Munnar visit
Visit to Munnar ( 8th – 11th April 2009)
Day 1: Reached Coimbatore on Wednesday morning traveling by the night train from Bangalore. After a washup in the aptly named ‘waiting room’ in the railway station, we got into the pro-arranged taxi to Munnar . Had a quick breakfast at the Annapruna Palace near the station ( suggest the cheaper and faster sister concern Annapurna hotel next door unless you need a classy ambience). After about 30 mins on the road, we came across the Suzlon energy windmills and a beautiful sunflower farm . Took a photobreak here before proceeding further. Stopped at Pollachi a while later for a tea break and then started ascending the hills past the last TN town of Udumalpet.
The climb to Munnar through this route starts off with the Chinar Sanctuary after a few minutes of ascent . The sanctuary is nothing but wild forests ( now quite dry and sparse in summer) with a few view points on either side of the road. Further inside the sanctuary along the roads are some “ visitor education centres” which was closed . Nothing spectacular in the dry heat of summer but suspect it would be beautiful immediately after rains. Passed through the numerous checkposts and exited the sanctuary. Passed through the sandalwood plantations of Marayoor where the scenery began to change greener. The climb to Munnar esp. via small vehicle like car can be nauseating and disorienting as we found out . Suggest carrying preventive medication and oranges/lemons to alleviate the nausea the sudden climb causes . We came across many tea plantations and good views as we neared Munnar town. Crossed the town (only place where you get Airtel signal is in the town and a radius of about 2 kms around the town. So much for “atoot network”). Reached the Club Mahindra resort at chinnakanal which is about 20 kms from Munnar quite exhausted and disoriented by the drive. After a quick room service lunch (with cold pulao), went to sleep for a few hours.
The Club Mahindra (CM) resort is pretty impressive resort built on an elevation but the Chinnakanal Lake itself can only be seen at a distance . So the lake view in the resort name is more a euphemism for a lake spot as the lake itself is at least 7-8 kms from the resort as the crow flies . The rooms a re well equipped and have a lot of wood usage typical of kerala architecture. We got a room facing the inside of the resort as opposed to a ‘lake facing room’ so you may want to specify the view at checkin . The lake facing rooms also had a balcony which our room did not . We got out in the evening for an hour of evening walk as the sun was setting, down the club mahindra road. We saw a few well constructed resorts like Fort Munnar and Holiday Heaven. However this route is fairly ordinary by Kerala standards. We could feel the cold forest nip in the air aw we returned to the hotel via share auto used by locals.
The Sterling resort is almost adjacent to the CM property. Around this resort there are 2-3 well stocked basic shops as well as a Jain bhojanalay which also serves evening snacks and coffee/tea . Did not know then then that the Sterling resort had a decent restaurant which served buffer lunch/dinner at Rs 130+taxes and buffet breakfast at 75+taxes (visitors are welcome). So if you are staying at the CM property, you can avoid eating at the much more expensive restaurants there and hop into the Sterling resort which is what we did regularly. The jain bhojanalay also serves palatable stuff but at almost the Sterling rates.
The next day we woke up feeling better from our journey and the view of the tea plantations and early morning sun especially in Kerala can really lift your spirits. After a buffer breakfast at Sterling we decided to walk up around the team plantations close to the CM property.. Took a few more photos to add to the innumerable ‘ tea planter picking leaves ‘ collection which the wife loves. Most of the tea pickers are women from Tamil Nadu here as in most Kerala Tea plantations. After a short tea-break at the corner tea shop, we proceeded to walk a few more kms with tea plantations flanking both sides of the road . While the views were definitely good, we somehow felt that the views from Nelliampathy ( see earlier blog on Nelliampathy here) were more pleasant and tranquil. Maybe something to do with the time of the year as well. The wife has the knack to smell children from a distance . So it was no surprise that while walking inside a tea plantation, we stumbled on a crèche . This crèche takes care of the children of tea pickers (as the mothers are out picking leaves) and an elderly lady is typically a matron . The crèche children were thrilled at the diversion 2 citibred creatures with camera and digicam taking photos of them ( see photos here) and posed happily . The children were even more thrilled on seeing their instant photos on the digicam viewfinder. Returned to our room for a rest of a few hours after this visit.
