It’s was that time of the year when the temperatures dip down in plains and everyone around start cursing the damm cold weather. It was at this time that I decided to head to Munnar and experience the freezing cold weather!!!

So after some planning, I set out on my journey to Munnar, the place I had never been to before, both excited and disappointed at the same time!

Excited naturally as I was again doing what I thought I was best at – Traveling and Trekking of course. Disappointed because, my wish to trek to the highest peak in all of South India, Anaimudi, did not materialize as the forest official over there was very strict in not giving the necessary permissions.

For those who are new to trekking, let me tell a little about Anaimudi.

Anaimudi is the highest Peak to the south of the great Himalayan Ranges and it falls under the Core Area of the Eravikulam National Park near Munnar. And this park is home to the greatly Endangered Nilgiri Thar (a type of mountain goat), which is found only in this part of the world.

So with all this, naturally the permissions did not materialize, I set out to do a trip / trek in another part of munnar.

I had booked a ticket (including return ticket) from Kallada Travels. One bit of information here to our readers, No direct government bus runs from Bangalore to Munnar. So the only other direct option was to book thru a private bus operator.

Little did I realize that I was about to have a harrowing experience of my life!!!

The bus started from Kalasipalya at about 7.30 Pm on 12^th Dec, made a stop at Madiwala for dinner and we set out on hosur road. Nearing hosur the bus took a right turn and started to travel in some small road. I was wondering why would they go for such a route when the road to hosur and ahead was good enough.

I went in to sleep around 11pm and was woken up by some noises around 12. A RTO officer, near Dharmapuri, stopped the bus and upon enquiry I found that the Travel agency had not paid the Entry Tax for the bus!

It was really a shocker for me, how can any responsible travel agency like KALLADA, which runs so many buses to the neighboring state of Kerala, do something so irresponsible.

The RTO officer did not relent to the pleas of the passengers and did not allow the bus to move an inch. His stands was, getting another bus and take the passengers, I will not allow this bus and the driver to go ahead. Needless to say the driver was in a soup and he called up his office in Bangalore and they assured they would send another bus immediately.

By the time the other bus came it was already 5 Am on 13^th, and my plans for day one at Munnar had gone for a toss!!!

We boarded the other bus, which was in a pretty sorry state, and continued our journey ahead. The bus stopped at a local dabha near Karur and I had my breakfast there.

The bus took a very long route indeed. It went to Theni from Karur and from there to Kumily and from there to Munnar! If you just have a glance at the state map of tamilnadu you will easily realize what I am trying to say.

I felt this is a Shuttle service run by Kallada, the main reason behind this being filling up of seats enroute munnar. This route is approximately 600Kms, when one can travel to munnar from Bangalore in around 480kms!!

The second shock of the journey was the bus stopped at Kattapana after Kumily and we had to board a Tempo Traveler (TT ) from there to reach Munnar which was 95 kms from there !! . Feeling bad at my sorry state , I boarded the TT  and started on a journey thru the ghat roads inside the heart of the Western Ghats .

The whole of 95kms was full of ghat section and took about 2.5 hrs to reach Munnar .

Upon reaching munnar , I called up Ani , with whom I had set up the trekking for the next day . At this point let me give you some useful information about Ani .

Ani and Sumesh , who are two young local guys , who are experienced pilots in Paragliding , have set up “ Edelweiss Adventures “ , a small concern whose activities include Paragliding courses , Trekking , rock Climbing , River Crossing , Jeep Safari etc.

Their web site is www.edelweissadventures.com , and Ani can be reached at 094497876751 and Sumesh at 09446135663 .

Please feel free to contact for anything in and around munnar .

So in about 10 mins , Ani came with his bike and I checked into a hotel , had a good bath and some decent dinner at Saravana Bhavan . It  took more than 24hrs for me to reach munnar from Bangalore courtesy the great Kallad Travels !!!!

The next morning , everything was planned as I wished and my two guides and me set out on the trekking trail . The plan was to trek to the top of the Matupetty Hill and pass thru some very thick shola forest , before ending at a Campsite where we had planned Night Camping .

