Picturesque
Spellbound at the beauty of Kalvary
What is with the heavy heading and the start that requires Googling, am I trying to prove that I have a good vocabulary or did I just google and find these words myself. The second part of it may be true but hear me out before you judge me. The reason I had to search the dictionary for those words is because the place I am about talk about is hard to express through words, but still I will try my best to give you an idea of this visual treat.
I am not a fan of historical landmarks and architecture but I love nature untouched and wild as it can be so most of the places I visit have lakes, trees and silence in common because for someone who is surrounded by fast paced city life and the insane amount of pollution I appreciate the serenity of the forest. Every time I go for a ride I make it a point to learn about the place like the best time to visit, nearby locations and of course the food so I did the same basic study for this location but when I reached the place and saw it with my own eyes I was stunned, it was as if my eyes could not take in all that beauty at the same time. Never in my life have I just stood at one place frozen by the beauty in front of me. This is exactly why I am sharing the snaps I took at the location hoping you get a hint of the treat that awaits your eyes. This is just the visual appeal but there is something more that I cant actually share a picture off, which is the climate. When stand frozen on top of the hill watching the beautiful reservoir at the bottom and the long grass coloring the hills, there is this cool gentle breeze that moves across from the hills and the greenery around you swaying to its tone.
Got carried away a bit in the memories of that day with friends on that hill and the beauty that makes me recommend this location to everybody irrespective of their preference be it historical, nature, climate or trek. So where do I start to describe the ride, lets start with the plan. As usual we started with Google Maps to find a cool place to visit and any other place on route to the location and finally ended with a route map that leads us to Kalvary Mount and to touch Thommankuthu Waterfalls on route to the location and may be finish it off with a visit to wonderful Idukki Arch dam. We went straight to the waterfalls at first since we planned to reach the hill top in the afternoon so that we can avoid the heat if at all it was sunny. Thommankuthu Waterfalls (post coming soon) was a good well maintained place for a stroll but since our main location was awaiting we did not bother to walk all the way up to the top falls but that walk is a tale for another day.
I am not going to elaborate the route we took for reaching these locations since its the exact route that Google Maps suggested and the ride was quite nice without any bumpy road and I did love a few of the hairpin turns which makes you feel the twist and turns of the hill route. One thing I would like to suggest for those of you heading out to this location would be to reach the location in the afternoon and do buy lunch from the nearby town because once you reach the location there are no decent restaurants for having lunch other than small road side stalls selling sliced mangoes and pineapple with a sprinkle of chilly and salt. . .mouth watering if you ask me but having all that instead of lunch doesn't sound like a good idea. But that doesn't mean I didn't have that. . . too hard to resist these wild flavors and how many of us have the time to buy pineapple and raw mangoes at home to have with chilly, to experience tingling of the taste buds with conflicting tastes with the sweetness and chilly but somehow the overall combo feels superb. Got carried away again, it happens when I talk about food so getting back to our hill top. . . . . .we bought lunch parcel from the town a few kilometers in route to the location and reached Kalvary in the afternoon. There is an entry fee at the location but I don't quite remember the exact rates, they also have a small coffee shop run by the authorities and a lot of parking space too.
We went out towards the hillside from the parking are and the first sight of the reservoir from there took my breathe away, I just stood there smiling and the joy was overwhelming. So finally when I did come back to planet earth from my state of heavenly joy we thought it would be best to have lunch before we walk up the hill to holy cross on top of hill. The authority maintaining the place have arranged benches on the hill side which you can use and if that is filled then you can always use the rocks.
Preserve and Protect Nature. . . Just because you brought a few packets to fill your tummy does not give you the right the ruin the beauty of nature around you. So please dispose any waste in the trash can or you are most welcome to take it back home with you.
#TheFlame
The waste food packets is one of the reason why we had food before we started our walk up the hill so that we can dispose that in the trash bin instead of littering the area. If you have a little older folk in the trip it would be best to take rest at regular intervals and then walk uphill but just don't miss out on the view from the top and also don't just have your food and then rush to the top there are things to see before you head out up. A walk along the sides of the hill through the trails can lead you to different faces of the hill and each will equally magical appeal just be careful not to trip and fall because you might take everybody in that trail along with you to the bottom and that won't be pretty at all!!
That's just the side view after walking half way up the hill but doesn't comes close to the view from the top that awaits if you have the patience to walk all the way up. I would just say stuff this nice about a place unless it has memories that make me want to experience it again and makes me sincerely wish "If only this place was close-by that I can spend my evenings here". So on one side you have the beautiful green hills and on the other you have tea plantations, but before you run wild you might want to consider the "tumbling down the hill scenario". So we walked and we walked taking rest in between at the smaller holy crosses that are placed at equal distances all the way to the top.
Very little did my Nikon have time to rest ever since we reached this place since I kept running around taking profile snaps, scenery snaps, and even a few snaps of the grass and flowers. I was in love with the nature around, and this #Shutterbug did notice all kinds of love in the surroundings.
"Love you to the very end and beyond" so this is what it means :)
#TheFlame
So again we walk and walk and finally drag ourselves to the final big yellow cross at the top of the hill and boy was it a sight to be saved in your memories and fortunately for you I took a snap of it so that I can share with everyone planning a trip but as I said earlier, it is the overall experience that gives you the complete feeling which is not something that can be described through words. Once you are up the hill don't just take a few selfies and rush back down, just sit down and relax on top of the rocks, take a deep breath let the breeze cool you down. The time we spent on top of the hill talking and enjoying the view was the one of the best moments of the trip and every second of it makes you appreciate the idea of preserving nature and what we are missing out on, in a busy City life.
"Nature is not a place to visit it is Home" - Gary Snyder
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