An incredible road trip to Velankanni, Kodaikanal and Ooty

[sandeep3in]

hey Chevy_lover - I thought the fastest and the shortest route from salem to trichy is through namakkal --> Musri than through Karur. I had always taken this route for my velankanni travel .Any reason to choose the karur route or may be my assumption on the musri route being short is not right.

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by sandeep3in

hey Chevy_lover - I thought the fastest and the shortest route from salem to trichy is through namakkal --> Musri than through Karur. I had always taken this route for my velankanni travel .Any reason to choose the karur route or may be my assumption on the musri route being short is not right.

Hi Sandy, you are right. We byepassed Karur, by taking a left turn and passed through Musiri towards Trichy.

The route I took was given to me by HVK. When HVK says that the route is good and shorter, I know that it will be that way. And I trust him blindly!
HVK is called the "King of Indian Highways".

[Majic]

Chevy lover, must be busy with work, i have not seen todays posting? Do continue with it!

[Chevy_lover]

We finished our dinner and started our drive by 9:45pm. We went further inside the city and finally joined the highway. The roads inside Dindigul were in an appalling condition. There was about 50 meters of road in between 10 kilometers of potholes!!! We drove over those 10 kilometers of potholes at 5 km/hr.

The private buses were speeding over these potholes. The town was so crowded late in the night also.

Our next destination was Vatalakundu. The highway was in much better condition after Dindigul. I drove as fast as I could and never went below 100 km/hr. Then suddenly we encountered heavy rains near Theni. It was impossible to see more than 10 feet ahead. It was pouring buckets!!!

We thought of stopping for some time till the rain eased a bit. But I decided to drive on, as it was not safe to stop in the middle of nowhere. We tailed a private passenger bus for close to half an hour. I put on my blinkers and drove at 60 km/hr. Finally the rain stopped and we reached the intersection towards Kodaikanal by 10:45 pm. We took the right turn and started the climb towards Kodai.

[Chevy_lover]

The road was marvelous and I kept up good speed. Kodai was 48 kms away and the road was fully ghat section. I was quite comfortable driving at night and drove most of the ghat in 3rd and 4th gear. Chevy’s pickup was fantastic. I maintained 50 km/hr most of the time. Wifey was a bit scared. The road was in such good condition that I never had to slow down due to potholes.

The drive to Kodai was a challenging one. The road was full of sharp turns and twists. It is not a good idea to attempt this drive at night, if the driver is new to this road. I do not think there were any hair pin curves en-route.

We saw only 12-15 heavy vehicles coming down hill. I was surprised to see that they never used their horns at turns. So I had to be doubly cautious and made sure that I blasted my horn at every turn. That was safer. The approaching vehicles were warned about my approaching vehicle only by my powerful horns.

[Chevy_lover]

We reached the Kodai entry toll plaza by 11:57 pm. We paid the toll of 30 bucks and speeded towards Kodai. We reached Kodai town by 12:07 am.

I was speeding up hill after passing the lake at about 60 km/hr. We saw four guys in Military jackets waving at us to stop. I thought that they were policemen and stopped immediately.

One guy came over to my window. I rolled down my window glass. Just visualize my fury when I heard the guy ask, “Sir, aap ko room ya cottage chahiye? Mere paas ek dum first class rooms hai”. (Translation: Sir, do you want a room or cottage? I have first class rooms with me).

I just shouted at him,” Tumne mujhe sirf isiliye rokka??” (Did you stop me just for this?) He said yes. I was so livid with him that I shouted at him to move aside and drove on.

We reached Kodai city centre, near the bus stand and was about to check into Hotel Bala.

Out of nowhere, one tout came and literally begged me to go with him to a newly opened hotel. He told me that there were wonderful rooms in the new hotel. We decided to check out the room there and went with him. This hotel was near Coaker’s Walk. I had to take a left turn and drive downhill through a narrow path. I lost my cool there itself. As a rule, I never take my car to narrow roads, if it is not wide enough for a bus to pass through.

