SILENT VALLEY

DAY 2

Planners as we all are, it had been decided the previous night that we shall leave our hotel by 0700 hrs as the forest opens at 0800 hrs (considering one hour traveling time to reach Mukkali). But laziness took its toll and our early start went down the drain. To add to our misery, we had to wait a while to get a bus to our destination as only private buses ply between the two spots, thus losing nearly two hours in the process. 

Mukkali Town

Once in mukkali, we went to the forest dept. office, confirmed our booking and got the permission and tickets (an easy task if you have booked your visit on a prior basis, else it being a govt. office you can very well imagine what might happen). Moreover, private vehicles are not allowed inside the national park and therefore one has the option of either hiring a jeep or catching a bus . But, the buses only ply when there are at least ten to fifteen passengers, thus we had to take a jeep which as we were only three turned out to be a costly affair (but thinking about it now I feel it was totally worth it). However if there are six to seven people then hiring a jeep is the best option.

View of the Valley

Since we hadn’t had our breakfast we searched for an eatery nearby and with only one option available we marched in. We ordered dosa (a south Indian delicacy) as it was the only available item, but I must confess it was accompanied by awesome sambhar which fulfilled both our stomach and soul. As any breakfast is incomplete without beverage, coffee was ordered but it turned out to be a disappointment since it wasn’t filtered and crushed beans were lying at the bottom (authentic but not tasteful).

Into the Wild

And we began with our forest ride… Hardcore dense forest was further fifteen kilometers from mukkali, the road till that point being accompanied by coffee and cardamom plantations and one tribal habitation. The road was definitely a turnoff as it was made out of gravel, stones and clay thereby a very bumpy ride and hence; dancing of our internal organs could easily be felt. But soon enough our journey became alive, as our driver showed us an endangered species which is found predominantly in silent valley park of Nilgiri range in the whole world. Now, even though it was just another monkey namely lion-tailed macaque but the extra information made it an exceptional experience. And what proved to be an icing on the cake was the fact that the jeep behind us missed this opportunity (yes, by the time they came, these guys were gone). By this one must infer that we were lucky enough to be present in the right spot at the right time and nothing else (I really feel sorry for the jeep behind us, :P)

A tiny fall en-route to the Watch Tower

Rain Harvested Road

And this is where things got interesting as we were attacked, well…mainly myself (NO, the macaques didn’t and neither did the other jeep guys). In fact full credit must be given to the attacker for the clandestine activity it started pursuing. Our driver showed us one of such a long and slimy creature and pointed out that we must be beware of these mischievous wrecks who suck out quite a lot of blood without giving a hint to the host.

My enemy 'Highlighted'

It was only after another hour that I started feeling something in one of my socks and immediately took it off to reveal, a black creature which had grown manifolds in size owing to my blood. Another one got exposed once we reached the forest dept. back after completing our trip (around two hour lunch for the predator) and another one while I was in shower (nearly four hour meal for this one…and it really grew in size) once we were back at our hotel. What is really an irritating thing is that these things attach quite firmly to the body and it is pretty difficult to get them off, but by the time I had to take out the third one I had become reasonably good at it. It is funny that many people get this done medicinally as well and it’s popularly known as “LEECH THERAPY”, hence in that aspect I could say I got a free one. But I prefer it calling as “Attack of the leeches”. 

Now, if you are interested to know more about the therapy and its benefits here you go: http://www.leechestherapy.com/benefits_and_effects.php .

Watch Tower, Yes! can go to the top

Getting back to the story and silent valley…there was a beautiful hundred feet tall watch tower (main attraction beside the macaque) which could be climbed upon. As we reached the top we felt like we had entered a whole new world as it was purely magical. With cold breeze flowing in at great speed, mountains covered in a thick green coat and white clouds snuggling around magnificently amongst the peaks, it was a sight I shall remember forever. We were fortunate enough that are camera batteries didn’t die out before it was captured digitally and thus some of the best moments shall live with us forever.

View from the top

 It was a reluctant moment when our driver asked us to come down from the tower as it was others turn to go up there, and we had to obey. It was time I had to leave my ‘Neverland’ and come back to reality, and so I did. Following this, we went for the river Kunti trek which was approximately a three kilometer one. While trekking to reach the river most part of it was completely under shade i.e. tree cover was dense like a canopy and only a few sunlight beams (Tyndall effect-if I remember correctly) could pass through it (really an amazing forest walk). There was a bridge as we reached the river but even though we could walk on it we weren’t allowed to cross it as the other side came in reserved forest area (closed for tourists). Thus we spent some time admiring the river and the sounds it made as it crashed into giant stones. After exhausting camera battery entirely we headed back to mukkali and thereafter our hotel which was in mannarkad (a total of forty kms). 

Ishan's Iron Fist

We took our luggage and checked out at four pm (It was a 24 hour accommodation and not 12 noon checkout which we had confirmed the previous day). We searched for a different restaurant to have lunch and had an all Chinese one (they weren’t serving south-Indian…see the irony). Thereafter we headed for Palakkad wherefrom we had planned to get to our second destination namely Munnar. But, there wasn’t any direct bus and thus we had to perform a break journey and we headed to Trissur from where we believed we could easily find a bus to Munnar the following day. After some difficulty we were able to locate lodging in Trissur and as it was already dinner time we headed in search for a nice place. We checked out three places but they all disappointed us and so we kept our search on, never giving up our hope. Call it destiny or luck we finally bumped into a remarkable dining place with ambience in the shape of a ship. Going by its looks we took a seat and ordered north Indian food (worrying whether jo dikhta achha hai who hota nahi hai). It took some time for the food to be served, but it was really delicious as we devoured it. All in all it was a great meal and we headed to a nearby bus-station to gather some intel after paying the bill. 

River Kunti

Here we got to know that only two buses ply to Munnar, one leaves at 0300 hrs and the other at 0700 hrs and after two days of getting up late we knew none of them was a viable option for us, hence a change of plan was in need (thank GOD! we didn't become over-ambitious). It was decided that a break journey shall be performed in order to reach our second spot, which got seconded by another plan which too, took its root spontaneously. Ravi had certain information about a waterfall which was en route to Munnar from Trissur and so it was planned to see this fall first thing in the morning, spend no more than two hours there and proceed to the next location thereafter, and we went to sleep. 

An eventful day is done with…