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Nelliyampathy hills, The beauty queen of Palakkad

Nelliyampathy

Kerala is famous with so many hill stations as part of Western Ghats. For a traveler it is always a matter of choice to decide which heaven I should pick this time.When it comes to the hill stations in Kerala, Nelliyampathy is popular for its beautiful tea, orange, coffee and cardamom plantations.

Nelliayampathy has an altitude ranging between 465m to 1570 above sea level. The place is not that commercialized like other hills stations Kodaikkanal, Ooty and Munnar.

The place will be crowded in winter and one will definitely enjoy the sunsets here. An amazing place surrounded by mountains for 360 degree.

Panoramic view of NelliyampathyNelliyampathy in 360 degree

The preparations

Our normal travel plans will consider a hotel somewhere in the town from where we can cover most of the pre-planned places. This time it was different.

We selected Nelliayampathy stay in a remote place inside the forest, Misty Valley resort. There is a strong reason why we have selected this resort which you will come to know when you finish reading it.

As we know that we are going to a remote area, we have purchased some snacks and chips well in advance for our adventurous trip.Also packed our trekking shoes and jackets which are inevitable items for these kind of destinations.

Our Journey was from Trivandrum railway station to Thrissur (Trichur) railway station by train from there we had arranged a cab till Nelliyampathy.We were a 6 member team who decided to conquer the heavenly hill of Palaghat (Palakkad).

The Journey of explorers

We started the enthusiastic journey by 6 in the morning from Trivandrum and by 9 we had reached Ernamkulam station.

One can easily manage his hunger with the breakfast options available in the train, served by Indian railways catering service. We too managed our breakfast from train.

Around 10.30 in the morning we had reached Thrissur and from there we started our cab journey without wasting a single minute there.

We need to cover around 78kms in 2 hours through the high range roads which is having hair-pin bends. We were in a power nap for 1 hour then started enjoying the sightseeing.

Nelliyampathy View pointView points are breath taking

The Pothundi dam was one among them, a picturesque locale with facilities for boating and nice option as a picnic place.

We were able to spot the tourists as ants from a long distance. At certain places you will definitely enjoy the view points from where the vast stretches of Palakkad district are visible with extensive paddy fields forming a verdant carpet.

It also offers a splendid view of the Palakkad Gap, which is a geographical Phenomenon in the Western Ghats formation in this region bringing into view parts of the adjoining state of Tamilnadu.

You will definitely enjoy the road trips towards Nelliyampathy due to the richness in the number of cardamom, tea and coffee estates which are managed by different plantation companies. The hills are also famous for Orange cultivation.

Finally we have reached the Nelliyampathy town. The cabs can come only up to this point and from here we need to manage a four wheel drive Jeep for the uphill journey.

The kicking ass off road journey

We have managed a Jeep for 1600 INR and our cab driver has agreed to stay in the town for that night.

The adventurous journey starts here. We need to cover 3 viewpoints in different altitudes and finally our Misty Valley resort on the top of all this.

 

Approaching Misty ValleyYou will love this Jeep Safari

Literally we were screaming and shouting inside the Jeep since, sometimes the Jeep was almost 60 to 65 degree inclined for uphill. It was very difficult to manage our respective ass on the seat due to the off road conditions with full of stones and medium sized rocks.

We were wondering how the driver is able to manage the Jeep and he said, he is used with that road conditions. Later we too!

The view points are feast to your eyes and will love to capture hell lot of photos at this place. It was full of fun, we the six member team have enjoyed the trip to the core.

From the last view point the Jeep driver have showed us one of the main attraction of Nelliyampathy, “Maanpara” a mountain enriched with plenty of deer.

Unfortunately the forest department has closed the trekking provision to this place made us bit disappointed but we continued our journey to the much awaited Misty Valley resort.

Misty Valley Resort Nelliyampathy

Misty Valley NelliyampathyMisty Valley Resort Nelliyampathy

Unlike other resorts in the town, this is not something built as a resort as such. The bungalows built by the British were actually converted into villas for the tourists.

This introduction shouldn’t lead you to an imagination that “Misty Valley” will be less comfortable. We had all the essentials there from a traveler point of view except the network coverage.

Surprised? Who is going to use the mobile phones inside that dense forest? We should compromise here, be an eco-friendly guy. Can’t we?

Still for emergency purpose they have a setup made of Thermocol (polystyrene) box which you can make use of to proceed with your calls. You need to place your mobile phone inside this box and through your head phone you can make a call. Great Deal!

emergency call setupEmergency call setup

After a quick refreshment we were asked to place the dinner plan since it will take time to get the ingredients and vegetables. They need to bring it from downhill. We have placed our order including some non-veg chicken dishes.

By that time only we came to know that, we need to either go for full chicken or shouldn’t order chicken at all. Again Surprised? Yes this time you are!

The reason is they don’t have the refrigerator to keep this items in case if something is left over. The area is remote and don’t have electricity there.

Now you might have thought like, Is Misty Valley in a different planet? Don’t worry we have electricity in our rooms with the help of power generators. Misty Valley is not that weird!

After the story, the resort guy have mentioned that they will shut down the generator by 10 in the night since we shouldn’t disturb the wild animals in the night. There is a strict instruction from the forest department for the same.

No need to worry about your sleep without fans and air conditioners, you can survive. The natural air conditioner won’t betray your sleep.

An evening walk through Misty Valley

We have started our trekking with cameras in and around the resort for explore the nature at its best.

We have seen very rare trees and plants over there, heard the voice of unfamiliar birds, saw some verity wild animals which was difficult for us to even recognize, huge bee hives altogether a different rhythm of nature. The sunset was another splendid scene in our eyes.

Honestly it was a trekking worth experience around the resort.

when we say colorfulWhen we say colorful believe us it is colorful

After the dinner we had opted for a camp fire in the night which was awesome enough in that climate. We were experiencing the nature on its lap.

The chit chats in that night gifted some unforgettable moments for us. That night we decided to sleep early since we don’t want any change in the harmony of nature.

By that time the nature was in full swing and you can’t come out of the cotton blankets even for a second. Oh God! Can’t explain that experience with words. Our next day plan was to spent some time in Seetharkundu Viewpoint.

Wander lusting about Misty Valley ? want to know more about this places?

Here you will find some good reviews from tripadvisor about Misty Valley

 

Reaching Nelliyampathy

Nearest railway station: Palakkad, about 56 km; Thrissur and Shoranur, about 77 km
Nearest airport: Coimbatore International Airport (Tamilnadu), about 55 km from Palakkad

Keep watching this space. We love to share what happened on the next day. Feel free to share your comments!

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