Left in the late afternoon to explore the CM property which is sprawling with well appointed single bedroom units at higher levels of the resort as well as independent wood cottages at the highest levels . Many of these cottages have excellent views of the tea plantations from the rooms . Overall the CM property is well designed and built . However it is more suited for people who want a relaxed break for a minimum of a week in a peaceful atmosphere. Since there are not many places to see nearby , it is not convenient to use this place as a base to visit the sights around Munnar ( you need to go to Munnar town 20 kms away and further beyond for most of the view points) . However one place close to the resort is the Kozhikumalai tea plantation and factory , supposedly India’s highest tea plantation which is about 15 kms from the resort. This place can be reached only by jeep and is probably worth visit . It should take about 3-4 hours to go and get back.
Checked out next morning from the CM property and hired a taxi for the day. First stop was to check in to the Hotel Poopada to leave our baggage before proceeding on a day trip to the usual scenic spots around Munnar. Munnar town by itself is a very small typical small hill station town with a busy bazaar area and activities and building decreasing as you move away from the centre . Hotel Poopada is a typical over-priced hotel with just about basic facilities . We were quite dismayed by the look and feel of our room which had bedsheets with cigarette stub holes . We tried calling other hotels in town but all of them were full so we had to make do here . For Rs 1200 per day or a double room, this hotel is not recommended unless all other hotels are full . The staff of the hotel is quite prompt and probably the only saving grace. The S.N tourist home nearby seems to be a good budget choice hotel ( am basing this feedback on the outside look of the hotel plus the good food served in their restaurant). Stopped at the rose garden en route and sway some beautiful flowers of all colours and designs . Could not help but marvel the inherent beauty in God’s creations as reflected in these flowers . Next stop was the Madupetty dam . The dam filled with water and the green background of the mountains presented a very picturesque sight . Despite the good crowds due to the long good Friday weekend, we were able to get undisturbed views by walking about 5 mins to the dam to the left . Saw a local family on picnic having lunch here . On our driver’s recommendation, we took a motor boat ride in the backwaters of the Madupetty dam . It started to rain heavily suddenly during the ride and we had a thrilling,cold and wet boat ride. Managed to dry ourselves a bit in the car as we proceeded . stopped enroute to have ‘ Mulaga bajjis’ from a rather busy vendor . Next stop was the scenic place of the Kundale dam. Each of the dam picnic spots is so beautiful and peaceful that you can spend a few hours easily in each place . We had Maggi noodles in a nearby stall . Next place to visit was Top Station. Our cab driver whom we negotiated for Rs 1300 for the whole day) was in a hurry to get back and he tried to pull a fast one on us stating that the road to Top station from Kundale closes for return traffic by 5pm or so. We refused to take his bait and we later saw vehicles going up to top station on our return at 6 pm also !.
Top Station is a must see view point and we were glad we came to see this place . If you like a gentle panoramic walk of about 4 kms each way, reach the Top station road ( where you need to take a right off the main road) by 3-3:30 pm and walk the entire path with good scenery on each side till the view point . The view point itself is inside the Tata tea estate and you can easily spend 45 mins or so soaking the view from here of the hills below and the plains of Tamil Nadu . You can actually see clouds at a distance at an altitude below you ! great photo spot as well.
We went half way by cab and then trekked about 2.5 kms in each direction to and from the view point , easily the high point of our munnar visit. Returned via the same route back to our hotel and had some hot tea . After some rest , left to the town centre for dinner. The Saravana bhavan hotel seemed to the most popular dining spot and we went there . Returned to our hotel after a good tamil tiffin dinner.
