Thursday, June 4, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Valparai for you
You want to get away from busy and hectic life ? You want to get away from the noisy and crowded city? You want to enjoy nature at its best? The Answer is Valparai, the not much explored heaven on earth.
Valparai is situated in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India at an altitude of about 3,914 feet above sea level on the Anamalai Hill Range of the Western Ghats.Valparai is known as Cherrapunji of South India. This place has number of tea and coffee estates surrounded by forest.
Its an unexplored, beautiful hill station in the TN-Kerala border. You would just love the greenery there. The Air you breathe and feel is so divine. The lush of dark green plantations are so endearing. There are very less tourists to this place when compared to other Hill stations in Tamilnadu.
We visited Valparai in August 2008. An Unforgettable trip. We drove (actually my husband drove), from Chennai to valparai in our car. The travel was about 12 hrs on road. We took very short breaks for breakfast and lunch.
The route we took is Chennai -- Vellore -- Salem -- Erode -- Valparai
The roads were awesome in this route. You will never feel that Indian roads are bad once you travel in this route. The drive was also very scenic and pleasant as we travelled in late summer season.
As we entered Valparai, Monkey falls welcomed us. Its a refreshing place and if you are a Water lover, you cannot resist getting drenched there. After a long drive, we were happy to spend some time there in the monkey falls. And yes, there will be 1000's of Monkeys...so Beware! There are 40 Hairpin bends in the Valparai Hills. Monkey falls is almost at the foot of Valparai.
I would say there are 2 'not-pleasing things' in Valparai. One is the place to stay. There is just one decent hotel "Hotel Green Hill " and if you can get a reservation there then the first issue is resolved. There are a number of lodges, but they look untidy and messy. We stayed in Krishna Lodge. This place looks great from outside, and its okay kind of place inside when compared to other lodges. But I should say that the Manager there was a friendly person and very willing to help and guide. The second 'not pleasing thing' is the Leech. Don't be scared. They are as small as Ants and there is a powder being sold in Valparai called 'Leech powder', which we need to mix in coconut oil and apply in the legs. Once we do this we can just roam around freely. But believe me, this place is very worthy visiting.
In Valparai all roads seem the same and so its better to take a guide. They would charge 200 rupees for a day. You can enquire about guides in the hotel you stay. So our Day 1 was full of drive and we slept like logs.
Day 2:
We started off visiting the "Vellai Vinayagar temple". A very peaceful and neat temple with a large statue of Lord Ganesha in White colour.
We then visited some very scenic view points. There are a number of movies being shot in Valparai and the guide will tell you various scenes from various movies pointing to locations. The Viewpoints were amidst clouds and they cleared now and then and offered breath taking views.
We visited Number Para and Nallamudi Viewpoints. We also got to see footprints of wild elephants. Valparai hills is still a habitat for a wide range of wild animals.
We spent some time in Neerar Dam. The views in Valparai are just breath taking. I find no words to describe them.
When we were about to visit Chinnakallar falls, it started drizzling and it added more beauty. Chinna Kallar falls is the one which is seen in the film song "Rosapoo chinna rosapoo" in Suryavamsam tamil movie. We had to walk through a narrow path between bushes and then the falls just opens up. The water flows here with so much force and noise. Its a very rare experience.
Later in the evening we visited Shollayar Dam. Its supposed to Second Highest dam in Asia. So Our Day 2 ended there
Day 3:
We decided to drive to Athirampally falls, the "Punnagai Mannan" movie famous falls. Our Guide also accompanied us. It was a 50-60 km drive in the forest. Athirampally falls is in Kerala officially, and a forest separates it from Valparai. We just realised the meaning of what Forest is. I guess the forest is safe to drive in Daylight and we were told that most Elephants will be out on roads in the night. But it was a drive we will cherish.
We were
taken away by the density of the falls, its roar, its purity... Wow! what a place. There are hotels to dine around the falls.
We drove back in the afternoon, so that we don't end up in the forest in the night. We once again visited Sholayar Dam as it is on the way to Athirampally falls. We reached our Hotel safely on time.
There are very few hotels in Valaparai. And don't expect too much, they are more like Canteens.
Valparai is situated in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India at an altitude of about 3,914 feet above sea level on the Anamalai Hill Range of the Western Ghats.Valparai is known as Cherrapunji of South India. This place has number of tea and coffee estates surrounded by forest.
