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Dhar's · 11th May 2008, 16:23

19/04/08
It was one hot humid Saturday that we deperately wanted to escape the heat. The nearest hill station being Nelliampathy which is hardly 2 1/2 hrs drive from our place, we hit the road on Sunday morning. Our original plan was to stay there and return on Monday morning but later I had to cancel the stay since I had to reach Kollam on Monday morning.

20/04/08
7.00 am
(1 hr being schedule)
I, my wife and our 2 yr old daughter in our beloved Alto started the journey.
Route -
Pazhayyannur -(19kms)- Alathur -(~10kms) Nenmara -(26km)- Nelliampathy.
7.45 am- Nenmara
(Had to stop in between for those baby things)
Our ascent to the Nelliampathy hills starts near the Pothundi dam.

There is a check post where you need to give your name and address.
The ascent starts. The road is so good that given an appropriate vehicle it would be fun to drive through those curves and n no. of 'hair pin' bends.

First thing to do - roll down the windows, switch off your ICE and enjoy the fresh air and wildlife (mostly noise of crickets).

Our little Alto

The long winding road

Some more pics

9.30 am
Reach Govt Orange and Veg farm. We were hoping to see some orange farms trees but were told that the farms are far inside. So we book our Jeep for the Manpara trip and head to ITL resorts for our breakfast. We book our lunch as well.

10.30 am
Sight seeing trip to Kesavanpara.
View from Kesavanpara.

11.45 am
Kesavanpara to Seethargundu.

12.15 pm

View from Seethargundu

Despite the rich biodiversity, this is all we could manage to see from the wild life

1.30pm
Sales counter of Poabs Plantations where we enjoyed fresh strawberry juice bought some organically produced tea and some cole crops.

2.00pm
Lunch at ITL

3.00pm
Our Jeep is ready.
We start our journey (rather adventurous) for Manpara. The roads are almost non existant with steep climbs and only local Mahindra 4x4s ply through these route. They charge Rs. 500 - 600/- for a trip. I was told that recently someone tried with a Pajero but didn't dare to take it up to the top.

The trail to Manpara

Yes climbing over the rock.

Its a short walk from this point. The Forest Dept blocked the road till top.

11th May 2008, 16:23	#1 (permalink)
Dhar's BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: TCR/QLN/DXB Posts: 227	Trip to Nelliampathy 19/04/08 It was one hot humid Saturday that we deperately wanted to escape the heat. The nearest hill station being Nelliampathy which is hardly 2 1/2 hrs drive from our place, we hit the road on Sunday morning. Our original plan was to stay there and return on Monday morning but later I had to cancel the stay since I had to reach Kollam on Monday morning. 20/04/08 7.00 am (1 hr being schedule) I, my wife and our 2 yr old daughter in our beloved Alto started the journey. Route - Pazhayyannur -(19kms)- Alathur -(~10kms) Nenmara -(26km)- Nelliampathy. 7.45 am- Nenmara (Had to stop in between for those baby things) Our ascent to the Nelliampathy hills starts near the Pothundi dam. There is a check post where you need to give your name and address. The ascent starts. The road is so good that given an appropriate vehicle it would be fun to drive through those curves and n no. of 'hair pin' bends. First thing to do - roll down the windows, switch off your ICE and enjoy the fresh air and wildlife (mostly noise of crickets). Our little Alto The long winding road Some more pics 9.30 am Reach Govt Orange and Veg farm. We were hoping to see some orange farms trees but were told that the farms are far inside. So we book our Jeep for the Manpara trip and head to ITL resorts for our breakfast. We book our lunch as well. 10.30 am Sight seeing trip to Kesavanpara. View from Kesavanpara. 11.45 am Kesavanpara to Seethargundu. 12.15 pm View from Seethargundu Despite the rich biodiversity, this is all we could manage to see from the wild life 1.30pm Sales counter of Poabs Plantations where we enjoyed fresh strawberry juice bought some organically produced tea and some cole crops. 2.00pm Lunch at ITL 3.00pm Our Jeep is ready. We start our journey (rather adventurous) for Manpara. The roads are almost non existant with steep climbs and only local Mahindra 4x4s ply through these route. They charge Rs. 500 - 600/- for a trip. I was told that recently someone tried with a Pajero but didn't dare to take it up to the top. The trail to Manpara Yes climbing over the rock. Its a short walk from this point. The Forest Dept blocked the road till top.