Family retreat at Munnar
Munnar is a charming hill station in the Idukki district on the Western Ghats of South India. In the local dialect Munnar means ‘Three Rivers’, and it is so named since it is the confluence of the three rivers – Nallathanni, Mudrapuzha and Kundala. Situated at the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, both Malayalam and Tamil are spoken here. The town also has an interesting brush with British colonialism. Their insatiable thirst for good tea led to the first tea plantations being planted here by the British. Munnar became so popular that it was once known as the summer resort of British South India. In the recent past, tourism is at a surge here. Its foggy mountains, lush slopes, and pleasant weather is a welcome respite from the sweltering heat & humidity of the Kerala coastline & the Tamil heartland, bringing in scores of tourists. We did a family vacation in Munnar with our year old niece in the month of December, and took back fond memories from this place.
Highlights from our visit:
Home of the world’s spices
Even though Munnar is synonymous with tea plantations now, it was historically linked with an even more significant product – spices. Since ancient times, Munnar’s rich rain forests have been the source of some of the largest supply of spices in the world – cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric & nutmeg, among others. In fact, our guide told us that Munnar continues to produce over 70% of the world’s cardamom.
There is evidence of this everywhere. Myriad spice farms and Ayurveda shops dot the entire road from Kochi to Munnar, and you will likely be stopped at one by your driver on your way here. Beyond that, you will see that these spices just grow wild – cardamom plants and pepper vines show up everywhere you go in Munnar.
Clockwise from Top Left: Cardamom plantation; Pepper vines; Cardamom pods; Pepper vines
Tranquility at the Tea Harvester
While there are ample hotels in Munnar town itself, we wanted to steer clear of the town. Like most popular hill stations in India, its popularity comes at a terrible cost. It was overcrowded, noisy and dirty. We wanted to stay in an idyllic setting in the middle of a tea plantation.
In Tea Harvester, Munnar, we found that perfect setting. It is a cute boutique hotel set in the heart of Palivasal tea estate with roots tracing back to the British Colonial past of India. With our family occupying 4 rooms for 4 nights, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. Far away from the highway & only approachable through a dirt road winding through a slope, its tranquil setting helped us disengage from the rest of the world. Calm and peaceful, mornings here meant waking up to amazing views of the sprawling tea plantation & magical bird calls. The balcony overlooked a cardamom plantation with the Nilgiri mountains forming the backdrop. A hot cup of tea and a good book was all we ever needed here.
Staying in an “out of town hotel” does have its disadvantages. Even though the stay was fantastic here, the food was so and so. We found ourselves frequently making trips to Munnar for dinner. Our favorite happened to be the crazily inexpensive but delicious Sarvana Bhavan. Oddly enough, the ride into town was twice as expensive as the food itself. All the arrangements for local hikes and trips had to be made through the hotel itself.
But these were just minor inconveniences, and we would highly recommend this place to anyone wishing to visit Munnar.
Sunrise at Kolukkumalai peak
Above: First light at Kolukkumalai
Accessible from Kerala state, Kolukkumalai is a small village in Bodinayakanur Taluk in the Theni district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu bordering Idukki district of Kerala.
The journey to Kolukkumalai is undoubtedly as interesting as the destination. The journey is in two stages. The first stage is the 35 kilometer drive from Munnar town to the base of the Kolukkumalai peak in Suryanelli in Idukki district of Kerala. This ride is just short of an hour and a half. Since we wanted to catch a sunrise in winter, this meant that we had to start the journey at the ungodly hour of 4:15AM in the morning. Most of the drive was in pitch dark, and we were thankful our driver was alert the whole time.
Once at the base in Suryaneli, we got to the ticket booth where we had to switch to a sturdy looking jeep. Our new driver and guide was a local Tamilian who was passionate about photography, and knew the place in and out. He explained us that we had about 8 kilometers to cover in the morning today, and it would take about an hour to get to the top. The math didn’t quite add up, and I assumed he was counting in stops for the sunrise photos as well. We anxiously started our second leg of the journey. I have done a fair bit of off-roading in Utah & Arizona, but nothing prepared me for how harsh the road was here. It was singularly the worst bone jarring dirt road I have ever been on.
