What is there is Munnar?
Munnar is a small hill station in the state of Kerela, India. It has got picturesque lake and tea estates. It is a place where you can have both a relaxing weekend and also an adventurous weekend in the wilderness.
When to visit Munnar?
Best time to visit Munnar is after/during the Monsoons which start after June and ends in February. It is after the rains when the waterfalls and greenery are at their best, but we went before the rains and still everything looked beautiful. It is better to keep in mind that if you are going at a time when there are holidays in India, then it will be crowded as it is the nearest hill station to many cities. (We were stuck in traffic jam in Munnar for about 2hrs).
How to reach Munnar?
Munnar is well connected via road from Bangalore(10 hrs), Coimbatore(4 hrs), Kochi(3 hrs) and many more cities nearby. The nearest railway station are Kochi and Ernakulum. If you are travelling from Bangalore, it is better to take bus, as you can travel in night and reach early morning to Munnar.
Where to stay in Munnar?
There are so many places to stay in Munnar from hotels to homestays to cottages. Since last time we stayed in homestay, this time we wanted to try cadamom cottage. So we booked a cottage through munnarcottages.in. Our cottage was located in an isolated and big cardamom property ,20km away from Munnar city. We had a great time there but travelling to Munnar was task, still would recommend it if seclusion is what you are looking for.
Places to visit in/near Munnar.
There are many places to visit in Munnar. We went to couple of them:
- Attukal Falls: Around 5-6 kms from Munnar. As we had gone before monsoon, there was no water in the falls. There are many falls around that region but since we went in summers, all of them had dried up so we skipped going to all of them.
- Matupetty Dam: Amazing place but only if you are willing to walk. Matupetty is very crowded, so the best way to enjoy it is to walk away from the crowd. There are many places near the lake where one can sit and enjoy that place in peace.
The Dam – view from just 100 meters away from the crowded area 
Best place to just relax and lie down - Eravikulam National Park: Though we didn’t get time to visit the Park but we have heard its a nice place to visit. Also, the best time to visit is during early morning, as the day progresses the day gets hotter and also crowd increases.
- Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary: When you enter Kerela from Coimbatore you pass through this wildlife sanctuary. It is a good sanctuary where you can have lot of pit stops, but due to weather and limited time, we preferred not to stop in between. There is a high rise/watch tower from where you can see elephants and other animals. There is also a trek to one of the falls in the sanctuary.
Falls in the wildlife sanctuary
What more can you do in Munnar?
Best way to enjoy Munnar is to cycle around the city. This was the best decision of this trip. Ansil, the guy who rents out cycle knew lot of unexplored places in Munnar and he suggested us to go to Laxmi falls. According to Ansil the route was for beginners but we found the terrain was bit difficult.
Cycling in munnar is a must if you really want to see its beauty and enjoy the lovely weather. We took the cycles in morning 7am, and went on the trail to laxmi waterfalls. It was about 16km from Munnar city and we passed through undulating road with picturesque tea plantation, it was amazing riding downhill. Little did we know that coming back up will be pain in the ass( and I mean literally).
After about 2.5 hrs of cycling downhill, we happily reached the falls, like other falls, this fall was also kind of dried up but still the water was cold and soothing.
Uphill ride was the toughest part, sometimes we felt like giving up but then the natural beauty was so breathtaking and we knew cycling was the only way to enjoy it so, we continued on cycles for ext 16km uphill.
I would suggest that cycling is a must do if you are going to Munnar, it was worth the effort we had put in.
Fledgling Travelers 
