Valparai Eduvisit 22/03/2025

 Hi friends, 

   I went on an Eduvisit to Valparai yesterday.  Our School had arranged an Eduvisit for our students. I went along with our students. The students were also excited about the trip.Our buses started by 7:10 AM. 71 students, 8 teachers and 5 non teaching staff members were on board to the trip. 

 We reached Aliyar at 8:30 AM and had our          breakfast in a place surrounded by a lot of trees. We were greeted by a herd of Monkeys. After an interval of an hour we started uphill by 9:32 AM where we all were enchanted to see the water trickling on the rocks. 

  After a few kilometres, we were on the 1 hair pin bend towards Valparai. A notable thing here is each hairpin turn is named after an indigenous species of Anaimalai Tiger Reserve. 

     Soon,our students got used to learning the names of different species with the help of reflective boards at every hairpin turn.  This is a collaborative initiative of  Forest department and state highways department to educate the tourists about the rare species of wildlife in the anamalai range.There were 40 hairpin turns in total. After admiring the natural view points such as aliyar dam aerial view, valley side views and the stunning landscapes of tea plantations we reached Valparai or 7th heaven around 11:04 AM. We saw the ever busy valparai town on our way to Sholayar and kallyar tea estates & factories. Around 11:45 AM we reached the jayshree tea factory at Sholayar.The aroma of farm fresh tea engulfed our nostrils.We were divided into three batches and we explored the tea factory. Our students eagerly took notes as the personnel explained the various processes involved in making tea powder. First, the tea leaves are loaded in a cluster of 30 layers, these layers keep rotating around the tea leaves collection area. Then, the leaves are dried using massive blowers. This process is called weathering. Then, the leaves are cut in even sizes and sent for powdering . After the tea leaves are powdered they are fermented in large containers which keep rolling. Then the tea powder is packed and kept ready for despatch. A factory worker explained well about the varieties of tea based on the quality of tea. After we explored the tea factory, we were greeted by the thunder followed by a rain. We reached a safe spot under the sheeted roof and  had our lunch here. We had  chappathis and curd rice. We waited here some time for the rain to subside then we started around 1:45PM to reach the tea plantations area. We went there and saw the workers collecting tea leaves from the plants. Across the valley of tea plantations there is a brook in which fresh water flowed at an average pace. It was such an wonderful scenario where we conversed with the workers in the tea farm. Our students asked a lot of questions to them and they responded patiently to all their questions.Then,around 2:15 PM, we resumed our journey towards Koolangal river. We reached the river soon by 15 minutes. Our students were all excited to drench their feet in the river. The river and the riverbed as well was strewn with pebbles. We spent about a half an hour here relaxing by the cool touch of water from the river. Around 3 PM, we reached a boathouse but disappointed to find it is inoperative due to rainy weather. We clicked a lot of photos here and then we resumed our journey back down to Aliyar. On our way back we enjoyed futhermore breath taking views of the famous tea estates of Parry,waterfall and woodbriar groups. Though we couldn't spot any rare wildlife, we enjoyed the weather and the erratic sights of lion tailed macques, a species of monkeys that lived in that area. Around 3:30 PM, we stopped at carver Marsh view point where we could enjoy again the view of a valley below and the adjoining mountains of Anaimudi range. After clicking a few photos here we resumed our journey towards Aliyar. By 6PM, we reached Aliyar. Our students played and relaxed for an hour here in the park in the dam. After a lot of insights into tea making and fun- filled moments we started our journey back to Coimbatore. We all enjoyed our Eduvisit trip to Valparai.