Trichy – Thekkady – Gavi – Vagamon – Pondicherry

Every holiday to me is usually different and memorable however when I sit back and think there has always been one place that has been coming to my mind all the time (Rohtang Pass) and now I am sure there is one more added to it that would stay close to my heart. This trip to Thekkady and Gavi will stay forever due to various reasons.

Day 0: Chennai –Trichy - Srirangam

06:30 AM: Left Chennai (Adyar)

08:30 AM: Stopped at Dindivanam for breakfast at Highway foods (App. 4.5 Kms before Dindivanam)

09:00 AM: Left to Srirangam

11:15 AM: Reached Srirangam. Not many option of hotels available and hence proceeded back to Trichy. We had kept a backup plan ready

12:45 AM: After much circling around Trichy city we managed to find the hotel we wanted to go in to. We stayed at Hotel Ramya’s located near the Central bus stand. It indeed was a very nice hotel to stay. Beware of the power cuts in these places before checking in to any hotel

Rested for sometime post lunch and started our visit to temples in the evening around 04:45 PM. Best way to visit these places is by Bus or Auto as you can never take your car in these areas. Our hotel person warned us and we took a bus as there were buses every 2 minutes to go to Rock Fort temple. From there on we took an auto to Srirangam and only while travelling by those roads we realised we had taken a wiser decision of not taking the car with us. Since it was a Saturday the Srirangam temple was overly crowded, however managed to get darshan at all places. Returned to the hotel around 10:30 PM and retired for the day. I should not forget to mention here that the city is absolutely lively at the night times. Toll from Chennai –Trichy (NH 45): Rs 220

View of Srirangam temple from Rock Fort

Day 1: Trichy - Thekkady

09:20 AM: Departed from Trichy

Highway between Trichy and Dindigul

10:30 AM: Reached Dindigul

Dindigul to Theni took about 2:15 minutes due to bad road condition between Dindigul and Bathalagundu.

12:15 PM: Took at break at Theni for 15 minutes

Enroute to Kumily

01:20 PM: Reached Kumily and had lunch at Hotel Arya Bhavan (It was Ok food). Reached our resort at about 02:20 PM and took rest for a while. In the evening went for a stroll around the place and retired for the day

Day 2: Gavi

Gavi is a part of the Periyar Tiger Reserve which is known for its pristine beauty. This was planned well in advance and we took the jeep provided by the eco tourism department instead of driving on own. This was a much awaited trip for us. My husband wanted to do the overnight stay at jungle, however me and my aversion for Leeches said I will not stay until I get a feel of what it is to trek inside a jungle. So as per plan, the jeep picked us from the resort at 05:30 AM and the drive was about 40 Odd Kms passing through some villages and the last 20 Kms inside the forest reserve. We travelled in an open jeep and it was an awesome experience. This place apparently is restricted to 100 permits a day and hence the human population was very less. It was a crowded day because of the long weekend. (Even that 100 is crowded in such places)

We drove through some of the less driven paths and did spot few animals. Though they were at a distance, it was an amazing feel to see animals in their HOME, in their natural habitat. With slight drizzles during the drive it was all the more fabulous.

Through the forests of Gavi

The beautiful roads leading to Gavi

Elephant in its natural habitat

The invisible roads enroute Gavi

We reached the eco tourism lodge from where all the programs start. We had a nice breakfast arranged by the hotel and once done, a guide was allotted for us. We were little particular that we did not want to club along with anyone, as no one there seemed interested in a long trek and eventually we found out that except us no one there went for the 3 hour trek.

I was excited; however the thought of Leeches in those moist forest areas scared the hell out of me. Though they are the most harmless creatures the thought of them sitting on me was psyching and I feared about these creatures much ahead of my trip. God knows why they exist in this eco system.

Just before our trek was about to commence our guide asked us to put on the Leech socks and we were ready to start our trek. It was an exciting moment because of the thought that I was going to go in to the forest, in to the wild and it will only be the 3 of us. That feeling was awesome, but somewhere in my heart and mind the leech factor was dominating. I took the courage to see what worst could happen.

The trek started through some of the most beautiful grasslands that I would have only seen through a distance otherwise, and went on to some of the dense areas of the jungle, in to the wild, in to a place where there is only nature and you. You don’t see humans, there are only animals, birds, streams, greens and of course different shades of them. Thankfully for me most of the path was dry because of no rains, however the moment we started entering the areas where there is no sunlight, I started feeling so creepy. I bent down to see many many of those tiny creatures climbing on my shoes happily, and the worst was the more you stand in one place the more get on to you. I was completely psyched out at the sight of different sized Leeches climbing on all directions and I should say my Guide was patient enough in shooing out each one of them before they could reach up to my pants.

