Ilaveezhapoonchira - Top of the world!. Review on Ilaveezhapoonchira

Once we came to know about “Ilaveezhapoonchira” and the aura surrounding the name, a journey to the hillock was in the offing.  Since this virgin land was less known and lesser explored, had to do a bit of googling to arrive at a clear picture of this verdant landscape. Once our sights were set on this unexplored land, we had no looking back but to pack up and hit the road in all earnest. My family comprising myself, wife and 2 kids, both boys aged 15 and 8 who are travel freaks more than what we are and are more keen to travel the path less taken than the usual drab picnic spots.

Folklore and legend  has it; the Pandavas had a sojourn  here during their incognito life of “Vanavasa” after they were vanquished from their kingdom and when their wife Draupadi came to take a bath in the lake that was here at that time the Devas spellbound  by her beauty, tried to satiate their voyeuristic itch. The king of Devas, Lord Indra came to know about their antics and Indra built  hills all around the lake heaping flowers by the lake side and prevented the Deavas from feasting on the beauty of Draupadi.

Since trees were not there around the lake, leaves never fell and the lake remained isolated by floral hills and  this place later came to be known as “Ilaveezhapoonchira” or the valley where leaves never falls.  Another notion is since the winds are at its fearsome best in this area, there is seldom chance of a leaf falling in this place.  Today, there is no bund here but water swells up in the valley laps forming a lake to add to  another facet of this virgin place.

Finding way through GPS was more of a task as the route was mapped only up to  Kanjar, 9 kms short of  Ilaveezhapoonchira, but then we were certainly mesmerized by the helping nature of the rustic  locals who were all too happy to help us and  provide us with right driving directions. Believe me!, this trip is not for the faint hearted as the 9 kms drive from Kanjar to Chakkikavu in our own car was fraught  with adventure and to a great extent exhilarating. Though the roads were not in top condition, the drive to where the motorable road  ends needed  a fair bit of dexterity and  100% concentration as the roads were very narrow and the surrounding scenic beauty awesome.  The climb was unbelievable steep as the car failed to pull along in 2nd gear and on occasions traction in the 1st gear was missing as well and in no time we reached a high altitude as well, thanks to the steepness of the climb. We had to reverse the car and try once again to get over places were the roads were missing and had to be very careful while negotiating the bends as it was awfully precipitous. One false move might prove disastrous, so caution needed to be exercised while driving on these hilly roads.

After an arduous 9 kms drive, we reached Chakkikavu, where the road ends and jagged rock climb begins. We parked our car there and called for a 4 W drive jeep as this is the only vehicle capable of traversing the rocky terrain.  The amazing ease with which the jeep glided through the off roads was breathtaking.  There are no roads but huge boulders and steep rocks through which the jeep made its tedious ascent. 4.5kms into the ride we reached the top of the mountain to have one of the best vies ever seen in  our lives.

The place was so enchantingly refreshing – no words could capture the beauty of this land , no thoughts could express the feelings, no photos could do justice, so amazing was it , that we were transported to an out of the world experience and took time to recover from the trance  and regain our senses to be our normal selves.

Surrounded by three enchanting hillocks – Mankunnu, Kodyathoormala and Thonnipara, this serene place is one of the best   where we can witness the sun rise in all its glory and   set in all its splendor.  Being 3200 ft above sea level, the place is ravaged by strong winds that literally blow you away. From the top you can have a birds eye view of seven districts of Kerala namely, Kollam, Alleppey, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam and Thrissur.  Come monsoon the valley teems to live with little puddles every where and water falls in every nook and cranny to unveil another scenic view to the discerning eye.

Spending time till sunset at the top, we decided to troop back as the winds were gathering momentum and the air its chill heralding the arrival of the night.  Accommodation was provided for us in a hut raised from the ground on stilts that rather resembled a country shack with no chairs, tables or beds to boast off. The roofing was done with thatched dried grass that was locally available.  It was partitioned into two with four mattresses adorning this hut and a bathroom adjacent to it. The doors were flimsy, so were the windows, and the floor made of bamboo beneath creaking at every step, but a good days journey and some real trekking had us in such a spot that we rather choose to rest our aching bodies rather than go about whining about the state of our accommodation. We had our  guide, driver and owner of the hut with us assuring us that all is well here and we needed quite a bit of that to unnerve us and  settle in our hut.

The hills of Idukki where in full view   before our eyes and one of natures disasters or spectacle  was beginning to unfold right before our eyes as night set in.  We could see dancing red lights all along the hill slopes and mistook it for one giant Xmas celebration and  we did wonder how such a display shall take place in a land bereft of any humans. On inquiry with Anoop our sole contact person in this part of the world, we learnt that the red lights in the faraway hills were nothing but huge forest fires raging and the winds were forcing the fires to dance to its whims and fancies. This was one of the greatest sights to behold as we watched stunned in silence one of the best of natures  spectacles unwinding  right before our very eyes and we were glued to it for quite some time. Not able to take the cold anymore we decided to call it a day and hit the sack knowing fully well that we were at the mercy of the elements in a hut that offered little protection from cold or wild animals.

The night was cold, but we found ourselves warm under the blanket and had a good nights sleep to find ourselves rejuvenated and bursting with energy as the first golden rays of sun brought along warmth and hopes for a new day.  With nothing much to do we decided to leave this place and wanting  to come back with friends and families at the next possible opening. All through our stay we had good simple food with vegetables cultivated in organic ways by the father son duo of Mr. Sasi and Mr. Anoop who incidentally are the  caretakers of the hut. They were simple, down to earth people who were ever willing to help us and one good thing we noticed about them was, they were more service oriented than money which is hard to find in any picnic spots.  As we trooped back, we carried along with us memories of a cherished trip that we shall treasure through out our lives.