Photo by Harivirat Muthyam
27th May 2024: Munnar Day 1
We booked a private bus for our trip, and Lakshana slept with us. I slept in the last seat very comfortably. My uncle kept singing songs. We found a nice place to have breakfast, which we had packed from home: chapatis, paneer, and channa masala. After that, we visited the Bothimedu Viewpoint, took some pictures there, and then continued to our next destination, a tea estate.
When we arrived at the tea garden, it started drizzling, so we didn't spend much time there. Next, we went to the Botanical Garden. We bought the tickets, and I made a video call to Sneha. She liked the purple flowers and gave me a few ideas for posing. I took many pictures and did a photo shoot for my uncle, aunt, and cousins. We spent quality time there. Kayal made reels for her YouTube channel. There was a beautiful river flowing inside, and we also had bets that an elephant inside whether was alive or just a toy, it was that lively. There was a steep place where my cousins rolled down.
Then we went to Blossom Hydral Park to have our lunch. We ate tamarind rice and curd rice. After lunch, we went to our resort, Ventos. My cousins were very eager to swim. There were trampolines, swings, a campfire, and more. We loved our tent house a lot. We booked two duplex rooms. We spent some time in the swimming pool; Lakshana and Mithra played with a provided tube. Kayal and I played "hold your breath" games. We had our dinner at Ventos, which included parathas, chapathis, chicken, tandoori chicken, etc. It was delicious. We went to sleep after a conversation about tomorrow's plan and some chatter in bed.
28th May 2024: Munnar Day 2
I woke up at 5:48 AM, eager to watch the sunrise, but unfortunately, it was hidden. So, we had a long chat in the swings area. Afterward, I took a bath in the cold water and some of my cousins were jumping on the trampoline for a while until everyone was getting ready. My cousin and I had a deal to wear hoodies that day, so we all wore hoodies. For breakfast, we had puttu, kadala curry, and aapam. Later, our jeeps arrived, and we first went to Ripple Falls. My cousins went zip-lining, but I wasn't interested in it. Instead, I admired the eye-catching beauty of Ripple Falls. The water was freezing but we couldn't touch it.
Next, we visited a British period Bridge. It was drizzling heavily at that time, making the mountains even more charming than the bridge. Then, we went to Ponmudi Dam, where a scene from the movie "Chennai Express" was filmed. My uncle tested the echoing capacity by shouting "Happy Birthday, Jegat!" as it was his birthday the next day. Afterward, we went to Echo point, also known as Invisible Point, because it was completely filled with mist. We enjoyed popcorn and vada there.
Then, we went to a Chocolate Factory. I had wanted to visit this place in Munnar since 2015, and here, I learned about the chocolate-making process and asked lots of questions. We also tasted and bought some samples. After that, we went to a Spice Garden, where it was raining heavily, so we were given umbrellas. A guide explained various plants and trees to us. I was particularly amused by the red aloe vera plant.
For lunch, we went to a restaurant where I ate Malabar chicken with roti, which was part of my Kerala food goals. I also tried Kerala rice balls. After lunch, my mom and I went shopping. My cousins were sent home with Periyappa and Paati, while we went in search of air balloons and rosemary oil. Eventually, we dropped the oil plan and went in search of a cake shop and dinner. We visited at least 15 hotels. We ate cherries, passion fruit, pazhampori, kolukattai, and sukiye from the local shops.
We ordered three cakes: one for Jegat (29th May), one for Shiso (1st June), and one for Lachu (24th May). At the cake shop, we enjoyed cookies, falooda, aval milk, lassi, tea, and cappuccino. The climate was getting colder. After buying our dinner, we returned to the hotel by auto-rickshaws. Once there, we freshened up and listened to my cousins' notorious activities recounted by my Paati.
For dinner, we had appams, idiyappams, kadala curry, egg curry, and veg stew. After dinner, our campfire started. We called Jegat, Nitha Chithi, and Ramani Chithi using a mic and shared stories about Jegat's birthday. We sang songs, and I encouraged everyone to dance. Eventually, we had a fun dance moment together.
Before the cake-cutting ceremony, We all danced to the "Yaar Enna Sonnaalum" song, which gave us goosebumps. Afterward, we returned to our rooms. We ordered lemon tea, milk tea, and katanchai. This time, I chose to sleep in the tent instead of the usual bed and slept peacefully there.
29th May 2024: Munnar Day 3
I woke up early again to see the sunrise but forgot that it wasn't visible from our location, so I went back to sleep. I woke up to the news that I had lost my new phone's charger. After taking a bath, I didn't even do my hair as the van had already arrived. We left our resort with a heavy heart. I sat beside Nithya Chithi and slept on her lap.
Our first stop was a restaurant where everyone ordered dosa. After eating, I saw a shop nearby and finally got my rosemary oil. Then we went to a place that offered horse rides, but I didn't go since I was feeling sleepy. We crossed a tea factory that wouldn't open until 2 PM, so we first went to a boating area, which also opened at 2 PM.
We decided to visit the Cow boy's Adventure Park nearby. It had zip lines, cycling on a rope, an 8D theatre, bullfighting, and various games. Cycling on a rope was terrifying. I was disappointed that my zip line video didn't get saved. Meanwhile, others went boating. We ate ice creams and milkshakes before heading to our next destination, a dam where a song from the movie "Seemaraja" was shot.
At the dam, I explained a few things about soil erosion and other topics to Kayal, Sen Thamizh, and Hari. It's called the Metupatti Dam. On the way, we were lucky enough to see three elephants grazing, which everyone enjoyed. Then we went to the Kannan Devan Tea Factory, but since we already knew the process, me and my mom didn't enter. Instead, we tasted various teas like masala, ginger, cinnamon, and regular tea. We then went to an outlet and bought tea packets.
Our final stop was back at the restaurant where we had breakfast. On the way, we saw the beautifully lit-up botanical garden. We had fried rice, chicken polichatu, and egg. After eating, we left to buy banana chips before leaving Munnar. On the way back, we watched the "Leo" movie. It was very cold outside, but I slept in the van and woke up at home, where I went inside and slept again.
Actually, this is not my first visit to Munnar. This is my 3rd visit. I first came here in 2015 and then in 2023, I came to Kantholoor which is near Munnar when I came for my 12th half-yearly vacation.
Here's a list of place you can visit, their timings and distance from our resort. (Don't rely on those timings and entry fee, it's not updated.)
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