[rajeev k]

I had some urgent personal work at Trivandrum on Monday, the 30th May. En-route had some work in Kottayam and as I can not start sufficiently early due to certain other commitments Train journey was ruled out and decided for the solo journey in an Alto Vx1.1.

Initially thought of train or bus journey from Kottayam which was also discarded seeing the Monday morning rush, decided to do it the car way to Trivandrum and back.

Saw two accidents, one that happened the previous day involving an Alto which rammed into another car and then ricocheted and hit a compound wall (I saw this the previous evening when I went to the Kottayam medical college).


The second one was a Mahindra pik-up, that had rammed into a compound wall some kilometers down. Good roads and bad driving do not gel well.


The roads from Ettumanoor through Kottayam upto Chenganoor is very bumpy and traveling takes the fun away. Average speeds in this stretch is much lower for even SUVs.


Came across this factory fresh auto-rickshaw which looked distorted.


I stopped at Kottarakkara for a cup of tea and saw some advertising mechanised moving models in front of a Jewellery shop. Note super hero Mohanlal in two avatars. Gold is costly but Kerala is gold crazy.


Reached Trivandrum and was busy with personal work till 5pm. Within the city saw two disintegrating Ambys. One was TCT regn and the other KL 7W. In another year they will become invisible.



As the work was not over, though not prepared had to stay back for another day. Enjoyed that as it brought back my memories of Trivandrum as a kid and rekindled the life as a student.

In those days Trivandrum was a small city where every one knows every one else. But today I could not find even a single familiar face (on the mad rush I had, though)

One can see many Ambassadors and Fiats there all well maintained. Some Amby's were worth a second look.


At Vanross junction saw a spick and span Amby mark I black colour in front of an electrical workshop.

In that area many years ago there was an auto electrical workshop run by a man named maman meaning uncle.

Checked into Guest House at Vellayambalam and for grub walked to the junction. What I saw was wonderful, a line up catering vans and the area was filled with mouth watering aroma of delicacies on offer and was crowded. Looked around for the choice and being a TBhpian decided to choose the vehicle rather than the menu for the dinner. From amongst an Eicher, Standard and Mahindra zeroed in on the Standard 20. Remembered the adage Standard 20 will do Plenty.





There was also a TATA 608 at some distance.


Food was piping hot and good. Bottled water was complimentary.But no coffee or tea.

Dawn and no traces of the caterers or the left overs. Was clean and tidy. The city of Trivandrum, which is on seven hills like Rome was once the cleanest city.


Finished work and when I came out of that office where I had been to at 6pm it was heavily raining.

Checked out and on the way back saw a bakery and joint named Ambrosia near Kowdiar, Went in and there the chocolate cake is named funny as Devil's Favorite Food.

Started on the return leg home that night, when there was torrential downpour and the return journey was eventful but could not click pics.

Came across a Honda City with a Mavelikkara regn Honda City groping in the rain in hi beam and flashers on. Poor guy was given Hi beam treatment by every on coming vehicle, adding to his woes.

When will these literate guys of God's own country learn.

Night drive alone in an Alto with very heavy rain was good and interesting but boring. A way to overcome is to listen to some great music which is on tap with the several FM stations on round the clock, though the monologues were intolerable.

Music however is a great companion on solo journeys.

[rajeev k]

Forgot to mention about the traffic in Trivandrum. Was smooth flowing and no blocks within the city. Outskirts were a lot different and traffic was crawling..

Felt nice driving in the city vis-a-vis Kochi, no waiting like in Edappally, Palarivattom, Vytilla, Kundannoor, Jose junction, Sahadaran Ayyappan road jn etc
..
There were snarls at Ulloor and beyond Sreekaryam. Perhaps the narrow roads is the culprit.

Further no sticker sightings, perhaps being working days.

[Skyline GT-R]

Do you always take MC road or is because you had work in KTYM?

I am always confused about which road to take (NH47/MC Rd) on an EKM-TVPM journey.

[hvkumar]

Good to see a Standard 20 after so many years!!!