Next morning visited the famous Munnar Supply association building which houses a supermarket now . After breakfast at the SN tourist hotel restaurant, we took an auto to the centre of town. Walked from there past the town outskirts to the tata tea museum, a good walk of about 1.5 kms . The tea museum has an audio video show of the history of tea plantation in Munnar for about 20 mins . Followed by this is a visit to actually tea machinery where we saw the entire tea processing from leaf drying to tea powder creation . There is also a tea sales counter here. An adjacent room of the museum has interesting curios from the life of the 19th century British planters in Munnar (including typewriters, invitation to a ball etc). The tour ends with a cup of tea offered from an automatic vending machine ( many foreign tourists could not handle the sweetness of this tea but we enjoyed it ). An interesting fact we learnt is that the Tata tea plantations in Munnar are fully owned by the employees today and is known as the Kannan Devan Tea plantation company. This is probably the company with the highest employee stake in the world.
Returned to the town centre by walk and went to the Kannan Devan Tea Company outlet to buy varieties of teas for back home . Also worth a visit is the gift shop of the Srushti foundation ( called Kurinji) close to the ksrtc bus stand on the Cochin Road . This foundation is run by the Tata tea officer’s wives to support local social causes and you can take the moral high ground for splurging here . The shop has a lot of embroidered cloth items as well as artifacts and jams and pickles of all kinds. We bought the famous High range preserve strawberry jam ( very very sweet !) as well as a few gift items.
Returned to checkout from our hotel and came to the KSRTC stand to take the 2pm express bus to Udumulpet. Reached udumulpet around 7 pm and took a waiting bus to Tirupur which took another hour .After a good dinner and sleep at our relatives house there, boarded the Kurla express for Bangalore at 8:40 am ad reached Bangalore by 2:30 pm
Some hints to maximize your munnar visit
1) Stay as close to Munnar town as possible . donot stay too far away like in the club mahindra resorts.
2) Plan to spend 4 days in Munnar for a leisurely time .3 days is just about ok
3) There seem to be good walking trails just out of town (saw from the bus). Set aside 1 afternoon for this if you like gentle walks
4) We did not go to the eravikulam sanctuary but if you want to pls go there on a weekday. Weekends are very crowded.
5) SN Tourist home restaurant and saravana bhavan are good restaurants in town
6) Contact LIJI ISSAC @09447398016 Munnar for good deals on taxi pickup from Coimbatore railway station. He needs to be informed atleast 3 days in advance . I did not use him due to late planning but he gave me the best quotes
Day 1: Reached Coimbatore on Wednesday morning traveling by the night train from Bangalore. After a washup in the aptly named ‘waiting room’ in the railway station, we got into the pro-arranged taxi to Munnar . Had a quick breakfast at the Annapruna Palace near the station ( suggest the cheaper and faster sister concern Annapurna hotel next door unless you need a classy ambience). After about 30 mins on the road, we came across the Suzlon energy windmills and a beautiful sunflower farm . Took a photobreak here before proceeding further. Stopped at Pollachi a while later for a tea break and then started ascending the hills past the last TN town of Udumalpet.
The climb to Munnar through this route starts off with the Chinar Sanctuary after a few minutes of ascent . The sanctuary is nothing but wild forests ( now quite dry and sparse in summer) with a few view points on either side of the road. Further inside the sanctuary along the roads are some “ visitor education centres” which was closed . Nothing spectacular in the dry heat of summer but suspect it would be beautiful immediately after rains. Passed through the numerous checkposts and exited the sanctuary. Passed through the sandalwood plantations of Marayoor where the scenery began to change greener. The climb to Munnar esp. via small vehicle like car can be nauseating and disorienting as we found out . Suggest carrying preventive medication and oranges/lemons to alleviate the nausea the sudden climb causes . We came across many tea plantations and good views as we neared Munnar town. Crossed the town (only place where you get Airtel signal is in the town and a radius of about 2 kms around the town. So much for “atoot network”). Reached the Club Mahindra resort at chinnakanal which is about 20 kms from Munnar quite exhausted and disoriented by the drive. After a quick room service lunch (with cold pulao), went to sleep for a few hours.