The Leech socks we wore:

Nice stream amidst the trekking

The guide had with him a big packet of salt and he put on a whole lot of them and smeared them on my shoes to make sure they don’t come up more, and they didn’t. I was happy and suddenly he turned and asked me to stand for a moment and was taking off a huge one from my shirt and I thought for a moment why did I even start on this trek knowing about these stupid creatures. There were thousands and thousands of them and they were not only on the ground but jumping on you from leaves and branches when you brushed against them.

Our trek guide smearing a whole lot of salt on my shoes

After some creepy moments looking at them, I kind of got used to them and I had a stick in my hand to keep shooing them everytime they tried to climb on me. That was the most beautiful trek I have ever taken so far. I always used to watch this programme on Discovery called “I shouldn’t be alive” and used to wonder why people don’t find their way out. If at all we were lost there without our guide and was still alive, I would have been talking in the same programme may beJ. We were in the middle of nowhere, inside forests, and all the sides looked similar. There were no designated paths as such and we were climbing 3 different hills and covered 8 Kms in that 3 hours climbing up and down those hills and traversing through those moist deciduous forest areas. Thankfully we did not encounter any animal, else am sure I wouldn’t have been writing this blog. Only towards the end of the trek we heard from the guide that the government has not provided any safety measures in Gavi as they have done in Thekkady and the incidents he shared with us got chills down my nerves.

The view of the hundreds of square Kms of the forest reserve

This beautifully camouflaged frog on our path

The dense forests of the Periyar Tiger Reserve

This is what our people can do to destroy nature. Felt very upset hearing that lot of animals consume these and die eventually

The giant malabar Squirrel

The biggest Spider I have ever come across. A bite from this would make you bed ridden for atleast 3 days

I found myself in a very emotional mindset after the trek, because I realised that we are nothing in front of nature. It is so beautiful, it changes you, it makes you think and I truly enjoyed every moment of those 3 hours and it would be etched in my memory forever.

And after that beautiful trek, I made up my mind and promised my husband that I would go with him for a Jungle camping programme soon.

Post the trek we were given some cool drinks and then had an awesome Kerala lunch. We did a small boating in the Gavi lake which did not interest us anymore. We loved the wild, and this was nothing.

The small falls near Gavi Lake. Elephants come here to drink water

Before we left Gavi, our guide took us on a small walk uphill to a point from where Sabarimala is seen. The picture might not be too clear as it was very hazy.

After such an adventurous day we returned back to our resort around 06:30 PM with memories of those wonderful moments that felt like a dream.

Day 3: Thekkady – Vagamon

Vagamon was one place I didn’t want to miss as I had read loads about the place. I definitely do not repent going there. It was a great drive through sprawling tea estates on all sides and through proper village roads. It was about a 70KM drive from Thekkady and the roads were good as well. We drove through via Elappara. Returned from Vagamon via Kattapanna and except for about 2 – 3 kms of very bad roads, rest of the journey was amazing.

View of the sprawling meadows at Vagamon

True to what is being told about Vagamon that place is a sheer beauty with meadows sprawling till where eyes can see. I was wondering how beautiful nature is that it can form such beautiful mounds of meadows of different sizes. Except for the fact that we went on a holiday and it was overly crowded, it was a wonderful experience to be enjoying those meadows where the weather seems to be changing constantly. One moment it started to rain and the other moment there was sun already out and it just goes on and on.

Vagamon has to be experienced. It is definitely a visual treat.

Day 3: Boating at Periyar Tiger reserve

Since we just wanted this day to be at leisure we just thought we would go to the PTR for some boating. It was good and we did spot a lot of variety of birds of which I do not know names, however sharing some pictures.

Post the boating, went for a nice spa at the resort and it was heavenly especially that my body was aching after the trek.

Day 4/Day 5: Thekkady – Pondicherry

This drive back from Thekkady was a breeze. We took a small diversion from Bathalagundu to Dindigul via Kodai road and it was much faster than the other road. Reached Pondicherry around evening and checked in to our resort. We decided on Pondy while returning as we could take a day off there before coming to Chennai.

View of the Big Beach resort

While in Pondicherry we never miss the amazing breakfast at Hotel Surguru.

Day 6: Returned to Chennai after an awesome and memorable vacation.

