Munnar is a small town surrounded by tea plantations and forests, about 120km east of Kochi. That means spending about 5 hours in a public bus for me. There was a bus leaving Kochi at 5 a.m., so I arrived in Munnar somewhere after 10. Munnar itself is very small, the constant honking of the big cities remains though. The whole scenery is very green, everything is surrounded by tea plantations and lots of forests. A very pleasant scenery all in all!
Anamala Hills
The host of my guest house helped me arrange a trip on the day of arrival to Anamala Hills where wild elephants are said to come out of the jungle to drink water at a river seperating said forest from a village. The thing costed 5000 INR, which is a lot, but I thought, Ok, it is not everyday that I see elephants in the wild. The tour consisted of a 1,5h drive (one way) through winding hill roads until we reached a little village and indeed, the village was seperated from a forest through a small creek an inside we saw two elephants refreshing themselves, making everyone around standing in the heat of the 35° sun very envious! It was a pleaant sight nethertheless to see these majestic animals at a very close distance (no more than maybe 20 meters). On the way back we stopped for a small cave (called Tiger cave, just a name though) and a waterfall, but both of these can be neglected. Was it worth 5000 INR? I would say not entirely… splitting the cost by sharing a jeep – which is a possibility as I learned later – would be highly recommended.
Munnar Hiking
The hikes around Munnar require a guide as there is apparently a chance of encountering various wildlife, like elephants or buffalos. Reacting in the wrong way to these animals could have fatal consequences. The full day hike started at 7:30 and lasted until about 15:00. We walked ca. 13km through the tea plantations, up one of the hills (we made about 400m in altitude) from which we had a stunning view over Munnar and its surrounding villages. This activity costed 2000 INR (per person) and I believe it is the one thing you absolutely have to do if you come along Munnar.
See the slideshow to indulge the lush greeneries around Munnar:
