Well, what I am writing now could not best be an article that jots things and tells what you’ll literally find in Attapadi… I am writing a travelogue kinda thing alongside all interesting information that are quite true with no exaggerated statements… So let’s start traveling…
Attapadi is a rich Nilgiri Biosphere reserve valley…It could possibly look like a gorge if you view from a higher altitude and yeah it is because with all surrounding thicker, lush vegetative mountain ranges… So Attapadi is a deserted village almost trenched between the hills… Yeah there’s something more to go geographical… The village oddly houses diverse tribal settlements that a lot more different with quite into talking neither of the languages… The forest officers instituted a hills development project with an apparent design to exceptionally enhance wildlife and how to best preserve forests… Now then I don’t really think you can get into the area effortlessly…looks like its completely closed down.…I heard my friend telling me this.. But, you don’t have to go envisioning all these before you successfully enter trekking area here…
So the travel begins just about here… So start moving further from Mankarai where you’ll get to see the forest check post at the end… A way later you’ll find massive mountains; looks like something’s ready to engulf and swallow you with the height… Wow… Should appear astonishing if you take a look at the right side… a hill range stretching wide from the Nilgiri division… May be they’ll look a lot drier than what you’ll see on the other side and those near Attapadi… Okay… Driving straight through the road, you won’t be bored out of what comes around… An hour later you’ll reach Anaikatti and finally the interstate border with SACON and that immediately follows is Sholayur- a very sensitive place which you can’t conclude where it belongs… Its could be singing Evanescence’s “somewhere I belong”… Just a joke with no much laugh cracker in it… Back… But Sholayur Yeah, is Kerala , you’ll see people comprehending Tamil, though… A big time starter… narrower roads commence with riskier paths to drive….
Reaching all above the bends, you’ll surpass Pudur; a village grounding no more than 15 houses with a big full stop to electricity… And then comes Kottathara … with a Goat farm and a high school…including a reasonably good population… predominantly tribes and keralites… Big news for chocolate lovers… A few miles east of Attapadi you’ll see a Cadbury Cocoa Nursery built in the banks of the river… but its restricted I guess… I never got a chance to visit … It was a big bomb… you’ll be in Attapadi in just a ten minutes time from there…
Once you reach, make sure you bath in the river before you start hiking or trekking… Try talking to the people and I am sure you’ll find people traveling to Velliangiri temple from there… We whilst trekking spoke to a man that went to Velliangiri temple on regularity… It was quite short on just 2 hours with one hill to cross in between… Well I’ve never trekked that place but I heard one of my friends telling stories … Seems like its quite shorter because once you start moving from the hill route in Attapadi, the end leads to the seventh hill of Velliangiri… sounds stunning yet scary… Not all that easy with a lot of potential swamps and worse muddy areas…
Remember one thing Attapadi houses hell a lot of leeches… and that’s the reason behind its name… Attai or அட்டை in Tamil and Malayalam plainly mean Leech… A blood sucking endangering insect species… Beware when you walk uphill… This is what you’ll get to hear from your Guide or a forest official… Many inhabitants would tell this as well… When you get to meet a small accident with the leech it’ll suck almost a litre of your blood… And it means you need to be hospitalized… nastiest insect that wouldn’t cause pain while its sucking...You’ll die out of pain when you’re trying to take the insect out of your skin… Be brave and I am sure you could see half the skin alongside the leech… Cos it sticks so well and pulls the upper skin with a big force… Okay I am not scaring you anymore…
All you should need is undisputed guts with an active grit taking you a lot far positive than what you could possibly envision when it comes to trek and travel discovery… Ensure that you get to enjoy every discovery you make with a constraint on soaring intoxication…
Have a great yet safe trek ahead…