The room was ok, but the location was not at all good. So we sent the tout off and returned back to Hotel Bala and checked in by 12:45 am.

It was really cold in Kodai and there was mist everywhere. Hotel Bala is one of the few hotels in Kodai with reserved and guarded parking space inside the hotel. Hotel Astoria, another big hotel, had parking on the road. So staying there was not an option.

Bala had only superior rooms available. We settled down for a well deserved rest. We had covered 355 kilometers from Velankanni.

[Surprise]

Sir, where are the pictures?

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Our next destination was Vatalakundu. The highway was in much better condition after Dindigul. I drove as fast as I could and never went below 100 km/hr. Then suddenly we encountered heavy rains near Theni. It was impossible to see more than 10 feet ahead. It was pouring buckets!!!

Theni is far away from the right turn which you have to take to Kodai.

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

The drive to Kodai was a challenging one. The road was full of sharp turns and twists. It is not a good idea to attempt this drive at night, if the driver is new to this road. I do not think there were any hair pin curves en-route.

We saw only 12-15 heavy vehicles coming down hill. I was surprised to see that they never used their horns at turns.

Head lights too would do a fantastic job during nights. Though many prefer only lights during nights, I too still have the habit of honking at random turns

[Chevy_lover]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Sir, where are the pictures?
Theni is far away from the right turn which you have to take to Kodai.
Head lights too would do a fantastic job during nights. Though many prefer only lights during nights, I too still have the habit of honking at random turns

Sorry Surprise, We were so busy concentrating on the roads that we did not take any snaps. It is also difficult to click during night drives. Kodai pics are coming up shortly.

I cannot drive with just lights. I am not sure of the alertness of the drivers approaching me. So I make sure that I honk to make them aware of my presence.

[Chevy_lover]

Day 5 – Kodaikanal

We woke up quite late on day 5 of our journey. We had a good breakfast from a hotel near to the town downhill by 10am.

We then decided to walk to the lake. Wifey really enjoyed the beautiful Kodai town a lot. She could not resist having some Kerala snacks from a shop near the Kodai International School. We also noticed some Tibetan restaurants on the way to the lake. We made a mental note of it and wanted to go there for dinner.

We went to the lake and decided to walk around it. We saw many beautiful bungalows and one even had a tree house.

[Chevy_lover]

We were truly mesmerised by the beauty of Kodaikanal!

[Majic]

Hello Chevylover, nice to see that the travelogue is being continued, good photos of the lake, really beautiful. Looking forward to more!

[pjay_in]

Nice photos, CL. Those pink flowers seem to transform the place altogether. I've never noticed them in Kodai before, I guess they are seasonal.

[i.1979]

Originally Posted by pjay_in

Nice photos, CL. Those pink flowers seem to transform the place altogether. I've never noticed them in Kodai before, I guess they are seasonal.

i had visited kodai last December and me too never noticed those pink flowers. but i think i have seen such flowers and trees near Mattuppetty/ kundal dam (munnar) .

[Chevy_lover]

We strolled leisurely around the lake. It was really a breathtaking experience. The distance must have been close to five kilometers. But I must tell you that this walk is not for out-of-shape people. We got the feeling that the Lake circuit would never end!! The scenery around the lake was so beautiful. We stopped every now and then to soak in the beauty.

There were so many gorgeous bungalows around the lake. The last time I visited Kodai, rooms were available in some bungalows. But we had no such luck this time. It drizzled a bit when we reached Bryant’s park. The whole environment changed for the better when it rained. It was really an amazing sight.

We were so happy that we had decided to come to Kodai. Every hill station has its own beauty. Kodai had a natural unspoilt charm. I would give Kodai 6 points out of 10 for beauty!

We also went to some boat houses, but decided to do boating on a later date. We spent close to four hours walking around the lake. We had some tasty snacks and tea from the shop opposite to TTDC boat house. As always, we did not forget to have ice creams too!

[jyobeb]

Avoid the Tibetan restaurant unless you have tried it before and liked it. The food is full of vinegar and is horrible (In my opinion).
Glad to see you enjoying yourself!