[afunnynut]

Guys,

I have just returned from Kanyakumari and am not not exactly sure of this, thought someone here might be able to help.

From the Vivekananda Rock, if you look towards the land facing side, far off, almost to the sea, you catch a glimpse of a domed structure that is clearly seen on a bright sunny day and also at night.

Is anyone aware of what exactly that might be?

I was thinking it might be Tuticorin, but was thinking will just ask around and check

Thanks
Ayan

[hamster]

AFAIK, That should be the Kudankulam Nuclear power plant. Tuticorin is too far away to be sighted from Kanyakumari.

[afunnynut]

Originally Posted by hamster

AFAIK, That should be the Kudankulam Nuclear power plant. Tuticorin is too far away to be sighted from Kanyakumari.

Thank you!

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=8.169...num=1&t=h&z=16

Ya, I see what you mean!

Could have never thought this one out!

[dass]

Has anyone done this stretch recently? My family and another family are planning on this trip during December and would appreciate if someone can provide the recent updates pertaining to,
1. The best route to take and the time taken.
2. Places to stay
3. Places to see during the stay.
The plan is for 5 days +/- 1 day. We have two kids ~3years of age traveling with us, so good eating options en route are kind of a must. We will most probably travel in two cars, as we find that comfortable for the kids.

[andydude]

Hello Friends,

I have planned a temple tour of Madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Trivandrum,Guruvayoor with three relatives who are coming down from US.

Our tentative plan is :

16/12 - Leave at 8am from JP Nagar Bangalore and Reach Madurai by 4pm, visit Meenakshi temple and night halt

17/12 - Leave by 8am from Madurai for rameswaram, reach by 11am, darshan at rameshwaram and visit dhanushkodi, night halt at rameshwaram

18/12 - Leave by 8am from rameshwaram, reach kanyakumari by 1pm, local sighseeting and leave for trivandrum by 5-6pm and reach trivandrum by 8pm, night halt at trivandrum

19/12 - Visit Padmanabhaswamy temple by 7am and leave for Guruvayoor by 10am, reach guruvayoor by 4pm, night halt at guruvayoor.

20/12 - early morning darshan and depart for bangalore by 10am to reach bangalore by 7pm

Please help with your inputs on :

I have been checking google maps which is throwing multiple options. Please help if you have any current information and route suggestions on any of the above routes especially Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari, Trivadrum-Guruvayoor route.

Mid range hotel recommendations (2-2.5k) at Madurai, Rameshwaram, Trivandrum, Guruvayoor.

Lunch option on above routes.

Recommended bunks on the above routes.

Any other specific information which can be of any help.

Thanks and look forward to help from seniors here.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by andydude

16/12 - Leave at 8am from JP Nagar Bangalore and Reach Madurai by 4pm, visit Meenakshi temple and night halt

This looks OK.

17/12 - Leave by 8am from Madurai for rameswaram, reach by 11am, darshan at rameshwaram and visit dhanushkodi, night halt at rameshwaram

Quite optimistic. Its 180km. Assume 4 hours. The temple would be closed when you reach. Visit Dhanushkodi that evening. Have the temple visit the next day.

18/12 - Leave by 8am from rameshwaram, reach kanyakumari by 1pm, local sighseeting and leave for trivandrum by 5-6pm and reach trivandrum by 8pm, night halt at trivandrum

If you are not looking at the 22 wells bathing ceremony, then with an early visit to the temple you should be done by 8-9AM and ready for a start latest by 10.

Ramehswaram - Kanyakumari is 300km of 2-lane roads. Keep a mininum of 5-6 hours. (Rameshwaram-Ramnad-Kulathoor-Ottapidaram-Tirunelveli-KK)
That means you reach KK by evening. I would say stay in KK for the night. Check out the sunrise and then leave for TVM.

19/12 - Visit Padmanabhaswamy temple by 7am and leave for Guruvayoor by 10am, reach guruvayoor by 4pm, night halt at guruvayoor.

A 6AM start should lead you to TVM by 8 at most. And you should be done with the visit by lunch for sure. A post lunch start should lead you to Guruvayur by late evening/night. This is the most tiring part of the drive. (Driving through heavy traffic in KL). Check with KL folks here. I think the high level guide is: TVM-Kottakara-Adoor-Ettumanoor-Angamaly-Trichur-GVR.

