February 12, 2015
MUNNAR to VALPARAI 188 km
Green Hill Hotel 1100Rs ($17) fan room, wifi in lobby, hot water from 5am-11am, tattered but spotless 

Ten stars on scenery today!

Plethora of Flora and Fauna
 
We followed the non-Google map. Highway 17 didn't even show up on Google when I looked last night and it turned out to be a great choice. Varied and spectacular all the way. 

 
Eravikulam National Park started about 10 km from Munnar was closed to visitors because of calving season. The entrance was down a side road so we kept going. For hours the road wound through beautiful groomed tea plantations, some with bright red poinsettias bordering the roadsides. Simple row houses for the tea pickers are often on the estates.

Eventually the scenery changed dramatically and we found ourselves in the welcome shade of mixed forest of the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. We kept our eyes peeled for any wildlife. The sanctuaries are only open to traffic between 9 am and 6 pm. If we would have tried to go at night, we could not have gotten through. Perhaps this is why google doesn't show this way. 
 
Continuing, we drove in and out of hot canyons as we descended toward the plain. In the protected Sandalwood forest (the Mayor Sandal Reserve) we suddenly spotted Gaur (also called Bison) but looks a lot like the Mitun we saw around Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh. 
 

Forty Switchbacks to High Valley
 
We crossed the flats then made a sharp turn southward and began climbing steeply into the mountains again. From at Solaiyar Dam on, the road is open only between 9 am and 6 pm.

Up and up, forty gnarly switchbacks started from Azhiyar, which afforded spectacular views over the reservoir and plains. On the opposite side of the summit, we found ourselves again in gorgeous tea growing area until we reached the town of Valparai. 

We were elated when we spotted a few Nigiri Langur monkey with their blonde manes and black bodies.
 

Cool Hill Station
 
Valparai  (population 70,859) is a hill station town 3,500 feet above sea level. The uninspiring town not a reason to come here. The journey is.
 
We could not find the recommend Misty Creek home stay. And when Dave tried to look up its phone number, we lost our signal. It was getting late and we were getting a little frustrated. We picked a tall yellow hotel by the main road. it was high enough to have great views but none of the rooms faced the view. Dave struggled to bring our stuff up three flights of stair and the room boy watched but did not offer to help or even show Dave which way it was to the room. The room boy did have time to ask several times to be paid though. Dave said, 'why don't you let me get my stuff to the room first.' On seeing the cracker box of a room, Dave said,"$15 is way to much for this. But mostly, I don't like the people here. Let's go!" 

After lugging our stuff down three flights and loading it on the bike again, we rode out into the plantations hoping to run across a B&B or a place with some charm. We struck out. But we did run into a Swedish couple riding a Royal Enfield in the tea fields. "We have a great place", they said, "Follow us!"  "Oh shit," we thought as they stopped in front of the tall yellow hotel we had just rejected. We didn't want to dis the place the place they picked and told them it just wasn't what we had in mind.

Dave remembered seeing the Green Hill Hotel in the beginning of town and we found it again easily. It was a large rambling place and the rooms had seen better days. But it was clean and the staff welcoming. It had a restaurant, probably, the best it town. They fetch the waiter who successfully communicated to the cook ' not spicy!'