[Ddrive]

Another travelogue about driving to Berijam .

However I wish this would go into the chronicles of Tbhp, so that if someone searches the forum for some details about driving to Berijam, this thread would certainly show up.


Berijam is a beautiful picnic spot, 24 kms away from Kodaikanal connected by beautiful roads. There is a large lake namely the 'Berijam lake' at the end of this 24 km drive through a reserved forest. Visiting Berijam will consume atleast one entire first half of one of your days in Kodaikanal.

This travelogue covers a drive of just 48 kms ie, Kodaikanal-Berijam-Kodaikanal exclusively.
Heres the Route Map. https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...=h&mra=ls&z=11


Despite travelling to Kodai many times, a visit to Berijam (once again) was pending in my to-do list for some 32 years. So the last time (on 12.11.2012) when we went to Kodaikanal, we did it.

My travelogue starts from this place.

Once we enter Kodaikanal we pass through a place called Moonjikal. About a half km after Moonjikal we come to a place like this, where we see Bharat Gas Agency.

The District Forest Office of Kodaikanal is located opposite to this Bharat Gas Agency.


District Forest Office - Kodaikanal. We were here by 9.30am.


We need a permit from the DFO to drive through the reserved forest to reach Berijam. Permits are issued only in the mornings, say from 9.30 am till 11 am normally. It is enough that any one person goes for applying permit and while going it is advised to drive the same car because sometimes they would like to see the car (rarely).

I do not know whether one can obtain permits a day or two previous to the date of visit. Permits are issued for all days including sundays and public holidays, but all tuesdays are holidays and one can not drive to Berijam on tuesdays.

Many tourists do not opt visiting Berijam since it feels like a long drive, moreover they assume that getting DFO permit is a tedious process. But getting DFO permit at Kodaikanal is very simple and easy.

We walked into this office, got an application form and filled it with details like Name, Address, Phone number, Photo ID number, Car number, number of people going and their names. Gave the form to the staff and paid Rs.150 per car and collected a receipt.


The forest officer's seat is in the same room just opposite to where we paid the money.


We walked over to the officer, showed the form & receipt and also showed the ID proof and got his signature almost instantly. The whole process is over within 10-15 minutes including the time we took for filling the form. Very friendly, nice and easy.

The Permit


Since many of our folks wanted to join the fun, we hired a Tavera and paid Rs.300 as permit fee for 2 vehicles.


On the way from the DFO towards Berijam, we pass through many sight-seeing places like Upper lake view, the Green Valley view, Golf links, Pine Forests, Guna caves, Pillar rocks and lastly the Moire' point. Since a Berijam-drive will take almost the entire morning session and the drive inside the reserved forest has time restrictions, we headed straight for Berijam. One can check all these sight-seeing joints during the return drive.

Reached Forest Check post at Moire' Point.


The check post guards collect the permit and lets us in. From this post it is a 13 km drive to reach the Berijam lake.

Cars, Jeeps and Vans thronging already.


I dont think there is a restriction on the number of cars allowed in a day. Almost all hotels and local tour operators have included Berijam into their everyday itinerary, so it is crowded nowadays.

When I visited Berijam 32 years ago, there wasn't any restrictions nor any permits required. This joint in the above picture looked lonely. Moreover in those days the drive doesnt end at Berijam but the road leads us all the way to Munnar just another 40 to 45 kms and further towards Kochi.

Once inside the check post, Ready to go.


Tavera moves first.


And we follow:


-

Coming up next: Road info & Drive inside the park

[Ddrive]

Driving into the reserve forest, We see Roads - many types !


Broken Roads..


Muddy Roads


Water Crossings


And some hair-pin bends too.


First Stop - A small break.


More Cars coming in.



We drive through the following sight-seeing places.

Mathikettaan Solai.


'Mathikettaan Solai' in Tamil. My translation in English for Mathikettan Solai is 'the garden which makes a person to loose his senses' or 'the garden of a lunatic'

Mathikettaan Solai - Dense Forest.


Zoom a little, we see a large Black Langur. Ahaa.. Wild life sighted !


Next comes the Fire Watch Tower.

The guards can have a clear view of the forest to check for forest fires if any.

Caps Valley view.

This is a cliff with a steep vertical single rock depth of about 300 meters as far as i can guess. The board says, the total depth of the valley is 1000 meters.

