Drive to Munnar

Munnar is one of the best hill stations in India. It is around 140kms from Kochi (Cochin), on the national highway (NH 49). Even though you can reach Munnar in around 3hrs, it is best to calculate around 5-6 hrs for the trip, because every ten minutes you might want to stop and absorb the beauty of the place.

The first 50-75 kms of the trip is just highway, but after that everything changes. You will start to feel the temperature drop and the views get better and better after every km you cover. The roads are surrounded by waterfalls and forest on one side, and deep valleys on the other side. There a couple of big waterfalls before you reach Munnar, where you can actually get into the water safely.

After travelling some more time, the view gets even better. Both sides of the road will be covered with tea plantations and in the background you can see mountains that almost touch the sky. During winter (Dec- Jan) you can expect some fog during early morning and evening.

Munnar has many tourist spots. Mattupetty dam offers some spectacular views of the water, open skies and forests.  You can go fishing at the Sita Devi Lake at Devikulam national park, or do a 100 other things things in Munnar. Munnar gets its name from the term Moonu- aru, which means three rivers. Munnar is the place where these three rivers meet.

Other spots include the Eravikulam National park, tea museum, or go trekking in a number of different places. You will also spot a number of animals that are native only to Munnar. And if its the season you can see neelakurinji, a flower that only blooms once in 12 years. The whole mountains range will be covered with these flowers.

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