Civved : Poovar

laluks · 27th June 2011, 00:28

Day 02 - June 13, 2010
Trivandrum - Kottarakkara - Punalur - Shenkota - Thirunelveli - Bangalore

Enroute we stopped by Thenmala Dam view point.

Thenmala Dam

PPGs were quite happy about the views

Thenmala Eco Tourism.

Took a note of this for our next visit plans.

By 18:30PM we started from there and drove to Thirunelveli to hit our lovely NH7 at the earliest, instead of driving in the two lane roads to Madurai. We reached Thirunelveli by 20:00PM.

On the Salem - Krishnagiri stretch on the wee hours Civvy completes a milestone. She is currently at 71K. Civvy rocks!

We subsequently reached Bangalore by 03:00AM the next day. All in all, 51 hours, 1600KM, a marriage, sight seeing, it was fun.

Stratos · 27th June 2011, 12:57

Thread moved from Assembly Line.

vb-saan · 27th June 2011, 13:20

Thanks Laluks for sharing this wonderful travelogue… Awesome!

I have subscribed to each of your travelogue, so that I can use it one day when I decide to quit my job and indulge in a couple of month’s long road trip across Kerala

DicKy · 27th June 2011, 13:22

Nice travelling there.
Have to say am too in your earlier stage.
Love my beautiful district but the problem is except for the city and Kanyakumari i haven't been to anywhere else. Including the world renowned Kovalam, Poovar or Ponmudi.
Infact not even Padmanabhapuram Palace which i pass by atleast twice a month going to Nagercoil. Have to make amendments and visit these place especially after seeing your pics.
Envy the NH-7 compared to our narrow NH-47.

Anandg · 27th June 2011, 14:29

Laluks Sir,
I think team-bhp should dedicate a separate section for all your travelogues and make you a travel-moderator. Would it be possible for you to create a MAP sort of, for all places you have visited from Bangalore along with the best routes marked on it, what to see and where to rest? I think it would be very helpful for all of us to keep a single map to follow the adventures you enjoyed when we venture in these fascinating places.

laluks · 27th June 2011, 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anandg

Laluks Sir,
I think team-bhp should dedicate a separate section for all your travelogues and make you a travel-moderator. Would it be possible for you to create a MAP sort of, for all places you have visited from Bangalore along with the best routes marked on it, what to see and where to rest? I think it would be very helpful for all of us to keep a single map to follow the adventures you enjoyed when we venture in these fascinating places.

Thanks Anandg for the kind words.
I like your idea of the map part. Let me see if I can make one for you

But do give me some time

@vb-san, LOL, dont quit your job

Thanks for reading my logs.

@Dicky - good to know I was not the only one.

selfdrive · 27th June 2011, 15:17

Phew, what pictures! There was a crowd of onlookers around my desk at work by the time I finished Page 1

Great attention to detail and will certainly help those among us who would travel along these roads. NH7 also seems to be picture perfect!
Sorry if I missed it, but are all the pics taken using the 200-500 or only the birdie ones? Also, I liked the pic of the truck with a painting effect. how was this done, if I may ask?

Fauji · 27th June 2011, 15:35

Hi Lalu,

Thanks for sharing.

You brought back my memories of Poovar when we were there in 2006. We too stayed in Poovar Island Resort. Your teaser photo on Poovar is outstanding. It just creates the mood and has such harmony of colours

Did you visist the excellent musuem on Vivekananada in Kanyakumari? Yes, Padmanabhapuram Palace is a gem and not be missed.

Excellent pictures as usual

laluks · 27th June 2011, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Sorry if I missed it, but are all the pics taken using the 200-500 or only the birdie ones? Also, I liked the pic of the truck with a painting effect. how was this done, if I may ask?

Thanks for the encouraging words.
Only the birdies were with my 200 - 500.
The truck picture - I just used a pre installed filter of PS

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fauji

Did you visist the excellent musuem on Vivekananada in Kanyakumari?

