MUNNAR : GIFT OF NATURE
Tea,rather than coffee,is what Munnar means to most people.A rare combination of land,climate and the enchanting Kannan Devan Hills have given rise to a produce which is popular in far-off North America,as it is in the humble villages and towns of South India.General Douglas Hamilton,sent to discover a suitable convalescence station for his troops in 1862,described Munnar as,"surpassingly grand and incomparably beautiful.. some of the precipices are of stupendous magnitude,and the charming variety of scenary comprising undulating grassy hills,wooded valleys,rock crags,over-hanging precipices,present a view for beyond my power to describe and which must be seen to be appreciated".
One hundred and thirty five years ago,that was a remarkably accurate description.At the tall trees one discovers how hautingly close this is to the truth.
The tall trees is a magnificent stretch of wilderness where cardamom covered tufts of land beckons one into aromatic-and dreaming landscape.one has a sudden humbled sense of being amongst beings larger than life.561 overarching survivors from the past,tower this picturesque landscape,blotting out the noon-tide sun.One can almost divine the distant rumblings of past history,alive in every tree.And in the silence,here one's own thought taking shape.In this virgin remoteness,even time moves at a different pace.There is a special sort of magic too about the civil construction at the tall trees.The organic landscape,and all of its overwhelming colossuses,have been left untouched.Making the tall trees and its cottages something of a human sanctuary,offering cocooned peace and splendid isolation.It is a profound experience.Too good to be true.
A confluence of three river systems literally speaking that what Munnar means.Not surprising then that Munnar is dotted with lakes,reservoirs and mountain streams..set in the western ghats,Munnar through some fortuitous geography is conveniently close to a host of great attractions,Wildlife sanctuaries,an exotic sandalwood forest,a bird sanctuary,enchanting hill stations and Asia's first and breathtaking arch dam.
Just driving along its meandering country roads on a sparkling summers day is itself a trip for all the senses.The landscape constantly shifts tone and tempo,with majestically dark woodlands discreetly receding into glittering tea gardens,which tumble violently into monumental precipices.Giving one perhaps,a faint perspective into a distinctive town,and its down to earth people,who have preserved and nurtured the high ranges and made it what it is today.
