[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

The trek back to base
















We found more wild life


continued...

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

More pictures from the trek back




















continued...

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

In another hour we reached the base.

Information for us


We took some rest near the river




We reached the parking lot finally


A small check post inside


We reached the entrance by 16:00 hours






Entry costs


continued...

[roamingrao]

She could feel the excitement in my voice - she says "go ahead, enjoy.

LIfe has taken me where all! But if I miss a place at all, it is my place, my home town. It is my Thiruvananthapuram. How much ever I try to hide it, it come out loud and clear - I AM MISSING MY HOME TOWN!!! A LOT

With the charm every mother have, she listened to my story, echoed my feelings, joined in my happiness ...what a day it was...Thank you Mom. for being there for me.

but my mind had not even moved an inch away from there...One day I will be back here...

Could not relate more on each and every word here, Laluks

Your tone, style of writing and way of conveying your thoughts suggests this visit as one of the most endearing moments you have faced after 20 years !

At complete loss of words to add more. As your mother says, Go ahead, enjoy !


The photographs. Aah ! envy you Laluks - born on God's own lap !!

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

In another 30 minutes we reached Ponmudi. A few forest guards stopped our car and advised about the eco sensitivity of the place and non use of plastic rules and all. Felt very nice that they are helping in their own ways to preserve the place

Ponmudi was misty - Beautiful




















Ponmudi is at an altitude of 1100m and just 50KM/1.5 hours from Thiruvananthapuram

continued...

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

Some shooting was going on!








This lady was supposed to be the heroine


But I tried to get some romantic shots


I like this one the most


I wanted to give the shooting guys a piece of my mind after seeing this


Jubilee Cine unit! Huh - some gaali coming your way soon!!!


Civvy was waiting for us


continued...

[rajeev k]

laluks where exactly in Trivandrum did you live then and presume that you are an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum.
Your scribblings on Trivandrum brings me nostalgia about my days there. A thread of 'chevylover' also brought the same feelings to me almost two years back.

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

Government Amenity Center




Some pictures of the Check Post






KTDC has a hotel here - Golden Peak ( Pon = Golden Mudi = Peak)




continued...

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

It was misty again










We found the restaurant in the mist


KTDC - Kerala Tourism Development Corporation


Earlier there used to be a Beer parlour here. Now it is all stopped here. The place is dry.

Hot Chai in the misty environment - priceless


Banana Fritters (Payam Pori) too



By 18:00 hours we decided to leave back to Thiruvananthapuram. It was 21 degrees at Ponmudi, and we had driven 798Km in all from Bangalore!


A sign board for people like me at Ponmudi


continued...

[laluks]

Day 02
29th October 2012

On return we took a detour towards Mannanthala to check out my wifey's school - St. Thomas


We also went on to Nalanchira to check out my Pre Degree College - Mar Ivanios.

We then stopped by at a friend's restaurant in Nalanchira for food


PPGs wondering what the red water is all about! Its the karingali vellam (ayurvedic herb (root) is added in boiling water). More of it here http://www.zestysouthindiankitchen.c...hashamani.html



It was not crowded, and that is heavenly considering Bangalore restaurants


Beef Chilly


Beef Fry


What else can a mallu order

Graze Restaurant


We then reached my home by 21:00 hours. Had a chat with my mother about the days deal and went to my wifey's place which is just a couple of kilometers away for the night.

My Father in Law was keenly waiting for our arrival. Me and he make a good pair. We used to travel to Muscat Hotel in the good old days in his Kinetic for some nice evenings. Gone are those days - for ever. We had a long chat about our drive while my wifey and kids were entertaining my mother in law with their stories.

After a while me and PPGs went out for a walk. Thiruvananthapuram is very neat and clean, and especially so since President was in town.

Look at the Bus Stop




By mid night we reached back, and crashed on to the bed and slept dreaming about more of our home town.

