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.
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.
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.
Sugarcane fields past Marayoor town |
Driving through the natural sandalwood reserve |
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.
Most of the photos here were shot with iphone |