Idukki-kerala's best driving roads?

[rippergeo]

Chose a road, any road! as long as its in idukki, you will have fun. there are plenty of offbeat destinations in this district of kerala, and our cochin TBHPians have made quite a few of them famous on various meet threads.
I thought I should start this thread to let people know how much fun driving in this district is.

of course, the roads can be bad on occasion, but for the past few years, after numerous drives, the occasions that I've been disappointed are few.

This set of pictures are from an impromptu trip to a place called kulamavu.
the name of a village on top of a hill 16kms off SH33, between thodupuzha and idukki proper.
the drive is fantastic! 12 hairpins with plenty of visibility and excellent signposting. climbing is possible in 3rd 4th and 5th gears because the speed never drops below 30kmph, even on the hairpins.
smooth surfaces, fantastic views, empty roads.


see pics for details

[rippergeo]

there is a resort near the top of the hill called Greenberg.
I spied mansidea's scorpio there, but decided not to bother him.

more pics.

[rippergeo]

pics from earlier that morning
the one with the frogs, I'm especially happy with, and has already been posted in the official non auto image thread, sorry mods!

[vishnuvijay]

nice photos rippergeo. these roads seem 100% better that the roads in ernakulam. nice froggy threesome too.

[MG1558]

Hey nice photos. Which camera do you use?

[nikkibike]

haaaaa!! This is an eye opener rips!!!! Funtastic and Boombastic detail!!! huh! can't wait to rip my 'chwipt' thru those curves!!!

Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak..!!! when is our next D R I V E meet??!!!! I've already fastned the belts and the engine is revving haaaaard!!! Are you listening???!!!

[PraveenM]

Nice pictures, although the ones taken by the N73 is a bit too saturated. The pictures in the third post taken by the EOS 350D are great.

@rippergeo, were you able to spot the frogs easily?? looks like the 70-300mm lens came in handy!

[speedzak]

So, now I understand why you didn't come with us.

To answer the title, YES! 100% as of now. I've many a times even wondered why? I think you've taken the road via Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha, Kanhar, right? Those are the best roads in the state as of now. That crazy climb up Moolamattom to Naadukaani is just amazing. Then, carry on forward till Cheruthoni, Idukki and Ramakkalmedu to attain complete Nirwana. Something to be experienced atleast once in a lifetime.

There are unlimited attractions all the way from Cochin. The best being the Wild elephants and other animals near/before Painavu. The best is to take a powerful rear wheel drive one. Makes up for a perfect Weekend drive from here.
Yes! We'll plan one soon buddy.

Now, coming to this thread. Bugger! You should've come with us and put your tripod tool for some good use. It should've been definitely worth it. My family agrees too.
Your photos are clean, good and at the same time, detailed too. Keep it up buddy. And let it flow here. Yes, just keep posting and see how this thread will become a 5 star rated one.

[mansidea]

Beautiful pics ripper. Idukki roads are worth mentioning on a seperate thread itself.

But some are painted in GREEN.





Oh i love this drive...


Pls. continue ripper.

[rippergeo]

Originally Posted by vishnuvijay

nice photos rippergeo. these roads seem 100% better that the roads in ernakulam.

@vishnuvijay- that is an understatement!multiply the qouted figures by a factor of 10. the main thing is that the smooth roads are also accompanied by light but disciplined, ghat driving aware traffic. it is bliss!!!!!

Originally Posted by MG1558

Hey nice photos. Which camera do you use?

most of the photos were on the N73, which is my main travelogue camera, as I can charge it in my car, I have a 2GB card which gives me virtually unlimited storage.

the serious camera is the Canon EOS 350D, taken out only when the N73 finds the going tough. which is not very often.

Originally Posted by nikkibike

haaaaa!! This is an eye opener rips!!!! Funtastic and Boombastic detail!!! huh! can't wait to rip my 'chwipt' thru those curves!!!

Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak..!!! when is our next D R I V E meet??!!!! I've already fastned the belts and the engine is revving haaaaard!!! Are you listening???!!!

I did miss driving in a convoy. we shall go chwipting soon machooo!

Originally Posted by PraveenM

Nice pictures, although the ones taken by the N73 is a bit too saturated. The pictures in the third post taken by the EOS 350D are great.

@rippergeo, were you able to spot the frogs easily?? looks like the 70-300mm lens came in handy!

the N73 I had kept on vivid colour mode while shooting. i prefer my pics that way. but I have'nt upped the colour sats a lot. its just that the light was good and the colours came out well. if you notice the sky, there were plenty of clouds to reflect and diffuse the light. that helped a lot.

The frogs were a massive stroke of luck. was out walking in the morning in thodupuzha with my 7 month old son, saw the frogs, ran as fast as i could back home, handed my son over to a very surprised and sleepy wife, grabbed the camera and rushed out praying that they were still there.

took some shots with the 18-55 at max zoom and was disappointed. then shifted to the 70-300, zoomed as much as I could a squeezed of at least 20-30 shots with various auto and manual settings.

the models were very obliging!!

@mansidea- not fair dude!!! you have a 4WD so you can go to places and take pics that i can only dream of....not fair.
BTW, where did you do those pics?will a RWD car with 210mm GC make it there?

@Zak- this trip was revenge for the BETRAYAL!
to others who didnt understand that, read this thread in detail
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/team-b...t-drive-8.html (April 2008 Cochin - 4 days of meets and 1 great drive!)

I have run out of photos to post from this trip. maybe mansidea can post somemore. he was in the same locality.

I plan to continue using this thread to popularise idukki, so I will add the photos from all my future trips into this thread. is that a good Idea? or should I start a new thread for the next trip I do? dont know when It will be.

[srijit]

wow, great shots guys

[Bigzero]

Great thread idea, and great pics! Will keep following this thread for sure.

Terrific roads to drive at sedate speeds with your windows rolled down, listening to the various smells and sounds of nature...

Looking forward to more pics, rippergeo!

[speedzak]

Even if you do 100s of this kinda trips, it won't become a revenge to that one! Mr. Rips, next time, just make sure you're with the convoy. It's worth the doghouse too.

Continue posting in this thread. Bumping up with new pics and an edited title is a GOOD IDEA!

[PatienceWins]

Great shot guys.

How far is this place from Ernakulam? I am tempted to visit this place during my next visit to namma Ernakulam.

[rippergeo]

60 odd kilometers from ernakulam, you reach thodupuzha.
another 30-40km you reach naadukaani/kulamavu
from the SH33 the climb to kulamavu is 16km, with 12 delightful hairpins and fantastic views.

sorry I dont have the exact distances,as i had'nt planned on going there. i just took the first road i saw and ended up there.

but fun begins right from ernakulam itself. the road surfaces are good but narrow with heavy traffic till muvattupuzha. but after that, it is heaven. the initial section(ernakulam -muvattupuzha) is best done early morning before 7AM. after muvattupuzha, time of the day doesnt matter, because the roads are good(did I say good?wrong-excellent) and traffic is light.