Continued from last month…..
After driving on nearly arrow straight highways, the sight of the twisty mountain roads with hardly any traffic fuelled our enthusiasm for driving. After pushing our cars through several rolling bends we met a sight so spectacular that we had to stop. The pristine mountain air with its distinctive smell, the cool surroundings which were nearly 10℃ cooler than the plains, the mist descending into the valley, it all lit up our spirits and everyone was cracking a big wide smile despite being a bit travel-worn and having another hour or two of driving left.
We arrived at our accommodations, a lovely resort next to the Ponmudi reservoir in Rajakkad, Kerala. We just had enough energy to have dinner and retire for the day. Somewhat anticipating this, we had decided to use the services of a tour guide on the first day, to help us find the best sights and activities at Munnar. We woke up, got ready lazily and had a sumptuous breakfast .
We were kind of getting used to this pace of things, when our guide arrived. Now, for urban dwellers who are forever dashing off from one place to another in the usual course of their lives, when the time comes for a holiday in the mountains, less is probably more. Evidently, it was not a view endorsed by our guide. In his endeavour to provide maximum satisfaction, we were nearly whisked from place to place so that we could beat the rush and enjoy the sights and activities at the next venue. This especially did not go well with the kids who reminded us of what Newton posited about inertia and external force, every time there was to be a change of scene. Still his local knowledge found us an elephant ride at Iruttukanam, a tour of a spice and herbs plantation, a tasty lunch at a resolutely unhurried restaurant and a lazy boat ride in the beautiful Chengulam reservoir. Well, getting us to Chengulam reservoir was his contribution, but snagging the actual boat ride past the closing time was down to a charm offensive by one of our traveling companions! … To be continued …Next month
Thks for publishing ❤️