What to do in Munnar, Kerala ?

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog ! Here is my first post and I hope you'll enjoy it as well as my blog. I've decided to write my first article about the beautiful Munnar which is one of my favorite places in India.

The city itself is not pretty at all, to not say ugly and has nothing special, you should not waste time there. But everywhere around is beautiful and magical. I stayed there for three days, I had just come out of the hospital after a terrible food poisoning, I was still a bit low, but I couldn't stop staring at the greenery and the landscapes and I really felt at peace surrounded by so much nature and tea fields as far as the eye can see. Let's not forget that the state of Kerala is also called "God Own's Country".

Munnar is located in the Idukki district of Kerala at an altitude of 6000 feet above the sea level. Munnar was a former british tea plantaion location since the end of the 19th century. The tea plantations were then bought by Tata, the famous indian group and finally bought by its farmer, they are now called after the name of the place : "Kanan Devan Hills Plantation". It is the largest and one of the highest tea-growing region in India. It is a honeymoon destination for Indians.

A hike in those pristine plantations is definitely worth doing. While walking across the tea fields I felt like I was in the Shire from the "Lord Of The Rings", and that I was going to bump into a hobbit anytime. Unfortunately, I never met Froddo or Bilbo but we were told that we might see some wild elephants. It also didn't happen, but I didn't care because I was already amazed by the landscape. Of course it would have been the icing on the cake but I am already happy that I had the opportunity to visit such a place. 

Before our stroll across the tea fields, we visited the "Tea Museum" located in city. It is small but interesting, you'll learn about the history of the area, how they produce tea, how beneficial it is for our health and body, and even bring back some tea or souvenirs from the shop. The museum is open from 09:00 to 17:00 and is closed on Mondays. The entrance fees are 125 rupees per person and 20 rupees for a camera pass. It was the perfect visit before exploring the tea plantations.

Not only tea is growing in the area, you'll surely be able to visit a spice farm and discover how grows : cocoa, cinnamon, cardamom, chilies, nutmeg, coffee, pepper, etc... Once again, you'll be able to buy some spices directly from the farmers which is kind of amazing, I got plenty for a song! Below, you can see some cocoa beans in an opened cocoa pod!

While I was in Munnar, I was staying at the stunning homestay "Mistletoe", it is a bit far from the city (19km) but it's definitely worth it. It's one of my favorite places where I stayed in India, I'll do a more detailed post about this homestay, because it really felt like a home and I fell in love with it. The two pics below are views on the valley from our balcony!

The best period to go to Munnar is between August and May, If you want to be sure to avoid the monsoon, you'd rather go from September only. I went in August, it didn't rain but as you can see on some pics, it was sometimes a bit cloudy, but sometimes it was the mist. I think the best months to go to Munnar are the months following the monsoon though, you'll then be able to admire the greenery of the place.

On our way to the city, we stopped to admire this beautiful waterfall, this one is the "Attukad Waterfall" but there are many more in the valley. Unfortunately when we were in Munnar, there was a major strike across the country, so for one day we were not able to do anything, we just chilled, enjoyed the property and visited the spice farm, but the good thing is that Munnar is the right place to do that.

The pic below is another sight on the way to Munnar, it's the "Pothamedu Viewpoint", it's in a small dhaba (roadside restaurant) where they'll charge you 10 rupees per head to admire the view. Not a big expanse but if you really want to admire the scenery you can go to "Echo Point" (15km away from Munnar) or "Top Station Viewpoint" (32km away from Munnar). Due to the strike I was not able to visit any of these places, so I can't really talk about them, but I'll try to go back for sure, they were and still are on my to-do-list. One can also visit the "Eravikulam National Park" to admire flora and fauna.

We also stopped at the place below, our rickshaw driver was very enthusiastic about these water pipes, so we just stopped wherever he guided us. You can use rickshaws or buses to move around Munnar. To go to Munnar, you can take a plane from Kochin and then an AC bus (probably two buses if you're going straight from the airport, one from the Kochin airport to the city of Kochin, then another bus from Kochin to Munnar) which will take you to Munnar. The journey from Kochin to Munnar lasts about 5 hours and the fees are really cheap. Don't hesitate to tell the name of your stay to the driver, he will drop you next to it if it's on the way.

Here it is, I hope you liked this first post and that it was useful. Please let me know if you have any questions about Munnar, I'd be more than happy to help you if I can! See you very soon.