Cheeyappara Falls
The tumbling seven-step waterfall beside the road up to Munnar, then a waterfall and a valley viewpoint near Anachal at dusk.
Our route
Press play to watch the whole trip — by plane, car and boat — or pick a day. Dashed lines are flights and dotted lines are boats: the houseboat in the Alleppey backwaters, a motorboat on the Kochi backwaters and the ferry to Vypin.
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Our journey · 7–10 May 2017
StopPassed– – Flight· · · BoatUse the layer button for satellite view
The line joins the places in our photos: roads follow the road route between them, flights are drawn as arcs and the boat trips follow the photos taken on board. Times at stops come from the photos and the bookings (“approx.” where estimated; flight times are the scheduled ones); between stops the replay spreads the travel evenly and passes quickly over the flights. All times are Indian Standard Time.
Our Google My Maps
Open our shared map in Google Maps to see each day’s route and every stop, with times and notes. On a phone it opens in the Google Maps app.
Open tour map in Google Maps ↗Our family
The four of us travelled together: Vasavya, Usha, Adarsh and Spurthi. We took a taxi from home in Hydernagar to the airport on the morning of Sunday 7 May for the flight to Kochi, and were home again by taxi just after 1 AM on Thursday 11 May.
Flights and stays
| Date | Flight | Route | Time (scheduled) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 7 May | SpiceJet SG 511 | Hyderabad (HYD) → Kochi (COK) | 10:45 AM → 12:20 PM |
| Wed 10 May | IndiGo 6E 263 | Kochi (COK) → Hyderabad (HYD) | 9:05 PM → 11:10 PM |
| Nights | Stay | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 7–9 May | Clouds Valley Leisure HotelAluva–Munnar Road, Kannan Devan Hills, Munnar | 2 nights · Valley View room, breakfast |
| 9–10 May | Tharangini HouseboatsHouseboat Junction, near Punnamada jetty, Alleppey | 1 night · premium one-room houseboat, full-time AC, all meals |
Trip highlights
Kundala and Top Station
A horse ride by Kundala Lake, tea estates all the way, and the view from the Top Station watch tower over the edge of the Western Ghats.
Flower Garden and Kalaripayattu
Echo Point on the Mattupetty lake, the KFDC flower garden and an evening martial-arts show.
A night on a houseboat
On board at Punnamada, across the lake into the Kuttanad backwaters, a stop at Kainakary and a night moored among the palms.
Sunrise and Marari Beach
Sunrise over the backwaters from the houseboat, then the beach at Mararikulam on the way north.
Fort Kochi and Vypin
A motorboat on the Kochi backwaters, the Folklore Museum, Fort Kochi beach, the Ro-Ro ferry to Vypin and Edavanakkad beach, Vallarpadam and Lulu Mall.
Plan and trip
A travel agent’s quotation for the same four days proposed Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls on the way up, Eravikulam, Mattupetty, Echo Point, Kundala and Top Station in Munnar, and Alleppey beach and the Kochi sights on the last day, with a different hotel and houseboat. The trip we booked kept that shape with Clouds Valley in Munnar and a Tharangini houseboat. A hotel night at Abad Fort in Kochi was cancelled and refunded before we left.
Four days
Road distances follow the road route between the places in our photos; flights are great-circle distances, so all are approximate.
