KOLUKKUMALAI
(TAMILNADU)
About 15 Kilometres from Chinnakanal, a small village 22 Kilometres away from Munnar lies, one of the the most picturesque location in the State of Tamilnadu, KOLUKKUMALAI. We see at a far distance the tamil town of Bodinaykannur, beyond a peak which masks our view to an extent.
Kolukkumalai houses a private owned Tea Estate, named Kolukkumalai Tea Estate. Kolukkumalai Tea Estate is the only one Tea Estate situated in hightst altitude through out the world. Otherwise, we can say Kolukkumalai Tea Estate is the HIGHEST TEA ESTATE in the world.
There is one more speciality for the Tea Factory of this estate. This tea factory still uses the original machinery erected by the British in the 1920s. The entire manufacturing process is done at 7 differently located setups through BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe) process. . Unlike CTC process, where the tea leaves feeded at one end of the factory hall, comes out of the machine as tead dust at the other end, the BOP process is more time consuming and needs larger facilities. Also the output is much much lower than the CTC process. This estate grows Organic Tea. The Kolukkumalai Tea Estate is the highest organic tea plantation in the world. With plants growing at elevations of over 8,000 feet, it should be no surprise when we say it is not the easiest of places to visit. Yes... this is estate holds the rocord - the highest Tea Estate growing organic tea in the entire world.
The KOLUKKUMALAI TOP STATION VIEW POINT is something, a tourist cannot ever miss. There is no gain without pain. If you can get up at 4am and can endure a 2hr bumpy ride on off-road conditions, then this is the best place to visit during Munnar trip. The view of SUNRISE from the view point is beyond compare.
Journey to Kolukkumalai from Chinnakanal charges Rs. 1200/- (as in 2016) for a jeep which will carry 6 passengers. Please keep in mind that even if you start off to Kolukkumalai in the afternoon, do not travel on full stomach lunch, because chances are more that you would vomit everything, as the journey in jeep is like throwing from one side to another. A distance of 8 kilometres is pure estate road, which is the most tiring sector in the journey. When I say that this distance itself takes about one hour, you can imagine, at what speed the jeep would be going. Additional expences for the trip include Rs. 100/- per jeep as entry fee in the tea estate andRs. 100/- per head as entry fee to visit the tea factory.
Stay :
According to your budget, there are accommodation facilities ranging from budget accommodation to 4 star facility. Hotel Fort Munnar provides a star facility. There are many home stays who are ready to prepare food for you everytime fresh. In toilets, hot water is a must, since the climate is cold 365 days of the year. Club Mahindra and Sterling Resorts have hotels in Chinnakkanal providing accommodation with ample facilities.
I tried my stay in a home stay named "SILVER CLOUDS" ( http://www.silverclouds.in/)
KOLUKKUMALAI JEEP SAFARI
Your hotels arrange Jeep facilities to visit Kolukkumalai view point at a slightly enhanced amount over the reasonable charge. I could come across a very experienced and soft spoken driver, who, I have no reluctance to recommend to everyone here. His name is Kannan, Ullaasa Paravai Jeep Safari (Phone Number 93880 91782). I am adding his photograph also here. He charged me Rs. 1200/- for safari in his jeep, and the ravel through the ghat roads was not at all tiring, because of his careful driving. Please do not miss to have a tea at the Kolukkumalai Tea Factory as the taste of tea you get from there will always be with you, when ever you taste tea anywhere.
