Kochi Munnar Trip

Trip to Kerala has been in my bucket list for quite some time now and at last the day had come. State number 17 covered in India. Kids had vacation and also there was a cousin’s wedding to attend soon after. So had to plan something short and planned for a 4 day trip. Booked flight tickets to Kochi and car for travel from Kochi to Munnar and back for 3 days. Also hotels in Kochi and Munnar.

Day 1: The flight from Hyderabad to Kochi was on Friday afternoon. Started at home after early lunch around 12.30 pm and reached Kochi around 4.45 pm. Went to the hotel, checked in and got fresh. Visited Edapally church which was very close to the hotel and it was huge. The old church next to it is quite old and smaller in comparison. From there, went to the famous LULU mall in Kochi which is one of the biggest in India. LULU mall in Hyderabad was opened very recently in just close to our home but visited this one before the local one. Did some shopping and had food in the food court. Returned to the hotel which was walkable distance from the mall and slept for the day.

Day 2: Woke up early in the morning and had morning walk. The car came for pick up by 8 am and we left to Munnar via Athirapilly water falls. Had breakfast and my wife wanted to try something local and she ordered idiyappam which was good. From there, started to Athirapilly waterfalls and road was good till half of the distance and the other half not that good. So it took around 1hr 45 mins to cover the 60 kms distance. There is an entry ticket of Rs.50/- per head and we need to walk some distance to reach the place where we have quite a few steps to reach the bottom for a very good view of the falls. This is where the famous Bahubali movie was shot. From there started to Munnar and had lunch on the way. The route was very scenic and through rubber plantations.

On the way to Munnar there were two more water falls, Cheeyapara and Valara. After that, went for Spice Plantation tour where we got to see many plantations of the spices that we use regularly like Pepper, cardamum, Clove, etc. It was a guided tour and bought some spices from the store there. Reached our Hotel Silver Tips in Munnar around 7 pm. It was a movie theme based hotel and very good and very close to the main Munnar town. Had dinner and slept for the day as it was already dark.

Day 3: Had morning walk till the town area and started for local site seeing around 10 am. Went to Meesapulimala Kerala Eco Tourism park first and from there to Mattupetty Dam, Echo point, Kundala lake, Tea plantation and Top Station. As it was a long weekend there was lot of traffic on the way. Near Eco point, spotted 3 wild elephants on the road side. The echo point was very scenic, spent some time there and proceeded towards the Top station which is the top most point in Munnar and actually in Tamil Nadu state. As it was very cloudy, could not get a proper view of the valley. But the way was very scenic with lot of tea plantation. Took some photos both ways and reached hotel by around 6 pm. There was no time left for Eravikulam National park. So decided to go there the next day.

Day 4: This was the last day of our trip and went to Eravikulam National park around 9 am. There is an entry ticket of 200/- per adult and 150/- per kid(5 to 12 yrs). Had to wait for the bus for almost an hour that takes you to the entrance of the park through the tea plantations. Reached there and started a small trek to the top of the park which houses Nilgiri Thars. Spotted quite a few of them and returned to the base around 12 noon. Started back to Kochi and had traditional Kerala food(sadya) on the way.

Reached Kochi around 5 pm and went for Backwaters ride where we could spot quite a few variety birds and also Chinese fishing nets. From there, went to Vasco Da Gama point which is in Fort Kochi area. It was already dark by that time and hence went to hotel nearby the airport so that it would be easy to take the early morning flight next morning. It started pouring on the way to hotel. Good that there was no rain during the day when we visited places.

Day 5: The last day of the trip and time to say good bye Kerala. The flight was at 8 am and reached home by around 11 am. End of a short sweet trip.