Its an unexplored, beautiful hill station in the TN-Kerala border. You would just love the greenery there. The Air you breathe and feel is so divine. The lush of dark green plantations are so endearing. There are very less tourists to this place when compared to other Hill stations in Tamilnadu.
We visited Valparai in August 2008. An Unforgettable trip. We drove (actually my husband drove), from Chennai to valparai in our car. The travel was about 12 hrs on road. We took very short breaks for breakfast and lunch.
The route we took is Chennai -- Vellore -- Salem -- Erode -- Valparai
The roads were awesome in this route. You will never feel that Indian roads are bad once you travel in this route. The drive was also very scenic and pleasant as we travelled in late summer season. 
As we entered Valparai, Monkey falls welcomed us. Its a refreshing place and if you are a Water lover, you cannot resist getting drenched there. After a long drive, we were happy to spend some time there in the monkey falls. And yes, there will be 1000's of Monkeys...so Beware! There are 40 Hairpin bends in the Valparai Hills. Monkey falls is almost at the foot of Valparai.I would say there are 2 'not-pleasing things' in Valparai. One is the place to stay. There is just one decent hotel "Hotel Green Hill " and if you can get a reservation there then the first issue is resolved. There are a number of lodges, but they look untidy and messy. We stayed in Krishna Lodge. This place looks great from outside, and its okay kind of place inside when compared to other lodges. But I should say that the Manager there was a friendly person and very willing to help and guide. The second 'not pleasing thing' is the Leech. Don't be scared. They are as small as Ants and there is a powder being sold in Valparai called 'Leech powder', which we need to mix in coconut oil and apply in the legs. Once we do this we can just roam around freely. But believe me, this place is very worthy visiting.
In Valparai all roads seem the same and so its better to take a guide. They would charge 200 rupees for a day. You can enquire about guides in the hotel you stay. So our Day 1 was full of drive and we slept like logs.
Day 2:
We started off visiting the "Vellai Vinayagar temple". A very peaceful and neat temple with a large statue of Lord Ganesha in White colour.
We then visited some very scenic view points. There are a number of movies being shot in Valparai and the guide will tell you various scenes from various movies pointing to locations. The Viewpoints were amidst clouds and they cleared now and then and offered breath taking views.
We visited Number Para and Nallamudi Viewpoints. We also got to see footprints of wild elephants. Valparai hills is still a habitat for a wide range of wild animals.
We spent some time in Neerar Dam. The views in Valparai are just breath taking. I find no words to describe them.
When we were about to visit Chinnakallar falls, it started drizzling and it added more beauty. Chinna Kallar falls is the one which is seen in the film song "Rosapoo chinna rosapoo" in Suryavamsam tamil movie. We had to walk through a narrow path between bushes and then the falls just opens up. The water flows here with so much force and noise. Its a very rare experience.Later in the evening we visited Shollayar Dam. Its supposed to Second Highest dam in Asia. So Our Day 2 ended there
Day 3: We decided to drive to Athirampally falls, the "Punnagai Mannan" movie famous falls. Our Guide also accompanied us. It was a 50-60 km drive in the forest. Athirampally falls is in Kerala officially, and a forest separates it from Valparai. We just realised the meaning of what Forest is. I guess the forest is safe to drive in Daylight and we were told that most Elephants will be out on roads in the night. But it was a drive we will cherish.
We were
taken away by the density of the falls, its roar, its purity... Wow! what a place. There are hotels to dine around the falls. We drove back in the afternoon, so that we don't end up in the forest in the night. We once again visited Sholayar Dam as it is on the way to Athirampally falls. We reached our Hotel safely on time.
There are very few hotels in Valaparai. And don't expect too much, they are more like Canteens.
Day 4 : We started to Chennai from Valparai. On our way back we visited Balaji Temple in Valparai. A reasonably big and very well maintained temple. Once we descended down the hills and came to the plains, we visited Azhiyar dam and Vazhga Valamudan Azhiyar Centre. These are also must visit places. We had a very filling excellent lunch in a hut kind of a small shop in Azhiyar-Pollachi Junction.
We drove back with so much positive energy and peace of mind. It was a very thrilling, soothing and a relaxed trip. I hope this blog would be useful to all who intend to visit Valparai.
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