Another wonderful day goes by.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by ranjeetnair

Dear Lalu,like they if picture is worth thousand words,then you have billons of word. The pictures taken by you are truly remarkable and like many have already said,it brought back lot of memories.
I had done a trip from Chennai-Palakkad-kollam and back last may.But the way you have captured it ,is truly beautiful.This is first time i went through any of your thread. Have already opened the other one in adjacent tabs.keep writing !

Thanks ranjeetnair for the kind words.
I have written nearly 20+ logs in TBHP. Hope you like them

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Could not relate more on each and every word here, Laluks

Your tone, style of writing and way of conveying your thoughts suggests this visit as one of the most endearing moments you have faced after 20 years !

At complete loss of words to add more. As your mother says, Go ahead, enjoy !


The photographs. Aah ! envy you Laluks - born on God's own lap !!

Thanks roamingrao. Yes this trip indeed was one of the most cherished trips that we had done in the recent past.

I miss my place a lot.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

laluks where exactly in Trivandrum did you live then and presume that you are an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Trivandrum.

rajeev - I used to live at Ambalamukku. I am an alumnus of CET too

[Deep Blue]

Just so much written, yet so much shared through those beautiful pics. Thank you for this wonderful treat. I showed it to my wife and mom and both of them enjoyed it very much. Hopefully my wife will be inspired to allow me to do long drives!
Now to go through all your other logs

[evilmessiah]

Hey laluks, thanks a million for posting this travelogue! It's brilliant- excellent snaps and great presentation. I was born in Kollam and had been there for about 13 years. Best time I had in my life. I feel that there's a certain serenity and an unhurried pace of life in Kollam that's sorely absent in Kochi. It's been more than a couple of years since I had been to my native place. After seeing your travelogue, I'm filled with nostalgic memories. Thanks again for sharing your memories here with us- these pics made my day.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

Just so much written, yet so much shared through those beautiful pics. Thank you for this wonderful treat. I showed it to my wife and mom and both of them enjoyed it very much. Hopefully my wife will be inspired to allow me to do long drives!
Now to go through all your other logs

Hopefully she allows you for the long drives . One interesting fact is that during the drive the time that you have is a wonderful time to bond, catch up on the lost stories etc ...

All links to my travelogues in T-BHP (I have not written any where else) are collected here in my FB page India from the Front Seat.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/India...12811002145085

You can check that for the complete collection. If you have time, you can read on for a few months

Originally Posted by evilmessiah

Hey laluks, thanks a million for posting this travelogue! It's brilliant- excellent snaps and great presentation. I was born in Kollam and had been there for about 13 years. Best time I had in my life. I feel that there's a certain serenity and an unhurried pace of life in Kollam that's sorely absent in Kochi. It's been more than a couple of years since I had been to my native place. After seeing your travelogue, I'm filled with nostalgic memories. Thanks again for sharing your memories here with us- these pics made my day.

Thank you. So very true. Even I feel the same way. They stayed the way it was as I have left them. Nothing really has changed there

[laluks]

Day 03
30th October 2012

Woke up early and went to the Museum grounds. This is where entire health conscious Trivandrumites will be. I was not surprised, at 07:00AM the Museum grounds looked nothing short of a health spa. Hundred's of Trivandrumites walking, exercising, jogging, etc..etc.. There was no free space anywhere. All tree shades were taken, all corners were taken, all benches were taken, even the roads were taken. I felt quite embarrassed carrying my camera out there and walking with a pot belly - they kind of X ray you for being out of place. Intimidating !!!

I struggled, but got some clicks with less crowd!

Health Conscious Trivandrumites on a walk


That's the orientation of the place - There is a Zoo, and art galleries too


A beautiful tree


Jr. PPG


Me with Sr. PPG


Wifey with Jr. PPG


Kerala State Government Emblem


Any idea what is that Panda kind of thingy in the middle? Did it change? I was of the belief that it should be the Ashoka Sthambha there. Probably the gardener was too creative...


Wow!


A nice tree - I couldn't avoid the brisk walker


continued...