If Kerala is green and beautiful, Munnar is it's first impression. To those intending to visit Kerala, I recommend Munnar as the first destination. It's secluded, lush green, exactly as you would have seen it in the pictures and other travel guides. It is however more beautiful than any literature would deem it to be. Cardamon plants, a number of tea gardens, mostly belonging to Kanan Devan (19% of this tea estate is owned by Tata tea), and laid back lifestyle fill the rest of the description on Munnar.My wife and me Priya had originally planned for Tea County, a place where Mr Bachhan had stayed for sometime. It was recommended by my travel agent and I was completely sold on the property. This was until I met Jeevan Jagga from MakeMyTrip.com, who had recently been to Munnar. MakeMyTrip.com has a different division, which looks into hotel contracting, inspect property as per their stringent guideline to make it accessible to shoppers like us to simplify the search process. Jagga has been doing this for a while, recommending hotels to MakeMyTrip.com and build the hotel's inventory. He recommended Tall Tress, a relatively new property. For a person new to Kerala, it came as a surprise, as I expected him to corroborate my travel agent suggestion, leaving me in complete quandary. The decision was difficult, but till today I don't regret a bit.
Munnar is about 5 hours from Cochin airport, and is located on Anna Mudi hills, the highest mountain in this part of the country. You would see lot of scenic views, items to eat (pineapple with rock salt is quite popular) and carrots on the way. Since this was my first visit to Kerala, i was quite absorbed in the thoughts and plans for the destination. The appearance of tea gardens, broke my reverie and announced the arrival of Munnar. Tall Trees was on the outskirts of the city and the approach was long. I was quite skeptical on my way to the property and it became stronger as we went through unfinished terrains. The road took serpentine curves, and at times there wasn't even pukka road. We came across Abad Palace and also Sienna Village (another great resort that we could have finalised and seen on Holiday IQ). Given a choice we would have changed our decision then and there. It was sunset by the time we reached Tall Trees. The resort was beautiful, peaceful and green. It was one of the best places that we have been to.
Tall Tress is located amongst stunning verdant woodland and cardamom plantation. There are a number of cottages located (about 26 in total). The office is near the entrance, where as the cottages are located uphill across the resort in different locations. We were given a very warm welcome in form of an upgrade from a deluxe cottage to a luxury cottage. These luxury cottages are duplex in structure, the dining and sitting arrangement in on the top and the bedrooms a floor below. There were two balconies, one in front of the sitting arrangement and the other in front of the bedroom. Both the rooms had a great view.
We freshened up and went straight to the cafe; we were hungry and needed replenishment. The cafe was quite an uphill walk but we longer time to decide the menu. Finally Priya ordered simple masala tea and pizza. Munnar tea, which we had heard about so much, was finally being served; our expectation was high and we waited patiently. The tea was aromatic and flavoured with my favourite spice- cinnamon and ever since coming back from the trip, I have been experimenting to get the very same blend haven't had success on that front. I'm quite hopeful that my struggle will soon end.
The best part about Munnar is no cellphone connection (possible BSNL/MTNL could have coverage but we were not interested to verify). We headed straight for the market to a liquor shop, to celebrate our coming. The market was contrary to our scenic quite surroundings and was abuzz with activity. There was only one liquor shop, and the queue was long. Ebby our tour guide and driver was smart enough to get an "English Liquor" in no time and a beer for himself. Tapioca chips and "Murruku" were our other usual selections for the day. We came back loaded with ammunition for the evening. The sun had already set and the mood was slowly seeping in.
During the conversation we had already decided to buy some place near our resort, so that we can come as often as we could. Our bright future plans was interrupted by a phone ring, announcing the start of dinner. We were in no hurry, and soon within an hour, after a couple of drinks, we started our march uphill again. The dining area was right opposite to the cafe area, but more inside and towards the hill side. That night it was lit with candles, the roof was made of glass and so clear that we see the starry night. The food was not that great but the ambiance made up for the romantic dinner. There are few other places where you can go and eat like Raspy's for Biryani and Hotel brothers (in the city).
Our first place in Munnar was a Tea Museum. It is a very popular Munnar attraction and very commercial. We were escorted by a Tea guide who took us through the process of tea manufacturing and also gave us a little knowledge of how tea is differentiated. "CTC" stands for Crush-Tear-Curl, and has an elaborate manufacturing process. It has better colour and strength as compared to "Organic" or leaf tea. Munnar Tea has superior quality of CTC and dust (another variation of CTC which giver more colour and strength compared to CTC). The Museum also had antiques dating back to early 1900s, with pictures of colonial India and glimpses from the early tea factory. We spend an hour here and inspired by the aroma and expertise, we went to Kannan Devan Tea Factory outlet to purchase Tea (it is customary souvenir for Munnar tourists). Ebby took us to a place called "Munnar Woods" for lunch. It was relatively upmarket and so was the food. Since these were the first few days in Kerala, we were craving for Kerala Curry, Brown rice and Sambhar. I decided to go for another place which I had seen on the way.
One should ideally spend 2 days in Munnar, but we decided to extend it to three on the second day. We did the regular tourist number by going for the church, from where one could also see the mosque and the temple, epitomising the secular culture. We also went to Devikulam dam (about 10 Kms away from Munnar, which is a regular tourist attraction and offers boat ride). By the time we came back to the hotel, we were very tired and crashed out.
Munnar is also famous for Neelkurinji, a wild plant which flowers once in 12 years; 2007 happened to be the fateful year. It is said that the whole valley turns voilet with the bloom. We went to Eravikulam Santuary with the expectation and loaded camera. Much to our frustration we realised that season was over, but manged catch glimpses of a plant with some faded flower. The sanctuary is also famous for Nilgiri Thar, an endangered species of Goat, found only in these areas. The animal appeared quite dangerous from a distance and would not eat anything offered to it, we ignored it. There is also a small Museum which houses Thar's history and some stories on other animals found in the area. Government has made good arrangement to keep the area clean and arrange for a transport.
During our third and last day in Munnar, the zing and enthusiasm was missing in our our dinner as we knew this won't be there tomorrow. We were back again dining below the open skies, light music and getting treated like a king by our steward Viji. Though we spent a total of three days in Munnar, we could have spent one extra day and visit the nearby attractions like Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (45 Kms) and sandalwood forest (about 10 kms). Living in a tea plantation is also possible if one could plan in advance.
Irrespective of the fact that we could have stayed for years together in Munnar, we headed straight for Thekkady the next day. The city didn't seem to leave us, tea gardens followed us till many kms and hours, while me and Priya were discussing plans to settle down in Munnar some point in time.
