The hills and dales of Kerala
Normally, Kerala in March is not something I would venture but then, Toshu's board exams had just got over and after being house bound for over 2 months, I was stir crazy. I was ready to go anywhere, as long as it was for R&R and though I got the bookings done at Club Mahindra Thekkady and Munnar, it was not easy. Anyways, we got the bookings and we left for Thekkady.
29/03/2012 - Bangalore - Thekkady
We left at 6am, on a fairly cool morning, and drove past Dindigul on NH7 and then turned right towards Vattalagundu and Thekkady. Route taken - Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Vathalagundu - Peryakulam - Theni - Cumbum - Kumily (Thekkady). It is about 530kms and barring the last 130kms, which is not a NH and can slow you down because of the traffic, you should comfortably touch Thekkady by 2pm. Lunch can be had at the Travancore Paragon in Cumbum, but we had a packed lunch from and reached Thekkady to rest. We stayed in Thekkady for 2N.
Evening was a walk along the winding roads of Thekkady and a good meal at the Club Mahindra Tiger Trails resort, we watched TV for a very short while before, we succumbed to sleep.
30/03/2012 - Thekkady
Monkeys jumping on roofs woke us and after making hot coffee, we went out on to the sit out and watched the monkeys busily swinging away. Had a leisurely breakfast cooked in the attached kitchen and ventured out by 10am to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. We were told that spotting wildlife in summer in the mornings is about as likely as your winning the sweepstakes, so we decided to take a birding walk through the sanctuary and spotted some exotic species. Went to their tourism shack and other than the turtle shape of the shack there were only two books by Salim Ali worth looking at. We bid adieu to Periyar and went shopping for spices and a couple of cute lil tables and then had a typical Kerala meal and by the time we returned it was past 4. Had a siesta, watched a movie, cooked in and had a relaxed evening.
31/03/2012 - Thekkady - Munnar
We left after a leisurely breakfast and drove up the unbelievably beautiful road up to Munnar, the last 38kms being through the Tata Tea Estates on roads barely wider than our Scorpio and praying that no one else would come the other way...well, a couple of times, Ranga's driving skills were put to test but its the experiences such as these which make you an excellent driver, and that Ranga today is indisputably so! I bought a couple of earthenware cooking vessels enroute when we stopped for coffee...looking forward to try cooking with them. We reached Munnar, had a simple lunch cooked in the kitchen of the lovely 1 bedroom cottage which opened on to one of the most beautiful vistas ever. Fortunately the infamous Munnar fog was a no-show, so the pelting rain watched in the darkness of the Earth hour with lights switched off was ethereal. We sat out and watched pinpoints of light of the upcoming vehicles dotting the ghat roads, through a sheet of pelting rain, with absolute darkness and stillness surrounding us...it was beyond beautiful!! I believe after Cherrapunji, Munnar gets the second highest quantity of rain in the country, no wonder the entire landscape is green and absolutely lush, God's own country??--you betcha!
01/04/2012 - Munnar
Morning, after a late breakfast, we drove to get better views of the lake, took a walk up to the end of our road and found a hole in the wall eatery serving Gujarati - Marwari food. So we went back, decided to have a Gujarati thali and walked over to our newly discovered joint. A small place with no frills, not inexpensive but finger lickin' food...then we trudged back home for a siesta. Watched 'Rockstar' on TV, then had the buffet dinner at the Tea Room at the Club Mahindra Lake View resort, Munnar. Excellent food, excellent view, super service ... the resort gets a 5 star rating from me!
We wanted to leave early as it was a long drive of over 560kms and we wanted to cover as much as possible before it turned hot as most of the jouney is through Tamil Nadu. Route taken - Munnar - Poopara - Bodi - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Salem - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore. We stopped at Bodi for the packed breakfast we had carried and relived the absolutely amazing drive through some of the most stark landscapes in Kerala which would give Grand Canyon a run for their money, absolutely stupendous vies for miles down seeing the roads curving wrapped around the mountains, with vehicles looking like toy cars as they made their way up was so beautiful, the nearly 60kms of ghats just whizzed past...and we were left wanting more of nature's beauty. I wish nature remained how it should, unspoilt by humans...sigh, anyways, we were by then closing in on the busy Theni road and then onto NH7. A lovely break, lazy, soft, unhurried four days in the midst of pristine nature ended with the 570kms return drive but thanks to the off roarder that the Scorpio is, we managed the journey with minimum fatigue.
Total distance on the Odo - 1223kms
Diesel used - 90litres approx.
