plants. Currently they are trying to see if citrus plants can survive here, and have seen promising results. If you zoom into the image, you can see the different citrus varieties they are growing here.





One more pic on the way. We couldn't stand still for long, as we were surrounded by a sea of leeches.





We followed the trail for a couple of kilometers and the scenery got prettier with each step! The early morning light really brought out the colors of the place.





We climbed a small hill before turning back. The view from the top was simply awesome!






We slowly made our way back to the cottage. Being a regular visitor, Sreegesh knew all the shortcuts. Back at the cottage, the cars were covered with a layer of dew, making it a very picturesque sight.





Once inside, we inspected each other for damages and found out that no one was spared. I had 3 hitchhikers on me, Prasila had 2 while the others had 1 each. A couple of drops of sanitizer and they just fell away, but the bleeding took a long time to stop. I shared the pics in our Whatsapp group and graaja and mallumowgli responded with far more gruesome and terrifying images of their forest expeditions. I came to the conclusion that I got off easy!





Soon it was time to leave. We bit our farewell to Rabeesh and started on our way. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the windows covered with barbed wire. This is to stop elephants from smashing them in.





The drive back to the main road was far less scary during the day time!





Nirar Dam


Our first stop was the Nirar Dam. Its only a short distance from the Upasi campus.

Nirar Dam was a small dam built across Nirar River at a lower site, about 8 km, below the Upper Nirar weir. This dam will serve to conduct the diverted waters of the Anamalai Basin to the Sholayar valley through the unlined lower Tunnel taking off from the dam site.

There is a small space available for parking, from where we could get an excellent view of the dam.





Rayan Village

We drove further ahead till we reached Rayan Village, which is the last village after Valparai. The roads were very narrow, but the phenomenal scenic beauty more than made up for it!





The village is a forest buffer zone, which is sort of like an intermediate zone that surrounds a core forest zone.





The village bus stop and a couple of small shops are all there is to it.





A small waterfall was visible nearby. Not sure if we can actually go all the way close to it.





The road literally ends here. Its just trails leading into the tea plantations and forests from here.






The mandatory photo-op! Took more than a few attempts to get the candid poses right!





Meanwhile Chiro goes off on a solo exploration campaign!





After spending some time there, we drove back to the main road. On the way, we stopped at a Tantea outlet to buy some tea, but unfortunately it was closed. Take a look at their gate. They had painted an image of an elephant as a sign of respect, but apparently one of the tuskers took offence and gored it. Notice the two tusk shaped holes on the gate?




Day 2 to be continued...

[GeneralJazz]

Day 2 continued...


Back on the road, we came across this Cinchona or Sirukundra tree. Apparently there used to be plenty of these trees here, planted by the early tea planters.





The roads were very narrow, but thankfully we didn't come across any oncoming large vehicles. There were plenty of eucalyptus trees growing and the whole area smelt wonderful!





We crossed many such small waterfalls on the way.






Chinna Kallar Waterfalls

Our last stop for the trip. It was a wonderful drive through the windy, twisty forest roads. The road ends at this point. Theres parking space available for a few vehicles and there are forest guards present.





Its a bit of a steep climb down from the road. The steps are paved, but can get a bit slippery.





The view from the bridge. It was a very picturesque sight. The cool wind, the rustling of the leaves and the sloshing of the stream all added to the charm of the place.






The Chinnakallar Post Office is set in a magnificent backdrop! Imagine having a waterfall behind your office!






We waited near the post office for the rest of the guys to catch up.





From here, the path turned completely slushy and quite slippery. The rains would definitely make it worse. There are rocks scattered around which we used to get some footing.






We crossed the hanging bridge across the Nirar river. It was swaying slightly in the wind!





We were able to get our first sight of the falls from the bridge.






Finally we made it to the falls. Its a multi level fall with decent amount of water flow. The water was quite cold!





The view from the top. The rocks were a bit slippery and the strong flow made it quite dangerous to get into the water. There were forest guards around to make sure people don't accidentally un-alive themselves.






One last selfie before we leave Valparai!





Back to Coimbatore

After the long climb back to the top, we started our drive back. Just before Valparai town, there is a deviation that leads to Balaji Temple road. We took it, both to enjoy the scenic route, and to avoid the weekend congestion in the town.






It turned out to be a great idea, as this route was just too beautiful to miss! We drove along the narrow lanes through tea plantations with so many spectacular viewpoints along the way.






By the time we joined the main road, it was raining heavily and was covered in fog. We had been driving for nearly 2 hours and so we stopped at our usual tea shop for tea / snacks and a bio break.





The rest of the drive back to Coimbatore was pretty much uneventful. By around 5:45 PM, we reached Ukkadam where I dropped the guys, and I started my drive to Kochi.

Conclusion

Total Distance Traveled: 306 km
Total Fuel Consumed: Approx 21L
Average Fuel Economy: 14 kmpl

It was an all together wonderful team building exercise. As people who work together remotely (thank you pandemic), this was a first of its kind bonding session. We were able to get a decent amount of exploring done whilst sync-ing doing some group cooking and a game night. Truly hoping that it was the first of many such beautiful trips to come.


This is GeneralJazz signing out..

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[raptor_diwan]

Nice travelogue, man!! All the pictures were crisp and beautiful. By the way, is the cottage inside Upasi Tea Research campus open for all tourists and available for online booking, or is it exclusively for known people or those who have contacts within? It looks great!

[Kkumar]

Beautiful places and nice photos. Great way to bond with friends. Having a reliable car is a great boon. How did the Rapid behave in bad roads and ghat sections.

[mallumowgli]

As wonderful as your previous log. Great to se that Chinnakkallar is open for tourists

Valparai and Nelliyampathy are two places I never get tired of

Rating 5 stars

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

Nice travelogue, man!! All the pictures were crisp and beautiful. By the way, is the cottage inside Upasi Tea Research campus open for all tourists and available for online booking, or is it exclusively for known people or those who have contacts within? It looks great!

Thank you raptor_diwan. The cottage is actually our contacts accommodation inside the campus. I does look very nice, but damn it gets scary in the dark.

Originally Posted by Kkumar

Beautiful places and nice photos. Great way to bond with friends. Having a reliable car is a great boon. How did the Rapid behave in bad roads and ghat sections.

Thank you Kkumar. The Rapid behaved fantastically. The anti-stall feature came in handy while navigating the bad roads, especially uphill.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

As wonderful as your previous log. Great to se that Chinnakkallar is open for tourists

Valparai and Nelliyampathy are two places I never get tired of

Rating 5 stars

Thanks mallumowgli! Valparai is now my favourite place too!