coonoor | The Tea Cerebrations

I have been wishing to travel again for a long time. It is one of those many things that I think about these days, and as I look back, I remember that it has really been a very long time. It has been so long that I have gone for a trip for the traveling purpose alone. But it doesn’t stop me from looking at those old photos of travel, and as you might have figured it out, I have so many of them. Well, I am going to need a hard disc to store them all soon – a separate one. As one journey provides thousands of photos, I have always felt that there would be the need. But here, I share ten photos of Ooty and Coonoor.

We stayed at Coonoor when we decided to get to Ooty. Well, I have been to Ooty only once and that journey actually came too late. I visited Ooty in the last few years, and I should be the last one in my friends circle to visit the hill station for the first time. Both of these places were nothing less than charming; I loved my stay at Coonoor and the tea there. The places to visit exist close enough both towns. Coonoor is the second largest hill station in the Nilgiris, and you will want to stop there too, along with being at those usual tourist destinations at Ooty. The photos shared here were taken by me on my Sony Cybershot DSC-W310.

Meanwhile, I hope most of you haven’t missed Charlie.

TeNy

I am sharing a few of the favourite shots taken on my camera through this post. I don’t claim that any of them is worthy of a special photography award, but as I have not shared them on this blog, I feel that I will share them anyway. The camera used is a Sony Cybershot DSC-W310 on each and every occasion, and they were all taken at different places. The first one is from Vagamon or somewhere near the place when we were on the way there. I loved this path! It was like the road less taken, and the journey was also very good towards the place of beauty!

We stayed at Coonoor during our journey to Ooty. Unlike most of the people who keep going on a trip to Ooty and Kodaikanal, I have only been the former once and I have never been to the latter, and that has come as a surprise to many people. I was more than happy to stay here though, as there was so much tea, and walking with tea all around, was always going to be a thing of joy. There are also some interesting place around this one, and Coonoor is not a lesser town.

Ilaveezhapoonjira remains that blessed tourist place which is so less explored. It will always be something of bliss to be there, and the view is always splendid. The fog actually provides an even better experience. It provides the feeling being somewhere beyond the world that we know, and it is during one of those days that I wish to be there again. I don’t think that I am that much of a traveller any more, but if I go into that more, may be I will be back there and witness the fog and rain.

The lovely model tourism village, Kumbalangy has been among my favourites for very long. It has a nice place to enjoy the beauty of nature in the form of backwaters. I have visited the place for a very long time, even before it developed. There are some nice shots which one can manage from here and it can be joined with a Fort Cochin-Mattanchery trip during the usual journey to Kochi, and the place also has some old churches around which adds to the beauty. The place gives the opportunity for more beautiful photos.

Athirappilly Falls might be the best known waterfalls in Kerala, and located well within reach from the Cochin International Airport, the place is visited a lot, and I have wandered around the place quite a number of times myself. With Vazhachal Falls also nearby, this is one shot which I always love. The shot actually reminds me of a number of computer games with waterfalls, and it is actually the place where parts of a lot of Indian movies were shot, including the most talked about flick of recent times, Baahubali and the upcoming Puli. There were also shots for movies like Dil Se, Pukar, Guru, Madras Cafe and many others.

I have always loved the sculptures of gargoyles on the church buildings, and that interest increased with the movie I, Frankenstein. When I climbed to the top of this church tower at Thrissur, and looked down, I felt like a gargoyle on the tower even though the churches here don’t have that. But looking down from there looks good, as it is known to be Asia’s tallest church, and there is some good view from the top. You do see this church in a lot of movies shot in the city, dominating the skyline – like in Pranchiyettan and the Saint and Thiruvambadi Thamban.

Munnar has inspired a lot of interesting photos for me, but nothing like a walk through the tea gardens. It has been a long time favourite hill station for me as I have visited the place multiple times. This shot was taken on a beautiful day when we stopped on the side of the road for taking some photos. After some great morning tea, wandering through the tea plantations was going to be an interesting thing to do. After all, tea is life and most of my life has been about it. I still wonder what I will do without tea – I will be without my strength and also without many other things. Then there are movies like Life of Josutty which reminds you of the beauty of Kerala highlands!