A picturesque hill station in Kerala, Ponmudi is a mere one plus a 50 percent hour's street journey from the seashores of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). And accurate to its meaning in Malayalam - golden crown - Ponmudi genuinely glitters amongst the hill resort of India.

For the approach to Ponmudi, the thick tropical forest greets one in the foot with the Ponmudi hill selection. The road passes underneath a canopy of thickly matted foliage. The forest recedes steadily giving strategy to neatly clipped tea bushes.

As one leaves the town behind, one enters the area of plantations - rubber, pepper, cardamom and tea. The change is abrupt. The tappers may be observed going about briskly gathering the milky fluid from rubber trees collected in coconut shells. Coconut thatch mats cover pretty much one fifty percent with the street, over which girls spread black pepper for drying. One might encounter a lone elephant ambling along carrying his mahout atop and his breakfast of coconut thatch in his trunk.

Visitors on holidays in Ponmudi can stroll by way of the several tea estates right here, while they are not as massive as these in the Munnar hills. Trekking towards the north of Ponmudi Crest, 1 passes along a mini zoo on the edge from the forest. Coming into the forest, the verdant shades of green numb the senses. As does the avian orchestra. The outstanding red southern trongon dot the trees like flowers. The air is full with all the loud raucous chuckling of hefty billed Malabar hornbills. The shrill notes of the blue-black Malabar whistling thrush add for the cacophony. Even the rare long-tailed paradise flycatchers flit gracefully from tree to tree. It's like an open aviary.

Travelers preparing to travel to Ponmudi can attain Ponmudi from Thiruvananthapuram, which can be 61 km absent. It is inside uncomplicated driving distance from Kovalam.