So I woke up this morning to what seems to be a common sight of a hot air ballon. I don’t know what they cost or who operates them but they do seem to be popular. They look very pretty in the morning and evening times.

The national park

Eravikulam National Park is about one hour North of Munnar and is a fairly easy (if crowded) drive. Parking was a nightmare – but that is the nice thing about having a driver in India – he went to park the car while I went to the ticket office.

The fee to enter is quite a bit higher for foreigners than for locals. At Rp. 480 it’s one of the more expensive attractions around Munnar. But the views are really nice.

You cannot take private cars to the top, you have to take a park bus. This is an experience in itself. As you may have heard, Indian drivers like to use their horns. But I see no point at using horns when you have just one road and all the traffic is park traffic.

However, each driver seems to be trying to race the other drivers up the mountain to the top and hoking at each other along the way. It was almost like a carnival ride. I would suggest a light breakfast.

Mountain goats

Officially called the Nilgiri Tahr, this mountain goat is found in the park. You are very likely to see it, but as signs warn, you should not touch it. There are also a lot of other signs in the park such as not showing your rubbish in the bushes and no public urination. There is just no fun to be had here 🙂

The hike

From where the bus drops you off there is a little snack stand (they have good tea) and in information centre. You need to show your ticket to start the hike. After that you can only hike about 1km (although it is fairly steep). It’s a pleasant hike and you are very likely to see the lovely goat.