[Hart-BEAT]

Hello Everybody,

With hands shivering with nervousness, I type my first post on Team BHP. I have been reading the quality blogs and reviews of BHP-ians for a long time and I hope I will be able to keep up with this standard. This is the travelogue summary of my Chennai-Rameswaram (via Tanjore) trip I did during 9th to 11th August 2013.

1. The Plan:

The moon of Id-ul-fitr brought special cheers this year when it decided to show up on a fine Friday ensuring a long weekend for all. Plans have been drawn since early July to utilize this opportunity to the maximum. Having bought my car in January 2013, I have always wanted to take it to a trip to Rameswaram. However, the necessary time required for engine run-in and to build confidence in one's vehicle extended all the way into the summer months during which any trip in south India (apart from hill stations) is a 'sweaty' affair (learned this on a hot may afternoon in Pondicherry).

Rain showers in late July and early August saw weather changing for better. Also, by this time, the car had completed 6 months, 8000 KM and has been serviced twice. The necessary shakedown period was complete and the man and machine were ready to undertake a long trip.

Rameswaram being around 600 Km from Chennai requires one full day (that is sun up to sun down; strictly no night time movement) of driving . Hence, it was advisable to make a journey break somewhere at around 300 Km range. Plenty of options are available to make this break like Trichy, Madurai, Tanjore; just to name a few. Of the three, I picked Tanjore (as i have been to Madurai and Trichy earlier before while on a trip to Kodaikanal). Planning called for one night at Tanjore and one night at Rameswaram (quiet compact but had no choice as only three days available for short trip).

Selected hotel for Tanjore was Hotel Gnanam while the choice for Rameswaram was Hotel Daiwik. Both were picked based on their online reviews and I was taking a chance. Thankfully, as I found by the end of trip, both of them excelled and the gamble paid off.

Deciding upon the route was slightly tricky. While Chennai-Tanjore was no brainer, Tanjore-Rameswaram and return route from Rameswaram-Chennai actually made me research quiet a lot. Chennai-Tanjore route was simply NH45 till Trichy and NH67 thereafter all the way to Tanjore. Having made trips to Trichy before, I had no doubt about road quality on NH45. NH67 from Trichy to Tanjore was a stranger but reviews on team BHP forums quelled any doubts.

Tanjore-Rameswaram was hotly debated on many team BHP forums and each review/report confused me further. I was strongly compelled to take advise of HVK to proceed to Nagapattinam to connect with ECR and turn south all the way to Ramnathpuram and eventually Rameswaram. However another updated review (very sorry, I could not locate it now to thank the member; will do it in future) advised Tanjore>>Pattukotai>>Adirampattinam route to join the ECR (mentioned as SH 200 in many maps) and confirmed the road quality as good. I decided to take chance again; and just like the choice for hotels, fortunately, the gamble paid off.

The last daunting task was the whole one day drive from Rameswaram to Chennai. Of course NH45 and NH45 B will be needed to carry us back to Chennai; the question was how to join them from Rameswaram. Once again, after reading several reviews (and making it a top priority to thank them all; as i didn't had a Team BHP account back then), I decided to take Ramanathpuram>>Parmakudi>>Ilyangudi>> Sivaganga>>Melur>>(join NH45 B)>>Trichy>>Chennai. Based on these routes, the following was the planned itinerary for the trip:

Day 1 (9/8/13): Chennai to Tanjore. 374 Km to go in target 7 hours (see route here)
Day 2 (10/8/13) : Tanjore to Rameswaram. 246 Km to go in 5 hours (see route here)
Day 3 (11/8/13): Rameswaram to Chennai. 586 Km to go in 10-11 hours (see route here)

Choice of vehicle was undoubtedly my one and only beloved Chevvy Beat Diesel LTO. Choice of co-passenger was undoubtedly my one and only beloved wife.

2. The Execution:

Strictly no night driving rule dictated that both the travel and sight seeing time in visited city should be squeezed in the same day. That means starting as early as possible to reach your destination while saving the usable portion of the day for sight seeing. This rule was followed for the entire trip.

DAY1 :

Day 1 started early at 5:30 AM IST. Breakfast (read previous nights Murugan Idli and Mc Donalds takeaway) was loaded in the Beat with the instruction to the co-passenger to feed them to the Driver as he drives (and you thought only air force planes can perform in-flight refueling). No lunch provisions as it was assumed that we will be at Tanjore by that time. While the humans needed their bellies to be tanked up, the machine already had a fuel top up the previous evening; needless to say with thorough cleaning and necessary checks.

