Originally Posted by hvkumar

No idea about the Kulamavu-Vandanmedu route, but promises to be good. I know the Idukki Dam-Kattapana-Vandanamedu route, which I had discussed in this forum 2 days ago (Drive to Idukki head, I think).

the kulamavu-vandanamedu route was suggested by kochicar on my idukki travelogue thread. will confirm with him.

Originally Posted by mansidea

How about..

Day 1: EKM - thodupuzha - Kulamavu - Idukki - Kattappana - Elappara - Kuttikkanam - thekkady. Over night stay

staying at thekkady is expensive isnt it?

what is kattappana town like? any accomodation available there?
I've done the thekkady munnar route almost 10 yrs ago. the drive was good, but felt thekkady to be over rated. would rather not stay there.


I've tried to summarise the multitude of options available. this does not mean I know the area well. far from it, I'm at the moment, thoroughly confused.

would the people familiar with the routes correct any mistakes if need be?

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar- Kattappana- nedumkandam puliyanmala -Thekkady -Vandiperiar- Kuikanam-Peeremede- Mundakayam- Ponkunnam - Palai-Thodupuzha - Ernakulam.

the above route is a cut copy paste of all the suggestions put forth, took me half an hour and a lot of headache. when is the GPS thing going to catch on in our country?

[abhilash_iv]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Looking for a piece of info here - is the road from Kumarakom to Chertala complete - a bridge was under construction?

If you are talking about Kaippuzhamuttu bridge, yes it is complete now.
Now you have buses from Vaikom to Kottayam via Kumarakam too.

Abhilash

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar- Kattappana- nedumkandam puliyanmala -Thekkady -Vandiperiar- Kuikanam-Peeremede- Mundakayam- Ponkunnam - Palai-Thodupuzha - Ernakulam.

Too bloody long - not enough time for overnight refuelling and detox the next day.

Lets stick to your original plan:

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar
with the camp being at vandanamedu or munnar itself.

and munnar-devikulam-thekkady the next day.


And return via Ponkunnam-Palai-Thodupuzha.


Accomodation at Thekkady wont be very expensive at this time of the year - it is off-season, remember? We stayed at Cardamom County for about Rs.1,700 double occupancy last year.

[ram_hyundai]

I had gone to wagamon kuttikanam etc 3 weeks back.I stayed at kuttikanam and was very reasonable too.
ram

[speedzak]

Originally Posted by mansidea

How about..

Day 1: EKM - thodupuzha - Kulamavu - Idukki - Kattappana - Elappara - Kuttikkanam - thekkady. Over night stay

Day 2: Thekkady - puliyanmala - nedumkandam - Kattappana - Munnar - adimaly - EKM.

This will be 2 full days drive.

Hmmm... ! ! ? ?
2 days' drive with a good night stay and food! Suites me well and should be ok with many I guess.

The plan of Thekkadi and Munnar together is great. But maybe a bit long haul for some. We drive all the way till Thekkadi and get to Kattappana by night? Spend the night there and drive to Munnar the next day? Then, return to Ekm by evening. Is it how the plan goes?
There're decent places around Kattappana and Pulianmala. Carmelia haven is also not far from there. But as their rates are very expensive, we can also look at other options there.

I'll make some calls and put up some good accommodation options around.

Originally Posted by rippergeo

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar- Kattappana- nedumkandam puliyanmala -Thekkady -Vandiperiar- Kuikanam-Peeremede- Mundakayam- Ponkunnam - Palai-Thodupuzha - Ernakulam.

@steeroid- I'm asking this because I'm unsure.
are the waypoints typed in bold above a detour? I thought they were part of the original Thekkady to ponkunnam route.

or is it possible to bypass the area in bold and go from thekkady directly to ponkunnam?

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Lets stick to your original plan:

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar
with the camp being at vandanamedu or munnar itself.

and munnar-devikulam-thekkady the next day.


And return via Ponkunnam-Palai-Thodupuzha.
Accomodation at Thekkady wont be very expensive at this time of the year - it is off-season, remember? We stayed at Cardamom County for about Rs.1,700 double occupancy last year.

the original plan did feel good, even though, I say so myself

we have 3 options for stay-
1.Munnar- I would really like that. because- if I'm lucky, I might get some nice sunrise pics.
2.kattapana and surroundings- has advantages because we drive less on the 2nd day and we spend less on accom
3.thekkady- dont see the point. it means we will have to rush through munnar and have extra time in thekkady- where there is not much to see IMO

Originally Posted by speedzak

Hmmm... ! ! ? ?
2 days' drive with a good night stay and food! Suites me well and should be ok with many I guess.

The plan of Thekkadi and Munnar together is great. But maybe a bit long haul for some. We drive all the way till Thekkadi and get to Kattappana by night? Spend the night there and drive to Munnar the next day? Then, return to Ekm by evening. Is it how the plan goes?
There're decent places around Kattappana and Pulianmala. Carmelia haven is also not far from there. But as their rates are very expensive, we can also look at other options there.

I'll make some calls and put up some good accommodation options around.

zak do you mean doing thekkady on 1st day and munnar on the second? it can be done. but shall we just stick to the original as suggested by steer?

agreed the distance might be too long for some people. but those people should voice their opinions, without knowing what the problems are, and who among us are facing them, we cant help.

thanks for the accomodation hunt.
work magic with that phone of yours. you are very good at that.

