Feedback on Munnar and Thekkady trip in June with Monsoon!

Artistxman

Here is my trip experience of Munnar and Thekkady from 2nd week of June.

I am of Indian origin, but live in UK with my English spouse. I travelled to Madurai via Chennai and organised a Toyota Innova for the whole 6 days(5 nights) to take 4 members to Munnar and Thekkady and then Udumalpet (visit relatives) back to Madurai. I used Madurai tourism found via a google and they charged me around Rs 15,000. We were very happy with the driver and service.

The trip from Madurai to Munnar took around 4 hours (mainly due to several hairpin bends). It's a pleasant journey as long as you don't eat heavily or oily food...which I did and felt nauseous all the way. My mother vomited on the way to Thekkady from Munnar.

Munnar was fantastic though the temperature was down to 12-14 C in the night. It rained mostly in the afternoons and nights...but, gave us enough time to explore during the mornings. Tea museum, Eravikulam national park and top station were the highlights. We stayed in Olivebrook and I would thoroughly recommend it for the price (Rs 2000/ room with breakfast and dinner). I originally planned 4 nights but cut short to 3 nights due to rain. We also met a US student on a long holiday who took a public bus from Cochin to Munnar..and she wasn't happy. She felt it was very unsafe.

Munnar to Thekkady took about 31/2 hours and stayed in Michael's inn. It was a decent hotel with very few customers in June. We enjoyed the kalaripayettu...but disappointed with the boat ride. No wild elephants on sight eventhough we went for the 7 AM boat. All my fellow Indians listening to film songs loudly on their mobile doesn't help..I guess. We enjoyed a head and facial massage. It was ideal weather as it wasn't too cold or hot. May be we will go there again in summer to catch wild life and take a jungle trek.

Trip back to Madurai via Udumalpet was fine. It took as all day. Overall...it was a good trip eventhough we went in June.

Some useful points for other travellers..
1. Apparently going to Madurai -Thekkady - Munnar- Madurai would have been better.
2.Use brokers online to book hotels like travelguru/ cleartrip...it reduces the hotel price by Rs 200-300 rather than booking directly.
3. Taking a bus to Munnar is only for thrill seekers!
4. Stay in resorts away from the main centre...there are loads of nice resorts.

I would be happy to answer any other queries for people planning a trip to these locations.

snonymous

Thanks for posting your experiences Artistxman. Please also post your hotel reviews in the Hotels section .

vandy

Informative & Helpfull trip report,

Thanks Artistxman.

vandy