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    Exploring hidden gems of Kerala

    On a pleasant monsoon evening in September, it was amazing to travel on road from Thrissur to Munnar. It took almost 16 hours to reach the destination. I wouldn’t have made it without my besties Manohar and Bharath, who were also travelling with me.

    Exploring hidden gems of Kerala
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    Picturesque mountains of Munnar

    Chennai

    We had to push ourselves during the last few kilometres to reach our hotel, which was three kilometres away from Munnar town. 

    After a short nap, we went out in the evening to explore the roadside market. The temperature had dipped a little post the rains and it was a great experience to walk along the wet streets of Munnar. At night, we shifted to another hotel, as we realised the original hotel we had checked into, was expensive. The new one was located near the KSRTC bus depot. 

    Although the long drive from Thrissur had exhausted us, we decided to wake up early the next morning to explore the hill top of Kannan Devan. While the journey to the hill-top was tough, the moment we reached the top, a look at floating clouds hiding behind those green mountains made all the trouble worth it. The air was so pure without any pollution. We captured some beautiful shots in our cameras. The sudden downpour and the sound of the rain was music to our ears. On the other side of the hill, we also spotted a rainbow. It was a surreal experience to see it up so close. This experience gave us some beautiful memories to treasure for life.  

    Then, we decided to visited Mattupatty dam, that was constructed under the Pallivasal Hydro-electric project in the late  1940s, for water conservation and power generation. Now the dam is a vital source of electricity in Munnar and a haven for many wild animals and birds due to its constant water availability. The most attractive part of Mattupetty dam is its still water which reflects the tea garden around. We got some spectacular shots from there as well. Since it was too cold, we went to a nearby shop to sip on some hot tea. 

    Water on the banks of Mattupatty dam

    That night, we relived the moments as we viewed the photos that we had clicked through the day, back in the hotel room. We also planned our visit to Pothamedu the next day, which was around four kilometres from our place. So, we decided to call it a night early after supper. I did not get much sleep owing to excitement and anxiety. Even before my alarm could ring at 4.30 am, I was ready with my trekking gear packed. As we stepped out, we could feel the chill in the air and realised that the temperature was less than 10 degree Celsius. 

    When the twilight peeked as though there were a peephole amidst the clouds, we saw the mist covered roads. The scene, which we saw, was straight out of a picture book. We then walked a long way to finally reach our destination. We even ended up capturing small creatures through macro lens, while returning from the view point at Pothamedu. 

    We rushed back to our hotel for breakfast, after five hours of exploring the landscape around us, before finally rushing for the station to board our train back to Chennai.

    The writer is a photographer and founder of Madras Photo Bloggers

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