The initial part of the trek was tough as it was a steep climb . But gradually as we reached the grassland part , it evened out and was very comfortable trek . We reached the top easily and spent some time taking some snaps as usual .

I tried my hand at Panoramic Photography for the first time and the results can be seen at http://anilsuhas.fotopic.net . Feedbacks are welcome.

When we were at the top , we met two persons , a foreigner and an Auto driver !!!

The Auto Driver was the guide who had agreed to guide the foreigner in exchange for some money .

I would like to advice fellow trekkers that never attempt such a thing as it can be dangerous. The Auto driver had no prior trekking experience and had lied to the foreigner , who was a female , that he was a local guide , just for a few hundred rupees . The foreigner had also fell trap to whatever the auto driver said and agreed .

Please go for treks with confirmed guides , who are available in plenty , or contact a professional concern like Edelweiss Adventures who can arrange for a “real” guide and you will be in good experienced hands .

I had my lunch on one of the highest places I had ever been to , with the panoramic surroundings one would one dream about .

After crisscrossing thru the Shola and Grassland environment for another 3-4 hrs , by 5.00 we reached the campsite , where Ani and Sumesh were busy setting up the tent for me.

Had a good cup of tea and relaxed for some time with the sun setting right in front of my eyes .

Around 8.00Pm , dinner was brought . Hot Chapattis , Channa Masala , and Fried rice .

Had my best dinner in the open , with the cold winds blowing by . Soon it was time to get inside the tent and have a good sleep .

This was my first ever night camping in the wild , and had a little bit of fear .

The only thing that disturbed my sleep was a dog , around 1 in the night. But after that it was all good . Got up at around 5.30 in the morning and prepared to take some early morning sun pics . But it was not to be as the horizon was full of clouds , due to some cyclonic disturbance .

Ani , as usual was on time , around 7.30 Am , got me Black Coffee and some biscuits.

Packed everything , reached munnar and the hotel guy was kind enough to let me fresh up , even though I had checked out the previous day .

So after that I headed to the Kallada agent in munnar , I was prepared for a Shock this time , but nothing of that sort happened . He confirmed the TT would start at 1.30 in the afternoon .

I had some 4 hrs of time . Ani was kind enough to arrange a two-wheeler , I hopped on it and after filling some fuel , I headed towards the Eravikulam National Park .

It is some 17 Kms from munnar , and the landscape was breathtaking . The conditions of the roads are superb (  I do not know how they manage such good roads in Kerala , in spite of the heavy rainfall they receive . Our Bangalore Authorities should go and have some tips from those guys I suppose !! )

But fate had something else in store for me . As I reached near the Eravilukam National Park , heavy mist engulfed the  area and to top it all it started to drizzle . The visibility was very very poor. I reached the entrance , but the queue to get the tickets was huge .

Private vehicles are not allowed inside , one has to take the bus provided by the authorities. Upon enquiry I found out that I will take another 1 hr for me to get the

tickets !!! .

With the visibility poor and as time was running out I decided to head back to munnar without getting a glimpse of one of the very neatly maintained National Parks of our county and the elusive Nilgiri Thar.

Drove back to munnar and it was 11.30 , still had  about 1.5 hrs to go and I decided to check out the Matupetty Dam ( I had a bird’s eye view of the dam during my trek the previous day ).

Again the landscape was excellent and there was no mist this side as this was in the opposite direction to that of the Eravikulam National Park.

Had some snaps of the Dam , which was too good and headed back to munnar .

Reached by around 12.30 , just had time for some last minute shopping ( home made chocolates and some spices ) and had a farewell chat with Ani and Sumesh .

Ani dropped me to the Kallada agent’s office exactly at 1.30 and this time the TT started on time.

I reached Kattapana around 4.00 and the bus arrived at 4.30 .

On the way back I learnt that Kumily is one of the largest supplier of the famous Banana Chips in Kerala . Had just enough time to pick up a packet of those and relish it on my way back.

Reached Bangalore around 7.00 am on 16^th Dec , without any hiccups enroute . It being a Sunday , relaxed at my home and was already planning on my next trek , needless to say !

For pics visit http://anilsuhas.fotopic.net