The Club Mahindra (CM) resort is pretty impressive resort built on an elevation but the Chinnakanal Lake itself can only be seen at a distance . So the lake view in the resort name is more a euphemism for a lake spot as the lake itself is at least 7-8 kms from the resort as the crow flies . The rooms a re well equipped and have a lot of wood usage typical of kerala architecture. We got a room facing the inside of the resort as opposed to a ‘lake facing room’ so you may want to specify the view at checkin . The lake facing rooms also had a balcony which our room did not . We got out in the evening for an hour of evening walk as the sun was setting, down the club mahindra road. We saw a few well constructed resorts like Fort Munnar and Holiday Heaven. However this route is fairly ordinary by Kerala standards. We could feel the cold forest nip in the air aw we returned to the hotel via share auto used by locals.
The Sterling resort is almost adjacent to the CM property. Around this resort there are 2-3 well stocked basic shops as well as a Jain bhojanalay which also serves evening snacks and coffee/tea . Did not know then then that the Sterling resort had a decent restaurant which served buffer lunch/dinner at Rs 130+taxes and buffet breakfast at 75+taxes (visitors are welcome). So if you are staying at the CM property, you can avoid eating at the much more expensive restaurants there and hop into the Sterling resort which is what we did regularly. The jain bhojanalay also serves palatable stuff but at almost the Sterling rates.
The next day we woke up feeling better from our journey and the view of the tea plantations and early morning sun especially in Kerala can really lift your spirits. After a buffer breakfast at Sterling we decided to walk up around the team plantations close to the CM property.. Took a few more photos to add to the innumerable ‘ tea planter picking leaves ‘ collection which the wife loves. Most of the tea pickers are women from Tamil Nadu here as in most Kerala Tea plantations. After a short tea-break at the corner tea shop, we proceeded to walk a few more kms with tea plantations flanking both sides of the road . While the views were definitely good, we somehow felt that the views from Nelliampathy ( see earlier blog on Nelliampathy here) were more pleasant and tranquil. Maybe something to do with the time of the year as well. The wife has the knack to smell children from a distance . So it was no surprise that while walking inside a tea plantation, we stumbled on a crèche . This crèche takes care of the children of tea pickers (as the mothers are out picking leaves) and an elderly lady is typically a matron . The crèche children were thrilled at the diversion 2 citibred creatures with camera and digicam taking photos of them ( see photos here) and posed happily . The children were even more thrilled on seeing their instant photos on the digicam viewfinder. Returned to our room for a rest of a few hours after this visit.
Left in the late afternoon to explore the CM property which is sprawling with well appointed single bedroom units at higher levels of the resort as well as independent wood cottages at the highest levels . Many of these cottages have excellent views of the tea plantations from the rooms . Overall the CM property is well designed and built . However it is more suited for people who want a relaxed break for a minimum of a week in a peaceful atmosphere. Since there are not many places to see nearby , it is not convenient to use this place as a base to visit the sights around Munnar ( you need to go to Munnar town 20 kms away and further beyond for most of the view points) . However one place close to the resort is the Kozhikumalai tea plantation and factory , supposedly India’s highest tea plantation which is about 15 kms from the resort. This place can be reached only by jeep and is probably worth visit . It should take about 3-4 hours to go and get back.
Checked out next morning from the CM property and hired a taxi for the day. First stop was to check in to the Hotel Poopada to leave our baggage before proceeding on a day trip to the usual scenic spots around Munnar. Munnar town by itself is a very small typical small hill station town with a busy bazaar area and activities and building decreasing as you move away from the centre . Hotel Poopada is a typical over-priced hotel with just about basic facilities . We were quite dismayed by the look and feel of our room which had bedsheets with cigarette stub holes . We tried calling other hotels in town but all of them were full so we had to make do here . For Rs 1200 per day or a double room, this hotel is not recommended unless all other hotels are full . The staff of the hotel is quite prompt and probably the only saving grace. The S.N tourist home nearby seems to be a good budget choice hotel ( am basing this feedback on the outside look of the hotel plus the good food served in their restaurant). Stopped at the rose garden en route and sway some beautiful flowers of all colours and designs . Could not help but marvel the inherent beauty in God’s creations as reflected in these flowers . Next stop was the Madupetty dam . The dam filled with water and the green background of the mountains presented a very picturesque sight . Despite the good crowds due to the long good Friday weekend, we were able to get undisturbed views by walking about 5 mins to the dam to the left . Saw a local family on picnic having lunch here . On our driver’s recommendation, we took a motor boat ride in the backwaters of the Madupetty dam . It started to rain heavily suddenly during the ride and we had a thrilling,cold and wet boat ride. Managed to dry ourselves a bit in the car as we proceeded . stopped enroute to have ‘ Mulaga bajjis’ from a rather busy vendor . Next stop was the scenic place of the Kundale dam. Each of the dam picnic spots is so beautiful and peaceful that you can spend a few hours easily in each place . We had Maggi noodles in a nearby stall . Next place to visit was Top Station. Our cab driver whom we negotiated for Rs 1300 for the whole day) was in a hurry to get back and he tried to pull a fast one on us stating that the road to Top station from Kundale closes for return traffic by 5pm or so. We refused to take his bait and we later saw vehicles going up to top station on our return at 6 pm also !.
