TO HEAVEN AND BACK (TOO), MUNNAR AND KUMARAKAM, KERALA

Dear friend and Foes 

I am back from heaven that too alive ( No one wants to come back from heaven dead or alive)!!!

I was in my dream land Kerala after 25 years!!!! It was a hurricane tour to Munnar and Kumarakam and with SOMEONE, my younger daughter and brother's family.

We had decided to take a budget trip, so that we can see people we wanted to,  just hole up some where and gossip.  Also we wanted to see the honeymooners. We were delighted to see that the honeymooners haven't changed from my times. But we missed some thing, which is common with the Himalayan Honeymooners. You will see  couples walking barefoot with hand in hand and holding their bright new footwear with the other hand, or some times you will see the girl walking with her nice high heels tucked under the arm and limping  with her husband...When I was young it was very funny site, now I feel bad. The agony of a blister or corn is traumatic. Actually no one should go to the hills ,  with brand new footwear even if the road is good.. The slopes are no good for new pairs of marriage shoes. 

Here I will put some photos as there is nothing much to describe.

We attended the marriage in Bangalore. The stay was too short to meet our blog friends of Bangalore. That made me sad.

We landed at Cochin airport  and as expected the pre-booked minibus was not there. The taxi driver kept on calling us singing the old Indian song " Sir, I am stuck in a traffic jam, will be there in 15 minutes..sorry sir "...The call kept coming with regular interval to assure us and finally that 'reaching within 15 minutes' happened after 1 hour 30 minutes. We never lose our cool, while travelling , so we took it as a great excitement. We finally left the airport at 2 PM instead of 12-30.

Munnar is about 3 hours drive through the Hills. It is small Hill town at 4000ft and pretty cold compared  to the sea sides.

Here are the few photos we took on the way to Munnar.

THE DRIVE TO MUNNAR.

The enchanting drive starts through forest, coconut and banana and rubber plantation

The Cheeyappara water falls

I have a weakness for clicking  hoardings ( Dont know what is written on it)

No..No it was not what we were thinking..there were toilets below.

AT MUNNAR

We reached Munnar around 5 PM. Actually we did not stay in Munnar town, instead we stayed at a nice hotel, 10 Km before Munnar town. A nice hotel, worth the money and away from the congested town. This is a hill station of Kerala with tea gardens. Wherever you look , it is lush green. One can make a day trip to the Dam, wildlife national park, the flower garden. More details are on the net.

The Hotel

The hotel is very nice, with a front lawn, lot of plants on the slope and green. It was cloudy and drizzling all the time.

Main building (someone in front)

 The cottages. ( mostly for honeymooners)

 A lonely tree from the hotel balcony

The tea gardens

Munnar town on the back drop

THE DAY TRIP IN MUNNAR
In the morning we set out to see the places where all tourists go. Nothing great, but the cool weather and light drizzle was just too good. We did not take any rum stop as we were not driving. ( See my Himalayan blog to understand what is rum stop.Click here)

The beautiful Mattupetty Dam and the  reservoir

Munnar Flori-culture center, Flowers from Munnar

We saw one small floriculture center maintained by the forest dept. Got a glimpse of lovely flowers.
Here are few snaps

The Eraviculam National
This National Park is famous for Nilgiri Thar ( a type of goat). Unfortunately we could not see any. But the drive up the hill and then a 2 Km walk further up was fantastic.
 The sign board with the Thar

 The forest dept bus dropping tourists inside the Park.

The road and bus stand seen from way up.                              

The beautiful bird was just sitting there, ,I am  trying to find out the name

The second night at Munnar was good with fish and more fish curry, Malabar chicken. The ladies were busy watching the soap and daughters were reading books all the time.


ON THE WAY TO KUMARAKOM
Actually we stayed at a village called Aymanam located in between Kottayam and Kumarakom. We wanted to stay in a Village hotel run by a very nice family. We were not in a mood to stay in a  resort or in a House boat on Vembanad Lake. ( This will be during my next trip to Aleppy.).
We reached our hotel around 5 PM. The hotel had a river at the back and a long verandah. We just settled down with tea and gossiping.
Village road to the hotel.

The river at the back of the hotel , good for fishing 

Next day we went to Kottayam and took a , 16 seat, motor boat for 4 hours travel through the back water and finally to the Vembanad lake. 16 seat for 7 people was great.
It was a life time experience. Thank God we did not hole up in a house boat!!.
Journey through the back water and canal.
Lovely house , did not look like a " Gulf house". Do you know what is a 'gulf house'?

The reflection every where was amazing

 Household work  ( I hope the clothes have insurance against damage due to beating )

 The sand pickers

 The ladies going home I guess.

The Backwater was dotted with tiny red flowers, which gave that pink color. Absence of sunshine makes all the difference in photography.

 Boatmen ferrying a passenger, the Dog (not in the mangers)

Few birds
A Darter, drying its wings

Purple Moorhen

Purple moorhen , closer view

The Cormorants

 Need to find the name of the bird

 An Egret

After 2 hours we arrive at a place called R BLOCK. There was a very dirty place and a dirtier restaurant. But it was only place to eat in the wild water. Fresh fish, Prawns, Big Kerala red rice (my favorite), and other usual accompaniments. The food is served on Banana leaf. This place normally becomes very busy after evening when house boats anchor and fresh fish fry and ToDi (local drink is supplied.) 

The boat landing area at R Block. ( someone on the right ,)

Awesome fresh Karimeen fries

The House boats 

You see many house boats here, in the lake and Canal. You can hire one with different capacity, 1 bed room , 2 bed room etc. One can take on hourly basis ans off season rate was Rs 1000 to 1200 per hour or for a day and night , from Rs 5000 upward.

 House boat parking area 

A big house boat carrying a group

From the R Block , we went further where the lake starts. From here one can go to Kumarakom and all the way to Aleppy through Canals and back water. We turned back for Kottayam. While coming back we mainly took a canals.

A foot bridge is being raised to give way for out boat. There are many such bridges.

parked boats

Another foot bridge and the long Canal

A boat carrying flowers

Next day I was in Delhi via Cochin.

 Dear Foodies
Wait , shortly, I shall treat you with 2 dishes made from Ol Kopi ( Nool Kol) Kohlrabi (German turnip) (Brassica oleracea ), 


Happy cooking and cant wait to see what all you have posted during my absence.