Ponmudi

I don't know why, but blogging about beautiful places in Kerala is something I am enjoying the most these days. Last week I had gone to a place called Ponmudi in Trivandrum, Kerala.......a part of Western Ghats, this place is famous for the unending cool breezes that flow through the mountain ranges here, sometimes capable of blowing you away!!! Am not exaggerating, but during rainy season, you should use some muscle power to withstand the speedy chill winds blowing at you.

We were 8 people, and traveled in 2 cars, both my friend's. This was a treat given by me for my college friends as I got a job in an IT firm. We started off the journey on 16th Jan, 2009 early morning at around 2:30 am from my house in Newsprint Nagar, Kottayam. Ponmudi is around 180 to 200 kms from there. We reached at the foothills of Ponmudi at around 7:30, took a room to freshen up, and continued our way up the hill.

Ponmudi, as against what I thought, is not a dangerous place. The way up the hill is narrow, but as the Indian Govt is setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology(IISST) ,

work was going on to widen the roads leading to Ponmudi. Its around 1100 mts above sea level. There are many resorts over this place, we also saw a caravan going ahead of us, maybe some film personality.

This place is very silent, the only voice you hear once you reach the top is the gushing sound of the tree leaves waving to and fro due to the blowing winds. Well, there is nothing much you can do here, but if you fall in the "drinking" category, you will like it here. We spent

around an hour here, climbing the hills and enjoying the great view. There are many places nearby like Meenmutty waterfalls, a lake nearby, the Neyyar dam, Crocodile lake etc. We decided to go to Trivandrum( roughly some 24 kms) after that. On the way down, one of the cars showed some trouble. A metallic sound was coming from one of its front tires............we stopped to see what happened, had to use the jackie and remove the tier. A stone was stuck between the break pads and the tire.....which was making the sound. Once we removed it and fixed the tires, it was ok. On the way we had our lunch.

We reached Trivandrum at around 2 in the afternoon. Met our friend Sachin over there, and decided to go to the Kovalam beach, well..............you know why people go there............its not the waves or the sunset that draws attention............but the people who come to the beach. I must say that this is one of the beautiful beaches India has, after those in Goa, and thats why you can find a number of foreigners enjoying the sun and the beach. We had a great time at the beach , spent around 3 to 4 hours there. Went back to the city, had dinner near the stadium in the city. There was the Asianet Ujala awards going on in the stadium and we could hear a hell lot of voices from inside the stadium.

Our stay that night was at Sachin's place. We had to wake up early in the morning as it was our college mate Rigin's sister's wedding on that day. Well, after all, trips are to enjoy, and you won't get time to sleep, even if you find time, you won't be allowed to sleep...........This was a memorable one , after a long time, everyone met again.......memories to be cherished forever..........