On the outset Punnavoor is just another sleepy hamlet on city outskirts. The countryside road meanders through rubber plantations and shows no sign of any over-run tourist destination. The greenery remains resplendent under the noon sun and the city hubbub is almost inaudible. Yet the place gives you no indication that it has something more to offer other than being a passable rustic retreat.
The road is desolate except for a solitary villager carrying heaps of grass or a passing motor bike. The drive in is quite uneventful until we spot the silvery stretch of a river and its tranquil network of jingling streams.
We park the car downstream and start exploring the riverine. The river, a branchlet of Neyyar, flows calm and serene to a good distance and in between are cascading veils of water tumbling down the big boulders. It would be a pleasant experience to take a walk by the river side or sit on a rock silently enjoying the spectacle. The place is perfect for a leisurely evening stroll, but the banks are adequately canopied to save you from the menacing rays of August sun.
This season of the year is expected to bring about a complete overhaul to the environs, but the rain-starved river looks leaner. Yet, it’s absolutely fascinating to step into the shrunken streams and get soaked in the cool sprays. The scorching sun has dried up half the water revealing a string of eerie-looking boulders. You can easily cross the stream walking on them, but watch out for water-filled cavities.
We scour further upstream catching a series of cascades as the rocky expanse grew wider and wider. But during the rains the scene turns absolutely spectacular, we are informed later. The river gushes down in full splendour and the streams swell up creating an aura of formidable grandeur.
Punnavoor village belongs to the Nemom taluk and can be reached through Thiruvananthapuram-Malayainkeezhu route.
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