Everyone has heard the saying, ‘ It’s the journey not the destination’. Well this trip showed me that’s indeed true. Our time at Valparai was limited and we could not spend much time there, but every moment of our journey was thoroughly enjoyable. Even though we didn’t spend much time there, I’ll also go through all the things to do and see at Valparai. I’ll also talk about some of the places we visited on the way here.
Travel Options
Valparai is only connected through road. Well, the drive here is the best part. It is about 120km from Cochin International Airport and 140km from Ernakulam Junction Railway Station. Either of these options are good.
So, lets begin our journey. We wanted to get to the forest before noon, so we decided to start early. Also, we wanted to drop by some places on the way (which I’ll be talking about). We had gotten hold of a car, so all was good.
Those blue markers are the places we are going to visit on this trip.
Destination1: Ezhattumukham
Some of you guys may have difficulty pronouncing that, but it’s alright.😀Ezhattumukham is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in Kerala. Don’t believe me? You can judge for yourselves.
Hanging bridge that spans across the river, from Ezhattumukham to Thumboormuzhi.
Thumboormuzhi is the other entry to this place and has a beautiful garden. We spent a lot of time here and got so many great pics…
If you try hard enough and not scared of climbing a gate, you can reach the other side without the bridge (in summer). 😉 The only way to actually cross is through the bridge and a small fee is collected to walk on it. Even though we didn’t use the bridge, the staff there saw us and we had to pay anyway..😂 So, upto you.We took lots and lots of pics. These are just a few. Want to see more? E-mail me..Short distance from here, on the road to Valparai you can see Silverstorm Water Theme Park. If you have a day to spare I’d advice a visit.
Destination2: Athirapally Waterfalls
Athirapally waterfalls is situated on the Chalakudy river and is hotspot of biodiversity ( yes,really! Even though all you see are a few monkeys).Like these👇
So, the falls is just a few hundred meters from the highway. So park your car somewhere and get going. I’d also advice you to pack some bathing stuff, to take a bath (if you’re into that kind of stuff😂). You can carry some food in your hand, if you want to get scared by monkeys jumping on you (your choice…).You can view the falls both from above and below.
The way to see the falls from above is really clear, but the other one is easy to miss. We nearly missed it, and it should not be missed. You’ll have to trek down a path, almost a kilometre to reach the base of the falls.
We got the falls from many different angles.(and many selfies too, which I won’t be sharing😀)
By the time we got out of there it was almost noon. We had to hurry if we wanted to reach Valparai and be back before nightfall(it was almost a 3 hour drive from where we were). So we got in the car and started driving.
The Road Ahead
The road ahead was so AWESOME, and so much happened on the way, that I had to dedicate a sub-heading to the topic.A few kilometers from Athirapally, you reach Vazhachal, where there is checkpost. They check your bags and vehicle for alcohol and drugs (so if you have any, mail them to me😂). They take note of the vehicle, and give you 3 hours to reach the next checkpost at Malakkapara. I think this is to ensure that you don’t stay in the forest for too long. The road is really smooth, even though it’s through the middle of the forest. You can really hear all the animals chirping and screeching. If it were earlier in the day, or later, it would have been really dark. We got down at places where the view was great and took a few pics.
This thing was really cool!! A green tunnel!!
On the way, we got to see an elephant too. Thankfully it was far down the mountain side.We reached the Malakkapara checkpost 15 mins ahead of time. I’m not sure what the significance of the time limit is, but hey!! We won!!😂
Destination3: Sholayar Dam
Driving ahead of Malakkapara, we saw the Sholayar dam on our right. We thought, why not? Let’s get down, and spent some time there.
Nothing special about the dam. Just a regular.
Destination4: Valparai
Finally we reached the place we were aiming for all along. After all our stops along the way, it was already 2pm. There was just enough time for us to spend some time there, have lunch and head back.
This is what Valparai looked like from a distance.
We spent some time at a small stream there, with a bridge on top of it.
If you are taking up the trip to Valparai and want to see all the sights here, I’d recommend you to take a room and spend a night here. It’d take almost a day to do all the sightseeing. There are many temples, rivers and waterfalls near here that I deeply regret not seeing. I am surely going to visit again and thoroughly explore the place.
Thank you for reading through my first blog post. Feel free to mail me your reviews (please do. I really want reviews) and do subscribe. You can comment reviews too. You can expect subsequent posts about my past travels and upcoming trips.
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