Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Marayoor – Munnar Road Travel

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During the recent torrential rains in Kerala, the tourist hub Munnar experience great destruction and all the roads leading to the destination was blocked by erosion of roads, landslides or overflowing rivers. Munnar derived its name from the meeting point of three rivers that almost flood the town and the road from Udumalpet through Marayoor (which I took during my trip) was the most affected and damaged. It was a pleasant uphill task for us through forest and tea plantations and this route have number of brooks, waterfalls and rivers (that you may have seen in my posts related to Munnar) could easily eradicate the road when the water level and pressure arises on river/streams. I tried to connect with photos I captured during my trip with the places that faced damage and the following photos were shot between Marayoor and Munnar. 

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In 1924 a similar situation turned out at Munnar (including other parts of Kerala), eradicated the town and its tea plantations to core and only then the Mattupetty Dam and Munnar (Hydel) Dam was built to preserve flood and hydro power.  I come to know it even before the disaster struck 2 weeks ago.  Thanks to the documentary I watched on Munnar at the Tea Museum there and images of the havoc washing away the town and tea factories. Lot of lives have lost as well. The Udumalpet-Munnar was the first road to lay to Munnar and I come across many old bridges on this road which must be threatened by the gushing water. I recommend this route for anyone love nature and pleasant driving to Munnar, keeping away the bustle traffic and tensing depth and valleys and sharp bends. 

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One of the old arch bridge that was damaged in flood
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Marayoor is also a lovely place to stay and enjoy nature and wildlife around the town. The weather was such blissful during my pass away of the town, even though the road beyond that was wrapped in mist, in a way blocking away many fabulous views I was expected to look out for, but for a person who love to lose in mysterious mist, it was enjoyable along with multiple falls enroute. Marayoor is popular for their distinctly tasted Jaggery made from the sugarcanes harvest here and the natural sandalwood reserve is splendour of Marayoor, where we stopped for few minutes to have our tea. I made a stop at Udumalpet for a night stay was mainly to experience this route as leisure as possible, admiring the wilder rich and pristine touch of nature as many don’t take this route or to say a road that less travelled. 

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Sugarcane fields past Marayoor town
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Driving through the natural sandalwood reserve
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Venture through thick blanket of mist
Since mist, drizzle and wetness take over the atmosphere; it feels fresh despite the weather traveling through thick and lush green landscapes that goes from light to dark patches of greenery. The road quite lost in the mist at some places and there were very few cars on the road so it wasn’t a problem driving through Ghats and the nature was so wonderful and cheerful in crown of mist capping the mountains sending downstream to valley.  Everything is pristine on this stretch and pleasing to sight although not clearly, this time, my quench for nature is endless but I wish to take this road again (if possible) to see the magnificence I missed in the cover of mist.

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Most of the photos here were shot with iphone 

12 comments:

Lady Fi said...

What gorgeous scenery and shots! It's been terrible to hear about the devastating floods in Kerala.

Kirtivasan Ganesan said...

Munnar is such a beautiful place. Your photos and write up describe its beauty so well.

George said...

I'm sorry to hear about the devastation caused by the rains in this area. The road goes through beautiful scenery. I hope it can be re-opened soon.

carol l mckenna said...

So sorry for floods but beautiful photography!

Happy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores

Bill said...

It's sad to hear about the devastation caused by the rains. Hopefully in time everything will be back to normal. I love your landscape and scenery photos especially the sandalwood reserve.

Uppal said...

Nature at its best avatar!

Nancy Chan said...

This place reminds me of our highland tea plantations. You have captured some very beautiful scenery. Hope the flooding problem has been taken care of to avoid further flooding and destruction.

Sandee said...

So lush and green and wet. Love the fog.

Have a fabulous day. ☺

Deepak Acharya said...

Glad to find your blog again. Nice post

GreenComotion said...

How beautiful and green! A treat to all our eyes I say.
Do youngsters still chase lorries carrying sugarcane and try to pull one out of the back? :)
Happy WE, Jeevan!
Peace :)

Twilight Man said...

Your beautiful and green photos are luring me to visit India!

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