[sada]

Road from Jog falls to Kollur was deserted for the major part, when I did this route in 2012. When the time was just 7 pm, it seemed like midnight, pitch dark, in the forest and road condition also was pretty bad, adding to the misery! It was scary to a certain extent as I was travelling with family, wife and kids. Scariest moment was when there was a road block in between where a small bridge was under construction and to bypass it, had to go into the woods and come out on the other side where the path was muddy and slippery. While doing this stretch, I really cursed myself because this was the first time that I had gone ahead with a trip without taking opinions on this forum! Lesson learnt! Will never take an unfamiliar route without consulting here!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sada

Road from Jog falls to Kollur was deserted for the major part, when I did this route in 2012.

You mean the route via Kargal right ? Even I have heard quite many stories about the same!

[thoma]

As mentioned in my previous post, for those who live near to Cochin and have never taken the Boothathankettu dam - Idamalayar dam stretch, I would highly recommend going there along with friends, if you enjoy creepiness. Or have anyone been there recently? The Idamalayar dam itself is a creepy place and what height the dam has. Attaching few snaps from my collection and sharing a link found over the net.








Source

And taking a cue from this thread, I plan to try out the Athirapally - Valpara stretch next time; I've been till Athirapally only.

[ampere]

Once the regular NH49 (Munnar-Theni section) it self became creepy. Those days I had just started driving and since I did not want to drive all the way to Munnar on a single stretch we broke journey at Salem (Now I imagining this).

But it still did not work out as we started pretty late the next day and lost the advantage. Needless to say we also took the Udumalpet route and when we reached Munnar it was already past 6. We also realised our hotel at Chinnakanal is another 22km away. Within no time light faded away. I was december. No one on the way and the highway fully engulfed in mist. And of course there were no lights. I had no idea where the road would turn next.

That day I learnt two things of importance
- How a fog lamp can be of use
- GPS is definitely useful as it can be a indicator of where the road is heading and bending!

Some how we reached Chinnakanal turning and heaved a sigh of relief.

PS : Next day when we headed to Munnar I saw the steepness of this road at certain places and realised where all I had driven!

[praful]

In first post in this thread I mentioned Yana-Gokarna. But equally lonely was the Sirsi-Yana stretch where I did not see a single soul for perhaps last 30Kms before Yana. Here's a short video I had taken of my return journey from Yana back to the main road, this is the part where the forest gets really dense. Also, there was not a single soul at Yana when I went there which was had already freaked me out more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muJHDGh1eJo

-Ignore my speedo showing 199Kmph
-Ignore my breathing, was still catching my breath after the walk from Yana


Though OT in this thread, here's the video of my freaky (because it was lonely!) Yana experience -

Link!

. Again please ignore my blabbering, I had been riding solo for the last 5 days in incessant Malnad rains.

[mittyr]

The road to Edamalayar Dam was closed (private vehicles) after the forest checkpost last time I went.

Another lonely stretch in Idukki district is Moolamattom-Vagamon road. You should take the road after ksrtc busstand. Then again, most roads in Idukki district are deserted after dusk.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by mittyr

The road to Edamalayar Dam was closed (private vehicles) after the forest checkpost last time I went.

Another lonely stretch in Idukki district is Moolamattom-Vagamon road. You should take the road after ksrtc busstand. Then again, most roads in Idukki district are deserted after dusk.

You might have been at the checkpost post noon. IIRC, they deny entry as early as 3.30-4 pm. Or was it closed even in the morning? I doubt so because there is some habitation around Vadattupara en-route and a couple of buses ply till there.

One another thing I missed sharing is that there is a road (IIRC, un-tarred) leading from the Idamalayar dam to the tribal area. The spookiness of the dam made me loose courage to take that route.

Very true about Idukki in general. I must add that even though traffic is sparse, roads are mostly in good condition. Thanks for suggesting Moolamattom-Wagamon. I want to try it out too.

I felt the road to Ponmudi, Trivandrum, too a bit creepy in the evening with lot of pit stop possibilities in the form of fresh streams by the side, but have to admit that it is in excellent condition (my first rank among roads in Kerala for a drive out) with the best hairpins (though smaller ones; larges buses won't get there). Make sure you reach the top just before 5.00 else they will close entry.

This snap is en-route to Ponmudi.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by thoma

The spookiness of the dam made me loose courage to take that route.

Yes, "spookiness" is a quality that is attributable to these roads....

OK folks tell me something....I have never driven a bike....is travelling by bike (as opposed to travelling by car) in these lonely roads any different?

I always pull my windows up (all the time), with AC ON and songs in the background...but I guess, the bike ride in these lonely stretches must be very different...

