Munnar

After a couple of amazing days at Fort Kochi and a trip to the Athirapalli Waterfalls, the plan was to visit the beautiful hills of Munnar, famous for its tea plantations. It would be a day-trip from Kochi with four hour drive one way. It could not have been more diverse, from the sea in Fort Kochi, right up to cool hills of Munnar. We got in touch with Suhail, our Uber driver of day 1 and he readily agreed to take us for the trip. We had to start a bit early and with our best efforts, we managed to do so at 9-30 AM.

After a while we entered a scenic route with loads of green on both sides and driving through a canopy of trees.

As we started our accent towards the hills, we encountered some amazing waterfalls

Cheeyappara Waterfalls

This was the best of them all. We took our first break and this was the best place to do so.

We had gone no further than 100m that we encountered this. Another waterfall and big enough to be photographed. From a distance, it looked like a stream of milk flowing from the mountains.

Very soon we would take our next break, this time to buy the local spices and chocolates at a shop named Greenfield Spices and Herbals. The route was lined up with many such shops and we stopped by this one. We had a feast shopping and ended up paying a bill of over six thousand for the spices and chocolates to be gifted back home to near and dear ones. There was also a spice garden located which also offered viewing of elephants. It was tempting but we were now running out of time as we needed to return the same day.

We proceeded towards Munnar after crossing a couple of towns and very soon we had the first sight of the gorgeous tea estates and gardens as we reached the outskirts.

Now we had to decide what will be our final destination where we can get some of those great views of this gorgeous hill station. Suhail suggested the Top Station as our final destination so we started driving towards it. Asmi’s research however told us that there was something called the Gap road which is one of the most scenic roads to drive on. We nevertheless started off for the Top Station, the top-most point of Munnar. On the way we got some of those great views which we stopped to soak in. We drove through the Munnar town center, which was typically crowded and a far cry to the beauty that existed on the outskirts. Without wasting much time we drove through it and took our first break at Ripples Chai Point.

We marched on towards the Top Station. On the way there were quite a few shacks at various points selling tea, maggi and other snacks. We chose on of those points to have our much needed lunch which would be nothing but Maggi. We knew well, that few combinations can be better that Maggi and the Mountains. It is here that our plans took a U-turn, literally. We asked the shopkeeper who made the Maggi for us about the Gap Road and he indeed confirmed that it was a beautiful drive up there and provided some breathtaking views. So we took the decision to shelve the idea of going to the Top Station and drive towards Gap road in the reverse direction. That did not deter us from enjoying the Maggi with the tea gardens around.

Towards Lockhart Gap Road

Our destination was the Lockhart Gap Road. The area around it had the Lockhart Tea factory and the Lockhart Tea park. This was start of a magical experience and we would advise everyone visiting Munnar to go for this drive. We took a large number of stops and each had its own story.

After this longish photo session, we moved ahead. The road and the view became better with each turn. We now badly wanted to stop enter one of those tea gardens. Suhail spotted one where the gate was open and we had little hesitation in venturing in.

And now we entered the tea gardens which I understand was the Lockhart Tea Park. The garden was open and we spotted a couple of ladies doing their job of trimming the leaves. They gave a nice demo of the same and the sound it made was like music. I am not sure if they were plucking the leaves at that time.

After an extended photo session, we moved ahead. We thought we have reached our destination. Well, almost. A couple of more turns and it took us to a point which was engulfed in the clouds. This was indeed our final destination and now we decided to turn back. Added to the beautiful walk in the clouds was a much needed tea stall. Tea never tasted nicer.

It was now time to turn back and head back for the long drive back to Kochi which would take us a clear four and a half hours. It was almost dusk and just a few more minutes of day-light left. We thought we are surely done now. We were in for another pleasant surprise. On the way back, we noticed that another side of Lockhart tea which was open and there were lots of crowd. We understood this was the main Lockhart Gap View point. This was truly an iconic spot as it provided a great view of the gardens and the winding road appearing like a ribbon.

This was most definitely our last break. We had little option as it got dark soon after. We made the long four hour drive back to Kochi and reached right on time for last dinner order at our desired restaurant.