[hvkumar]

[quote=rippergeo;845541]
staying at thekkady is expensive isnt it?

what is kattappana town like? any accomodation available there?
Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar- Kattappana- nedumkandam puliyanmala -Thekkady -Vandiperiar- Kuikanam-Peeremede- Mundakayam- Ponkunnam - Palai-Thodupuzha - Ernakulam.

/quote]

Your routing is incorrect:

It should read as Kattapana-Vandanamedu-Nedumkandam-Thekkady.

To go to Munnar, it would read as Kattapana-Vandanmedu-Udumbansola-Poopara-Munnar.

Kattapana is a very small town, unlikley to have any fancy acco.

Kumili ha slots of budget hotels too. And inside Thekkady WLS, KTDC has both budget and premium hotel rooms.

Between Thekkady and Munnar, I would prefer Munnar now - unlikely to see any great number of wildlife once rains start.

In case you wish to go to Thekkady first, from Kattapana, come straight to Kuttikanam and go to Kumili/Thekkady.

If you want to go o Munnar from there, you will go via Nedumkandam, Vandanamedu, Udumbansola and Poopara to Munnar.

If you wish to go to Kumarakom after that, no point in retracting he same route tto Thekkady - best to go on NH49 from Munnar via Kothamanagalam to Perumbavoor, Muvattupuzha and Kottayam.

[Steeroid]

IMHO we should leave Thekkady out of the picture. There really isnt much to see there.

On the other hand, I understand there is a Vagamon - Thekkady route. Does anyone want to try that?

Whatever be the route, please bear in mind the fact that I have a return flight that leaves Cochin at 0830 pm (2030) on the 15th!!!

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

IMHO we should leave Thekkady out of the picture. There really isnt much to see there.

On the other hand, I understand there is a Vagamon - Thekkady route. Does anyone want to try that?

Whatever be the route, please bear in mind the fact that I have a return flight that leaves Cochin at 0830 pm (2030) on the 15th!!!

As far as I know, the Vagamon route links up through Kattapana and goes via Kuttikanam to Thekkady.

I would take the route to Munnar and return on Kothamangalam route to Kumarakom/Kochi.

[mansidea]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Lets stick to your original plan:

Ekm- thodupuzha - kulamavu- cheruthoni- kallarkutty-vandanamedu- munnar
with the camp being at vandanamedu or munnar itself.

and munnar-devikulam-thekkady the next day.

And return via Ponkunnam-Palai-Thodupuzha.

Can we try putting the actual Kms in between these towns?

[hvkumar]

Distances, based on my own log books:

Idukki-Thekkady

Idukki Dam-Kattapana 22 kms-Mattukattu 15-Elappara 17-Kuttikanam 9- Vandiperiyar 10-Kumili 15

Idukki-Munnar

Idukki Dam-Kattapana 22 kms-Puliyanmala 15-Nedumkandam 9-Udumbansola 13-Santanpara 16-Poopara 2-Chinnakanal 14-Devikulam 11-Munnar 7

Thekkady-Munnar

Kumili-Vandanmedu 25-Puliyanmala 14-Nedumkandam 9-Udumbansola 13-Santanpara 16-Poopara 2-Chinnakanal 14-Devikulam 11-Munnar 7

Thekkady-Kumarakom

Kumili-Vandiperiyar 15-Peeremede 17-Mundakayam 25-Kanjirapalli 15-Ponkunnam 5-Vazhoor 12-Kottayam 22-Kumarakom 15

Munnar-Kumarakom

Munnar-Adimali 29-Neriamangalam 30-Kothamangalam 18-Muvattupuzha 13-Kottayam 56-Kumarakom 15

Munnar-Ernakulam

Munnar-Adimali 29-Neriamangalam 30-Kothamangalam 18-Muvattupuzha 13-Kolencherry 13-Puthencruz 6-Tripunithura 3-Ernakulam Vytilla Jn 4

[wanderernomad]

@Guys just a thought. Why cant we do a one day trip? As I will be required to do the mandatory sightseeing with the family too I dont think it would be permitted for me to scoot off for two full days. Or Maybe ill drive along till lunch and return back in the afternoon and you guys can continue as per plans. Are families being included or its total stag?

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

@Guys just a thought. Why cant we do a one day trip? As I will be required to do the mandatory sightseeing with the family too I dont think it would be permitted for me to scoot off for two full days.

Bring your family along. THis is part of mandatory sightseeing, and believe me no tourist guide will take you thru these routes.

this is getting complicated!
lets leave thekkady out of it.
like HVK and steer said, nothing to see there during the monsoons.
even without thekkady, we have plenty of distance to drive.

also- I'm with wanderernomad on this one. make it a single day drive.
there is another possible overnighter coming up in june. cant scoot from the house for 2 successive TBHP weekends.

cochin-thodupuzha-kulamavu-idukki-munnar-perumbavoor-ekm


the compromise situation is, we all start from cochin on saturday. the wild ones can do an overnighter and continue ravaging the countryside on sunday.

the tame ones can leave for cochin as a mini convoy on saturday evening itself.

special thanks to MrHVK for tolerating my constant queries and route screw ups.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

the tame ones can leave for cochin as a mini convoy on saturday evening itself.

The last time we had this option was for the 'Rumble In The Jungle' - you can be assured that half the crowd will disappear after the initial drive.

I say lets plug for an overnighter, and do bring your families along.