[praful]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

OK folks tell me something....I have never driven a bike....is travelling by bike (as opposed to travelling by car) in these lonely roads any different?

In a bike you are "exposed" ..

Exposed to Rain
Exposed to Strong Winds (these can push the bike into the oncoming lane even)
Exposed to things being thrown at you (Stones/Tree Branches/Spears)
Exposed to Animals jumping at you
Exposed to people jumping at you
Exposed to people wanting to "shoot" you

[Tempelhof]

Here's my video of travel on the Kodaikanal to Munnar Road via Lake Berijam - one can go only up to Lake Berijam now. It was raining, no one around, and great fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqSfJY1Um9k

[370Z]

to this thread. Would love to try out these routes when monsoon arrives.

Bisle ghat road can get very lonely. You would spot one to two jeeps or bikes, sometimes none. I had been there thrice (twice in car and once in bike).

Last time when we went there in car, we spent time at Bisle ghat viewpoint till sunset and then started to Kukke Subramanya. We met a local guy at viewpoint and he told us not to take ghat road as it was already dark and he saw some fresh elephant dung on the road.

We anyway took the risk and took the ghat road; it was pitch dark and was scary On every curve, when lights illuminated the road I was expecting to spot an elephant or some animal!!! We had switched off audio, rolled down windows and driving very slowly just to enjoy the silence (also keeping an eye on surroundings). There were huge number of fireflys along the road and it was surreal. Finally, we were relieved when we reached Chamundeshwari temple.

PS: Bisle, Gundya regions are well known for wild elephants. Please do not venture during nights in Bisle road. We did spot fresh elephant dung and broken bamboo shoots on that night.

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

By lonely, do you mean a creepy, deserted stretch or just lack of traffic?? If it is the former, the loneliest stretch I have travelled on (in South India) is the Valparai - Athirapally road. The road passes through extremely thick forests and can give you the creeps. In broad daylight, the vegetation and tree canopy was so thick that I had to switch on headlights at a few places. There was almost zero traffic on this road when I did this ~80 km ghat section stretch around 2 years ago.

We had to take a break at one point and stopped the car for a while. All we could hear when we got out was the sound of insects and crickets, nothing else! It was dark and eerie due to the thick forests. No one in sight for miles! There weren't many towns on the route either. The entire forest ambience was so creepy that we just resumed the journey immediately and wanted to get it done with. If some car breaks down on this route in the monsoons, the guy is surely doomed!

You are right, the stretch of forest and high range is so creepy and scary. I guess in 2007 or 2008, I along with my parents and cousin were going to Allepey from a place called Tirupur. It so happened that Palakkad District had strike and we cannot touch Palakkad. My dad suggested this route and we did Valparai forest stretch towards Chalakudy at night. We happened to see wild boars and other wild life there. I really want to go back there to check out how the place looks like now.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by 370Z

to this thread. Would love to try out these routes when monsoon arrives.

Bisle ghat road can get very lonely. You would spot one to two jeeps or bikes, sometimes none. I had been there thrice (twice in car and once in bike).

Last time when we went there in car, we spent time at Bisle ghat viewpoint till sunset and then started to Kukke Subramanya. We met a local guy at viewpoint and he told us not to take ghat road as it was already dark and he saw some fresh elephant dung on the road.

We anyway took the risk and took the ghat road; it was pitch dark and was scary On every curve, when lights illuminated the road I was expecting to spot an elephant or some animal!!! We had switched off audio, rolled down windows and driving very slowly just to enjoy the silence (also keeping an eye on surroundings). There were huge number of fireflys along the road and it was surreal. Finally, we were relieved when we reached Chamundeshwari temple.

PS: Bisle, Gundya regions are well known for wild elephants. Please do not venture during nights in Bisle road. We did spot fresh elephant dung and broken bamboo shoots on that night.

Would be good (for all posters to this thread) if a map is also added to the post - pictures and videos are great too - so that others can use the map to plan their next "spooky and creepy" trip

[Tempelhof]

Here are two video clips that show the lonely road to the top of the Pushpagiri mountain range near Madikeri. From atop, one could see the location of the Kukke Subramanya Temple, several kilometers away. The only sign of life atop the hill was a ramshackle forest department "office"; absolutely bad road as you can see the jeep is finding it difficult to get to the top. Accompanying map shows the approximate location.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIogRI98lY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2FDuEo2pQ8

[370Z]

Here's the map of Bisle ghat road. I have marked it from Sakleshpur to Kukke Subramanya, passing through Bisle ghat road.
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/7QV3a