Driving through the Mountain Roads

Driving through the mountain roads, one finds many a surprise- a new tree, a gushing stream or a new horizon. While driving to Munnar from Kochi, I snapped the above stream flowing through pebbles and stones with lots of wild flowers. Who planted these flowers? Where from did these come? Or have they been here all along?

The Lakes by the Mountains

Munnar has a few large lakes and especially from Mumbai, many tourists come. There are speed boats which are busy all through the day. The verdant silence and the emerald water make you forget time.Fortunately the place is pristine, not many shops and houses have come up around the lakes.One has the feel of being in a deep forest.

Kanan-Devan Hill Plantations Munnar

The Kanan Devan tea estate belonged to the Tata group. The Tatas decided to hand over the controls to the workers. The Economic Times dated 13th October reports that the estate has made a profit of Rupees 410 million.

Kanan Devan has 13,000 workers who won 68% of the shares in the company. Tata holding is now reduced to 18%. The estate is now expanding to manage a tea estate in Ethiopia. No wonder
the Munnar Tea gardens have become a great success story.

Path through the shrubs

The paths through the tree plants move like rivers, some times straight, some times serpentine. It must be looking colourful when tea would be harvested with the movement of harvesters through the undulating walks.

A dam by the mountain

Devikulam gets its name from Sita who is supposed to have taken bath in one of the nearby lakes. It is more pristine in its beauty as its isolated. In the evening hours no one moves out of the home. The silence is rejuvenating. The image above is that of an irrigation project

Banana Plants

These are the snaps taken from the garden of Devikulam Cottage in Munnar where we stayed. The banana plants give a domestic setting to the pictures. The few cottages in the frames give a certain degree of warmth to the images.

Devikulam is 1800 m above sea level and is 16km away from Munnar. It is secluded, pristine and sparsely populated. On the roads, there is no lighting. Hence, when evening falls, it is as good as midnight.

Granites in the Gradient

One could see a few granite outcropping in the gradient. the mountain is wide at the base. As you go up, you fine fewer trees.