Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

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VJ

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Day1: Bangalore-Valparai

Started from home at 4:45am, as decided rode 150kms non-stop till I reached A2B by 6:30 (just ahead of Thoppur)

Sun rise


Took one more break before Tirupur. My initial plan was to skip Tirupur, but I was not sure about the route, and ended up in Tirupur town. It was so confusing, I lost my way 3 times and had to turn around (thanks to all the sign boards only in tamil, and the one which was in English had the arrows missing)

After Palladam, village roads started. I cruised through the straight village roads, restricting the speed to 70-80kmph to enjoy the scenic beauty of Pollachi.

Windmills of Pollachi road


Reached Aliyar dam around 11:30, but din’t go inside as I din’t want to leave my luggage on the bike and it was too heavy to carry around. Couldn’t find the path to go down to the river, so I just headed towards Valparai.

I wanted to stop at Loam’s view for pics, but the forest guard didn’t allow any vehicle to stop there. So stopped at another hairpin to click, though the view was not the best.




The quintessential hairpin pic




Road was narrow in many places, but there was very less traffic. Riding through those curves was pure joy. After a while, tea estates start to appear and the 40 hair pin gets over even before we realize.

Stopped at Waterfall Tea estate for a tea. My brother was supposed to reach Valparai by 1pm and check for accommodation. He was riding from Cochin. Tried to contact him, but his cell was out of reach.







Reached Valparai town by 1:30, and he is still not reachable on phone. So I decided to check in some of the hotels he had shortlisted. Finally we met at Green Hill hotel. The 10kms bad stretch between Athirapilly - Sholayar and numerous stops for checking by police and forest officers delayed his arrival.

We checked-in, got fresh and took some rest. Green Hill hotel has a restaurant. Food was good, but price was “Bangalore price”. Biriyani was close to the Ambur one and the beef roast…..Kerala style beef roast always makes my taste buds happy

Our plan was to go to Sholayar dam 1st and then visit Nirar dam. Road to Sholayar was good, but lot of blind corners and villagers crossing ruined the fun in cornering.






The upper Sholyar dam didn’t have anything exciting. The surrounding was mostly brown.




The tea gardens enroute made us stop for long photo sessions.


















Time flew and before we realized, it was dark. We rode half way towards Nirar dam, but decided to skip it as it was already 6:30. We realized the mistake of choosing Sholayar dam over Nirar when we saw the route. It was so scenic with well laid roads and inviting corners. Convinced ourself saying “there is always next time”.





Tea and vadas from a small tea shop. We just kept on having tea, vadas and bajjis.


he hotel also had a Bar which is the only decent one in the town. We had some ‘light refreshment’ from there before calling it a day.

To be continued...

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Nice pics buddy

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Nice clicks...

Brings back memories of my last trip to valparie...

Bring in some more snaps..

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Nice log, great snaps mate.

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Nice pics and simple narration. The place is definitely on my bucket list.
Thanks for sharing and ride safe

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Day2: Valparai-Aliyar-Thirumurthy-Udamalpet-Chinnar-Munnar-Vattavada


Morning view from the terrace


Close-up view of one of the Valparai township colony


We wanted to start by 8:30, so got ready and went out for breakfast. Gobbled up on hot idlis and dosas from a small shop and we were ready to roll. 5 kms from the town and the weather changed. We were in the middle of tea gardens with mist all around. Took out the cameras, and there you go…






After our photo sessions, we decided not to stop till we hit the hairpins for the view of Aliyar dam and the twisties. Luckily, there was no one to stop us in Loam’s view this time. This is at the 9th Hairpin curve.







Once we crossed the dam, we had to stop a couple of times to check the map for the deviation towards Udumalpet. Missing the turn means going up till Pollachi and then coming around to Udumalapettai town. With the help of some villagers, we found our way.

Roads are narrow and not well laid, but who wants to race through the beautiful countryside. Reached Thirumurthi dam around 11:30. It was a sunny day, but not very hot. We spend some time clicking in the dam.





On our way to Chinnar, we saw the deviation towards Amaravathi reservoir. Didn’t want to waste time in one more dam, so headed straight to Chinnar. Enter the forest zone and the roads become patchy. Why can’t all sanctuaries have roads like Mudumalai and Bandipur?

After Kerala check post, the road became a little better. We were not lucky to spot any wild life. Had a homely meal from a small family run restaurant in Marayur. After 7-8km stretch of Sandalwood forest, tea gardens start.