Starting from home, I had to stop after driving barely 200 mts to pick up some medication for wifey's cold. Joined NH45 at Kathipara flyover and crossed Chennai airport in a breeze. Then came Tambram (read Tam-Damn-bram). They have traffic jams at 6:15 in the morning. Being stuck in traffic at 6:15 PM is usual, however AM is a whole new experience. One wonders How did all these people managed to get on the road while they were supposed to be in their bedrooms (or at max, in their bathrooms). Aside the the general city traffic nuisance on the highway, my personal favorite were rolling road blocks; two big trucks driving parallel on both the drive and overtake lanes at break neck speed of 40 kmph, engaged in a timeless struggle to see who overtakes who, completely oblivious of the increasing traffic line behind them witnessing their duel. After patiently negotiating them with all, very soon reached the first toll gate and the traffic improved after that. The first pic of trip was clicked on the toll gate and shows 'artistic' improvisation of faces of Indian cricketers.



Nothing much to write about NH45 apart from the word 'perfect'. A nice drizzle accompanied us and the cloud cover was comforting. Google maps app worked perfectly and we identified Trichy approaching at range of 15 kms at around 11:00 AM in the afternoon. All eyes immediately started to look out for Arasu Hyundai showroom which was the first navigation point to leave the NH45 highway and take the service lane that leads to NH 67. This was accomplished precisely thanks to smashing job by Google maps and my navigator (read wifey). NH 67's first impression was not so good as it was full of potholes and mindless traffic as long as it was going through the Trichy city. However, once it broke out of the city bounds, it started complementing NH45. See this pic to believe it.



Hardly an hour had past and we were approaching Tanjore. We had some difficulty in locating our hotel as a critical road was all dug up and blocked. As a result, had to make a 4 Km detour but finally reached and checked in the hotel by 1:00 PM. The hotel looked good from outside as well as inside. See it for yourself.



After checking in, we had lunch at the restaurant of the hotel. They serve really good vegetarian food and that too at very good price. However, as the clock hand approached two, I was eager to finish lunch and hit the streets. Gnanam is situated at a central location and is just a 5 minute walk from the Big temple (i.e. Brihadeeswara temple). Many rulers over a period of time contributed to its construction and some parts of it is over 1000 years old. Apart from the religious fervor, the place is epic. I mean its so huge that even with so many people in the premises, it still looked empty. See these pics to believe it.







We spent around an hour in the temple admiring its construction and taking snaps. The door to the main temple were closed and were supposed to open later in the evening. As we had other plans, we moved on to visit the Maratha palace, Saraswathy library and the museum. All of these places are a must watch and I can't attach the pics because I am reaching the 30 picture limit in a post.

As Tanjore is know for its art and craft work, I have promised wifey to keep the evening only for shopping. Good place includes many shops outside the Maratha palace and this shop called Poompuhaar. Some places were really expensive and sold weird stuff (for example an empty Old Monk bottle from 1960's for INR 2,500 . I thought that the price includes the 'stuff' inside but alas it was empty) I was also tempted to buy an authentic age old sword but it costs a whooping 27,000. Nevertheless, we picked up a few items for home. By the time it was 7:00 PM and it was time to retreat to our our hotel room. Day 1 concluded with a tongue lashing from my mom on phone for not going inside the main temple at the Fort temple. Oh my 'GOD'.

DAY 2 :

Day 2 started at 5:30 AM with a quick commando dash to the Brihdeeswar temple; this time to enter the main temple as well. Fortune smiled and the doors were open when I reached there. What really touched me was there was absolutely no body in the temple and I just trotted all the way to the 6 mts tall Shivlingam. The main temple structure shows signs of aging but it is well maintained. I bid farewell to lord Brihadeeswara promising him that I will see him again in 12 hours at Rameswaram (provided he watches over me as I drive on Indian highways!)

Got ready, packed up, had breakfast and checked out of hotel by 8:00. Destination Rameswaram. First Navigation point of the day was the small town of Pattukotai. The road leaving Tanjore immediately transformed to a scenic country road spiraling and passing around tiny villages, paddy fields and even small forests all through the way. Crossing towns and villages that are small dots on a map is a touching experience; seeing small town India. It makes you feel proud and patriotic that this is own country where we have never been before. See the pics to understand this feeling.











