Munnar Has Survived Deadly Kerala Flood And Spectacular Neelakurinji Are Blooming Again!

With mixed feelings, I went home for a vacation a few days ago. I wasn't much excited, as always, because of what my home state had gone through just a month ago. While I was happy to be at 'home', at the same time, I was concerned about what shape the flood of the century has left Kerala, especially the tourist spots.

As someone, who has lived away from Kerala for nearly a decade, usually I go home as a tourist. This time too, it was no different. I had planned the vacation well in advance, with just one thing in mind - Neelakurinji the spectacle, which happens in my home district only once in twelve years.

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I wanted to see Neelakurinji at its full bloom in the peak season in Munnar, but the devastating floods almost ruined my plans at the last moment. Neelakurinji, which should have begun blooming in and around Munnar at the end of August and reach it best at mid-September and October before the season ends in November gave its original schedule a miss!

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The rains, which continued well into the end of August meant that a lot of Neelakurinji plants and flower buds got decayed. Given the destruction I was in almost planning to cancel my vacation when some good news reached me earlier this month - the sun is out and Neelakurinji has begun blooming in Vattavada, Kolukkumalai, Top Station and Rajamala.

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And just like that my vacation was back on track and I could see Neelakurinji once again after twelve years.

So, finally, the day came and we headed to Munnar at 6 am on Friday. The journey, which normally takes us little over an hour took us almost double this time around, thanks to the roads damaged in the floods.

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While Munnar, just like any other part of Kerala has largely recovered from the floods, the trail of destruction it has left behind is still visible. The scars of the flood is impossible to hide.

Bobins Abraham/ Indiatimes

Almost from the moment, you reach Pallivasal, after covering some distance you will come across roads and bridges partly damaged in landslides and flood waters. With the roads barely wide enough for one vehicle to pass through, every few kilometers you will be stuck in the middle till the traffic from the other side clears.

Even after reaching Munnar, I felt like something is missing. The number of tourists was far less than what should have been ideally there at this time. Hotels, restaurants and others in the tourism sector too are feeling the pinch. The hotel at which we halted for breakfast, we were the first customers of the day, unusual for me in my any number of Munnar trips.

One thing I noticed throughout is how the people of Munnar are trying to forget what happened a month ago and are looking forward to moving on, be it hoteliers in Munnar or wayside traders at Mattupetty.

"In the past couple of years, we had seen an increase in the number of tourists here. This year with Neelakurinji blooming the entire industry had hoped for a good season. We had a lot of advance booking for September and October from all over India. But after the flood majority of them got cancelled. We had no choice, but to refund them the full amount," Radhakrishnan, a hotelier in Munnar said.

He, however, said that they were hopeful of at least a partial recovery as have tourists began flocking to the hill station.

"In the past two weeks, we have received a number of queries, mostly from north India. Before they book the rooms, they want to know if Neelakurinji has bloomed. I am hopeful that in the coming days we will get more bookings," he added.

A small wayside trader at Mattupetty Echo Point too shared the optimism.

"If you look around there is hardly any crowd now. But it is a lot better than a few weeks ago. I hope to more people will come here in the coming days," he said.

While Neelakurinji has bloomed in Vattavada, Kolukkumalai, Top Station and Rajamala, I chose the last one, Rajamala which is also part of the Eravikulam National Park, home of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr.

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Tickets can be booked online 48 hours ago or bought over the counter both at Rs 120 per person. I would recommend everyone to book tickets online to avoid standing in the queue for an hour. Also only 2250 tickets a day (30% are sold over the counter).

Surprisingly on Friday Eravikulam National Park was crowded, thanks to a local holiday.

"Today we have a pretty decent crowd, perhaps, because it is a holiday. Till yesterday, it wasn't it wasn't this crowded. Today visitors had to wait up to two hours to get the pickup bus," a forest guard stationed at Eravikulam National Park said.

The Eravikulam National Park operates buses which will take the visitor to the park. During the four kilometre ride, you can catch glimpses of Neelakurinji on the mountains. After the 4 kilometres, driver visitors can walk another stretch of nearly two kilometres, where Neelakurinji flowers are at your touching length.

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You will often run into Nilgiri Tahrs, which will be strolling all over the park. They are so human-friendly and will even pose for photos, but trying to touch them might land you in trouble with the park authorities.

Bobins Abraham/ Indiatimes

To my sort of disappointment at Rajamala Neelakurinji is still in patches, it is yet to cover vast areas or mountain tops. So, if you want to witness Neelakurinji covered mountains you should head to Kolukkumalai or Vattavada as of now.

Kolukkumalai - which is situated at an altitude of 7900 Ft above the sea level - is the world 's highest tea plantation, and produces some of the best tea that you can ever buy.

Many private trekkers and tour operators take visitors to Kolukkumalai from Munnar.

So, after spending one full day in Munnar, I can surely say that Munnar has survived the floods and is ready to welcome tourists. So, don't miss the once in a lifetime chance to witness the spectacle.

Bobins Abraham/ Indiatimes

Also, just one word of advice - don't drive, no matter how expert a driver you are, leave the driving part to the locals who know the roads. And while they are busy behind the wheel, throw your ghaze outside the windows and you won't regret a minute of it.

Here are some of them!