Today’s plan was to drive from Munnar to Athirapally Falls, a 4 hour drive. Our last day at The Shade started with a delightful breakfast of Idlis.
On the drive towards Athirapally falls, we stopped at several waterfalls, right on the road.
Valara waterfalls
Cheeyapara waterfalls
Our driver, Albin, entertaining our daughter
We stopped for lunch at Hotel Udipi Bhavan in Kothamangala. The food tasted great, and the ambiance was decent.
As we continued driving towards Athirapally, the hills started retreating, and the land was flat yet green. It felt like we were in a rainforest.
Before entering the falls area, we could spot the falls from a lookout. During high monsoon, the falls are supposed to cover the entire canyon. Even though it wasn’t as full, the falls still looked spectacular and we couldn’t wait to get closer.
Athirapally falls
After paying the entrance fee (< $1), we walked on a short flat trail that lead to the top of the falls. As soon as neared the falls, it started pouring rain and we were drenched before we could even sneak a view. We waited under some trees until the rain let out, and then walked closer to the falls.
Fully drenched, but excited to see the falls!
While looking at the falls from the top was good, I wanted to see it from the bottom. After asking around, we found a rugged trail that takes you to the bottom of the falls. So we ventured on it…
The trail was slippery, and we were not wearing proper footwear, so we had to go slowly. It took us around 20 minutes to reach the bottom, and we were glad we came here. This is where you can get a true feeling of standing near the forceful water.
We continued to go as near as the falls as we could, until the railing. We could barely stand there as the water and wind were so forceful. Fully drenched but we couldn’t hide our smiles…what a feeling!
After spending around half an hour at the base of the falls, we walked back up on the trail. 
Wet and cold, we were ready to head to our hotel for the night and take warm showers! I had booked us at The Athirapally Green Trees, a new resort about 10 minutes from the falls. We were already impressed before being shown to our room.
The resort was definitely 4 to 5 star quality, and everything was brand new. The pool looked inviting, and there was an onsite restaurant and wi-fi as well. The shower was forceful and hot, just what we needed. The onsite restaurant does meals to order. The server came to our room to take our order for dinner, and asked us what time we’d like to dine. Highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking to stay near the falls.
Click here to see if The Green Trees has rooms for your travel dates
After our hot showers, we headed to the restaurant and were served our hot and fresh dinner. Everything tasted divine!
Time to go to bed!