Every inch of the road had sharp stones jutting out, and I was constantly feeling as if my insides were going to come out of my mouth any minute. Thank god we didn’t have our breakfast yet. The math started making sense immediately – we were doing hardly 10-15 kilometers an hour. Most of the journey was through steep winding switchbacks in pitch dark. A very dense fog enveloped us throughout the ride.
At twilight, our hearts rose up in anticipation – we were above the cloud line, and it felt like we were on the top of the world. Our driver stopped the jeep at the side of the road with an open view of the peak. Unfortunately, we had picked the wrong day! The fog was too thick and didn’t clear at all. Despite that, the sunrise was just gorgeous, and we took in the beauty of it all before heading into the Kolukkumalai tea estate.
World’s highest organic tea estate
At 7,130 feet (2,179 meters), Kolukkumalai tea estate is the world’s highest organic tea plantation. The tea fields that source this factory range from 6,500 feet to 8,199 feet. Both Echo point and the hike to Meesapuli Malai are approachable from the road to the factory.
We stopped at the office first and were served fresh cups of tea. Replenished, we headed to a tour of the tea factory. Established in 1935 by the British, the tea continues to be produced here in the traditional/orthodox method. The factory claims that both the elevated heights on which their tea leaves grow as well as the method of their processing (use of the traditional brass rollers over the modern stainless steel rollers) enhance the taste of the tea produced. The factory seemed dated, but the guide did a great job explaining the various grades of tea, and the process of making tea – withering, rolling, oxidation and drying. We took home quite a bit of their tea, and really like the flavor.
Wake up to the sweet trills of birdsongs
The Western Ghats is a birding hotspot with over 500 species of birds found here, many of them just endemic to this area. The Munnar area in Western Ghats is known to have around 200 species of birds and should be on the list to visit for an avid birdwatcher. With the exception of monsoon when severe rains hit Munnar, birds can be viewed here all year round.
We did not know any of this until we arrived at our hotel & spoke to our concierge. He recommended that we head out at dawn past the hotel kitchen & descend a flight of stairs to a viewing platform under a natural canopy. We took his advice and did just that the next morning. Armed with a medium telephoto, we both went down the stairs to a beautifully curated garden with a view of the cardamom plantation & the mountains beyond. The garden was well camouflaged & allowed us to get close enough to the birds without spooking them. It was such a thrilling experience to hear bird calls and spot one species of birds after another, ranging from the Malabar Whistling Thrushes, Red Whiskered Bulbuls, Rufous Treepies, Racket-tailed Drongos, Babblers and Magpies among others. Our highlight was spotting the beautiful Black-Rumped Flameback Woodpecker. We loved the experience so much that we ended up doing this the following three days of our stay.
Clockwise from Top Left: Malabar Whistling Thrush; Rufous Treepies; Racket-tailed Drongos; Red Whiskered Bulbul; Jungle Babbler; Oriental Magpie Robin; Red Vented Bulbul; Black-rumped flameback woodpecker
Hike up the Seven Mallay hills
The hills & valleys around Munnar are filled with hikes and trails. On the third day of our stay here, we had the hotel organize a guided hike – it cost us Rupees 750 per person for a four hour hike. We were picked up at our hotel right after lunch by the guide and dropped off at the trailhead near the Seven Mallay tea estate.
The hike had a gentle elevation gain and zig zagged through tea plantations on both sides. It was a sea of green carpeted all over the rolling hills as far as the eye can see. We picked a perfect day for the hike as well – the weather was nice & cool.
The summit was this beautiful lookout spot that gave us a birds eye view of the entire Munnar town and the hills everywhere. We sat down to admire the view, silently digging in to the fruits the guide had offered us as a reward.