Caps valley's earlier name in Tamil was 'Thoppi Thooki Paarai' which means 'Cap lifting Rock'. Old time stories say that, a Briton who once visited this cliff looked down the valley and oops.. his cap fell down the gorge, but in seconds his cap took a reverse, thrown up by the winds gusting up through the gorge. There he got his cap again and he lived happily ever after. And hence the name.

Cliffs are fenced for protecting of the visitors.


We saw a tourist clicking something very seriously, as his folks watched in terror.


Thats a Sand-Boa (right?).

We do not know whether it is dead or alive, but I lifted it with a stick and placed it away from the road.
They say a Sand-boa is very costly in the poacher's market, Is it true?

Beware.. this is a Bison territory!

We were lucky to spot this bison-calf as it moved away.

And then a real-big bison (Indian Gaur) at a distance.

(Some more Wildlife encounters !!)


Moving further we come to this place called the 'Berijam lake view point'.


The lake at a distance, we got 5 kms of road to go.


A close-up.

We see neat rows of trees over there.
Some of those trees could have been planted by me some 32 years ago.

-
Oh My Gosh, What really happened 32 years ago ?
Coming up next: A Flash-back.

[Ddrive]

A Flash-back.

July 1980, When I was 18 years of age and studying in college, I took part in a 10 day NSS camp held at Berijam. We were about 45 boys from the same college, stayed here in 2 halls, one a newly built school building and the other a primary health centre. The place was so remote and there wasn't any electricity, no bulbs, no tv, no telephone, not even water taps. We used hurricane laterns at nights and we have to go to the nearby stream to fetch our everyday water. We cooked our food ourselves taking turns.

Those days I use to be a member of the college entertainment group. So the NSS-faculty enrolled some 6 of us into the camp for the sake of giving entertainment shows for the campers. We ofcourse did some camp-work like planting trees, thinning forests etc., but mostly our time was spent on planning for the evening's entertainment.

Robin my best friend was with me and some other guys in the group were Vivekanandan, Sridhar and Mughil. These guys are very talented and are born entertainers. Among these Vivekanadan used to be the best, none can beat him in bursting jokes, mimicries and mono acts. He makes us laugh all the time. We use to sit in the dark under a latern and composed short plays & skits. We sang songs and played carrom. We walk out to collect dry wood for cooking food. We go to the streams for fetching water. We strolled a distance looking for bisons. Memories still linger.

Some are gone and some remain. Got contacts with Robin even now. Vivekanadan relocated himself to Chennai and his talents rewarded him more than what he could dream of. He went on to become a top-comedian in tamil movies who is now known as 'Vivek'

Comedian Vivek.

(Vivek's photo credit - Goes to the unknown owner)

Unforgetable days those are, and since then I've been yearning to visit Berijam once again. So now when I see those tall rows of trees, I think to myself "Oh, those trees could be the ones we planted 32 years ago - Who knows ?"


Here ends the flash back scene..

-
Coming up next : Reaching the lake & Return drive.

[Ddrive]

Reaching Berijam Check post. End of the road for visitor's vehicles.





(.. and let us leave behind a better generation to preserve these forests )

Kodaikanal 24 kms on the left, towards right is the old road which leads to Munnar, hardly about 35 to 40 kms.


We can see a car coming from the old munnar road. May be it is coming from the Forest colony.

On the right to the car is a big swamp. I dont know what those two concrete structures are but they look similar to the School block and the Primary Health centre.

The Swamp


A temple with steps.


For those who are hungry.


Coffee, Tea, Cool drinks, Bread Sand-witch etc.,


And finally the lake.










Some Youngsters at the lake.


Beware.. this is a leech territory too !


A leech before its food.

They say a leech becomes twice longer and ten times thicker in size after sucking blood from its victim

There is an apparatus to measure the rain.


There is a Rest house here.


Forest Rest House.


Return drive.. rush back to Moire' point, well in time.

Got a lot of scratches in the car, Courtesy the trees and bushes on both sides of the road.


We did this trip during the month of November and the place looks a bit dry with the sun scorching all day long.

A friend of mine who drove up here in May this year, complained of traffic jam at someplace even inside the park, besides getting stuck for hours in a bumper to bumper jam near moire point. So it is better avoided during peak season times like April, May & June.

IMHO, it will be cool to do it around July, August, September (monsoon/postmonsoon times) when the forest is at its greenish best with a full tank lake.

