We were all excited to regroup for yet another trip (almost after a year) – this time to Valparai, Top Slip and Parambikulam Tiger Sanctuary.All of them started from Chennai, me being the odd exception started my journey from Bangalore.We wanted to utilize this long weekend to the fullest (thanks to Gandhi Jayanti). As I was quite expecting the mad rush, I literally squeezed my way to get a seat to Hosur. I was all in the mood to travel with some nice rucksack.By 22:20 IST I saw my train coming (taking its own sweet time ). I think this has to do with its name 😛 Garib rath which in Hindi literally translates to poor man’s Chariot. I reached the Manchester of South India(Coimbatore) the following day 04:45 IST. From there I took a state bus to Udumalpet and it took a solid 90 minutes journey.
Day 1 – Namma Tamil Nadu, India
While my friends train was late by another two hours , I had no way but to wait for them at the station. The waiting turned sweet as I was interacting with all possible locals there and was killing my idle time.
I had a nice and a lip smacking breakfast at one of the nearby Kongu mess. We then hired a local cab and headed out to our destination. En route Valparai, we visited Aazhiyar dam. The weather was not pleasant and the sun was literally beating us. I thought we are at the wrong time of the year, but once we started climbing uphill, the beauty of Valparai and its cool climate welcomed us with open arms. I suddenly got a realization that i am in a wonderful place and it will give me great satisfaction and joy when i return back.
We then visited Monkey Falls, and had a good nice bath for an hour. The water was absolutely fantastic and i never had the mind to come out of that falls. it was brilliant, but at the same time it was getting late and i had to return to my guest house and we departed reluctantly.
You could spot Nilhiri Tahrs, an endangered goat species which can almost climb vertically uphill. You can find these animals here at ease. These gifted species are found only in the Nilgiris Ghat sections in and around Tamil Nadu and Kerala. One should witness their climbs to identify its uniqueness and will put our humans climbing abilities to shame. It took me a while to realize that i had failed to capture them in my lens. Nevertheless that particular shot has been captured to perfection in my mind.
One thing about Valparai is there are many cases of man/animal conflict and we have to return to the camp early, otherwise we face the risk of getting exposed to the big cats. There are several cases of leopards entering these small hamlets (we can’t blame them after all we are the occupiers of their land) and its advised not to venture out in the dark. Wild elephants, Boars, Bison are a common sight here and not to mention (those notorious leeches). Valparai is also blessed with constant rainfall, and is called as Cheerapunji of the south for a reason. It was raining that whole night voraciously and deep in our house we were busy drafting our plans to visit Athirampalli Falls the following day.
Day 2 – Enda Keralam
As the alarm yelled and finished its business, we started our journey early as we have to go a long way to the falls. En route , we visited Sholayar Dam. From there, it will take a solid 3-4 hour journey to Athirampalli and all we could see are the lush green cover and forests. There were no shops available this route and it is better to take your own snacks. As its a reserved forest, tourists are not allowed to carry any plastics around and there is a checkpost which monitors the plastic usage. you also need to enter the vehicle registration number and once the mandatory checks are done, you are allowed to enter into the forest.
As i was told, this particular falls was the backdrop for many Indian movies. It boasts of being called as the Niagara Of India. You need to sacrifice your blood if you plan to visit here. There are many leeches around this area. Its better to carry salt with you (as salt will kill leeches). The only good thing with these tiny creatures is they release an anesthetic when they bite, and that is the exact reason that their bite is usually not felt 😛
The falls was indeed amazing and there is a place where we can bathe. This is not exactly a falls but rather a river kind of place where the speed of the water is minimal and its safe for people. The force of the water was quite high when we went (believe me!! – at least that is what i heard from the locals) and once we were satisfied with our crow bath, we headed to our guest house back to Valparai.
To me, the visit to this falls was indeed beautiful, but if you are on a time crunch, it is better to skip this place as it takes an entire day to visit and get back to your camp. If you love raw nature at its best, it is a must go place on your itinerary. There are 3 major falls here , but the tourists are not allowed to bath , except the one i mentioned above.
Day 3 – Top Slip, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu
We needed to start early by 5:00 am if we wanted to reach Parambikulam Tiger Sanctuary. The guide told us that it will be very crowded and its advised to go as early as possible to book a safari. The safari starts by 07:30 and offers rich floras and faunas. We started by 06:00 from our guest house, but everyone in our gang was down with nausea and we had to halt the car inbetween many a times and the safari was already closed when we arrived. There are indeed a long queue waiting for the safari and we decided to go to Top Slip, which is just kilometers away from Parambikulam.
Top Slip was maintained by Tamil Nadu Tourism and there is a similar safari which is arranged by them. The cost of the Safari was around Rs 120 per head (but we need 22 people to accompany us and we had to wait till we get those required people). We can also hire the van for Rs 3000 and start our journey.
I suggest you better avoid this safari as it was a huge disappointment. The driver/guide should better be a F1 driver. Seriously he was whizzing past with that van, the result we couldn’t even spot a single animal. Forget tigers/mammals, we couldn’t even spot a single bird 😦
With happy moments and a filling heart throughout this journey, we left top slip and reached Coimbatore. While i was bidding adieu to those peaceful and enthralling mountains , another monotonous week was eagerly anticipating my return. All the best i can do from here is keep cherishing this wonderful trip and i had already started planning about my next trip.
I strongly believe that these mystic mountains are calling and i am obliged to go. There mountains offer me solitude and teaches me many things in my life and i must be mad to ignore these teachings.
Stay Blessed,
The Wanderer.
Whispering Mountains... 
Once again a wonderful post…cool…keep writing…
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Thanks for your encouragement 🙂 Between you have a really cool blog and keep writing 🙂
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