[microaubin]

Originally Posted by Mordred

I dont mean to be a pessimist, but heavy rains Is expected in munnar. Can the organisers please look into this also.

P.S I have no plans to backout and look forward to irritate all of you guys with my noobiness

Unfortunately organisers can do nothing about the rains. Everyone can bring their own umbrellas if needed.

On the bright side we may get to experience the rain tourism Munnar is getting so famous for.

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by microaubin

Unfortunately organisers can do nothing about the rains. Everyone can bring their own umbrellas if needed.

On the bright side we may get to experience the rain tourism Munnar is getting so famous for.

Well monsoon tourism it is then. I am coming from thrissur, if the expected route map is shared I can join you from a point.

Also does any of the organisers can pm me their number ??

[naveen.raju]

Here's the update:

5 rooms booked at Union Cardamom Hill Resort, Munnar

Confirmed List:
1) naveen.raju + 1
2) Jacs + 1 + 2
3) Revintup
4) Voyageur
5) BigBrad
6) aswin ajith
7) Speed.Demon
8) Rajoy123
9) Microaubin
10) Mordred

Start Point:
Just after thiruvankulam. The meeting point is marked by the red arrow.


1) naveen.raju+1
2) Rajoy123
3) Bigbrad
4) Voyageur
5) Speed.Demon - from here or kolenchery

Departure Time - 11AM

Microaubin will join Jacs at Thodupuzha and will join us at Onnukal.

Lunch at Adimali - Edassery farmyard

Members starting from Kottayam
1) Revintup
2) aswin ajith

Departure Time - 4PM

Mordred - kindly let me know your start point. My phone number is 9946034924

Originally Posted by Mordred

I dont mean to be a pessimist, but heavy rains Is expected in munnar. Can the organisers please look into this also.

P.S I have no plans to backout and look forward to irritate all of you guys with my noobiness

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Mordred - kindly let me know your start point.

Hey naveen, I can start with you guys, my house in thriprayar, and your start point is easier for me. The thiruvankulam stop, not sure if I have noticed it, but I will try and get down there as early as possible.

P.S I have send you a whatsapp message from my mob.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Here's the update:


Start Point:
Just after thiruvankulam. The meeting point is marked by the red arrow.


1) naveen.raju+1
2) Rajoy123
3) Bigbrad
4) Voyageur
5) Speed.Demon - from here or kolenchery

Departure Time - 11AM

Microaubin will join Jacs at Thodupuzha and will join us at Onnukal.

Lunch at Adimali - Edassery farmyard

Thanks Naveen for the sum up. Assuming its just an hour and half drive for your guys till Oonnukal from Tiruvankulam, we shall start at 10AM and collect Microaubin from Thodupuzha before 12 noon targeting to meet you by 12:30.

[voyageur]

Hey folks,

Posting couple of teaser pics just so that you know what to expect.

Heavy rains



Bloodshed





Potholes



Lot of fun

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by voyageur

Hey folks,

Posting couple of teaser pics just so that you know what to expect.

Heavy rains

Attachment 1303224

Bloodshed

Attachment 1303225

Attachment 1303226

Potholes

Attachment 1303227

Lot of fun
Attachment 1303228

Awesome pics, it was a fun trip, proper amount of rains, drive, entertainment, and lots of fun.

Waiting for more. Both pics and drive

[mallumowgli]

Guys, please spin it off as a separate thread in travelogue section. I think it deserves a separate thread and more visibility

[naveen.raju]

Pathway to Paradise!




Drive Report:

Started at 10.45am from home and went straight to Vytilla to pick voyageur and bigbrad. Luckily, they had sometime to check the new Duke which was taken as an excuse to kill some time. Sorry, I had kept them waiting for quite a bit. Mordred, was waiting for us at Thiruvankulam for a long time but found time to have a power nap which worked to our advantage. Since we were meeting him for the first, we introduced ourselves and after 5 min we started off our drive. Meanwhile, jacs & family along with microaubin had set off from Thodupuzha at 10am and the scheduled arrival at Onnukal was around 12.30pm. We were running behind schedule and to make things worse, traffic was really bad at Thripunithara and Thirvankulam. After waiting for sometime, they decided to drive and wait for us at cheeyappara falls. Yes, as expected I was blamed for making them wait (tried to put blame on the traffic but it’s always me that keeps everyone waiting – but this time it was the traffic. Voyageur and BigBrad, please support me).

