Vattakanal Above The Clouds

When I was planning this series of posts on India I didn’t think that the second destination that I would be writing from would be Israel. For me, the time in India was divided into two parts, the period when Covid-19 was far away from us and the period when Covid-19 took over our lives. Later on when we reach the chronological sequence to the destination where everything has changed, I will share with you the change, but for now let’s get back to the beginning of January, to Vattakanal when the sun shone above us and we were above the clouds – quite literally.

Vattakanal is a small village located on a mountain range at an altitude of 2,100 meters in Tamil Nadu state in South India. In order to get there, we were on the road for two days. The way was long but we were thirsty for movement, so this time passed with fun and excitement towards the new destination.

I have no ability to describe, in words, the feeling when reaching Vattakanal. From the moment we started moving up the mountain toward Vattakanal, we could sense the magic. The view from the village looks out over a green valley, surrounded by mountains with clouds floating between them or covering them completely. This creates a landscape that is continuously changing. 

We quickly discovered the only drawback, hills and stairs.

Every walk, even the shortest required physical effort. At Vattakanal there are no guesthouses, but rather apartments and searching for an apartment with mochilas on our backs was a very uncomfortable mission. We spent the first night in an apartment that felt like part of a horror movie set, the ceiling creaked with every step the Indian occupants made upstairs and the bathroom was outside the apartment, with no light.

First thing next morning, I set out to find another apartment for us and found a  perfect one, with 2 bedrooms, 2 toilets, a kitchen, a spacious living room with a fireplace and garden, for the same price as the previous apartment. In the room I slept in, the entire eastern wall was covered by a window.

The day flowed from sunrise, morning and night, with no in between.

Seeing the sunrise at Vattakanal is a must. Each dawn looks different due to the location and proximity of the clouds. Each day it is breathtaking in its beauty. The sense of morning continues until the darkness descends.  With the darkness you sense the change to night. With the morning comes the bread man who goes through all the apartments in the village and sells various, fresh and insanely delicious breads. Until the darkness arrives, wander around the area or visit friends’ apartments, all of which have amazing views. After the sun goes down gather in an apartment around a fireplace.

We hiked passed waterfalls, lakes, through valleys and forests. We saw bison and monkeys in the backyard. We were on top of cliffs that were supposed to display the entire valley but were covered with heavy clouds and showed a white screen. We celebrated at a party in the most beautiful place I have ever been to a party, all the members of the party were friends and the vibes were amazing.

In general the vibes in Vattakanal were good and I experienced quite a few amazing sync moments there. The most beautiful of them was on one of my times in the Moomin Valley in the area. I wandered with one of my friends and he told me that he would be happy if we saw a white horse. After a few hours we returned to the same spot and suddenly a white horse came towards us. The Valley was decorated with mist and the sun’s rays came from behind the horse and gave the scene a legendary look.

Vattakanal is a magical place, so if you come to South India do yourself a favor, pack some warm clothes, take good friends with you and go there. If you arrive to the dark forest and see a yellow sign directing you to continue down, follow it, the view from there is lovely.