Thanks Fauji. We missed the museum, so there is one more reason to go back now!

mayankjha1806 · 27th June 2011, 18:02

Excellent TL, please update places of stay and other relevant details. Question on pictures where they jittered (they look like paintings) and how?

laluks · 27th June 2011, 20:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Excellent TL, please update places of stay and other relevant details. Question on pictures where they jittered (they look like paintings) and how?

laluks · 27th June 2011, 21:31

Trip 3 - October 15, 2010 to October 18, 2010
This was a proper holiday planned at Poovar for 3 nights. We were booked at Poovar Island Resort. Since in trip 2 we wanted to check out Thenmala area on our next drive, a plan was made as to go via Thenkashi, Thenmala to Trivandrum and then to Poovar.

Day 01 - October 15, 2010
Bangalore - Tenkasi - Courtallum - Palaruvi - Thenmala - Trivandrum - Poovar

This time we started from Bangalore only by 02:00AM so as to reach Madurai by 08:00AM and to take the two lane NH 208 deviation to Thenkashi in day light. A little further from Madurai on the NH7 we took a deviation to the NH208 which took us through Alampatti - Srivilliputhur - Rajapalaiyam - Puliyangudi - Thenkasi. Beautiful two lane roads, nothing much to complain. We were happy to have decided to do this in daylight since we are on this road for the first time.

At Thenkashi, we decided to visit Courtallam (Kuttalam) which is near by. Courtallam has a lot of waterfalls

We reached the main falls of Courtallam by 10:30AM.

Courtallam Main Falls

Everybody wants to take a bath. Water is said to have medicinal values.

We see Thenmala Board here too

We drove on to Courtallam Old Falls

Everybody is on a bathing and washing spree.

PPGs at Courtallam Old Falls

After spending some time we drove back.

One day I'll build a colourful house like this

continued...

laluks · 27th June 2011, 22:23

Day 01 - October 15, 2010
Courtallum

After visiting Old Falls, we stopped by a beautiful place enroute. The views of the mountains, the swaying coconut trees all gave it a dreamy feel.

My two beauties

We moved on to stop soon near a farmer selling some fruits from the palm.

Stopped Civvy to check the fruit

The farmer opens the fruit for us

Looks like coconut, but it is not

I frankly did not like the taste.

After the disappointment we moved on.

continued...

laluks · 27th June 2011, 22:51

Day 01 - October 15, 2010
Courtallum

Moved to another falls nearby. The scene is pretty much the same, bathing and washing spree!

A stone sculpture

A small temple under a big banyan tree

This guy has taken things too far !!

We moved on thinking why we have to grab the beauty around us for our greeds.

I drove to ThenKashi to visit the Thenkashi temple. We were at the temple by 12:00PM.

Beautiful Thenkashi Temple - look at the riot of colours on the gopuram

We then drove towards Five Falls.

Monkey with Guava. See how cautiously he has held the second one!

Five Falls - Beautiful

But the concrete structures, the barricades, and the guys bathing there after an oil massage with soaps all make me wonder - why on earth should we be doing all such things? Why can't we just stand back and enjoy Mother Nature's gift?

A stone sculpture

By 13:15PM we drove on towards Shenkottai and Kerala border.

We found this pool with a tree in the middle enroute

We saw these sign boards enroute. Thenmala is another 18Km

We are already 168Km from Madurai

The Kerala Tamil Nadu Border. Look at the rubberised beautiful roads to Thenmala.

While I was clicking this photo, my phone which was in Civvy had got two calls. One from Nutty Nair, and another from HVK. HVK was in Trivandrum on this day. But as luck would have had it I checked the phone only by night. But we did talk and caught up on the news.

Immediately after the photo of the roads, I had to rush back to Civvy since it just downpoured without any indication. Well that's typically the Kerala rains.

In the misty rains even the signboards look beautiful!

Finally we reached Palaruvi by 14:00PM.

continued...

laluks · 27th June 2011, 23:08

Day 01 - October 15, 2010
Palaruvi

Palaruvi is a beautiful waterfalls near Thenmala.

