The final year trip…yawn…

I’ve been really busy and been feeling lazy additionally, hence the late post. We are finally through with our final year 3 day trip to Munnar, Veegaland and Fort Cochin. Before I begin my tirade, let me quote that am not a cynic but only someone who would prefer atleast moderate organization of stuff before leaving for a trip. I would be completely wrong if I said I didn’t enjoy at all. I mighty enjoyed it mainly because of the company but the trip was ok.

The train journey was amazing.None of us slept on our journey to Ernakulam and we hung around the train doors, standing and talking with lots of interesting stuff happening in the background, which I’m not at liberty to mention :)! We reached in the wee hours of morning, crashed at a pretty ok hotel for few hours and left for Veegaland in the late morning.

Tip#1: We paid INR 110 (with discount) for the hotel/travel home we stayed in. It was not very good and quite dusty. I’m very particular about the bathrooms which were really sad in the room we got plus no hot water facility too. It was manageable since we barely stayed in the rooms but if you do go there for  a longer time, be sure to take a nice hotel since hotel rates are quite cheap compared to Bangalore and Mangalore. A good classy business hotel with AC, standard mini bar and the works would cost around INR 1950 (same thing would cost INR 4000 upwards in Bangalore) and a basic hotel with good rooms and nice clean bathrooms can be easily gotten for around INR 300.

    Tea estates on the way to Munnar

We then made our way back to the hotel where few rested and few partied the remaining night. The next morning we left for Munnar where we stayed at S.N Tourist Home which was very comfortable . The journey was breathtaking and beautiful with so many tea estates spread over! It was a nice change from the heat. The temperature was around 17 degrees Celsius in the evening and dropped as low as 4 degrees in the wee hours of morning.

Tip#2: Carry lots of warm clothes, inner thermal wear, mufflers, gloves and anything that can keep you warm!!It’s really really cold. Even Ooty or Kodaikanal was not so cold when I’d gone there in winter. Infact I even lasted the rainy, chilly evening in Ooty after taking bath in ice cold water. But Munnar is soooo cold that I can’t even imagine what it’s like right now!

 

Kundala dam pictures above and supposed echo point pictures below.

Next, we visited the Kundala dam the same day we reached and did some boating there. That was the first time anyone of us rowed and it was fantastically enjoyable! We halted at some more places (one of which was a supposed echo point that doesn’t echo properly) to admire the view, grab a bite and click photos. And then, some of the brighter ones decided to go to some sunset point like thing after half the sun had already set catching some jeeps and the saner ones went to the tourist home hoping to start the bonfire at 7. The bonfire got crapped out since the sunset-seeing folks reached back between 7:45 plus by the time everyone gets ready it would’ve been atleast 8:15 and deadline was 9 so paying 3000 bucks for such a short time was not worth it! I’m extremely sad to tell that this is all we did in Munnar. Here comes the next tip

Tip#3: Munnar is truly beautiful, picturesque place. You can go trekking, paragliding, cycling , visit tea estates and sample some tea. There’s even some waterfalls called Valara nearby and I saw some National Park signs too ( Was hoping to go there and see tigers!). There are a lot of places in and around Munnar which can be thoroughly explored. So plan well and in advance.

On the way from Munnar to Fort Cochin (above)

    Fort Cochin

Ok…from here everything went in a haze. We left from Munnar on the third day where the organizers were divided over going to Kerala backwaters or Charai Beach. We ended up going to Fort Cochin and explored several islands….The church was closed there since we reached after 5 so didn’t see the burial place of Vasco Da Gama. We then travelled over 2 hours to reach the beach at night! The third day was basically a mess. For those who didn’t get into the water at Veegaland or did any boating, it was pretty disappointing for them.

We really never explored the place or anything just travelled majorly from place to place. Fortunately, the air bus was excellent and I managed to sleep through the low-high altitude transition and that took care of my travelling woes!

Tip#4: Know what you’re getting into before you set out for any trip. Think twice if plans are being made dynamically and on the spot. To really enjoy Kerala and see what the place actually has, it is very essential to make a detailed itinerary and stick to it zealously thereby saving time and trouble!