Vagamon

Vagamon is a hill station located in Kottayam-Idukki border of Kerala, India. It has a warm and friendly place with cool climate as the temperature between 10 and 23 degree Celsius during a summer midday. It is situated 1,100 meters above sea level.

"Kurisumala monastery" is a famous hill station and pilgrimage center for the Christians where cross put-up in each sub hill stations. The nearby Kurisumala Ashram is an abode of calm and spiritual delight. This hill area includes 12 sub mounds where pilgrims visit as a sacrifice. Travelers can enjoy trekking and climbing this high hill. The area is fully surrounded with Tea estates and lakes. Indo-Swiss Project dairy farms is situated on the hill. The hill dairy farm, managed by the Kurisumala monks. Wagamon is surrounded by three hills namely, 'Thangal hill', 'Murugan hill' and 'Kurisumala'. Other attractions include Tea estates, pine forests, grass lands, meadows, mist and shola forests, the famous suicide point of ‘Thangal hill’, a peculiar rock formations at Thangal Para, a dairy farm in Kurisumala (hill) and a Live Stock Board. Wagamon is at the fringe of the Western Ghats and the foot hills on its lower side reach up to Teekoy with a gradual descent. Traveling by the hill highway in this section is an exhilarating experience with deep valleys and magnificent views all around. Wagamon presents very spectacular views with an ethereal touch. Wagamon's charm is worth experiencing. Indeed one of the must seen places for tourism loving people. One speciality of Wagamon is that you will never get tired of Wagamon as each day or visit will display the varied moods of nature and climatic differences; the mist you can touch, the rain drops, the gentle breeze,or the golden hue in December-January will be greatly rewarding and soothing for you and can romanticize your mind and thoughts. You can easily be humbled by nature and its not -so- completley -lost pristine condition here. The trees and shrubs in Wagamon give it an added attraction It is located 33 Kilometers away from Palai and about 65 KM from Kottayam. Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport while the closest rail connection is Kottayam. There are many finest resorts available in the surrounding areas with affordable cost for trekkers.

Issues

In August 2008, the Kerala Police said it had begun investigations two months back into a training camp organized in December 2007 by the banned SIMI activist in "Thangalpara", a rocky landscape accessible only by foot adjacent to Vagamon hills. [cite web |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Aug172008/national2008081785077.asp?section=updatenews |title='SIMI's camp in Kerela, not ultra's training ground' |publisher=The Deccan herald]

References

External links

* [http://www.keralatourism.org/index.php?zone=4&source=video&videoid=810974 KTDC website, more about Wagamon]
* [http://www.vagamon.com/ Wagamon website]
* [http://www.peermade.info/pager.php?page=travelgallery&spot=vagamon&trip=main Vagamon Photo Gallery]