Speaking of road quality on the stretch to Adirampattinam, it was pretty good as long as it does not crosses villages on the way. One word of caution though. It is a back country road and not a 4L highway. So limiting speeds to 60-70 kmph is advisable. Even slower speeds advised while the road crosses villages. It seems there was some dispute between local authority and highway department on road maintenance. Hence, before every village, the highway will sharply end and village road will begin! However, these villages are around a Kilometer or so in length and were easily passed. Pattukotai was reached soon and has some irritating no entry and one ways which wifey skillfully outflanked using nothing but Google maps. Adirampattinam was reached at around 9:30 AM. Behold, it was the beautiful East cost road from here onwards.



Speaking of ECR road, some people here in Chennai think that ECR only stretches till Pondicherry and this stretch is the most scenic one. Wrong and wrong. ECR goes all the way down to south beyond Chennai (at least I drove on it till Ramnathpuram) and it was breathtaking. The road has very little traffic and passes through some really untouched areas (read deserted). Hence, don't expect any restaurants or petrol pumps. While we had a tank full driver and half tank full car, no worries for food or fuel. But the thought of mechanical breakdown without any support haunted me. Nevertheless, I tried to enjoy the ride; which was much helped by the beauty of this route. See the pics for yourself.





Our next objective was to check out Manora fort on ECR. However, this is where Google maps betrayed me. While Manora fort was visible on my laptop, the mobile app could not find it. I made a few guesses for the approximate location but ended up staring at a light house. Having wasted 15 minutes searching for it, I gave up and resumed course towards Rameswaram. Alarm, if you or your group has any shutterbugs. ECR is really amazing and you can loose hours taking snaps of all the places on the way. I was determined to reach Rameswaram by lunch time and have to control my urge to throw away the steering and grab my camera. Regardless of the absence of tool boths and traffic on opposite lanes, please don't over speed here. The whole stretch is teeming with damn Goats; and mind it they are dumb enough to be turned to mutton chops without any remorse. I nearly missed hitting one of them. In contrast, cows, dogs, sheeps and even human pedestrians were quiet receptive and moved away upon hearing the honking.

By 12:00 noon, it was becoming clear that we will reach Rameswaram as per our planned time of 1:00 PM. We bypassed Ramnathpuram and started our approach towards the mighty Pamban bridge. Another Shutterbug alert coming up! See the pics to believe the same.









After crossing Pamban, we approached the Rameswaram town. On the way was Villondi theertham. Well, it is a well. This well gives sweet water. Why is that so special? Well, this well is in the middle of an ocean! Had to ask a few locals to get exact directions. I expected to see huge crowds gathering up to see this miracle but it was vacant. Also, apart from its religious significance, we were greeted by a surrounding sea beach that can put any of the world famous beaches to shame when it comes to natural beauty. It looked straight out from a picture postcard. Spent some time there before headed to our hotel.





Now a word of caution about Hotel Daiwik (relax; nothing serious) Google always gets its location wrong. As per google, it is right next to Rameswaram temple. In reality it is a whole 1 km away. We passed it and drove straight into the city, only to take a U turn and come back looking for it. Check in and other formality were done quickly thanks to an efficient staff. The temple would only be opening in the evening. So, we headed straight to our rooms and after getting fresh, were back on the road by 2:00 PM. Lunch was skipped and substituted with some quick snacks. Next destination: Dhanushkodi and other attractions of Rameswaram.

Now, as you may all have googled, Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town around 12 Km away from Rameswaram. Their are no roads that lead into the abandoned city (they washed away long ago; along with the rest of the town). Cars cannot go beyond a particular point on Dhanushkodi raod; only four wheeled jeeps and SUV are allowed. I was not actually going to Dhanushkodi town right now; I have committed day 3 morning for this task. Right now, we were supposed to check out attractions on the way to Dhanushkodi. This included Jada theertham, Kodandarama temple and Gandhmadhan parvat. They can all be visited in one quick sweep thanks to their proximity to each other. We even spent some time at the Dhanushkodi beach before we decided to return to our hotel. However, my cameras battery was dead after two days of heavy shutter bugging and I had to ration the pics.







