Sitting in the chillness of AC two tier compartment of shabari express enroute to trivendrum we sighed a heave of relief from the incessant tantrums (advices of dos and donts) of our parents, as it slowly left behind the south central railway junction. It was hot mid afternoon but the enclosed cabin of ours did not let us know the outside temperature. We spoke about numerous things through out our journey.
Next day at
At Shoranur the direction of the train changed as the engine that was pulling our compartment in the direction in which I was sitting started pulling it in the opposite way. Even I had to change my sitting position in line with the direction of the train. From here on it was like ride of my life. As the train trudged along in the forest of greenery on the serpentine like tracks my heart also just lingered along without even once thinking about the normal life. This was the best getaway that I can get at least this way at the end of the year. The sky started to get gloomier aiding to the beauty of the surroundings. Our 36 inch large LCD monitor like Relytuf glass window showed us the numerous pictures of nature in myriad hues. Large grasslands with buffalos chewing along, bordered with hills of tall and lean coconut trees, farm houses in red oxide coloredroofs, huge electric poles carrying wires on it's shoulders bifurcating the land. Two eyes and words wouldn't be enough to grasp the complete beauty of the exemplary nature.
The sleepy town of
Abad Whispering Palms lake resortis on a sprawling 10 acre land with the background of back waters and house boats sailing through them. This world class leisure resort has stylized individual villas, a plunge pool, private garden and back water front.
The sari clad receptionist escorted us to our pent house style Bamboo villa cottage. The cottage was nice and decent just for us two to spend some time. As the name suggested the roof was covered by bamboos and so was the wall of the back yard. Open air bath, exotic outdoor garden showers, private beach sit outs and glorious views of back waters were some of the attractions part of a privileged life style. After inquiring with our travel agent we came to know that there was no further program on the curriculum the whole day. So we just idled in the closed interiors of our room before going for a small walk. As we were having our coffee in the restaurant I unconsciously enjoyed the sound of flute coming from some where filling the evening air.
When we came out I realized that it was the light cultural program of instrumental music being held adjacent to the swimming pool. The soothing music, the full moon playing hide and seek in the cloudy sky reflected in the serene back waters, the surrounding still coconut trees, me sipping the coconut water from the straw laying down on the couch beside the swimming pool aaahhh!! Heaven, if at all there was one.
Next day after a plate of honey spruced pieces of banana, two wadas with cups of different kinds of chutnies- one made of coconut and other one with ground nuts, a glass of pine milkshake, a cup of coffee ( a great and filling breakfast mainly due to the fact that it was complimentary) we started of to Munnar 190 kms away. This time it was a different driver and looked like a typical malyali with the sandalwood tilak on the forehead. As soon as he opened the door of Mahindra Logon car a nice spacious perfumed interior invited us. The road was not as flat but as we neared
NH 49 it was good but quite narrow. Muvattupuzzha( spelt as muvattu pura - muva means 3 pura means river, a junction of 3 rivers) was one of the first stops along in highway. There we stopped to take some photos of the drum players. About 12 white lungi clad people standing in 3 rows rhythmically playing some traditional drums with remarkable unity that would make even Sivamani proud.
As we cruised along the narrow snake like road there were varieties of trees on either side of the road of which Pine trees and rubber trees were the most. Seeing at the limitless greenery I decided it was better to give rest to my eyes and put my head on the pillows and slept. By the time I got up, we had covered good distance and now we were swirling and twirling like a mad bull on rampage at 100 kmph on the ghat road that had a twist every 100 mts. I requested the driver to go a bit slow as the twister like ride made us feel like vomit. We prayed to reach as quickly as possible. We did stop in between to have a couple of mango pieces near a water fall as a quick breather. As we were nearing Munnar there was a sudden change in the landscape from a thick forest to neatly arranged tea estates on either side. We were good 9 miles away when we reached ambady estate where we would be spending the rest of the time as long as we are in Munnar. It was lunch time by the time we reached this place.Ambady estate looked very unusual to me to start of with. Right at the doorstep of Munnar beside the national highway it is nestled in the middle of a hilly forest interspersed with tea estate and thickly grown tree vegetation. The entrance hardly makes any attempt to attract your attention. Two rusted gates, a small square board of Ambady estate dangling to a pole on one side of it, a narrow ( didnt think there was enough space even for our car to enter) mud road ascending the hill in zig zag direction getting lost in the forest of trees is all that you can find. It looked like a setting straight out of a
horror movie like Evil Dead. Had it not been for the booking of the travel agent as a part of package I would have been very scared even to enter it. But as the car started to climb the carved out road it was a whole new world that met my eye. With out disturbing much of the natural beauty, 8 well done cottages made of local wood and mud exteriors offering a plethora of views to gaze upon were built upon different levels on the unevenly descending mountainous range. The manager smiled and welcomed us in his old fashioned and rustic hut like office. The main hall was well furnished along with a mini library that had various novels and history books of Kerala. He gave us tea made of various spices that had sweetish tinge of taste. After check-in formalities the office assistant showed us the way to our cottage through the narrow pathway covered by grass. The interior of our cottage had a very mild lighting and was well furnished with deewans and bed. For someone who is so used to the noisy city life, the silence of the woods especially in the night might be very haunting as even a small sound might be heard with magnified effect.
For the next two days we went on to visit in and around of the small at bustling with life town of
practitioners performing the martial arts in front of spectators sitting in a gallery. The martial art performance was akin to watching a set of gladiators fighting for their lives. We also visited spices plantation and bought some of it while returning descending the hill back towards
It was a great experience all in all except for a little out of tune effect in the form of delaying of our return train due to the derailing of a goods train. We were left biting our nails on the platform from early morning for about 4 hrs. From the comforts of a 5 star hotel we suddenly found ourselves fighting for sleep on the slippery steel chairs of the station waiting for the special train ( for the increased rush to Shabarimalay) whose interiors were quite ordinary. This we found out after boarding it.
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