Munnar

Time: Apr 4-8 2008
Place: Ernakulam, Munnar
Company: Colleagues and some of their girl friends, including mine (;))
Album: Click here
Highlights:

Day 0: Left to Ernakulam in Airavatha Volvo KSRTC bus from Bangalore at 8 am. Seat spacing distributed throughout the bus because of issues in booking through ksrtc website. Bollywood movie Apne aired in bus. But thanks to Hogenekal issue, as soon as we entered Tamil Nadu through Hosur, an anti-element of the society threw a stone on our bus and the windshield cracked. Although glass pieces flew all over the bus aisle (including Preetham’s lap), the windshield didn’t shatter. Went to Krishnagiri Police Station to lodge an FIR to claim insurance.

Day 1: Reached Ernakulam at 10.30 instead of 8. Aankhen movie in the bus. Tempo Traveler reached the spot where we got down. Stifling heat. Went to service apartment rented by Diana. Freshened up. Diana’s house at 1 pm. Photo session with her. She was all the more bubbly, thanks to the occasion of her engagement. Lunch. Left to Munnar at 3.30 pm. Reached Munnar at 7.30 pm. Checked in at Munnar Tourist Home. Walk to Munnar town for dinner and a visit to Church (which was closed).

Day 2: Breakfast at Saravana Bhavan. Yummy! Wait to Ashwin, who was supposed to join us at Munnar from Bangalore directly, turned sour as he didn’t reach till noon and we had to carry on without him. Went to view point and walked amidst tea estates. Also visited couple of dams (remember one of the names as Mettupatty Dam), played with rifles, couple of gals went horse-riding, mirthful conversations and played the fool with camera. Other places visited include Echo point, Top station and Pampadum National Park. Went for a long walk inside the forest on a road which is supposedly the highest (in terms of MSL) in South India comparable only to roads in Himalaya. Trekked too. Couple of them got leeched! Back to Munnar town and Appam dinner (no mention of non veg as 12 of them preferred veg!).

Day 3: Went to visit Nilgiri Thar on another National Park. NT is a mountain goat not found anywhere else other than in Himalayas. Found plenty of them. Moreover, natural beauty was insurmountable. High peaks, classic tea estates, over-the-clouds, greenery-everywhere and beautiful, beautiful air! Saw South India’s tallest mountain peak. Called fondly as Elephant Face because of the resemblance. Came back and hogged omelets! Left to Ernakulam at 12 noon. Reached Ernakulam by 4 pm. Pizza Hut. Train to Bangalore at 5 pm. Dumb C, Antakshari, PJs, Love Stories (!) of colleagues, etc!

Day 4: Reached Bangalore at 4.20 am. On the dot as per schedule.

On the whole, a wonderful trip. Also, most memorable, as it was the first with my fiancée.