Cheeyappara Falls




What's with these people


Ok, let's also join the fun


Hmm, I have better things to do


After spending some 10 mins, we decided to push off to Farmyard for a well deserved lunch. The road was excellent and the heavy rains made the drive through the windy roads a bit more exciting (don’t know whether the passengers in my car appreciated that).

Reached our designated drive spot at around 2pm and wasting no time proceeded to have lunch. Food was fine but the heavy rains continued and we decided to spend some 1 hour there. We then realized it was getting late and the rains continued. Missed some photo opportunity here. The resort was located off the main road to Munnar on the Kallar route. This route was pathetic and the sedan found a hard time keeping itself on the road. I decided to take the road to show the sedan a more accessible path (Ecosport’s high GC helped here a lot). After some 5-7kms, we reached our resort (well, almost) – Union Cardamom Hills Resort. We then realized that our rooms are on top of an hill and it was accessible only by a 4x4.

Look who is here to greet us!


The machine that took us safely


It took close to 20 mins to reach our rooms. The driver had pointed out that a Duster managed to drive all the way up and an Innova made it half way. I wanted to try it out but after reaching halfway, I realised that I had made the right move. The path was horrible.

Some pictures of the offroad section.








We then reached our rooms and decided to freshen up and wait for Revintup and aswinajith. Revintup had left Kottayam at 3 and picked aswinajith at around 4pm from Pala. Since this resort was kind of inhospitable, we gave the driver’s phone number so that they could find their way through to the resort. We felt pity thinking how he could manage to drive through these pathetic roads in his city (actually, we didn’t feel pity. We were kind of laughing thinking about that situation LOL). Finally they did reach the resort by 8pm and after half n hour, we decided to join together for some chit chat. It went all the way close to midnight and decided to have dinner and retire for the night.
The next day, we decided to walk around the resort which was kind of challenging. The ladies and kids found it a bit difficult and we decided to walk back after an hour. The major highlight or should I say, the major trouble was the leeches. Started off with Jacs and managed to get everyone except Mrs Jacs. The leeches made sure not to miss this opportunity and never left on an empty stomach. The entire episode was spine tickling with some exciting scenes by all. Then lunch was served which was really delicious and decided to spend some time to take the load off our stomach. The food was amazing at the resort especially at the night. The rooms needed some maintenance but the ambiance was superb.

Some random pictures of the resort and the property






























Now that's one weird looking tree

[Speed.Demon]

Naveen, Wow!

These are some truly epic shots man!!

Keep them coming.

[aswin ajith]

Hi Naveen,
Wonderful set of pics. Guess you are doing a good job with the D3300. Superb trip, really enjoyed it to the fullest. Do keep them coming.

Cheers!!

[naveen.raju]

(contd)

After one hard day's work, or should I say trek


Our official photographer spotted something


A well deserved break in between




AWD in its natural territory


The cottage




A break after the trek


I'm bored!


Group snap


yours truly


BigBrad


Jacs


aswinajith


Mordred


Microaubin


Jacs Junior






When the leech came hunting for us, the kids went to hunt them


My folks aint here. I can eat the biscuit now


Oops!


I will also join him


A creek by the resort parking




Photographer busy setting up the camera

[naveen.raju]

(contd)

Jacob's German monster


My ride


Revintup's City


Mordred's Scorpio


A group pic




He tried to prove something but failed miserably


I didnt bring my car, so can I stand in between one.


Time to update my facebook profile picture


VW


Group snap


A final tea stop at 6pm near Onnukal and we decide to part ways. As always, we ended our conversation with – Where & When next?
Members attended
1) Naveen.raju + 1
2) Jacs + 1 + 2
3) MicroAubin
4) Revintup
5) aswinajith
6) Voyageur
7) BigBrad
8) Mordred
Really enjoyed the drive. I hope others can make it next time. Until then

[dhanushmenon]

Awesome clicks there naveen.
Did not know that there was a photographer hidden within you.

Waiting for the clicks from others, especially the official photographer.
voyageur, it is difficult to fill in the shoes of vaisakh.
You better do a good job

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

[b](contd)
.
.
.
Really enjoyed the drive. I hope others can make it next time. Until then

Obviously I am going to be there for the next drive. It was an awesome experience, thanks for organising it. This is my first bhpian meet, and I truly enjoyed it. Looking forward for the next one