Chronicles of Munnar- II

On reaching Munnar we checked into our hotel room(would like to think of it as a suite though..but far from that).Once ready we were itching to rush out and enjoy everything the place had to offer.(but of course we took our own sweet time to get ready..so we had to hv lunch and then start!!!) Well our first hot spot was the National Park...we drove down to the place..if we wanted to take our cameras we had to pay extra..so we decided not to...which was I assure you was a big mistake.The National Park in Munnar boasts of an animal called the wild goat..also the flower called "kurinji"..which bloom once in 12 years..making the mountains look blue...must be a pretty sight..a pity we missed it.Anyway we had to take the bus provided by the govt. to visit the National park...as the vehicle climbed higher and higher...the beauty of the mountains was so appealing that I wished I could stay there a lil' longer..but, it was scary too..to be at such heights..and in a bus..God knows that I thought of him a lil' often while going up!!!Well the buses take you upto a point and then you have to walk the rest of the path...it rained so hard that the visibility was zero!!...We neva got to see the wild goat..nor did we see the kurinji..but the feeling that stayed on..I will cherish..forever..... Back on ground level..(which was a few thousands of feet above the sea level!!)..I solemnly swore that I would get back there!!!

..A well slept night sparks off a happy morning..(I know so!!)...and so we were up the next morning in a happy mood but with no idea of where we were heading...our driver, Vinu, decided he knew where we needed to be that morning..and so we went to the Mattupati dam...there is nothing beautiful or awesome about the size and the working of the dam...but the area surrounding it..slopes of green fields(maintained by the govt. for the cows in the dairy farm!!!)..n the river between high mountains....was beyond description!!! Picture perfect in other words...to one end you could see a mare grazing..some cows lazily sitting...reminding me of an English country side. Well,that was enough to make us want more..so we drove further up to another dam...captured a few fine moments there too..(Now when I look back ...I know that they are memories of a holiday I will cherish for life). The monsoons add a different shade to Munnar(a very pretty tinge of green), but as alweyz they play spoil sport....because we had to be back in the hotel by mid noon to escape the fury of the rain gods.. which is why, we also missed the boat ride!! Once back in the safety of the room,we relaxed for a while before the older gang set out for spices shopping (which wasnt a day's work ,wat with all the planning of quantity and checking of quality...whoever said "Building Rome was a day's work")...That was another beautiful day in Munnar.

....contd