The Athirapalli-Puliyilapara- Malakkapara-Sholayar-Valparai-Aliyar- Pollachi route presents one of the most beautiful journey in South India. The journey amidst rain forests in the Western Ghats is a completely different experience. One would wonder how tea plantations came up amidst the dense jungle here. There is a long history of hard work and tolerance behind the beauty of Valparai with its fascinating valley, lakes and lush green flower fields and lakes. The tea plantations we see here today, were dense forests once upon a time. Forest wealth was destroyed to begin tea plantation. Geographically, Valparai is a part of Anamalai hills. The imperial Gazette of India mentions about this region in its 1885 publication. It reports that all most all types of wild animals in India were found in the forest here. Fortunately, the biological diversity of Valparai is not completely destroyed yet. Valparai is surrounded by four protected forests; The Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park, and Parambikkulam Wildlife Sanctuary. According to the available records, tea plantations began in Valparai in the year 1846. Later the leading businessman of those days, Mr.Ramaswami Muthaliyar began to grow tea in large scale for industrial production. Compared to other hill stations, there are very few hotels for the tourists here. Most accommodations are provided by private bungalows and houses. Trip Advisor, the popular travel site has listed 21 accommodation facilities for the visitors. The natural scenic beauty of Valparai lies in the fact that it has not yet faced a huge urbanization like in Ooty.
