Athirappilly Falls

DAY 3

A decent Entrance

Up and out by 8 AM, (a good compromise between too late and too early) we had our breakfast (as usual south Indian…coz it’s the best option) and headed for Athirappilly falls. KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, in case you are curious as to what it stands for) buses ply at regular intervals to Ernakulam (Cochin) from Trissur and one has to get down at a place called Chalakudy and so we did in order to get to the falls, which is about half an hour journey (as it’s a national highway and that too a nice one). Once at chalakudy we had two options available namely private and KSRTC buses, as both run to the falls, but we went with the private one as it has a far better frequency of operation. In another one hour we reached the falls and I was frankly amazed to see a well-developed and maintained tourist destination. 

Pathway to "A Grandeur"

With a kilometer trek on a nicely built road we reached the brink of Athirappilly falls, and were able to see water dropping to a mighty depth at a great speed. Definitely we spent some time adoring the silent and calm water that in no time was about to become furious (what an enthralling view it was). Now we commenced our trek to see the front view of the falls from up-close and although the track was not smooth and it started raining as well we still continued. After reaching a hut nearby the falls we stopped intermittently for the rain to subside. But one of my friends was too inquisitive and didn’t really care about the rain so he headed further. Only after he ran back to us carrying a totally thrilled face we had no option but to go ahead. And I must say it was a magical moment (second one, in two consecutive days…what a trip). Don’t believe me, have a look for yourself:

The silent river

What a view! Kerala is blessed

Again with some reluctance we had to leave the place and proceed with the plan (even three hours proved to be less to admire such a beautiful place). Next spot on our map was Munnar and we wanted to reach there before dusk (around four hours from chalakudy) but our plan was to go berserk which I shall tell shortly.

Shaaanti...amidst a view, Can't ask for more

Reaching chalakudy on the way back we had our lunch; an all Chinese version once again (it’s the safest bet). As per the information we had, we were required to change bus only once en route to Munnar from Angamaly. Hence we boarded a bus for this destination, only to find once we reached this place that no bus runs from there to our destined spot. But, according to some people we could get a bus to Munnar from Perumbavar another small town on the way. So we took another bus for which we had to wait a long time, but eventually we reached this place. Once again we were to find that no bus plies to Munnar and in order to get a bus we needed to reach a place named Kothamangalam (if I remember it correctly). With whatever left spirit and enthu, we caught another bus to this place. 

Ravi- "Shah-Rukh Khan's stereotypical Pose"

Gushing Downstream

This isn't "photoshopped"...

We must have been extremely fortunate since as soon as we reached this place there was a bus readying to leave for Munnar. By now we had changed three buses boarded a fourth one on our quest to reach Munnar. It was an extremely exhausting and irritating venture as we were carrying our luggage and changing buses just because of incorrect and incomplete intel. But we endured.

Henceforth things got better as we got seats in the final bus and could sit back and relax on a two hour journey which concluded at 8 P.M. and we were now standing in the tea estate of Kerala, Munnar. While journeying in the bus, we had an excellent view enriched with landscaped greenery. We got to see many waterfalls even though not as enormous as Athirappilly, refreshing nonetheless. After reaching the tea estate we checked ourselves in a decent hotel (only disadvantage of 12 noon checkout which is a policy of almost every hotel there) and went for dinner. 

There was a sweetly decorated Dhaba style restaurant at the opposite end of our hotel and we had a proper north Indian dinner over there. To our surprise this place was literally flooded with people speaking Hindi, a language one seldom gets to hear in this part of the country. After being through with the dinner we went straight to bed.

Leaving with a heavy heart

Alas! A hectic day came to an end.