One Sunday Road Trip

by Asif Muhammed (India)

A leap into the unknown India

one a Sunday morning, planning about to get out of the daily work pressure and to enjoy the weekend in a trending way, there comes the idea. Myself Asif, residing in Kochi, Kerala. Working in an advertising company and have only weekends to get rid of this daily life boredom. woke up in the morning and having tea. my motorcycle Royal Enfield Thunderbird X is looking towards me in the porch. time ticking 6.30 on the clock. Then arise the idea to go for a road trip on this day. but to where? I sipped the tea and suddenly the destination came to the mind map. A one day ride to Munnar. the place called the Kashmir of South India. got the jacket, sunglass, wallet, riding gears and started the vehicle. its 70 miles distance from Kochi to Munnar. Going a little farther, about 12 miles the road and the landscape changed. I knew that the journey to Munnar had started there. The road to Munnar is through Muvattupuzha and Adimaly. Can feel the fresh air and the mist of Munnar from Adimaly onwards. Adimaly is a small town in Idukki District, Kerala. I reached there by afternoon and had lunch from a local Hotel. ate kappa(tapioca) and fish curry. Adimaly has some cool places like Devil's falls, Kallar waterfalls and Pettimudi hilltop. cant explore all these places today. because the destination is still far from here. decided to spend some time in Pettimudi hilltop. parked the vehicle on the roadside and started walking to the hilltop. its only 600 meters to reach the top of the hilltop. the view from the hilltop is amazing. small house and greeneries are under the clouds. and the cool breeze will refresh our mind. spent an hour there and restarted the journey. still, 13 more miles to reach Munnar. The journey to Munnar continued along the narrow road. Going a little farther, you can see the Munnar from one side of the road. My journey ends there. Standing on one side of the road, the mountain ranges are interesting. It is lovely to park in the driveway for a while and see the mountains in the distance. The curved road and hairpin bends make the trip to Munnar a great one. Especially when going on a motorcycle. I reached Munnar by evening. the climate is so cold. it's one of the coolest places in South India. During winter season -3 degree Celcius was reported in Munnar. there are so many places everyone must visit in Munnar. but I can't go all these places in one day. I planned for return today itself. because of the need to get back the boredom work life. but it's nice to be here for some time. places like Mattupetty Dam, Vattavada, Marayur, Tea plantations, Echo point, Eravikulam national park, Kolukkumalai and lot more. there are much more scenes here to visit. I decided to reach anyone place and spent little time there. and I planned return ride by 8 o clock in the evening. I have 4 hours to spent in Munnar. I decided to go to the top station at Munnar. by the way, I had tea from a nearby shop. Munnar is famous for tea plantations. I bought some tea powder also. I reached the top station and find a peaceful place to sit alone. it's not a big deal. sitting there and thinking about nature. Time ticked away. and its time to get back to Kochi. I started the Motorcycle and ride back to Kochi. had dinner from a roadside shop. Reached my room by midnight. thinking about the ride and Munnar's peaceful atmosphere. I Don't know when getting fall in sleep. suddenly the alarm ticks. its Monday morning and the time for going to work again. I woke up and having tea. tinking about yesterday's ride. wow.... wait!!... what if the whole motorcycle ride was a dream...