Day # 4 : 16th Dec 2003

This morning I woke up early and had bath and geared up with my new sneakers and jacket to beat the cold. We stepped out for a morning walk. It was beautiful and dew drenched outside. It was lovely to see Munnar wake up and to see people on their way to work. As we walked up the hill we saw a tiny teashop where the localites had crowded and that was a sure sign of good breakfast so we decided to check it out. The appams were lacy soft and purrrrfect! while the chana was full bodied. In Kerala I noted food tasted just like our Koli stuff, the spicing and the use of coconut etc.

Today Aslam was late for pick up so while we awaited I was sitting in the lounge and was looking at the view outside my room and behind the hotel. The hills were strewn with wild flowers.

We then drove to Eravukulam National Park to see wild goats. These are a species available only in India & Australia.
The drive to the national park is amazing it takes about 1.5 hrs from Munnar town. One finds the drive itself rejuvenating. The goats we saw have greyish brown coat, medium sized horns and look similar to deers. They prefer to perch on the rocks. This sanctuary is the highest peak of the hills in Munnar at an altitude of 7000 to 8000 ft above sea level.

Munnar is covered by a sprawling 6000 hectares of tea gardens. Most are owned by Tata Tea & Harrison Malayalam.
We walked the 2 km trekking path in the Sanctuary. When we drove back we picked up some fresh carrots, strawberries and passion fruit. To our surprise we found a little waterfall at the foothills and stopped there for a drink of water.



It was sparkling clean and cool. I was amazed to see a rainbow near the waterfall due to the spraying of the water.

We returned to Munnar town for lunch at Hotel Saravana by 12.30 pm. The food was mostly Keralite meal with 3 bhajis+ sambhar+ papad+ fried chili+ rasam+ dal etc. all for just Rs.22 with endless heaps of rice. We were informed they served white rice as well as red rice. Ofcourse we chose white rice as our palate is not accustomed to the red one.

After the meal we drove to Madupetty dam. We took a speed boat ride. It cost he us Rs. 200/ boat but since we shared it with 2 more people we paid Rs.50 per head.

It was expensive as it was just for 15 mins. We both Dad and me tried our hand at navigating it. I was excited with the ride. We stopped at the echopoint. It was an amazingly silent area. Later we drove by car to echo point.

I lay on the grass and watched the clouds kissing the hill peaks. I also saw some birds picking worms. We shouted our lungs out to hear the echo. It was a beautiful experience that touched the soul and at such times you are reminded of that someone special.

We then drove to the second dam. Though both these dams are just 15 mins drive from each other as we neared it we felt the chill in the air. There was a lovely Cherry Blossom tree on the dam.
By now it was 4.30 pm so we decided to drive back to Munnar town to see the Blossom Park. This place was a total let down it was not maintained properly however I enjoyed sitting on the swing hung on the tree branch.

Then we returned to the hotel and had hot water bath and decided to later hit the town. Unfortunately there was a power failure so we could not see much so we went ahead for dinner at Hotel Saravanna. I had rava dosa which was excellent. Dad had Kerala parotha and veg kurma. After this we returned to the hotel.