Vacations are always fun and when you have one planned already, its very exciting. As mentioned before, I am looking forward to my vacation next week. Planning to visit Trichy first for a day and then to Thekkady. Excited about visiting Gavi as I have heard rather read a lot about this place for its pristine nature. We also plan to do sightseeing of Vagamon, Idukki and Cavalry mount.

Will write more of my trip and an elaborate blog once my trip is complete.

Next trip by end of September

We just did one trip and still getting over it, however our actual holiday has been planned for end of September - October first week. This was planned about a couple of months back itself and we have even got our booking done at Club Mahindra. 

I am so excited about it as it is again a road trip and especially after the recent one to Coonoor, I am in fact looking forward to hit the roads more often.

Can't really wait for September to come!!!

Coonoor - Nemmara - Guruvayoor - Chennai

 

I guess its high time I write about my recent road trip to Coonoor, Nemmara, Guruvayoor and back. Though it was not a well planned trip, but the break was badly needed and  the moment we decided to hit the roads we were so excited about the whole drive, and started our planning in that little time we had. Had to check the road route, pack our bags, and get the vehicle checked for a long drive.

Till the moment we left home, there was something or other to do and I must mention here itself that the note that I posted on HV Kumar page on facebook did help a lot in planning the route, though I missed seeing the most important update on a highway which he had mentioned and apparently we ended up in the same highway and went through a nightmarish experience.

Day 1: We started on a Monday morning and though we had checked map, my uncle apparently gave us a different route all together just before the day we were supposed to leave and I must admit we do not regret taking it. It was absolutely awesome and would definitely recommend the same to anyone who wants to drive to Coonoor.

As the others in our neighbourhood were asleep,we left home at 4:50 AM on the Monday morning and after a nonstop drive, reached Vellore by 6:50 AM. Stopped at Hotel Akshaya which comes on the right hand side of the circle and had our breakfast and left exactly in half hour by 7:20 AM.

By 9:10 AM we had touched Dharmapuri and post that we had to branch off towards Mettur on SH 20. After traveling appx 7 Kms after Topur toll road had to take the SH 82 towards Sathy. Roads were absolutely beautiful and the cool breeze made the drive a lot more pleasantar. Barring a few diversions on the Vellore highway. we were still able to clock 160 Kms on that highway. Speechless I was as glanced at the speedometer! Posting some pictures of the road below:

The broad stretch

 

Clean and nice driveway

The green grass of home

Stopped by at Mettur station to admire the beauty of the station and clicked some pictures. We were off again and stopped at Sathy for a tea break and the stopped at Mettupalayam for lunch. Had lunch at Arya Bhavan hotel and from there on took the Kothagiri - Coonoor road. Surprising enough the road was well maintained.

 

Hoot! Hoot! Here comes the train

Towards Sathy

 Towards Sathy

Baa Baa White Sheep!

 On the hills

 From Mettupalayam towards Kothagiri Coonoor road

We reached our destination around 4 PM after almost 10 hours drive considering the 2 hours break we had taken. A very pleasant and not a tiring trip though conversations between me and my partner were negligible. - I spoke, he listened (Don’t know whether to me or to the music of Yesudas and Ilayaraja) and drove :) The reason we actually went to Coonoor was to spend some time with my Aunt and uncle and stay at their place. So we stayed in a house on a hill. Some pics of the house:

Day 2: It was a relaxing day at home, walking around the place and enjoying nature. Our passion for trains and stations took us straight to the Coonoor station first. Then we did a drive down towards Ooty and just went around with rains lashing heavily for a short while. Had some yummy lunch at a place called "Mahalakshmi Bhojanalaya" where they served piping hot phulkas with 4 different varieties of Subzis.

The hot meal--truly a treat

The toy train looks like approaching but it was leaving the station.

Post a filling lunch we decided to get back home for a super nap. In the evening, we all went for a long walk and before we realized we had actually covered about 6 Kms :)

Day 3: All of us decided that we wanted to do some sightseeing. Visited Dhoddabetta peak, Pykara falls, Pykara river and all other shooting spots around. We underestimated the chillness of the place and never took our jackets along though we had them with us and were freezing in the cold weather up the peak. Pre breakfast munch included fresh carrots, radish and some peanuts and went towards Coonoor for breakfast. Post a late breakfast visited the Pykara falls or rather I should say a dried up river bed, Just enjoyed walking around the place and visited the Pykara river too and finally headed back home around evening after visiting the Pine forest and 8th Mile :)

After a very eventful day headed back home, where some nice steaming Vadas, Puri/Bhaji, and Kesari awaited us and yes, of course the Chai too!  Oh there was a cook at home and she prepared all these items.

