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If you’re looking for quiet strolls along rows of tea bushes, if you’re looking for the enveloping calm of cool mist, if you are partial to pristine green countryside laid out below clear blue sky-then you’ve been looking for, and will be hooked by, the hill station of Munnar.

Tucked into the Western Ghats, surrounded by tea and spice plantations, soaked in atmosphere, Munnar is heart-stopping beautiful hill resort. Hidden away in the midst of thick vegetation and lush rainforest, Munnar was the secret holiday getaway to the hills, of only a few who were familiar with its many charms. But modern day Munnar has become highly visible on the tourist map as Kerala sells its much faceted self to domestic and foreign visitors.

A misty, lush green hill station 1600m ASL in the Annamalai range of Kerala, Munnar is fast making a transition from a tea, coffee and spice plantation centre to a prime holiday resort and wildlife reserve.

This hill resort retains its colonial British character with neat bungalows, cottage gardens filled with flowers and the smell of fresh spices, tea and roasting coffee

beans that hangs heavy in the air. The surrounding hill slopes are covered with orderly rows of tea bushes, the plantations amongst the highest in the world stretch for miles only interrupted by pockets of forests teeming with local fauna and flora. Amongst the unusual flowers that grow here is the Neelakurinji that blooms once every twelve years and bathes the entire area in a beautiful blue colour. The Neelakurinji is next due to flower in 2018!

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Anamudi at 2696 meters is the highest peak towards the south of Himalayas that lies in Munnar.

Leeches are found in abundance in the woods. So if you’re going trekking make sure you're wearing a good pair of walking shoes. Just in case a leech decides to feast on you, carry some salt for remedy.

Historically Speaking

Set on the confluence of three mountainous streams, Munnar was once a summer retreat for the British who initiated tea plantation in this region. However, originally, the lands were used to cultivate Coffee, Cardamom and Zinchona. Traces of spice plantations are still visible but tea overpowers the economy and trade.

The present residents, Malayalis had come to Munnar as workers on plantations and British residences. Today they dwell here in large numbers and their language Malayalam is spoken widely by the inhabitants.