The Independence Day long weekend took nine of us friends to the unsung hill station of Valparai where we stayed at a 1925 colonial tea bungalow that is surrounded by the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve. During our stay here, we visited the Puduthotam tea estate where we saw the Gaur and the Lion Tailed Macaque. Then we visited the Nallamudi Pooncholai, Nirar Dam, Sholayar Dam, Valparai town and more.