Kadamparai Dam and downhill - Valparai!

Day5: Dec 27, 2008

By 9 in morning we stared to climb down the valparai hills after taking some pictures with our relative’s whom accommodate us throughout the stay and some kind of love, to greet us again. I haven’t ever fascinate with such colorful flowers treated my eyes and sense this much like those in the garden home we stayed. It’s bitter to know the group took control the home next day plucked all the flowers that bloomed and smiled at me to reflect. The flower pictures I shared here are those taken at the garden. With half a mind, I left the place saying bye to twitter sweet birds that welcomes morning, the blowing wind in fragrance of tea and the warm gave sunshine. Sign by boards, I peer along the way around the trees where lion tail monkeys are yet to leap. At last with little disappointment we found the elephants near Shivaji estate – belong to late actor Shivaji Ganeshan, and where a couple roaming far away the hill and later to have a group of elephants below the valley and inside the shrubs.

After having cuppa in the waterfalls estate - the last tea garden within valparai before climbing down, we turned right near the 20th hairpin bend that head to Kadamparai Dam. The dam was within a distance of 15/20km, and the road lead between teak forest and Tiger valley. We were stopped by a check post and after hardly convincing the old lady, who was in charge, the block was opened and we passed the upper Aliyar and reached the Kadamparai Power house gateway. This was a power house situated at an invisible site inside the hills! It was a 6km tunnel carved in a single rock, with a passage of two Lorries to come and go! Awe… it was interesting to know the main process of this Power house is to recycle the dam water and generate Hydro Electric power. The very special about this was the recycling process. Throughout day the water from Kadamparai dam is open to generate electricity and throughout night, half the current stored are spend to recycle the water from Upper Aliyar to Kadamparai dam. It was like up to down and down to up.

It was highly restricted and very special permission is needed to go inside the tunnel. Those who have went and came, and who recommend us to visit sounds awesome about the silence and fearful noise, to experience never before and to a multi theater effect. As we had some other plan, we couldn’t visit the Kadamparai dam, which was few km above from the power house gateway. As I have lost the pictures I was covering while climbing up valparai hills, I wish to recapture those scenes and stopped at few places, where the one was Lomes view. From here one get a wonderful view of Aliyar Dam and the zigzag dreadful hairpin bends, and from here above the hill were the only place in valparai I saw the Nilgiri Thar. These are some goats, rarely seen on Western Ghats at the least existence.

There are few waterfalls on the way, the water that arrives from Parambikulam dam in Kerala. One of the falls was such forceful and drizzle on the road, the other with little showers left the children to enjoy. If you remember the Sholayar dams, the water that runs through Kerala and into Parambikulam dam is diverted again into Tamil Nadu and what rushes here as falls. This water is also diverted to Thirumoorthi and Amaravathi Dams. It was a sunny day and as per our plan we head to Thirumoorthi Dam and falls, about 35km from the foot hills. After having lunch at a small town – Tali, and leaving my parents and other to let shower, we spent sometime near the dam banks where lot of people where cooking and taking boat ride on the dam. The place near the falls are much crowded like a village festival and many busses and cab vehicles enter and exit continually wanted me to get away as soon. By evening we visited the Amaravathi Dam! That could be a separate post soon…