Top Station is a must see view point and we were glad we came to see this place . If you like a gentle panoramic walk of about 4 kms each way, reach the Top station road ( where you need to take a right off the main road) by 3-3:30 pm and walk the entire path with good scenery on each side till the view point . The view point itself is inside the Tata tea estate and you can easily spend 45 mins or so soaking the view from here of the hills below and the plains of Tamil Nadu . You can actually see clouds at a distance at an altitude below you ! great photo spot as well.
We went half way by cab and then trekked about 2.5 kms in each direction to and from the view point , easily the high point of our munnar visit. Returned via the same route back to our hotel and had some hot tea . After some rest , left to the town centre for dinner. The Saravana bhavan hotel seemed to the most popular dining spot and we went there . Returned to our hotel after a good tamil tiffin dinner.
Next morning visited the famous Munnar Supply association building which houses a supermarket now . After breakfast at the SN tourist hotel restaurant, we took an auto to the centre of town. Walked from there past the town outskirts to the tata tea museum, a good walk of about 1.5 kms . The tea museum has an audio video show of the history of tea plantation in Munnar for about 20 mins . Followed by this is a visit to actually tea machinery where we saw the entire tea processing from leaf drying to tea powder creation . There is also a tea sales counter here. An adjacent room of the museum has interesting curios from the life of the 19th century British planters in Munnar (including typewriters, invitation to a ball etc). The tour ends with a cup of tea offered from an automatic vending machine ( many foreign tourists could not handle the sweetness of this tea but we enjoyed it ). An interesting fact we learnt is that the Tata tea plantations in Munnar are fully owned by the employees today and is known as the Kannan Devan Tea plantation company. This is probably the company with the highest employee stake in the world.
Returned to the town centre by walk and went to the Kannan Devan Tea Company outlet to buy varieties of teas for back home . Also worth a visit is the gift shop of the Srushti foundation ( called Kurinji) close to the ksrtc bus stand on the Cochin Road . This foundation is run by the Tata tea officer’s wives to support local social causes and you can take the moral high ground for splurging here . The shop has a lot of embroidered cloth items as well as artifacts and jams and pickles of all kinds. We bought the famous High range preserve strawberry jam ( very very sweet !) as well as a few gift items.
Returned to checkout from our hotel and came to the KSRTC stand to take the 2pm express bus to Udumulpet. Reached udumulpet around 7 pm and took a waiting bus to Tirupur which took another hour .After a good dinner and sleep at our relatives house there, boarded the Kurla express for Bangalore at 8:40 am ad reached Bangalore by 2:30 pm
Some hints to maximize your munnar visit
1) Stay as close to Munnar town as possible . donot stay too far away like in the club mahindra resorts.
2) Plan to spend 4 days in Munnar for a leisurely time .3 days is just about ok
3) There seem to be good walking trails just out of town (saw from the bus). Set aside 1 afternoon for this if you like gentle walks
4) We did not go to the eravikulam sanctuary but if you want to pls go there on a weekday. Weekends are very crowded.
5) SN Tourist home restaurant and saravana bhavan are good restaurants in town
6) Contact LIJI ISSAC @09447398016 Munnar for good deals on taxi pickup from Coimbatore railway station. He needs to be informed atleast 3 days in advance . I did not use him due to late planning but he gave me the best quotes
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RamP!