Megamalai – Truly into the Clouds!
I had this place, Megamalai
(literally translated as Mountain of Clouds à Megam =
Cloud; Malai = Mountain), in my mind for quite some time. This is simply for
the reason that the place is cut off from the civilisation largely. Except for
tea estates, forests, some waterfalls and dams, one cannot find anything much
here. Not even mobile networks. Oh yea! That is one of main criteria for
selecting such a place.

Once we had finalised on the dates
that we are going to travel, Rajasekar got the accommodation organised through a
contact. The accommodation was arranged at the Inspection Bungalow near one of
the dams. The contact person also had given us the contact numbers (as if the
mobile network is going to be available) of a couple of other people working in
the tea estates, so that we can catch up with them for getting into some of
sight-seeing place inside the tea estates.
Rajasekar had already reached his
house in Madurai the previous day. I travelled from Chennai and Dinesh from
Bangalore to Madurai on the night of 20th and reached there early
next morning. Refreshed ourselves at Rajasekar’s place and we were on our way
to Megamalai, Rajasekar’s car.

We understood why the guard asked
us to be careful once we hit the ghat roads. It was narrow, no boundaries and
you can see the road only here and there, and rest of the road was completely
damaged due to lack of maintenance.
Now, as if this was not enough,
once we have driven a few meters, the place was covered with thick mist all of
a sudden. The visibility dropped drastically to only about 10 feet! If we make
one wrong move, we would end up sliding down the mountain. With the thick cover
of mist, this only became even more challenging. Rajasekar did negotiate the
terrain (I am not going to call it a road anymore) really well. We were unable
to get the vehicle past the first gear and moved only at a speed of about
5kmph. But that was enough to take us and the car safely to the destination.
We stopped a couple of times on the
way to take some photographs of the breath taking place. The view of the valley
was not very clear as the mist cover was very thick, but it was an enjoyable
weather. True to the name Megamalai, the hills welcomed us with its mist cover.

There was a small shop right
outside the Panchayat office run by one Murugan. It was the only place having
lunch at the time. There is another shop a few meters away from the Panchayat
office run by Senthil, but they prepare lunch only on prior request. So we had
no other choice at the moment, but to have it Murugan’s shop. Now I would
definitely not recommend this place for a few reasons.
Firstly the food was pathetic.
Secondly and the most intriguing part is that they don’t server hot water. This
is very uncommon for a hill station, that too in December on such a chill
weather. They simply said that we will have to settle with the bottled water
that they sell. Cheap marketing tactics! Thirdly, for such stupid food and
service, the price is quite high.

After lunch we went to Thoovanam dam. This dam is built across the water body that flows through megamalai and falls into the suruliyar river. This is really very secluded place with just a couple of forest guards stationed at the dam. It provided a very good view of the entire place. Once could also trek down the dam and reach the falls,m but that is not possible unless there is a prior permission obtained from the forest department. We spend some time there and returned back to the Panchayat Office.
In the evening we roamed the place nearby guided (???) by one of the Panchayat office guys and spotted some bisons a couple miles away in a place. It became apparent that these guys have no interest in wildlife or know anything about it, when we saw the excitement in the face of the guide for seeing a couple of bisons about 2 miles away!
In the evening we roamed the place nearby guided (???) by one of the Panchayat office guys and spotted some bisons a couple miles away in a place. It became apparent that these guys have no interest in wildlife or know anything about it, when we saw the excitement in the face of the guide for seeing a couple of bisons about 2 miles away!
On the second day we had breakfast
at Senthil’s shop and not the wretched Murugan shop. They mostly prepare
breakfast for the commuters of the local bus that plies from Maharaja Mettu to
Chinnamanur. It arrives near the Panchayat office around 8:30pm and the
commuters used to have breakfast at Senthil’s shop. This is the routine there
and the same in done in the evening as well. So we were lucky to have been
there at the right time and had a good breakfast at a very reasonable price.

Maharaja Mettu (Mettu meaning hill,
some people even call it muttai) gives a very good view of the surrounding
valleys and views of small towns and villages surrounded by mountains on all
four sides. We had to park our car at the check post of the tea estate and had
to climb up on foot for about half an hour or so. Unfortunately we were not
able to clearly see these landscapes due to heavy mist. Though it was not as
thick as the previous day, it was still thick enough to make the entire place
misty and overcast. Yet, we took some photographs of the beautiful views
(whatever was possible) and returned back.
By the time we returned to the car
it was well past noon and we went into the small village near the tea estate to
see if we can get any food. Unfortunately there were none as the only shop in
the village closes the kitchen once everyone is done with their meals. One
cannot complain too much here as they do not get too many visitors. If we need
to have meals, we should have told them in advance so they can prepare for us
and keep it till we come. This is the case everywhere in this place. So this
will have to be kept in mind.

While returning back to the tea
estate, it was 5:00pm and the person who offered us to show the place was just
winding up for the day. He kept his belongings under a tree and joined us in
the car. We drove for about 15 to 20 minutes past the tea estate into the
jungle and reached the place. The place was quite secluded and beautiful. We
spent about 20 minutes in the place, took some photographs and though should
return back sometime during the monsoon so the falls will be a bit bigger than
what it was now. It a nice place to spend a few moment in any case. But since
it was already getting dark, we had to return.
Once we reached the Panchayat
office, the people there were waiting for us to shift us to the Inspection
Bungalow, the one which we had originally booked. We packed up our things,
which was not much and started for the place. It was about 4 km from the
Panchayat office and the accommodation here was very much better than what we
had the previous day. It was around 8:30pm when we reached there. We also found
a small eat-out nearby, but this one was very good in terms of quality, taste
and price. We had a hearty dinner as we did not have much during the day,
except for some energy bars and some tea.
We planned to go to the Vattaparai
early the next day morning to see if we can spot any animals, with the help of
a local guide. We arranged for that and also informed that people at the
eat-out that we will need a breakfast around 10:00am or so.
We started around 5:45am the next
morning, should have started a bit early. It took us about an hour to reach
Vattaparai. It was the same place which we went the previous evening, but
should have walked a bit further into the jungle. Thankfully we did not do that
the previous day as it was getting dark and chances of getting lost there,
without any mobile signal, would have been great. We should have explored
further in the place, but since we were planning to return back that morning
itself, we decided to stay just in that place and see if we are lucky to spot
any animals. Of course, one cannot expect to see the wild animals at one’s own
leisure, can we? No way. We did not spot any animals there, but did take some
photographs and started back. The guide suggested that we visit another place
before we return to base since we have come all the way.
This place is called Varaiyaadu Mettu.
There was a dam across a river which forms a waterfall here. If we had the time
and the right guide we can venture a bit into the falls. Since we lacked both,
we just decided to get a good view of the place and return back. This place is
another apt place for bird watching.
We returned back to Inspection
Bungalow around 10:30, had breakfast, rested for about 2 hours and started back
on our journey back to Chennai.
Here are few tips for people
wanting to go there.
1. Never ever
stay at the cottages in the Panchayat office. Book only for the Inspection
Bungalow and demand it if they come up with some crappy stories when you go
there.
2. Be prepared
to eat whatever you get and also make sure that you inform the people at the
eat-outs to have food kept for you if you want.
3. Good time
to visit is from September to January. After that it will get very hot.
4. Make sure
you have a car and in very good condition. Preferably an SUV. The roads can be
testing.