I was going in front and happily cornering, and then we stopped at a spot to click. That’s when my brother pointed out that my bag looks like it will fall in every turn. The Rynox Optimus bag is steady as a tail bag/tank bag, but not when it is extended. I secured the bag with a bungee cord. It din’t move an inch after that, the drawback being, I have to untie the bungee each time for taking my camera out.





Once we reached Munnar town, 1st thing we did was tea shopping. Ripple tea shop (just before the bridge to Mattupetti town) has a good variety of tea, especially green tea. I would recommend all tea lovers to visit this place when you are in Munnar and don’t forget to buy their Special CTC tea.

Day2..to be continued..

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Nice ride and real lovely pictures ! Ride On !

Ride Safe

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Day 2 continued...

Traffic in Munnar town gave us an idea of how crowded it is going to be. There were lots of vehicles on the way to Mattupetti dam, and many were parked on the road for taking photos. We reached Mattupetti and the scene was not different there. I had the same experience in my Kodai trip last year. We went a little ahead, leaving all the crowd behind and found this beautiful place.








Some guys fishing


Next stop was Kundala dam. We crossed the dam to find ourselves in the middle of picnickers eating, drinking and littering everywhere.

Kundala lake from a distance


Boating in Kundala dam


Skipped Echo point, as we had been there many times and we knew that will be crowded as well.

Ride to top-station was awesome. Cornering here was super fun. I had some close calls as the buses and even some tourist SUVs doesn’t return the horn and come on to our lane.Request everyone to be careful in the blind corners if you are riding in Munnar







Not many tourists visit the top station and that was evident with the reduced vehicle flow. For us too, this was our 1st time in Top station.

Not much was visible due to the clouds. We didn’t spend lot of time there.







Top-station to Vattavada (around 10kms) is a treat. Roads are narrow, but not a single vehicle and the awesome scenery.

We reached Anand resort by 6pm. Checked-in and headed out to the small town. Not a single ATM, telephone booth in that town and no range for anything other than BSNL.
The resort guy made us a delicious dinner. The hot home-style chicken curry was a relief in the biting cold climate.

Day3: Vattavada-Munnar-Udaumalaipettai-Tirupur-Salem-Bangalore

Left the resort around 7:45am and took us more than an hour to reach Munnar. The morning ride in the chilling cold, through the mist was an icing on the cake. Had to slow down as my bro was not able to ride fast, thanks to the Motomesh gloves. After breakfast from Munnar, bid goodbye to my brother and we parted ways.

Munnar to Marayur route was covered with fog for most part with very low visibility. I was too lazy to untie and takeout my camera.

One from my mobile


After that it was just ride-ride-ride. Took breaks only for water/food/pee. I made the same mistake of entering Tirupur and lost my way again. Got a call from my bro informing that he reached home by 12:30 with a speeding ticket.

Reached home by 6:30pm, much earlier than I expected. This was definitely a ride to remember for lifetime. Wished I had one more day to explore those beautiful hills.

Thanks!

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Superb post and you got some great pics. Me and my friend were also out on our first trip from thrissur to Valparai and distinctly remember seeing your brother. This was the first time we had crossed the Athirapally check post and entered into real "jungle". The guards at the check post had done an excellent job of scaring us out of our wits by telling us that we shouldn't stop until we reached Valparai town and if we did stop en-route, we would promptly be trampled by wild elephants .Around 30kms in We were stopped by a forest guard jeep and were in the process of being interrogated by wannabe FBI agents when your brother showed up in a riding jacket and a yellow pulsar. The guards quickly shooed me and my puny unicorn away and latched onto your brother . We overheard him telling the guards that he was going to meet you and then travel to Munnar. I remember telling my friend your brother was a "freaken" and a bit of a nutcase for riding through the forest alone. No disrespect meant. Since that day, have been on that route around 8 or 9 times, but yet to find the courage to do it solo

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Amazing photography! Thumb up!

Re: The tea gardens of Valparai and Munnar

Solo ride is always has the risk of getting stranded without help because of a flat tyre, engine failure or minor accidents. But we can always take precautions to avert these risks. And an attack from a wild animal is a rare possibility. Forest guards generally doesn't allow people if there is a remote chance of wild life encouner. So chill and do your trip.

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Solo ride is always has the risk of getting stranded without help because of a flat tyre, engine failure or minor accidents. But we can always take precautions to avert these risks. And an attack from a wild animal is a rare possibility. Forest guards generally doesn't allow people if there is a remote chance of wild life encouner. So chill and do your trip.