The short trek to the falls

First view of the falls

Sr. PPG near the falls

PPGs at the falls.

The enchanting Palaruvi Falls

A warning!

Wild Flower

The Flowing River

PPGs in some jungle trail

These monkeys loved our Civvy

After an hour we left towards Thenmala. Some childish amusement rose in my mind when I saw a puddle of water. Wifey was even childish to catch the action!

The water splashing fun on our Civvy

Mission Accomplished

It was almost 15:00PM when we left the place.

continued...

27th June 2011, 00:28	#16
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Day 02 - June 13, 2010 Trivandrum - Kottarakkara - Punalur - Shenkota - Thirunelveli - Bangalore Enroute we stopped by Thenmala Dam view point. Thenmala Dam PPGs were quite happy about the views Thenmala Eco Tourism. Took a note of this for our next visit plans. By 18:30PM we started from there and drove to Thirunelveli to hit our lovely NH7 at the earliest, instead of driving in the two lane roads to Madurai. We reached Thirunelveli by 20:00PM. On the Salem - Krishnagiri stretch on the wee hours Civvy completes a milestone. She is currently at 71K. Civvy rocks! We subsequently reached Bangalore by 03:00AM the next day. All in all, 51 hours, 1600KM, a marriage, sight seeing, it was fun.
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 12:57	#17
Stratos Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,609 Thanked: 1,449 Times View My Garage	Re: Civved : Poovar Thread moved from Assembly Line.
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 13:20	#18
vb-saan Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: S'pore/Thrissur Posts: 7,273 Thanked: 12,404 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Thanks Laluks for sharing this wonderful travelogue… Awesome! I have subscribed to each of your travelogue, so that I can use it one day when I decide to quit my job and indulge in a couple of month’s long road trip across Kerala
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 13:22	#19
DicKy Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TVPM Posts: 3,828 Thanked: 11,810 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Nice travelling there. Have to say am too in your earlier stage. Love my beautiful district but the problem is except for the city and Kanyakumari i haven't been to anywhere else. Including the world renowned Kovalam, Poovar or Ponmudi. Infact not even Padmanabhapuram Palace which i pass by atleast twice a month going to Nagercoil. Have to make amendments and visit these place especially after seeing your pics. Envy the NH-7 compared to our narrow NH-47.
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 14:29	#20
Anandg BHPian Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 324 Thanked: 47 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Laluks Sir, I think team-bhp should dedicate a separate section for all your travelogues and make you a travel-moderator. Would it be possible for you to create a MAP sort of, for all places you have visited from Bangalore along with the best routes marked on it, what to see and where to rest? I think it would be very helpful for all of us to keep a single map to follow the adventures you enjoyed when we venture in these fascinating places.
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 15:17	#22
selfdrive Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Zurich Posts: 2,962 Thanked: 3,534 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Phew, what pictures! There was a crowd of onlookers around my desk at work by the time I finished Page 1 Great attention to detail and will certainly help those among us who would travel along these roads. NH7 also seems to be picture perfect! Sorry if I missed it, but are all the pics taken using the 200-500 or only the birdie ones? Also, I liked the pic of the truck with a painting effect. how was this done, if I may ask?
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 15:35	#23
Fauji Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,471 Thanked: 994 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Hi Lalu, Thanks for sharing. You brought back my memories of Poovar when we were there in 2006. We too stayed in Poovar Island Resort. Your teaser photo on Poovar is outstanding. It just creates the mood and has such harmony of colours Did you visist the excellent musuem on Vivekananada in Kanyakumari? Yes, Padmanabhapuram Palace is a gem and not be missed. Excellent pictures as usual
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 18:02	#25
mayankjha1806 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,160 Thanked: 978 Times View My Garage	Re: Civved : Poovar Excellent TL, please update places of stay and other relevant details. Question on pictures where they jittered (they look like paintings) and how?
	(1) Thanks