How difficult is the passage through Kottayam town on M C Road. I guess the town still does not have a bypass, and MC Road ploughs through the heart of the town?

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

Do you always take MC road or is because you had work in KTYM?
I am always confused about which road to take (NH47/MC Rd) on an EKM-TVPM journey.

I chose MC Road because of my work in Kottayam. MC Road is sparsely traffic ridden. See below for a road update and route.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Good to see a Standard 20 after so many years!!!

How difficult is the passage through Kottayam town on M C Road. I guess the town still does not have a bypass, and MC Road ploughs through the heart of the town?

Standard 20, brought back old world memories. In Trivandrum there used to be one named Kailas Travels and parked near Over Bridge junction.

Yes HVK it is difficult. From Ernakulam to Ettumanoor which is about 16 km from Kottayam roads are quite good. But from Ettumanoor through the town and up to Chengannoor roads are bumpy and bouncy and moreover in peak hours traffic literally crawl. I could squeeze past in my Alto.
There is no bypass as yet to Kottayam but Changanasserry has one.
Beyond Chengannoor up to Kottarakkara roads are so nice but there are umpteen humps, single and in cluster, every where without proper sign boards. Some boards are right at the bumps itself. From Kottarakkara bumps are very much less and up to Trivandrum roads are fine.. From Venjarammood you can get into NH 17 at Kazhakkuttam. From Kazhakkuttam the Trivandrum bypass starts.

[pjay_in]

Nice report Rajeev. Some of the photos invoked nostalgia. And then some are about nostalgia going to dust - the Ambies I mean

[ampere]

The note about cleanliness is very striking. Esp. the fact that the left overs of the night disappeared by dawn! Hope every city and town has an infrastructure like that!
Great to hear this!

[Skyline GT-R]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

From Venjarammood you can get into NH 17 at Kazhakkuttam. From Kazhakkuttam the Trivandrum bypass starts.

The highway you mentioned is NH 47.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

The highway you mentioned is NH 47.

Yes you are very much right. it is NH 47. Error was inadvertent, Sorry.

[rajeev k]

Has then clicked a good fiat, a white one neatly maintained.

Checked out and on the way back saw a bakery and joint named Ambrosia near Kowdiar, Went in and there the chocolate cake is named funny as Devil's Favorite Food.

[ranjitp1]

Crisp report.Brought back memories of the amby that I learnt my driving in.One hell of a car indeed.The "thattu kada" vans looked very interesting.Did you actually mean bottled mineral water was free?Thats quite a thing!

Curious what did you eat and what is the general menu on offer there?

[rajeev k]

Yes, it is the 20Ltr sealed bottled water inserted over the tap unit.
The fare on offer are chinese like chilly chicken, chicken fry, Idiappam, appam, dosa, chappathi et al.
Good tasty food really.
Tea and Coffee were missing.

[rajeev k]

Went to Trivandrun lasr Saturday and returned on Sunday Night.
The drive to Trivandrum was sedentary meaning uneventful and sedate which again means nothing to stop and click en-route.


The road is not that steep as seen in the picture, some kind of an optical illusion.

At Trivandrum came across three Europeans in an Autorikshaw which is part of 17 autorickshaw team which is on rickshaw challenge expedition. Read in next day's newspaper about the challenge that was flagged off from Chennai to different destinations and two such rickshaws were at Trivandrum. More details are available here
Some pics.

[rajeev k]

Was at the Shankumughom beach on Sunday. There was an interesting site of an enthusiastic pulling of the fishing net singing to a tune. Even the youngsters who have come to see the beach joined in the chorus. But alas, see the last picture, there was literally no catch.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

I
Reached Trivandrum and was busy with personal work till 5pm. Within the city saw two disintegrating Ambys. One was TCT regn and the other KL 7W. In another year they will become invisible.
Attachment 557252
Attachment 557253

Had been to Trivandrum last week. One change noticed on the road near the court. All the dilapidated cars lying for long on the road side has been swept away but there is an addition, a Zen. Take a look.