Mileage - About 13.6kms/litre
Natural Ambience - Superlative
Stay - Club Mahindra Resorts at Thekkady and Munnar
Normally, Kerala in March is not something I would venture but then, Toshu's board exams had just got over and after being house bound for over 2 months, I was stir crazy. I was ready to go anywhere, as long as it was for R&R and though I got the bookings done at Club Mahindra Thekkady and Munnar, it was not easy. Anyways, we got the bookings and we left for Thekkady.
29/03/2012 - Bangalore - Thekkady
We left at 6am, on a fairly cool morning, and drove past Dindigul on NH7 and then turned right towards Vattalagundu and Thekkady. Route taken - Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Namakkal - Karur - Dindigul - Vathalagundu - Peryakulam - Theni - Cumbum - Kumily (Thekkady). It is about 530kms and barring the last 130kms, which is not a NH and can slow you down because of the traffic, you should comfortably touch Thekkady by 2pm. Lunch can be had at the Travancore Paragon in Cumbum, but we had a packed lunch from and reached Thekkady to rest. We stayed in Thekkady for 2N.
Evening was a walk along the winding roads of Thekkady and a good meal at the Club Mahindra Tiger Trails resort, we watched TV for a very short while before, we succumbed to sleep.
30/03/2012 - Thekkady
Monkeys jumping on roofs woke us and after making hot coffee, we went out on to the sit out and watched the monkeys busily swinging away. Had a leisurely breakfast cooked in the attached kitchen and ventured out by 10am to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. We were told that spotting wildlife in summer in the mornings is about as likely as your winning the sweepstakes, so we decided to take a birding walk through the sanctuary and spotted some exotic species. Went to their tourism shack and other than the turtle shape of the shack there were only two books by Salim Ali worth looking at. We bid adieu to Periyar and went shopping for spices and a couple of cute lil tables and then had a typical Kerala meal and by the time we returned it was past 4. Had a siesta, watched a movie, cooked in and had a relaxed evening.
31/03/2012 - Thekkady - Munnar
We left after a leisurely breakfast and drove up the unbelievably beautiful road up to Munnar, the last 38kms being through the Tata Tea Estates on roads barely wider than our Scorpio and praying that no one else would come the other way...well, a couple of times, Ranga's driving skills were put to test but its the experiences such as these which make you an excellent driver, and that Ranga today is indisputably so! I bought a couple of earthenware cooking vessels enroute when we stopped for coffee...looking forward to try cooking with them. We reached Munnar, had a simple lunch cooked in the kitchen of the lovely 1 bedroom cottage which opened on to one of the most beautiful vistas ever. Fortunately the infamous Munnar fog was a no-show, so the pelting rain watched in the darkness of the Earth hour with lights switched off was ethereal. We sat out and watched pinpoints of light of the upcoming vehicles dotting the ghat roads, through a sheet of pelting rain, with absolute darkness and stillness surrounding us...it was beyond beautiful!! I believe after Cherrapunji, Munnar gets the second highest quantity of rain in the country, no wonder the entire landscape is green and absolutely lush, God's own country??--you betcha!
01/04/2012 - Munnar
Morning, after a late breakfast, we drove to get better views of the lake, took a walk up to the end of our road and found a hole in the wall eatery serving Gujarati - Marwari food. So we went back, decided to have a Gujarati thali and walked over to our newly discovered joint. A small place with no frills, not inexpensive but finger lickin' food...then we trudged back home for a siesta. Watched 'Rockstar' on TV, then had the buffet dinner at the Tea Room at the Club Mahindra Lake View resort, Munnar. Excellent food, excellent view, super service ... the resort gets a 5 star rating from me!
02/04/2012 - Munnar - Bangalore
We wanted to leave early as it was a long drive of over 560kms and we wanted to cover as much as possible before it turned hot as most of the jouney is through Tamil Nadu. Route taken - Munnar - Poopara - Bodi - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Salem - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore. We stopped at Bodi for the packed breakfast we had carried and relived the absolutely amazing drive through some of the most stark landscapes in Kerala which would give Grand Canyon a run for their money, absolutely stupendous vies for miles down seeing the roads curving wrapped around the mountains, with vehicles looking like toy cars as they made their way up was so beautiful, the nearly 60kms of ghats just whizzed past...and we were left wanting more of nature's beauty. I wish nature remained how it should, unspoilt by humans...sigh, anyways, we were by then closing in on the busy Theni road and then onto NH7. A lovely break, lazy, soft, unhurried four days in the midst of pristine nature ended with the 570kms return drive but thanks to the off roarder that the Scorpio is, we managed the journey with minimum fatigue.
Total distance on the Odo - 1223kms
Diesel used - 90litres approx.
Mileage - About 13.6kms/litre
Natural Ambience - Superlative
Stay - Club Mahindra Resorts at Thekkady and Munnar
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