- The idea is to avoid NH17 at all costs.
- There are ways to avoid Kottayam (check with Jacs/Kala) to hit Ettumanoor.
- Now from here again check with regulars if it makes sense to take the MC road via MVPA/Perumbavoor to Angamaly or head to Ernakulam and latch on to the 4-lane.

20/12 - early morning darshan and depart for bangalore by 10am to reach bangalore by 7pm

You are back on track.

Mid range hotel recommendations (2-2.5k) at Madurai, Rameshwaram, Trivandrum, Guruvayoor.

Madurai : Metropole
Rameshwaram : Daiwik
GVR: Kanoos Residency

Lunch option on above routes.

Bangalore-Salem: Quite many. A2b, Park, GRT, Saravana Bhavan etc.
Salem-Madurai : Not much
Madurai-Rameshwaram: Not much. You may find some at Ramnad.
Ramehswaram-KK: Very rare to find some. There may local hotels. Better to carry food.
KK-TVM: No Idea
TVM-GVR: No Idea

[andydude]

Thank you @ampere for your suggestions.

Quite optimistic. Its 180km. Assume 4 hours. The temple would be closed when you reach. Visit Dhanushkodi that evening. Have the temple visit the next day.

Noted. We have now decided to skip Dhanushkodi in this trip. We will have darshan and 22wells ritual same evening and leave for Kanyakumari early next day.

Ramehswaram - Kanyakumari is 300km of 2-lane roads. Keep a mininum of 5-6 hours. (Rameshwaram-Ramnad-Kulathoor-Ottapidaram-Tirunelveli-KK)
That means you reach KK by evening. I would say stay in KK for the night. Check out the sunrise and then leave for TVM.

We now plan to leave Rameshwaram by 7am and reach Kanyakumari by 1pm. We will visit Vivekanand memorial and other points and will leave for TVM by about 6pm.

A post lunch start should lead you to Guruvayur by late evening/night. This is the most tiring part of the drive. (Driving through heavy traffic in KL). Check with KL folks here. I think the high level guide is: TVM-Kottakara-Adoor-Ettumanoor-Angamaly-Trichur-GVR.

- The idea is to avoid NH17 at all costs.
- There are ways to avoid Kottayam (check with Jacs/Kala) to hit Ettumanoor.
- Now from here again check with regulars if it makes sense to take the MC road via MVPA/Perumbavoor to Angamaly or head to Ernakulam and latch on to the 4-lane.

I too anticipate a tiring drive on this route.

Thanks again..

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by andydude

18/12 - Leave by 8am from rameshwaram, reach kanyakumari by 1pm, local sighseeting and leave for trivandrum by 5-6pm and reach trivandrum by 8pm, night halt at trivandrum

19/12 - Visit Padmanabhaswamy temple by 7am and leave for Guruvayoor by 10am, reach guruvayoor by 4pm, night halt at guruvayoor.

Just 4 hours for Kanyakumari won't be enough. What all are you planning to visit there?

And Kanyakumari to Trivandrum is also a tiring drive, that too after starting from rameswaram in the morning. I heard that road widening work has started from the trivandrum end.

And depending on the crowd, 3 hrs is also cutting it close at the padmanabha swami temple. There is lots to see in the temple.

For stay in tvm, Saj Lucia is the one closest to the temple but the restaurant is terrible. The rooms are kinda ok. Stay there only if you want to just spend the night and walk to the temple.

From trivandrum to guruvayoor, you would get many options for food. I would suggest stay at Hotel Devaragam in guruvayoor.

And good luck for the drive and update the route conditions here. I am planning Bangalore-Trivandrum via Madurai and Trivandrum-Bangalore through Kerala drive during the year end vacation.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by andydude

...
Mid range hotel recommendations (2-2.5k) at Madurai, Rameshwaram, Trivandrum, Guruvayoor.

I think you have most of your queries already answered, some more options on the hotel front and some random suggestions

Madurai - New College House (old world/legacy), Hotel Supreme both are very close to the Meenakshi temple. Metropole is good too, I stayed there during my trip. Advantage is it bypasses the city traffic and is very close to the Rameshwaram NH 49 highway. If you stay at Metropole, take an auto/taxi to the temple since finding parking near the temple is difficult.

Rameshwaram - Queen Palace, on the highway itself on left side about 2-3 Km before the Temple. Has an auto/jeep stand nearby.
For Dhanushkodi, hire a jeep from the hotel. Finding parking is difficult sometimes near the Dhanushkodi check post parking lot and also you may need to haggle with the jeeps there, maybe even ride sharing since they will wait for seats to fill up.

