Valparai

Valparai, a hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, is located approximately 3,600 feet above sea level, in the
Anaimalai Range of Western Ghats, about 65km from Pollachi. Unlike the other hill stations, Valparai is an Ocean of Tea
Plantations, not very well known, however, has started attracting tourists of late for its peaceful, picture perfect, scenic, green
oxygenated surroundings, with minimal human interaction! 

We could not have asked for more, Valparai came as a blessing, approximately, 460km (8.5hours from Bangalore) away from the
hustle and bustle of Bangalore life, a three day holiday, not to be wasted, for sure! We are thankful to our friend Sathiya Moorthy,
the SUPER STAR of Valparai, without his help, our dream of discovering this tea paradise, could not have been accomplished. We
started early in the morning by 4.30 and took the Hosur Road, NH 7 to reach Salem. The road is well maintained and is worth
paying the toll (better to keep the exact change handy). We stopped at a Coffee Day on NH7 for a quick bite and continued towards
our destination. On reaching Salem, we took to NH47 to reach Valparai, via Bhavani-Avinasi-Tiruppur-Pollachi.

 
We had to cross 40 hairpin bends to reach Valparai from Aliyar, which serves as the base, drove all along the reservoir of Aliyar
Dam and captured the celestial view of the Dam and its surroundings from the 9th hairpin bend, called, Loams View Point. The road
was good with considerable vehicular traffic. 

Our first peek was Monkey Falls on the way to Valparai, it was a small waterfall, infested with Monkeys! Could be one of the
reasons for the nomenclature  Spending less than 20 mins at Monkey Falls, clicking a pic or two, we moved on… Driving through
the dense rain forests and the tea plantations, we reached Waterfall Tea Estate and were greeted to a hot cup of freshly brewed
tea, the divine taste of which, still lingers in our mouth! Refreshing ourselves with a hot cup of tea and stopping at Carver Marsh’s
(The founder of Valparai) view point, admiring the spectacular tea gardens, we reached the Valparai town around 2.30 in the
afternoon and headed towards Hotel Greenhill to crunch the pangs of hunger, feasting on yummy chapattis, veg fried rice and green
peas curry.
  

Our day 1 had started well and with more than half a day spent in travelling, all we did was to look around the place as we had a major task
ahead of us, to visit the Athirapilly and Vazhachal Falls the next day. We spent our evening at the tranquil Koolangal River, taking a few pictures
and rejoicing the greenery around, we visited the Sri Siddhi Vinayakar Temple and were informed by the priest that the idol of Lord Ganapathi,
was similar to the one at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Mumbai. Paying our obeisance to Ganapati Bappa, we retired to our home stay for some
refueling and good sleep. The nights in Valparai, were cold, with the levels of mercury dipping to 8-10 deg C, while the mornings were
comparatively warm and humid.
   

Our agenda for day 2 was to visit Kollywood’s famous hot spot, the Athirapilly Waterfalls and the Vazhachal falls, formed by the River
Chalakudi, in the Thrissur district of God’s Own Country (Kerala). We left early that morning, around 6, enjoying the mild hues of sunrise and
stopped at Senthil Hotel, Sholayar, for a lip smacking breakfast of steaming idlis, chutney and puli kolambu (some kind of sour red chutney),
served with love by Mr. Senthil and his wife Murugessamma. After thanking them for sumptuous breakfast, we headed towards our much
awaited destination, Athirapilly and Vazhachal Falls.
  

On our way back, we stopped at the Sholayar Dam, not to miss the sunset. Capturing the beauty of the Sun playing hide and seek with the
clouds, through the lens and getting ourselves rejuvenated by the cool breeze and the lush green calm surroundings, after a long day’s
adventure, we called it a day, hoping to explore more...
   

It was day 3 and 2 days had passed in a jiffy… We had explored most parts of Valparai and had started to feel like the natives of the place! Our
first peek for the day was Lower Nirar Dam, a multipurpose dam built for the purpose of irrigation and production of Hydroelectricity. We were
told that there were a total of 7 dams in Valparai, however, we could visit only the Aliyar, Nirar and Sholayar dams. Our next stop was
Nallamudi Poonjolai, also called the “Suicide Point”. The best part about the place was to walk in the midst of Tea estates. At this place we got
a bird’s eye view of Valparai and the Kerala border, an amazing place for professional and amateur camera enthusiasts.
  

We found most places in Valparai within a radius of 10km from the main town. The Balaji Temple and Velankani Church are a must see, where,
peace and tranquility personify these places of religious interest. We could not capture the Balaji Temple, as photography was prohibited in the
Temple premises.

We also got an opportunity to visit the Ryan Tea Factory, manufacturers of Tan Tea and are indebted and grateful to Mr. Freddy Paulstar, who
took some time off and explained to us the entire process of tea manufacture. He took us around the plant and explained the process of tea
manufacture from the raw material stage (tea leaves) to the finished product (tea dust). The crushed tea leaves, emitting green apple aroma,
filled our nostrils and lungs. We drowned in the aroma filled atmosphere for close to 2 hours, got nostalgic for a while as the entire experience
reminded us of Industry Visits in college! 

We were still left with 2 important places to explore – Top Slip and Grass Hills. We were told that we had to reach out to the forest department
for permission, to visit Grass Hills. With not much time in our kitty, we had to compromise on it. We could not make it to the Vellamalai Tunnel
either. We were told that it is an unending tunnel, good for adventure geeks! As it was almost evening, we did not want to take a chance of
exploring it.

The 3 days spent in Valparai, would remain close to our hearts, with quality time spent in the bounties of Mother Nature. We would only
say…“We Came”, “We Saw”, however, “Were Conquered” by the Picturesque and Vivacious Valparai, the Seventh Heaven indeed!