| Trip day | Route | Approx. km |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1Sun 7 May | Hydernagar → Hyderabad airport → Kochi → Kalady → Neriamangalam → Cheeyappara Falls → Anachal → Munnar | 961817 by air · 143 by road |
| Day 2Mon 8 May | Munnar → Mattupetty → Kundala Lake → Top Station → Echo Point → Munnar → Flower Garden | 8686 by road |
| Day 3Tue 9 May | Munnar → Adimali → Thanneermukkom → Alleppey → houseboat to Kainakary → Kuttanad | 177162 by road · 14 by boat |
| Day 4Wed 10 – Thu 11 May | Kuttanad → Alleppey → Marari Beach → Kochi backwaters → Fort Kochi → Vypin → Edavanakkad → Vallarpadam → Lulu Mall → Hyderabad airport → Hydernagar | 1,019817 by air · 184 by road · 17 by boat |
| Total | ≈2,300 km≈1,635 by air · 576 by road · 32 by boat | |
Day 1 · Sun 7 May
Hydernagar → Hyderabad airport → Kochi → Kalady → Neriamangalam → Cheeyappara Falls → Anachal → Munnar
≈961 km817 by air · 143 by road
| Time | Place | About this stop |
|---|---|---|
| 8:45 AM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | Left home by taxi for the airport, about two hours before the flight including check-in (time from memory). |
| 9:39 AM – 10:45 AM | Google Maps ↗ | Dropped by the taxi at the terminal kerb — our first photos, with the luggage trolley, at 9:39 AM — then check-in and security for the SpiceJet flight at 10:45 AM. |
| 12:20 PM – 1:02 PM | Google Maps ↗ | SpiceJet SG 511, 10:45 AM → 12:20 PM (scheduled); photos outside the terminal from 12:43 PM, then into our car for the hills. |
| 1:13 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Across the Periyar at Kalady on the way east. |
| 3:03 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Through Kothamangalam on the Kochi–Dhanushkodi road (NH 85), the gateway to the High Range. |
| 3:22 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Over the Periyar again on the old Neriamangalam bridge, where the road starts to climb — the 3:22 PM photo in our timeline. |
| 3:45 PM – 4:04 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The seven-step waterfall right beside the road: family photos at its foot. |
| 4:10 PM passed approx. | Google Maps ↗ | Just up the road from Cheeyappara and in the travel agent’s plan; not in our photos, so placed as passed at an approximate time. |
| 5:09 PM | Google Maps ↗ | A short stop at a waterfall beside the road below Pallivasal. |
| 5:21 PM – 5:30 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The evening view over the hills and valleys from a railed viewpoint on the ghat road. |
| 5:52 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Our first tea gardens, on the slopes at Chithirapuram. |
| 6:02 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Up through the eucalyptus at Pallivasal. |
| 7 May 6:14 PM → 8 May 9:39 AM | Google Maps ↗ | Two nights at Clouds Valley on the Aluva–Munnar road, Kannan Devan Hills: a Valley View room with breakfast. The booking started at noon; our first photo at the hotel is at 6:14 PM, and the next morning we posed by the Clouds Valley sign at 9:39 AM before setting off. |
Day 2 · Mon 8 May
Munnar → Mattupetty → Kundala Lake → Top Station → Echo Point → Munnar → Flower Garden
≈86 km86 by road
| Time | Place | About this stop |
|---|---|---|
| 10:35 AM passed approx. | Google Maps ↗ | On the only road to Kundala and in the travel agent’s plan; not in our photos, so placed as passed at an approximate time. |
| 11:16 AM – 11:45 AM | Google Maps ↗ | Horse rides by the lake and through the eucalyptus at Kundala, at about 1,700 m. |
| 11:50 AM – 12:21 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Stops among the tea gardens and the first views over the edge of the Western Ghats. |
| 12:48 PM – 1:50 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Through the ticket counter and down the path to the watch tower, with the steep green valley falling away into Tamil Nadu — the 12:58 PM valley photo in our timeline was taken here. |
| 2:56 PM – 3:03 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The lakeside at Echo Point on the way back. |
| 4:19 PM – 4:29 PM | Google Maps ↗ | A break at the stalls under the eucalyptus a few kilometres before Munnar. |
| 4:53 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Through Munnar bazaar and up Tea Museum Road past the tea estates. |
| 5:32 PM – 6:02 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The Kerala Forest Development Corporation’s flower garden on the Devikulam road: greenhouses, flower beds and arches. |