After a quick shower at hotel, we took 22 more showers in the Rameswaram temple to wash off our sins (So much sin to wash off, you know! One bath is not enough). After being totally drenched, had a good darshan. Got in there by 7:00 PM and got out by 9:00 PM (in a breeze; that is if you compare it with Tirupati). No chance of clicking snaps inside the temple; not only it is prohibited, you don't want water from 22 wells messing with your camera or mobile. Plus it would be kind of dumb taking selfies in the holiest place of Hindu religion. So, kept my part of deal with the lord of seeing him in another 12 hours while he kept his part of watching over me on the highway.

Returned to hotel at 9:30 and rushed to have dinner as they close down by 10:30. Hit the real comfy beds and dozed off immediately after setting the alarm for 6:00 AM in the morning.

Day 2 ended with a great sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

DAY 3:

Day 3 was Dhanushkodi day. The vehicle booked by hotel reached sharp at 6:00 AM and reception phone call woke me up. I was wondering what they have prepared for us and how will the place look so early in the morning. We were gonna be surprised by both.



Our ride to Dhanushkodi was an 'old friend'. A Mahindra DI engine 4WD jeep. I say old friend as it was the Jeep was the first vehicle my family owned back in early 90's. It has been years since I rode one of those good old diesels. Wifey and I were stowed in the back seats as it afforded a pretty good 360 degree view. Very strong nostalgia took over me as I thought about the good times we had long long ago with my family at my native place. Add to that such sunrise scenery as below and I confess I was quiet emotional and quiet during the ride to Dhanushkodi city. How time has changed. It was a diesel engine that powered this 'boneshaker' and the same powers the modern day BEAT. Same ancestry yet so different. Wifey couldn't help but appreciate the advances made in diesel engine technology and even more, in suspension and shock absorbers!





The 'boneshaker' finally left the main road and turned towards the sandy surface of Dhanushkodi. The sign of death and destruction are still visible 60 years after the tragedy that literally swept the area. Abandoned railway tracks, railway station, ticket counters, water tanks, homes; every sign of human settlement once upon a time. One can't wonder but think how they would have been in their heyday. Well, I will give reader's imagination take a shot on that.





We returned to hotel at 9:00 and again rushed to get breakfast as they close by 10:30 AM. Then it was time to check out and say goodbye to Rameswaram and the amazing vacation we had.

Our return route took us through Parmakudi, Ilyangudi, Sivganga and Melur before we joined NH 45B at Melur. Excellent roads throughout the way and faced no driving related issues. Once crossing Trichy, we were back on our familiar NH 45 route. Leaving Rameswaram at around 12:30 PM, we reached our home in Chennai at 9:00 PM in the night. The route was covered faster than expected as the road condition was excellent.

With this, we completed one of the most compact yet most fun vacation wifey and I ever had. Wifey's smile at the end of the trip really mattered to me as she was initially reluctant to go to a religious place like Rameswaram (after a bad experience we had earlier in Tirupati). But the natural beauty of the place left a deep impression upon us. I would like to make this trip again in future with my other family members.

Being my first travelogue and my first post on team BHP, please rate and review and let me know areas of improvement.

[ampere]

Well written log!

Any number of visits to these temple towns is never enough. And every visit brings a new memory. These small 2-3 day vacations on the road rejuvenates us nicely as well.

And its very true that the nicety of India while travelling by road is finding these small towns pass by while you drive. Even better would be a case where you stop at one of them have tea and a snack. But alas, thanks to our paranoia of hygiene, we skip many such places.

ECR is a beauty to drive. But as you might have read, around Chennai-Pondicherry-Chidambaram and related locations, ECR chokes you down in time, thanks to many-many villages and towns along its vicinity. But south of Velankanni esp Thondi/Adirampatnam, it opens up very well till Ramnad and continues nicely further. Conditions deteriorate near Kanyakumari.

[Hart-BEAT]

Originally Posted by ampere

Well written log!

Any number of visits to these temple towns is never enough. And every visit brings a new memory.
====
But south of Velankanni esp Thondi/Adirampatnam, it opens up very well till Ramnad and continues nicely further. Conditions deteriorate near Kanyakumari.

Hello Ampere,

Thank you so much for being the first person to reply to my post. I am really glad that it is you as I have gone through many of your posts on Team BHP. And the fact that you liked my article sure is a huge morale booster. Thank you very much. Really Appreciated.

Cheers and happy motoring.

[shankar.balan]

Wonderful set of snippets HartBeat.

I enjoyed reading it.
The temples look heavenly as do the beach shots.

