Beauty and the beast - A blissful ride to the clouds

Okay guys, lemme tell you that this is my first installment to the season " "Beauty and the beast".

Here beauty conveys the beauty of mother nature and beast is none other than my 180 kg bull (RE). This is my first real ride on my bull and we chose Ponmudi as the destination. We(I had planned the trip with two of my colleagues) were actually planning for Braemore but we had to drop the plan because of a strike by workers in the estate.
So we decided on Ponmudi, which I would like to nickname as the "golden hair of god's own country".

The highlights of the place is the wonderful ride to the hilltop which has 22 hair pin bends on it's way. I kept riding on my bull through exhilarating roads and the scenic beauty that surrounded me made my day. The mother nature was at it's bloody best and the jungles, roads, view of the hilltops and the clouds resembled a beautiful painting drawn on a canvas by the almighty.But what was awaiting us on the hilltop was even better. The key feature of Ponmudi is that you can spot the clouds above you and the place displays dynamic weather condition. We were blessed with a perfect day where we were able to experience sunny day, mist as well as rain at regular intervals. The hilltop is full of greenery with path cutting through it. There has been a building constructed for the tourists and from the top of it you can have a great view of the picturesque surrounding. We posed for a few photos(a lot actually) and then came down to get on the beautiful rocks of the hill.

When we climbed the rocks we found the cloud approaching us and suddenly it began to mist. The experience was exhilarating. We took out the snacks and wandered around appreciating the beautiful view. Then we tried the "Ram gopal verma" angles which I guess generated some wonderful snaps. Then when we were about to walk down the lane, mother nature displayed it's naughtiness by showering water on us. We told her that " okay we were prepared for this" and we defended ourselves with our umbrellas. But it was fun standing on the rocks with rain showering on you and your eyes tied with the misty atmosphere.When we checked our watches it was around 1:30 pm and we were famished. I think a few krack jack biscuits cannot deal with my huge tummy. So we slowly got down, pounced on our bikes and dashed to the KTDC restaurant that we had spotted on our way.

Then we rode to meenmutty waterfalls which is a small waterfall on the way to Ponmudi. The place is notorious for accidental death. Since it was raining we were allowed to ride near the falls and the ride through the jungle path without any proper roads was challenging and thrilling. You could see places where we were actually riding over the rocks and water from the falls was gushing beneath our wheels. It was an awesome experience. The waterfalls is divided into two section one for the adventure enthusiasts who can actually explore the jungle and spot the falls. While the other section was for the lazy lot like me who could bath n swim and have fun in water. But unfortunately my companions belonged to the former and I had a tiring walk through the jungles. We saw beautiful rocks with space underneath it

It can be termed as a partial cave or something and the view was awesome. Then we finally met the falls of meenmutty. For me she was just okay because I would prefer athirapalli or paniyeli Poru over this.

Then we returned and drove back. We stopped at a thattu kada(small tea shop) and had some hot tea and snacks. The hot tea tasted better because we were dashing through the rain. Finally I parted with my friends and rode my way home on my sweet heart.

I felt blissful and the wonderful moments flashed through my memory like the awesome view at the top of ponmudi, the adventurous ride, dynamic weather, village lads playing cricket on the hills, the monkeys that were crossing the roads on my way down the from Ponmudi etc.

I remembered the words of my friend " life is all about those beautiful moments that you experience. So find time for it."

About Ponmudi : it's around 56 kms away from trivandrum. The place is known for it's dynamic climate . So please carry the required accessories.