| 6:21 PM – 6:47 PM | Google Maps ↗ | An evening Kalaripayattu martial-arts show in Munnar. The venue name was not recorded and these photos carry only a rough network location. |
| 8 May 7:10 PM → 9 May 7:30 AM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | The second night at Clouds Valley; back from the show at an approximate time. |
Day 3 · Tue 9 May
Munnar → Adimali → Thanneermukkom → Alleppey → houseboat to Kainakary → Kuttanad
≈177 km162 by road · 14 by boat
| Time | Place | About this stop |
|---|---|---|
| 8:56 AM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Down the ghat road through Adimali; we were on the road before 8 AM. |
| 9:51 AM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Out of the hills past Kothamangalam, heading south. |
| 11:41 AM | Google Maps ↗ | A first look at the wide Vembanad lake by the Thanneermukkom bund. |
| 12:36 PM – 12:45 PM | Google Maps ↗ | On board at Houseboat Junction near Punnamada jetty: a premium one-room houseboat with full-time AC, breakfast, lunch and dinner. The 12:36 PM photo of the children in the wood-panelled bedroom is in our timeline. |
| 1:18 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Out across Punnamada lake and south-east into the backwaters. |
| 2:17 PM – 2:34 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Moored by a canal-side village with an arched footbridge, for a walk along the bank. |
| 9 May 5:30 PM → 10 May 7:30 AM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | The night on the houseboat, moored in the backwaters south of Alleppey (place from our sunrise photos; arrival and departure times approximate). |
Day 4 · Wed 10 – Thu 11 May
Kuttanad → Alleppey → Marari Beach → Kochi backwaters → Fort Kochi → Vypin → Edavanakkad → Vallarpadam → Lulu Mall → Hyderabad airport → Hydernagar
≈1,019 km817 by air · 184 by road · 17 by boat
| Time | Place | About this stop |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM | Google Maps ↗ | Back across the lake to Punnamada for the 9 AM check-out, then by road north. |
| 10:22 AM | Google Maps ↗ | A short stop on the beach at Mararikulam. |
| 11:38 AM | Google Maps ↗ | A motorboat ride on the Kochi backwaters with Lake Bay Cruises, in life jackets. |
| 12:19 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Past waterside houses, Chinese fishing nets, flocks of birds and mangroves, with the Ernakulam towers on the skyline — the 11:42 AM photo in our timeline is from this ride. |
| 12:59 PM – 1:25 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Carved wooden halls full of masks, costumes and temple art. |
| 1:49 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Through the middle of Ernakulam. |
| 2:38 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Across the harbour to the old town. |
| 3:18 PM – 3:25 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The sea wall and walkway along Fort Kochi beach, with the big wooden fish sculptures. |
| 3:35 PM passed approx. | Google Maps ↗ | Along the shore to the ferry, past the famous Chinese fishing nets (in the travel agent’s plan; not in our photos, so the time is approximate). |
| 3:44 PM – 3:54 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Car and all onto the red roll-on/roll-off ferry across the harbour mouth. |
| 4:26 PM – 4:32 PM | Google Maps ↗ | Up Vypin island to a quiet, wide beach on the Arabian Sea. |
| 5:07 PM | Google Maps ↗ | The white twin-towered Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom at Vallarpadam. |
| 5:12 PM passed | Google Maps ↗ | Over the Goshree bridges back to the mainland. |
| 6:02 PM – 7:15 PM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | The evening at Lulu Mall: the ice rink and the children’s rides. Photos from 6:02 PM; the time we left is approximate. |
| 7:55 PM – 9:05 PM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | IndiGo 6E 263 at 9:05 PM (scheduled). No photos at the airport, so our arrival time is approximate. |
| 11:10 PM | Google Maps ↗ | IndiGo 6E 263, 9:05 → 11:10 PM (scheduled); out through baggage claim to a taxi. |
| 1:10 AM approx. | Google Maps ↗ | Home by taxi about two hours after landing, including baggage and the drive (time from memory). |
Photos from the trip
All our photos and videos from the trip — the map above was drawn from their locations. Travellers and family sign in with their Google account to open the full album.
Open the photo album ↗Waterfalls and tea gardens on the climb to Munnar, the view from Top Station, a night on the backwaters and an afternoon in Fort Kochi — four full days in Kerala.