You will find something more in woods than in books .trees and stones will teach you that which you can never leave from Masters – St.Bernad
Here I (Prakash) am going to share my real time trekking experience that we had in Manjolai Hills, Tirunelveli.
On April-2019, We (Arun, Jacob, Mani, Nalla Perumal, Vinod, Raj and Me) planned to go somewhere we never went before. So we chose Manjolai Hills to seek live adventure. The only transport mode to our destination is government bus because to avoid pollution, individual vehicles are not allowed. We got our bus by around 9.30 pm from kallidai kuruchi a town on the right bank of the Thamiraparani river in Ambasamudram Taluk of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Before narrating our experience we need to share some details about Manjolai Hills. The Western ghats are mesmerizing to say least and anyone who has a love for outdoors will find their fill of adventure here. The summit offers splendid views of the green Western Ghats and make you feel like you are on top of the world.
Ooty of Tirunelveli
Manjolai Hills (Ooty of Tirunelveli) is a hill Station surrounded by Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Western Ghats. The hills rise up to heights of 1000-1500 meters and are covered with tranquil tea gardens. Manjolai hills are famous for the weather and you can blow smoke from your mouth without a cigarette. It is also known for its wonderful scenic beauty and the serenity of its surroundings. You can go long walks into the quiet tea gardens or trek into the nearby forest.
If you are lucky enough, you can have a glimpse of Elephants, Bears, Bison, Wild boar, Leopards and Sambar deer. However do remember one thing, it is a reserve forest and you need permission from the forest department.
Back to our experience, by 11.30 pm, we all reached our destination named Kakachi, by mid of the night. We were surrounded by mist and we started freezing. In Kakachi, we planned to stay in Mr.Kenny’s Home(Relative of Arun). He is a senior person and so we hesitated to wake him up to open the door because it’s midnight. We knocked the door three times and to our surprise, he opened the door and welcomed us inside his home and offered us black tea.
Then we kept our luggage there and five of us went out to take some snap from our DSLR, because it’s a full moon day. The Place is fully surrounded by tall trees and grasses everywhere, hearing some small insects sound all the way. We walked for 500 meters and suddenly we heard something running inside the woods. Oh no! We got feared and our heartbeat got raised because the place we are standing Is the hotspot for bears. But our inner sense instructed us to figure out what it was. For 2 minutes we were silently watching in between the trees with the help of moonlight. So far we didn’t have any torch light too.
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Then the sound vanished in thin air and it seemed like it ran away. But it was a thrilling experience in the mid of the jungle, we took some astrophotography and chilled out. On our way back we found out that the wild thing that made the running sound is Indian Wild Boar. Oh God it’s just a Boar. We laughed at ourselves and returned back to take a small nap.
Next day early morning by 4.30 am we started our journey to reach Naalumukku Estate to explore and experience the adventure. It is around 9 km from Kakachi. What we all had is 3 cameras, 2 woolen bed sheet, 2 liters water cane, 4 bread packets and some cookies. The temperature was freezing but we didn’t mind it because of the excitement. After 2 km we were stunned on hearing the songs sung by a group of bees and it sounded like jingle bells, reminding us how these creatures are enjoying the start of the day, for fifteen minutes we enjoyed the sound and continued our walk in the way full of trees. We saw lush greenery everywhere with sunlight passing in-between the trees. All the way we heard the song of birds and whistling sound made by Lion Tailed monkey. It was a pleasant tone we never heard before. Colorful butterflies were crossing here and there. We think that this is one of the beautiful roads we walked before. We were fully surrounded by the aroma of fresh eucalyptus leaves and I took some leaves and kept it in my backpack to smell whenever I needed.
The woolen bed sheet felt heavy as we were walking uphill. We were quarrelling as a kid in the mid of the jungle for who is going to carry. Our audiences were monkeys. They were staring at us from above the trees and their mind voice was like ‘who are these new creatures giving us tough competition’? Now we reached the wooden bridge which is more than 70 years old, constructed by the British. We took rest for a while and finished our breakfast. There was 4 km more to complete our journey to Naalumukku Estate. Naalumukku, full of tea plantation, is a hotspot for Elephants and we found footprints and the fecal waste and we alerted ourselves. It was bad luck for us as we didn’t have chance to see the mighty elephants. One thing I forgot to mention is a native of Naalumukku Estate. Many faces welcomed him and us also. Again we had black tea and vada. We never experienced such a taste at a low price.
From there we planned to go for Kuthiraivetti. There is a view point from where we can see Manimuthar and Karaiyar dam. As it was raining and because of lack of transportation our plan got spoiled, but later we had an amazing trip to Kuthiraivetti . So we decided to visit nearby areas, and in my lifetime I never tasted a tea in cardamom leaves which was served by the people working in tea estate with love and care. After that while roaming we saw many footprints of deers, elephants and leopards. These things woke up our adventure feel more. It’s around 1 pm, we felt tired and we planned to take some nap in the bamboo groves for better shelter. We stayed there for 3 hours. Raj quickly fell asleep over a rock, without minding that he is sharing his bed with small insects and ants. The rest of us had a good conversation there and we were taking some photos.
Suddenly we heard the sound of thunder and dark clouds encircled us. We were afraid that our gadgets may get wet and so we started to return to our hotel which is 4 km far. This time we were a little faster and escaped from the rain. While returning we heard one wild breathing sound in the mid of tea trees. We all stopped and our body shivered and we saw a big Indian Gaur as seen in Bahubali movie, grazing alone. We were thrilled because we already know that a lone Gaur or elephant is too dangerous and gets enraged to protect it. So we moved away a little from its sight and took some photographs. One of the best thing happened to us by God’s grace is heavy winds, which made the sky clear. On the way we found a small river and over that there was a man- made small wooden bridge. Its view was splendid and we had a bath there and got refreshed.
By Evening 5 o’clock we reached the hotel, had some snacks and went to a school nearby. The school ground was full of grass and so it’s nice to sit there and had a chance dry up our wet clothes. Vinod went to make some time lapse videos from moving clouds and Jacob went to click a Black Langur which was common in this area. Myself and Raj were having fun like somersault in the mid of grass while remaining people stayed in the hotel. While coming back to the hotel, we saw Sambar deers standing inside a small village and so we had a chance to get closer to get some photos. At night we slept in the hotel and early morning we got bus by 4.30 am and returned home.
For more travel info, reach me in Instagram @prakashjul
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