Friends are one of the blessings gifted by God. Everyone have friends in all the stages of life and nothing compares to the happiness we get when we meet them again. My childhood friends are so precious and we used to meet every year somewhere somehow. Unfortunately all the nearby resorts are filled up by the time we fix the date for the reunion and so this year we thought to change the ambience and decided to include a road trip too. We chose Ponmudi hill station this time.
Last September 23rd, I received a phone call from my school friend Sowmi that she is coming to my home with her family and so we planned to go out around Kanyakumari. As it was a sudden plan, I couldn’t prepare anything to eat for them and so we had our lunch at a hotel near to Kanyakumari beach.
After lunch, we went to Vattakottai and then to Eco Park, Kanyakumari. We spent some quality time there together. I will write a separate post of these tourist spots later. After that, we went to Mayapuri Wax Museum. The entry fee for the wax museum including 9D theater movie is 220 INR per person which is expensive.
After visiting Pykara falls, ooty lake and kamaraj sagar dam, we visited Karnataka Siri Horticulture Garden, Fern Hill, Ooty. This garden has a vast area and we walked a lot in this garden and were tired at the end but you will never regret walking around this garden as it has lovely bushes and flowers which will surely never be missed.The entry fee is 30 INR for adults and 15 INR for kids.
After night stay at Ooty, we got ready in the morning itself to enjoy sightseeing. The climate is super cool so we all got up a bit late (not too early) and after having breakfast at A2B Hotel, we started our trip to Pykara waterfalls.
After visiting Botanical garden, Ooty, we went to Rose Garden, Ooty. The entrance fee is 30 INR/person for adults and 15 INR/person for kids above 5 years. Government Rose Garden in Ooty is open all the days of the week from 9 a.m to 6 p.m.
My mom used to tell that she has to visit Ooty once in her lifetime. I don’t know what made her crazy with Ooty but after visiting the places in Ooty, I really admit that it is the Queen of Hills. I have visited Kodaikanal hill station, Munnar Hill Station but nothing can be compared with Ooty Hill Station. The climate is super cool and the place is colorful. I had already visited Ooty once when I was at College but this trip is the best because this time it is during the famous Ooty Flower Show. Flowers and colors filled our eyes and satisfied our soul. 🙂
After our visit to Periyar Tiger Reserve and Vineyard, On April 27, morning we got up early and after breakfast, we started our travel to Munnar around 8.30 a.m. On the way we got down at photo point,tea plantation, Udumbanshola. The entry fee for this photo point is 20 INR per person. We have to walk a bit inside tea plantations. As we are running short of time, we just captured photographs and left the place.
After our late lunch at Thekkady, we planned to visit the vineyards of Cumbum valley. I had never ever thought of this place as a tourist destination until a cousin of mine explained his splendid experience in the vineyards of Cumbum. Cumbum is one of the places in TamilNadu where grapes are cultivated in vast vineyards.
Last Wednesday night, we started our trip with my mom’s family members. We reached kattapana Thursday morning. After refreshing and breakfast, we went to Periyar National Park, also known as Periyar Tiger Reserve. It is situated in the Western Ghats of Kerala, southern India.
I have been to Poovar Island Resort and Club Mahindra resort,Poovar before. Poovar is a small coastal village at the southern tip of Trivandrum. Poovar backwater cruise charges is costly when compared to other places. I have seen the rates as 2500 INR/ 2 persons for one hour and 3500 INR /2 persons for 1.5 hours. You can bargain the rates very much. I don’t know how much company paid for us.