I feel a powerful sense of desolation when I see your pictures of dhanushkodi. Those mute reminders of the sheer power of the mighty waters make me realize again that this world began with water and will end with water. Nothing and no one can stand before the unstoppable power of the 'great waters'. I feel a thrill of apprehension for that reason only, when I see that Pamban bridge with the vast expanse of blue water underneath it.

Simple, matter of fact writing like yours has the ability to quietly bring things alive for the reader.

Good work!

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by Hart-BEAT

Day 1 (9/8/13): Chennai to Tanjore. 374 Km to go in target 7 hours (see route here)
Day 2 (10/8/13) : Tanjore to Rameswaram. 246 Km to go in 5 hours (see route here)

A very neat and crisp travelogue. Good narration for a starter. Keep up the good work.

By the way, if visiting Tanjore temple was in the radar, then the above route was ok. Otherwise, instead of taking trichy-tanjore, you could have taken trichy-pudukottai-thirumayam-karaikudi-devakottai-thiruvadanai-ramnad route. In fact, the route is not only motorable but also offers an insight into our rich cultural heritage at places like pudukottai, karaikudi, thirumayam and thiruvadanai. Corollary to the above, you could have enjoyed Chettinad cuisine too, nonetheless the Tanjore's own offer to tastebuds is great though.

[raju2512]

Excellent naration and nice photos.

I traveled on the soutern sector of ECR till Tiruchendur a few weeks back. As you said, it is an excellent and very scenic road.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

Otherwise, instead of taking trichy-tanjore, you could have taken trichy-pudukottai-thirumayam-karaikudi-devakottai-thiruvadanai-ramnad route. In fact, the route is not only motorable but also offers an insight into our rich cultural heritage at places like pudukottai, karaikudi, thirumayam and thiruvadanai. Corollary to the above, you could have enjoyed Chettinad cuisine too, nonetheless the Tanjore's own offer to tastebuds is great though.

If one wants to see the places around Karaikudi, this option is good. Else I am told NH226 is quite bad to drive. Better option in that case is what he took while coming back. Trichy-Malur-Sivagangai-Illayangudi-Paramagudi-Ramnad.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by ampere

If one wants to see the places around Karaikudi, this option is good. Else I am told NH226 is quite bad to drive. Better option in that case is what he took while coming back. Trichy-Malur-Sivagangai-Illayangudi-Paramagudi-Ramnad.

Dear Ampere,

The route I am referring to here is SH 210 and I had traveled on this stretch quite a few times and found that to be a motorable road with good tarmac.

[majumon]

Very well written being your first post, I found it very interesting and some lines were humorous too. You are good at writing and your in flight re fuelling took me on a roll of laughter. Except for 2 snaps which were blurred (guess it was due to the moving car) rest are fine and yes you are inspiring me to go to Rameswaram too, have this place marked to visit some time. Thanks for the nice insight into a nice place.

[mallumowgli]

Beautifull written - interesting and informative. Great trip you've had there. But you have been miserly with the photos - looking forward for more

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

Dear Ampere,

The route I am referring to here is SH 210 and I had traveled on this stretch quite a few times and found that to be a motorable road with good tarmac.

I thought 210 is a National Highway.

Ref : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...way_210_(India)


I thought this route is majorly taken by all the buses bound for Rameshwaram from Chennai/Trichy. Thats again one of the main reasons why traffic on ECR is low.

But I would take your word on this, as you drive regularly on this stretch and say its good. Till last 2 years I only read bad reviews about this stretch.

[TheHummerGuy]

Excellent narration and the route map is very detailed. Hope I wish to try such a long road trip in India.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by ampere

I thought 210 is a National Highway.

Ref : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...way_210_(India)

I thought this route is majorly taken by all the buses bound for Rameshwaram from Chennai/Trichy. Thats again one of the main reasons why traffic on ECR is low.

But I would take your word on this, as you drive regularly on this stretch and say its good. Till last 2 years I only read bad reviews about this stretch.

Dear Ampere! You are right. It is a national highway and it was typo error from my side. But the route is good all through except some at places like keeranur, pudukottai railway crossing and some places before karaikudi.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

Dear Ampere! You are right. It is a national highway and it was typo error from my side. But the route is good all through except some at places like keeranur, pudukottai railway crossing and some places before karaikudi.

Gokrish,

Also how easy it is to bypass these towns? Do they have good bypasses?
If not, does it delay going through the towns? I dont see any on Google.

The NH however seems to bypass Karaikudi though.

[Gokrish]

Keeranur is a small town and one can not bypass