Kanyakumari - not planning to halt here ? Sunrise and sunset views can be great so do consider that.
Vivekanada Kendra and Hotel Sea View are good. Vivekananda Kendra has their own private portion of beach and has old world unhurried charm to it.
Sea View is close to the Ferry point (ask for a sea facing room if staying here).

Guruvayoor - Hotel Elite and Rukmini Regency are both on the East Nada, both walking distance to temple entrance. Rukmini Regency is almost next door to temple!

Do try to visit:
-Devi temple in Kanyakumari, sunset point
-Suchindram temple and Padmanabhapuram Palace (check their timings and holidays) both on the way from Kanyakumari to Trivandrum.

[andydude]

Thanks Jaguar.

[quote]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Just 4 hours for Kanyakumari won't be enough. What all are you planning to visit there?

Its sad but we are short on time. Since we are so close to Kanyakumari, we are thinking of spending a few hours before we proceed to TVM. We will only visit couple of important places like Vivekananda memorial, beach.

And depending on the crowd, 3 hrs is also cutting it close at the padmanabha swami temple. There is lots to see in the temple.

We will check temple timings and visit temple first thing in the morning when it opens.

And good luck for the drive and update the route conditions here. I am planning Bangalore-Trivandrum via Madurai and Trivandrum-Bangalore through Kerala drive during the year end vacation.

Thanks will update the details.

Thanks @NPV for Madurai, Rameshwaram hotel suggestions.

Kanyakumari - not planning to halt here ? Sunrise and sunset views can be great so do consider that.
Vivekanada Kendra and Hotel Sea View are good. Vivekananda Kendra has their own private portion of beach and has old world unhurried charm to it.
Sea View is close to the Ferry point (ask for a sea facing room if staying here).

We have to be back to Bangalore by 20th hence not planning to stay in Kanyakumari this time. But since we are so close, We will spend a few hours visiting important places and then proceed to TVM.

-Suchindram temple and Padmanabhapuram Palace (check their timings and holidays) both on the way from Kanyakumari to Trivandrum.

Time permitting we will try to visit above, Thanks again for your inputs.

Need advise on route back from Guruvayoor to Bangalore. Do I take Gudlur, Mysore, Bangalore route (392 KMs, 8hrs) or CBE, Hosur, Bangalore(499 KMs, 8 hrs). I wont mind 100KMs more if the 2nd route is more comofrtable to drive.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by andydude

Need advise on route back from Guruvayoor to Bangalore. Do I take Gudlur, Mysore, Bangalore route (392 KMs, 8hrs) or CBE, Hosur, Bangalore(499 KMs, 8 hrs). I wont mind 100KMs more if the 2nd route is more comofrtable to drive.

Guruvayur-Wadakkanchery-Pazhyannur-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollanchi-Palladam-Avinashi-Salem-Bangalore

Stick to the 4-lane option. Avoid Tichur-Palakkad-Coimbattore.

[andydude]

Originally Posted by ampere

Guruvayur-Wadakkanchery-Pazhyannur-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollanchi-Palladam-Avinashi-Salem-Bangalore

Stick to the 4-lane option. Avoid Tichur-Palakkad-Coimbattore.

Thanks! Will stick to this route, prefer 4 lane route even if its longer.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by andydude

18/12 - Leave by 8am from rameshwaram, reach kanyakumari by 1pm, local sighseeting and leave for trivandrum by 5-6pm and reach trivandrum by 8pm, night halt at trivandrum

Last year we did Rameshwaram to Kanyakumari. Based on local drivers suggestion, we took the following route. https://goo.gl/maps/PbaIY

This route has more than 50% dual carriage way with very minimal traffic, obviously one needs to pay toll. Faster and safer.

Other suggestion is https://goo.gl/maps/9JZwe, once again with 4-lane options

[ampere]

Originally Posted by manjubp

This route has more than 50% dual carriage way with very minimal traffic, obviously one needs to pay toll. Faster and safer.

I would suggest use of SH75 all the way instead of turning to NH7A. That works much easier as you dont even need to go near Tuticorin.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Any idea about the Madurai-Tenkasi-Trivandrum route?

Till Tenkasi its OK. But beyond it degrades. Last I hard it was real bad post rains around Nedumangad. And also the road is quite narrow, twisty and quite some distance on ghats.