A TRIP TO NELLIYAMPATHY

Sight unseen - NELLIYAMPATHY                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

ALL alone in the Palghat hills with lush romance and deep mysteries…………………  

      We were planning a trip, and the first place come to mind was Nelliyampathy. I have no second thought about the destination. I always like the virginity of hills.  For me and my wife, it was a thrilling experience. We never expected such a wonderful trip to that blue hills and green acres….. We had heard that name several times before. But couldn’t be there.  Being there was not easy. Because it was too risky to travel alone especially in a bike.

  By 8.10 am we started……. Our route was mannuthy > pattikad > mangalam bridge > nenmara> nelliyampathy...   Although my wife took route map along with her, she forgot about that as we were busy with sightseeing and a little romance…………………… Though we missed our route near Mangalam Bridge, I somehow managed………… At last after a long drive, we reached our destiny!!!!  

It took nearly one hour to reach Nenmara!  And then from there we went straight to the on the way tourist spot,  Pothundy dam……

As it was not season we could see only some small tourist vehicles. Also the park was not crowded….  

 After paying the visiting charge, we were asked to pay special charges to camera if any.  But fortunately we had no camera and we adjusted with our mobile. We crossed the garden and tried to capture some photos…………… but the security was closely watching us……………..!!

  We went to the top of the dam. By seeing the steps itself she said ‘NO’...   slowly I hold her hand tightly and I took her as a baby in my hand….. Then I brought her to the top…………………………………….

It was her dream to come there. I could see, she is enjoying…   then we together walked along the dam. We saw the misty couples of mountains with a virgin lake in the middle…………  we also walked as if we were  alone in that mist…………….all alone………… me and my wife with our little dreams of family life woven in  the cold breeze…. But what touched her was the opportunity she’d been given to reveal the feelings she’d been holding inside. That day was for us….. I want to surrender myself to her-‘my love’. To be with her for the whole day….as her own……

While walking we saw a newly married couples…..  They were busy with photo session. While passing them we tried to avoid us from not being included in their life…….  Then we walked to the end of dam.






The atmosphere was really cool. We could catch the sound of people from the road down there… she was very much excited...Like a child she was asking doubts…

 I cleared all her doubts by slowly kissing her cheeks……………. And I could see   it was blushing red.

 The view of those mountains created a new horizon and sorted out her feelings…   Again we get down those steep steps…. As she was tired I brought a bottle of water and I also took a sip.  That garden was so beautiful with a variety of statues…. and bunches of cool blue hydrangeas…   then we continued our trip straight to Nelliyampathy…………………………… 

 On the way we could see the mountains looking us… for us those places remained undiscovered, unexplored, and unknown… That day was overcast and mist added invisibility to the scene... Rainy atmosphere added wilderness to the ghat section. Sound of wind through the valleys was frightening… the view from the top of the hill to the pothundi dam was really marvelous… we could see that bridge   from where we saw nelliyampathy hills…..

 We could see some tourist vehicles, busy to their spot… I was thrilled to cover each vehicle…and she encouraged me to do so.  Aftereffects of last rainfall was clearly visible...  deep valleys created a wild picture… trees and bushes was dark and lush as it was the set of a English  horror movie…

 She was tired. Because she had been on the bike for a few hours … then I stopped our bike on the way and relaxed….

 She was shivering…She covered her body with her sari… the rush of wind made it cold… I swiftly removed my jacket and draped it around her shoulders… I pushed her gently. And hold her tightly…. Her eyes began to fill. Yes! I remember….. Years before I met her ... Colored my dreams… lighted dawn... it was a fully fledged astonishing love………!!!! My mouth couldn’t talk….. Thoughts raced through my head… old memories played...  My arms and hands were constantly moving as if I had no control over them... her cheeks started to blush… blood rushed in to her lips... I’ve to do something… she stopped smiling. She closed her eyes… wind lifted her hair... Her face inches closer…only a breath away from me…  I see her lip forms a smile before I press mine to her………. That cold breeze continued along on its track, unaware that we were falling in love……

 The view from the top was really exciting…..the valleys were steeper… the wind was very heavy and the air was cold… we could see the dam and its surroundings as a small dot……

 It was still drizzling and we are forced to continue our journey….  Almost a dozen hair pins were covered...

 On the way we saw so many small streams, which were originated from the top of the hills …. Still I feel nelliyampathy is a heaven covered with mist and wonders…

The warmth of love and the chillness of nelliyampathy, gave us the comfort of heaven in our mind… Though she was enjoying all the jokes I said, those dark valleys were continuously haunting her…  I could read her feelings from the mirror of my bike… those feelings , seemed to be the most beautiful  wonder created in my world; those eyes created  a small rainbow with more colors… which I wish to see always.

