Golden Mountain or Pon-Mudi in Malyalam, is a small hill-station overseen by the Kerala Tourist Department. The KTD runs directly under the umbrella of the government of Kerala, which means that any private housing or development in the area is not allowed. Because of this thankful charter Ponmudi remains uncluttered by the outside world with all its green, wild and completely natural beauty intact.
During the hectic and mad rush of our travels from one city or town to another in buses and trains we badly needed a few days of respite and finally settled on this tiny unmarked locale. Changing several buses on the way from the industrial and rather bland town of Kollum, touring villages and countryside full of rubber plantations, vegetable stalls, fruit markets and many temples we arrived 97 kilometres and 4 hours later to this tranquil oasis. The next few days were spent walking through remote tea gardens planted with cardamom, coffee and spices with frequent sightings of pepper pickers who had climbed high on the trees aided by the black pepper vines. The only sounds that permeated our horizon were those of local birds, occasional cries of monkeys and sometimes the sounds of a motorcycle taking one of the 22 hairpin curves either to and fro from Ponmudi. Taking frequent tea, coffee and banana breaks in roadside tea shops, full of vistas of lush hill side and clean air we half heartedly boarded the bus to another big city, Thiruvananthapuram and one of the 108 Holy abodes of Lord Vishnu, the Padmanabhaswamy temple.
