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In succession to part 1 of this article which you can read here, I am bringing part 2 of this amazing workation I had experienced with Soles on Wheels - Zostel Vagamon.
After a relaxing and adventurous stay in Zostel Munnar, one fine weekend we moved to the nearby Zostel which was Vagamon. It was a 3-hour car ride from Zostel Munnar and we took it early morning to relax over the weekend without office work :P
After a smooth ride for the first 2 hours, we entered the forest area of Idukki. It was a greenscape with tiny little houses build interim, with banana trees, shrubs and a lot of wild grass lush green due to rains. Gradually, the concrete road turned into an off road trail and after a lot of humps and bumps, we reached Zostel Vagamon by late morning.
A quick and easy check-in of Zostel with the help of Santosh, the life of Zostel Vagamon and now our dear friend :), we checked out the giant hammock, one of the USPs of this Zostel. Although we didn't spend too much time on the hammock that day. Checking in to our dormitory, an 8-person mixed dorm with each bed being the size of a double bed which was very unique, this had to be special. Meeting 2-3 enthusiastic travelers from different parts of India and listening to their stories charged us up until it was time for lunch. The best part was, we reached at around 3pm which was the end of lunch time, but since we were coming from Munnar and Jitu bhai (the manager of Zostel Munnar) had already called Santosh about the time of our arrival, a delicious lunch was prepared for us.
Vagamon had a Garhwali cook (Dharam paji, I hope I remember his name correctly :P), who used to prepare such delicious meals - the best one being butter chicken followed by the Garhwali veg thali, that every day was a treat. You literally don't have a restaurant or dhaba nearby but the magic of delicious meals didn't require us to go elsewhere.
It was already evening once we finished up with our lunch and I decided to take a hike with the zostellers on a nearby hill to view the sunset while Poonam rested. We chatted a lot about traveling across India and a hot topic of leeches as it was raining throughout Kerala during November and leeches are a part of the dense forest. It was unfortunately very cloudy and there was no sunset, but the hike was nice. It was almost 6pm and it started to get dark and the Zostel lights added to the amazing beauty of the place. We decided to spend time in the huge common area. We were chit-chatting with the fellow travelers, played table tennis, and simply reflected upon the Munnar trip. Being Saturday, it was a bit chaotic but most people were leaving the next day and hence it was ok and of course I wanted some space to gel into the place myself :) We had a good night's sleep on the cozy wide mattress in the dorm. Thankfully all fellow dormmates were considerate of other people sleeping and they took care not to make too much noise.
Off-roading adventure:
On a fine Sunday morning, Santosh arranged for an off-roading jeep safari for us from Zostel to the inner trails of Idukki forest. We were all pumped up and happy after a good night's sleep and were ready to take the bumps. With a skilled driver Kannan bhai and happy folks the bumps were thrilling while we enjoyed the dense jungles and some free and speedy waterfalls on the way. We halted intermittently over meadows, waterfalls, view points and a small dhaba to have our breakfast of Omlette pav and flavoured cakes with tea.
The Amazing Infinity Pool of Zostel Vagamon:
Apart from being based in the mid of the Idukki forest and providing amazing food, the most unique adventure of this Zostel is a small hike down to a natural infinity pool. It's a multi-level waterfall which has turned into an infinity pool. The best part was it was raining intermittently during that time of the year and the water was in good flow. We, along with 6-7 other zostellers accompanied by Santosh started our hike post lunch to the pool. After half an hour of negotiating a flowing river and wet rocks, we reached the pool.
There are three levels that are visible from a distance - one that has a pretty low water level and is the topmost one. There is a lot of rocks in this area - good to sit and enjoy the sound of the waterfall. The next layer is what they call a "baby pool" which is around 4 ft of water and pretty safe for everyone because it's like a small pond where nothing could go wrong, you can reach the nearby rock support at arms length. However, this is where we had the most fun as there is a small yet speedy waterfall that filled this baby pool. One could actually go inside the waterfall and experience the magic. When I went inside, the flow was intense and I got inside the waterfall facing the rock. It was so good that I never felt like leaving. Even when I got to another corner, I again went back. The cold intense water flow on my body was too therapeutic. Most of us were in this pool.
Then came the main infinity pool which is roughly a 12 feet pool with rocks on either side and is recommended for swimmers only. The water is refreshing for a little swim, maybe 2-3 strokes until you reach a rock again and go back. Poonam and Mihir, one of our friends were in the pool enjoying with back strokes, freestyles and what not.