 

Drying up Pykara river

Drying up Pykaral lake- another view

Pine woods

Day 4: Relaxing day at home before we headed for our Kerala trip. Had to pick up my hubby's parents from Coimbatore station before we left to Nemmara to visit our family deity Bhagavathy Amman. Picked them up around 2:20 PM at Coimbatore station and we decided to take the Pollachi route to Nemmara. We avoided the Walayar as the truck traffic is more. No regrets as Pollachi is equally green if not more. We stopped at Hotel Anandaas for lunch and drove straight to Nemmara. Driving through some of the most beautiful villages of Kerala we finally reached our destination at 5 PM. It took almost 90 minutes at the temple and it delayed from our original plan which was to leave the place by 5 PM. Any ways blessings from above is so much more important though our idea was to reach Guruvayoor before dark so it is easier on the roads but we least expected what was awaiting us on NH 47.

We left Nemmara at 6:20 PM and we were least expecting what was awaiting us. After asking for directions from the locals there we decided to take the known route from Thrissur. (This is what I mentioned at the start of my blog, that because of rushing for the trip I missed HV Kumars comment on the road condition on my FB page and if only I had seen it we would have definitely avoided what we actually underwent and its definitely not recommended). We took the road towards Thrissur from Nemmara that joined on NH 47 and I should say it was the first time we experienced nightmares. The reason being road condition was pathetic, with potholes every 50 - 100 meters and I am talking about big ones here. Pitch dark roads with flashing lights from trucks, buses and all other vehicles. Except for vehicles all over, we literally could not see the road ahead of us. Everyone wanted to be ahead of others and most rash driving by the private buses of Kerala. For the first time we had the experience of stand still immovable traffic for atleast 15 minutes on a NH. Later I realized that this immovable traffic was because of either huge container trucks going in numbers or because of many huge potholes that made it difficult for vehicles to overtake. In spite of such traffic wherever there were gaps we were trying as much as possible to stick around with a vehicle in front of us as even the slightest gap given, would mean the buses on the other side would charge towards the wrong side as if they plan to get us off the road. This horrific 2 hours cannot be expressed in words more.

That was most nightmarish drive and after driving like that for about couple of hours we realized that we had only covered about 20 odd Kms. Finally we reached Thrissur and had to take the road towards Guruvayoor which was relatively fine with good roads and since mostly we passed through villages it was pretty much well lit everywhere.

We finally reached our destination Guruvayoor at 9:30 PM. Checked in to the hotel Gokulam Sabari (Tried this place for the first time) and headed straight to the restaurant for dinner. Post dinner crashed for the day. This hotel definitely was very nice and clean, well maintained. The only drawback, we noticed is  for people who want to repeatedly visit the temple in a day, had to walk atleast ten minutes each time each way. But then clean beds, clean bathrooms (Very important for us wherever we go) and excellent service awaits you.

Day 5: The entire day went visiting the Guruvayoor Shri Krishna temple and many other temples around the place that we visited first time. Did see the Parthasarathy temple, Chowaloor Shiva temple and one Bagavathy temple. An all round religious experience.

Day 6: Once again back to the roads to head back home. One bitten twice shy, we decided not to touch the same highway again and checked the map for a different route. Started exactly at 5: AM from Guruvayoor and did Guruvayoor - Kunnamkulam - Pattambi - Ottapalam - Lakkidi - Palakkad and awesome is not the word to describe the highways. It was a breezy, smooth and an exhilirating drive. We stopped at some place near Ottapalam for tea and headed straight towards the Pollachi route. We took a small diversion here and instead of taking the main highway we went through the town of Chitoor to reach Pollachi. Stopped at Hotel Gowri Krishna for a good breakfast. Post breakfast took the NH 209 towards Udulmalpet, Palani, Dindugal. Hit the NH 45 at 11:20 Am and from then on we were averaging 80-90 KM per hour. As we had a heavy breakfast we did not want to stop at Trichy for lunch and headed straight, however were forced to stop at a road side shack near Udumalpet for lunch and it was awful. That was the only bad part about the trip. We did not have much choice as we just could not find any other hotels on that highway.

We were back home at 7 pm via Chenglepet.

It was a short but memorable trip and I am sure I would carry memories of this trip for a long time. I am happy I could share it with you all.