27th June 2011, 21:31	#27
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Trip 3 - October 15, 2010 to October 18, 2010 This was a proper holiday planned at Poovar for 3 nights. We were booked at Poovar Island Resort. Since in trip 2 we wanted to check out Thenmala area on our next drive, a plan was made as to go via Thenkashi, Thenmala to Trivandrum and then to Poovar. Day 01 - October 15, 2010 Bangalore - Tenkasi - Courtallum - Palaruvi - Thenmala - Trivandrum - Poovar This time we started from Bangalore only by 02:00AM so as to reach Madurai by 08:00AM and to take the two lane NH 208 deviation to Thenkashi in day light. A little further from Madurai on the NH7 we took a deviation to the NH208 which took us through Alampatti - Srivilliputhur - Rajapalaiyam - Puliyangudi - Thenkasi. Beautiful two lane roads, nothing much to complain. We were happy to have decided to do this in daylight since we are on this road for the first time. At Thenkashi, we decided to visit Courtallam (Kuttalam) which is near by. Courtallam has a lot of waterfalls We reached the main falls of Courtallam by 10:30AM. Courtallam Main Falls Everybody wants to take a bath. Water is said to have medicinal values. We see Thenmala Board here too We drove on to Courtallam Old Falls Everybody is on a bathing and washing spree. PPGs at Courtallam Old Falls After spending some time we drove back. One day I'll build a colourful house like this continued...
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 22:23	#28
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Day 01 - October 15, 2010 Courtallum After visiting Old Falls, we stopped by a beautiful place enroute. The views of the mountains, the swaying coconut trees all gave it a dreamy feel. My two beauties We moved on to stop soon near a farmer selling some fruits from the palm. Stopped Civvy to check the fruit The farmer opens the fruit for us Looks like coconut, but it is not I frankly did not like the taste. After the disappointment we moved on. continued...
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 22:51	#29
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Day 01 - October 15, 2010 Courtallum Moved to another falls nearby. The scene is pretty much the same, bathing and washing spree! A stone sculpture A small temple under a big banyan tree This guy has taken things too far !! We moved on thinking why we have to grab the beauty around us for our greeds. I drove to ThenKashi to visit the Thenkashi temple. We were at the temple by 12:00PM. Beautiful Thenkashi Temple - look at the riot of colours on the gopuram We then drove towards Five Falls. Monkey with Guava. See how cautiously he has held the second one! Five Falls - Beautiful But the concrete structures, the barricades, and the guys bathing there after an oil massage with soaps all make me wonder - why on earth should we be doing all such things? Why can't we just stand back and enjoy Mother Nature's gift? A stone sculpture By 13:15PM we drove on towards Shenkottai and Kerala border. We found this pool with a tree in the middle enroute We saw these sign boards enroute. Thenmala is another 18Km We are already 168Km from Madurai The Kerala Tamil Nadu Border. Look at the rubberised beautiful roads to Thenmala. While I was clicking this photo, my phone which was in Civvy had got two calls. One from Nutty Nair, and another from HVK. HVK was in Trivandrum on this day. But as luck would have had it I checked the phone only by night. But we did talk and caught up on the news. Immediately after the photo of the roads, I had to rush back to Civvy since it just downpoured without any indication. Well that's typically the Kerala rains. In the misty rains even the signboards look beautiful! Finally we reached Palaruvi by 14:00PM. continued... Last edited by laluks : 27th June 2011 at 22:54.
	() Thanks

27th June 2011, 23:08	#30
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Re: Civved : Poovar Day 01 - October 15, 2010 Palaruvi Palaruvi is a beautiful waterfalls near Thenmala. The short trek to the falls First view of the falls Sr. PPG near the falls PPGs at the falls. The enchanting Palaruvi Falls A warning! Wild Flower The Flowing River PPGs in some jungle trail These monkeys loved our Civvy After an hour we left towards Thenmala. Some childish amusement rose in my mind when I saw a puddle of water. Wifey was even childish to catch the action! The water splashing fun on our Civvy Mission Accomplished It was almost 15:00PM when we left the place. continued...
	() Thanks