I couldn’t enjoy more… curvy hairpins and the climate demanded more attention than before.  Remnants of various accidents made me more careful...  Rather than an adventurous trip, it was our honeymoon... I must take care of my wife….

    The beautiful picture given by our friends about sitharkund view point and poab’s garden created an urge to reach there as soon as possible… after a long journey we reached in a junction and that was pulayampara.., the nearest town of nelliyampathy. There again we confirmed about the route to avoid further confusion… she didn’t tell that she was hungry but I knew… I compelled her to have lunch but she said no. because she was in such a thrill... on the way we saw an old temple, houses... private orange gardens, tea estates etc. there were some workers busy in their jobs to earn their living… Though they noticed us, they just ignored that as it was usual in nelliyampathy….

  They had seen several couples before…. The happiness and curiosity created by each and every new scenery can be seen in her innocent eyes…. It was blooming like a flower…

Finally we reached the entry gate of Poab’s garden. There we asked to give our phone number, vehicle number and such related in formations… she became disturbed when that checking gate was suddenly appeared… that man became a villain in our story…!!!  I could easily understand this so I slowly brought her to the previous mood…

Road was too bad this made her to be closer to me. There we saw another junction, with two turning roads. We were in little confusion. Because we were not sure about the route. Also there was no sign board... there we saw a man he was just sitting there as if to help travelers…. Without asking the route, he easily understood about our problem, and without any communication he showed us the right path… she wondered at me and her childish innocence asked me “ athenganeya? Nammal ayalodonnum paranjillalo?!....” but I kept that secret as such.

While travelling, we saw one of the famous farm house “GREEN LAND”... The way to that farm house appeared like a forest… on the way we crossed a check dam and finally reached Poab’s private estate.  They had an outlet where they sell their products like tea dust, coffee powder and some of the fresh spices which are produced in their own garden.  Their parking area was like a playground… there we are supposed to park our bike. There also we met an old man. He was in charge of collecting parking fee… when he saw us he smiled pleasantly and collected money....

As she was tired, we went to the outlet and ordered two coffee… here I saw another family with two kids… while I was enjoying their jokes, she was enquiring about the pricing of their products… she was planning to buy a packet of tea dust to my mom… but when I heard its price, I slowly changed the topic… that coffee was awesome. But still it was crowding…….

May be by the effect of that coffee, she seemed to be more fresh than before.. This made her  to stay more closer to me..i know that  she is  purposefully  changing her facial expressions. Because she is in need of something… I knew.
I hold her closer to me...we travelled a long through the strange and narrow roads….. our main target was sitharkund view point… the estate was green and lush with tea plantations.  They were maintained well with beautiful fence… she was very much excited… and I became more satisfied by seeing this. Because it was her wish to visit nelliyampathy…and I could fulfill her dreams….

There were other tourists also. Mainly families were there. There we saw a small girl... she was a little bit wriggly jiggle but her mother tried to control her.  I also was adventurous. I also wanted to see those deep grooves of mountains. But she was a little bit nervous and she was afraid of those dangers that had happened earlier. So also controlled me as if I was a child.

 Then I obeyed her. And went along with. Those strange routes to the estate looked to be more vivid. She want to know whether there will be anyone in that secret places. Those stories and secrets about nelliyampathy made her to be scary.
She was disturbed by that strong wind continuously blown through that valley….. We walked together for a long time... then we reached near a beautiful valley side… that is the most memorable experience I ever had… we could enjoy the scenic beauty of the surroundings. We took some photos…   that cool breeze created new experience in our life. We spend hours with loose talk…time fled as if it had wings.  There was a glitter in her blue hazel eyes…those seemed to be more strange than before. But I never showed any consideration... This made her a little bit anger in her eyes.  She smiled at me. I could hear her heartbeats…. It was beating continuously…………… she needs something…… I couldn’t control myself. Then……………………………………………

 We were tired.  It was too late to return from poab’s garden. But on the way we missed our route.  But finally found our way.  But before that we must find a better hotel. We enquired about the hotel to the nearest shop...  they told about hotel green park… After a heavy lunch we continued our journey…took some videos... and reached back to our place where we took rest while coming............. then continued our journey back to busy life schedule....but one thing is sure, next time if we get a chance , we will come . Again to our dream place........................................

                                                                                                                                                

OUR BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES........................