The Mankulam range lies in the high country of Idukki district in Kerala, in the Munnar uplands that form the highest part of the Western Ghats south of the Nilgiris. The mountains here are enormous, rolling green downs of grass dotted with dark patches of shola, the stunted evergreen forest that fills the folds between the ridges, and the entire landscape is part of a protected block that includes Anamudi, at 2,695 metres the highest peak in India south of the Himalaya. The Grass Hills National Park sits here, with its sweeping slopes and strange, windswept look.
Nilgiri tahr, a stocky mountain goat, graze on the cliffs, and in the sholas live elephants, sambar and the rare Nilgiri marten. The best-known botanical event in the region is the flowering of the neelakurinji, a shrub whose blue blooms cover the hills once in twelve years; the last great flowering was in 2018, so the next will not come until about 2030. At lower elevations, the sandalwood forests near Marayur are unusual in Kerala, and the region has a collection of megalithic burial dolmens that go back thousands of years.
The road in from Kochi is a long day, but a rewarding one. The national highway climbs from the coastal plains through rubber and teak, past waterfalls, then up a long series of hairpins into tea country around Munnar, where the slopes are combed with perfectly even rows of bushes. Beyond Munnar the road runs on toward Marayur, dropping into a drier valley with sugarcane and jaggery boilers. The surface is generally good, but buses and tourist jeeps clog the road at weekends, and fog is common above 1,500 metres. Carry a jacket, because the temperature can fall to single figures in winter.
Fill up there. The tea stalls sell hot, sweet chai with a slice of bread, and small restaurants serve vegetarian meals on banana leaves. Entry to some forest areas needs a permit, so ask at the Forest Department office, and travel in the dry months from December to March.