We made a ton of videos, clicked a lot of photos and it was a memorable evening. It was almost sunset time as we dried ourselves, feeling all spent and happy as I always like, started to hike up towards Zostel. We changed our clothes, always keeping an eye on the number of leeches we have brought with ourselves :P and there were quite a few. Thankfully we had sanitizers with us and leeches couldn't bother us for long.
How my days were spent for the rest of the week:
Once it was Monday, we could feel the silence in the Zostel. We saw our fellow zostellers, now friends, off one by one with a goodbye which wasn't a last goodbye for sure.
People usually flock over the weekend which we also felt in Munnar, but we were happy to be on our own with 2-3 of our zostellers chilling and working in the common room. Mornings were silent and no one used to be up until 8-8:30am. I used to spend my early morning with my coffee on top of the watch tower - another treasure of this Zostel. From here, you could have a 360-degree view of the entire Vagamon valley.
My coffee story is also interesting. While I was up at 7-7:15am, the kitchen used to be locked up and even if I managed to arrange for the key from Santosh or any other staff member, the electric kettle was usually missing. Later I found out that Dharam paji, the cook, used to take it to his room in the night and he wouldn't open his door even after me knocking multiple times :D, however, I finally managed the kettle all my days though.
Post breakfast and checking all mails and having few calls, my afternoons were spent strolling around the property, chit chatting with fellow zostellers and Ananya who was the experience coordinator and was interested in all our stories picking up small pieces and now she is travelling across India as I write this.
Travelling and meeting all sorts of amazing people widen our horizons. It makes us dream bigger, it makes what was seemingly impossible, possible and most importantly makes us go, make a move. Even if it is for the sake of proving to oneself that one can go, but gradually that experience builds on us and one fine day we open our eyes to see a beach while couple of days back we were climbing a mountain.
We played a lot of table tennis, and sometimes just lied down and relaxed on the giant hammock. Sometimes, when Poonam used to get a small break in between her busy calls, we used to talk about options where to go next and our next month's Himalayan winter trek and preparations.
Some days, I used to exercise in the morning, some times in the property outside my dorm, sometimes outdoors on a nearby incline road and some afternoons I would just go on a long walk following the road, exploring the flora, the mountains and the local life around.
Around mid-week we had few amazing people flocking in. We chit chatted a lot in the common room, telling stories, asking for travel recommendations and just talking about personal life and philosophies.
One fine evening, someone turned on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara on TV and even if you've watched it 100 times, being in a Zostel among other travelers you cannot help but watch it again as if it was your first time. We'd watch movies together, some days we would play all sorts of video songs on TV - from Hardy Sandhu to Baadshah to regional Tamil and Malayalam songs and dance to all the tunes.
That is the beauty of travelling and staying in places like Zostel, it brings everyone together, we all have one motto and dream - to travel the world and experience as many things as possible.
If you are wondering about this amazing piece of art, it is a painting created by Mr.Sarath . We deliberately used to switch off the lights to get immersed in this trippy creation.
On our last day, we reflected back on our experience of Vagamon and initially being in a bit of dilemma whether to choose Vagamon or go to Varkala, we were happy we chose Vagamon because we wouldn't have experienced a monsoon laden Malabar and deep jungles of Idukki if it were not for the amazing experience we have had. I am sire thus is why Zostel Vagamon comes on top of the list of travelers who frequent Zostels across India. Varkala can always happen later.
We packed our stuff and loaded it in a hatchback brought by Mr.Harris, referred driver from one of the zosteller. Another adventure was awaiting us while we Harris bhai tried to race the poor hatchback up damaged concrete road, it got stuck, so much so that we had to pull all the luggage out, place level stones behind the back rear tyres and push the vehicle. Thankfully after about 20 minutes of rigorous effort we managed to drive the car out of that hole! Whenever you are planning to visit Zostel Vagamon, you can inquire about the state of the roads nearby. Although at that time it was rainy and road was being constructed, but it is always good to be safe. In any situation, you can park up the hill and walk down to the property.
That day we were also accompanied by a fellow traveler and off we went for Kochi with a three hour smooth non-stop ride. We spent the next 3 days experiencing the beautiful cafes and the Portuguese lanes of Fort Kochi.
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