Thanks


More details about Berijam is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berijam_Lake

[moralfibre]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line (The "Assembly Line" Forum section) to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[vindrider2626]

Thanks for sharing the info regarding the issue of permits.i have been to kodai many times and tried to visit berijam but was stopped at the check post,thought that getting the permit was a big deal,nice to know that it was easy.Is there any boating facility there?

[pjbiju]

Thanks for the travelogue. Learned about a new place today. I am yet to visit Kodaikanal. But will surely include this place whenever I visit Kodaikanal.

[joe1980]

Your flash back is so very interesting to know that the famous comedian is actually your friend. I loved all your pictures. Very well written travelogue!

[Vihari]

Originally Posted by Ddrive

However I wish this would go into the chronicles of Tbhp, so that if someone searches the forum for some details about driving to Berijam, this thread would certainly show up.

Wonderful travelogue. For me, this is a model travelogue. I for one like to present a travelogue in the same fashion (I dont know when) since this kind of combination of narration with apt photos carries the reader on the journey along with the narrator. Its almost like a movie.

I also agree with the point of including the name of the place / destination in the title of the thread, which becomes easy for someone searching.

Yeah, the flashback part - in such trips the enjoyment in remembering the old times (nostalgia) always exceeds the enjoyment of the present trip.

Thank you for the travelogue for its inspirational quotient.

- Sai

[venkatt1800]

Thanks for an extensive post on your Berijam visit. I did the Berijam trip twice during my Kodai visits in April 2011 and '12. Both times I went there in a Tempo Traveller arranged by the Hotel where I stayed in. The trip cost around 250 per person if I remember correctly. Most of the tourists from Chennai and other places opted for this Van trip instead of the hassle of getting permits and taking their own vehicles to Berijam. In season ie April, May it is the prudent thing to do. However, nice to get the details of procuring Berijam travel permit which looks relatively easy when compared to other forest rides. Nice pics of Mathikettan Solai and Lake surroundings.

[Ddrive]

Originally Posted by vindrider2626

Is there any boating facility there?

Thanks for responding once again Vindrider. Dont miss it the next time.
There is no boating in this lake, and i feel it is good that way

Originally Posted by pjbiju

Learned about a new place today. I am yet to visit Kodaikanal. But will surely include this place whenever I visit Kodaikanal.

You are most welcome Biju Sir.
A senior Bhpian, yet so humble with your comments.
Thanks for many of your lovely travelogues and beautiful photographs.

Originally Posted by joe1980

Very well written travelogue!

Thanks Joe. Doing some road trips in Aachen huh ? Post some pictures

Originally Posted by Vihari

Thank you for the travelogue for its inspirational quotient.

Thanks Sai, for the elaborate response. Your comments are inspiring me more.

Originally Posted by venkatt1800

I did the Berijam trip twice during my Kodai visits in April 2011 and '12.

Thanks for responding Venkatt
Nice to know you've done it twice .

[pjbiju]

Ddrive, I know exactly how you felt when you visited this place after so many years with your family. I remember taking my family to Kotagiri to show them the place where I had lived for a year. It brought back so many beautiful memories. I also hope that you get in touch with all your friends of those days including Vivek (whom I incidentally like quite a bit after Goundamani & Senthil)

[shyamk]

Berijam to Munnar road does not exist anymore. If you drive for a few more km after Berijam, the road intersects the Kavunji-klavarai road. The Kaunji road can also be reached by starting from the observatory. Once you reach that road, you will get to the old jeep path and from then onto Vattavada on Kerala side.

Some pictures from my cycling trip on that road (December 2009) are up here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/shyamk/...aikanalmunnar/

Shyam

[mpksuhas]

Thanks for the detailed report. Is this the same route taken further ahead as a 4x4 route towards Munnar ?
Few more questions :
- Is there any time restrictions on Moire point check point (In / Out time)
- Is it possible for public to book forest rest house in Berijam
- Do they allow tourists to climb fire watch tower

[naveenroy]

Awesome trip log! Brought back a lot of memories - I'd studied in Kodai for 8 years or so and have some fond memories of the place. We have often travelled to Berijam as part of our school activities. In those days, there was a decent road - with absolutely zero traffic and tourists. Good to see the pics!!

And the next time I go to Kodai, will surely visit Berijam - I also assumed that they don't allow anyone to go there these days.