Munnar - Beauty of Western Ghats
I thought of munnar because I was bugged of Kodai Kanal and Ooty due to the amount of commercialization in these two places.
I visited Munnar in the month of April and it was a very pleasant and memorable trips.
Munnar is just nature and the best of nature one can get, but if one plans for a weeks trip then there are other options around munnar, like the Chinnar Wild Life sanctuary (which is a national forest) and Thekkaday.
I had difficulty in getting information, so thought sharing all info what I have collected would help someone.
From bangalore we have different modes of travel, and the choice is ours:
Road
KPN Travels have Bus to Munnar: From Kalispalya to Palani by semi-sleeper bus and from palani to Munnar by a mini bus. It takes about 14 Hrs to reach munnar from bangalore.I guess one can drive by car in the same route, roads are good.
Train
Cochin which is 130 kms (about 3.5 hrs to munnar)
Kottayam which is 147 kms (4 hrs to munnar)
Madurai which is 160 kms (4.5 hrs to munnar)
Coimbatore which is 160 kms (4.5 hrs to munnar)
Air: Check Airports in India here: https://airportsindia.org.in
Madurai Airport ( 9 kms from Madurai Railway Station)
Cochin Airport
Coimbatore Airport
Places and options to stay:
1) There are good resorts in and around munnar : Few resorts I remember are
a) Club Mahindra Lakeview (munnar@clubmahindra.com)
b) The Residency
c) Tea Village (this is the best)
2) Few Hotels:
a) Edassery Eastend
b) Hotel Hillview
c) Munnar Inn
3) Paying Guest: There are people who lent out hotel like rooms in their house, with good ambience, I stayed in one such place, and it was close by to a church.
Food:
There are lots of hotels but the best among all is Sarvana Bhavan :) , otherwise most other hotels cook kerala style.
Transportation :
One can either hire Auto or a Taxi/Cab : Usually cabs charge between 800 to 1000 Rs per day (this was in 2004)
The places in and around are basically divided in four roads or directions :
1) Mattupetty : In this direction you have these places to visit
a) Photo Point : Good places to take snaps in the tea garden (4 km)
b) Mattupetty Dam (11 km)
c) Indo-Swiss Project : This place is a must visit (13 km)
d) Shooting Point : Place where many south Indian movies have been shorted (14 km)
e) Echo Point (17 km)
f) Elephant Arrival Spot (20 km)
g) Kundale Lake : Don’t miss the Boat ride here :) (25 km)
i) Kundale Golf Course (28 km)
j) Top Station (about 6300 ft above the sea level) : This is in the border of Kerala and tamil nadu, there is a way to Kodai from this palce. We need to walk down for about a 1 km to reach this stop from the road, it is a terrific sight, and you can also see the world?s highest tea plant from this place. (32 km)
2) Coimbatore : In this direction you have these places to visit
a) Anaimudi, Highest Peak in South India (about 8853 ft above the sea level, 20 km)
b) Nyamakad Waterfalls : Samll but a beautiful falls (8 km)
c) Eravikulam National Park : You get great view of munar from this national park, one has to walk about 1.5 km and you will also find a rare and endangered wild goat which can walk on mountains, we were privileged that we could see them (13 km)
d) Lakkam Falls (26 km)
e) Sandal Wood Forest : This drive is just too good (35 km)
f) Childrens Park (43 km)
g) Wildlife Sanctuary (Chinnar) : You can also go trekking here to a falls which is flows through the jungle , the falls is about 8 kms from the road.Pls take care not to honk or make noise when going through the forest since there are good chances you may miss out some wild life (63 km)
h) Amaravathy Dam (78 km)
i) Crocodile Dam: You can find crocodiles at different ages here , entry fee is 50p per head (can u believe this) ;) (79 km)
3) Cochin : In this direction you have these places to visit
a) Blossom Park (2.5 km)
b) Pothemedu View Point : A beautiful view spot for Sunset, there are couple of resorts near by this view point, you can also see coffee and cardamom plantations here. (5 km)
c) Attukkadu Water Falls (10 km)
4) Thekkady : In this direction you have these places to visit
a) Sita Devi Lake : Cannot miss this beautiful lake and scape (22 km)
b) Lock Heart Gap View : Should I explain this view ;) (14 km)
c) Power House Water Falls (17 km)
d) Resorts Village View (18 km)
e) Anaiyirankal Dam View (18 km)
- All the above distances are from Munnar and may not be accurate, the places given were collected by me from few local people?s suggestions, thanks to them.
It is also said that during rainy season plenty of water falls are seen on the mountains.
The temperature is usually low and it rains now and then :)