[FuelInjector]

Time flows like a river running wild,
My mind swimming
Swimming like a child,
I'm asking myself why oh why?
Everything passes, by and by
But memories never die
(Lyrics from a popular song)

A family of four planned a trip to create new memories. This being the first trip after the 4th member was added to the family. And the member hadnt completed a year.
Close enough destinations that can ensure detoxification and re-energizing were charted. Thanks to @jacs, @laluks and @NPV's better half. Decision was to stay at wooden chalets @briar estate in Sirukundarm for 3 days. Interspersed the three days with travelling to nearby places. Would avoid talking about Valparai town, Sholayar, neelamudi Poonjolai as there are very detailed information in other beautiful travelogues. Would stick to Nirar Dam, Balaji temple and Monkey falls.
Day1
We left Coimbatore @ 10:30 Am. The route is simple and map attached below.

Roads to Pollachi and thereon were beautiful. Aliyar to Valaprai is great as well. The 4 km stretch from valparai town to sirukundram is patchy. Nonetheless motorable.
dangerous curves to tackle

few more.

few + some more. Thats Aliyar - birds eye view

few + some + many more

Our lightning encountered a strange signboard

And then it was for real...holy moly cow!


Reached Sirukundram bungalow by 13:30. The place had 3 caretakers, one butler and one chef. Cell phone connectivity is 0. Any calls to them need to be done from Valparai town. Lunch was ready by the time we reached.

Nirar Dam: We drove to Nirar dam at 15:30. Its a good 30 minute drive in the opposite direction from the town. A checkpost greets you before the descent. Entry fee of 10 per head is collected. The roads from there on is very bad. Two tea factories are encountered during this descent. They collect a fee of 50 rupees to show you the process of team preparation.
The dam photos of upper Nirar have been captured very well by few fellow team-bhpians. What we did was hired a guide and wanted to go into the bowels of the dam (lower Nirar). This is how it looks.
<continue music from the song>
I take a train into the past
i get off somewhere, but am lost
</music>


This is just before we enter the tunnel under the dam

And there we are - temperature drops by 4 degrees


altitude drops by 30 feet


thats years of slime on the walls to the left. This is right under the mid-point of the dam. Water gushing maybe 50 feet above us.
A salute to the engineers who built this master piece.


Day2:
Drive to Balaji temple and Sholayar. Will stick to Balaji temple here. Most of our neigbours were like "hey..dont miss the Balaji temple while you are there". so off we go. This is a private estate temple situated on top of a hillock. Mist gathers fast here. 7 Kms from the main road. Road conditions are bad..wait no - "the worst". Our lightning's michelins were slices in the outer halves. After a crawl upwards, a checkpost is reached. A small parking lot present. Vehicles need to be parked here and then its a climb upwards for ~500 meters. Some pictures:

view during the final lap climb


a small well

photography at the temple is not allowed. hence some snaps from faraway.



there is a parking lot just outside the temple. Its the privileged and distinguished who are allowed to park here. Read estate employees and government officials.

This one pic is from Sholayar. As many have already said, its closed to public. But you could walk down towards the lever/shutter and have some quite moment near the monumental dam-fall marvelling the effort of those engineers and workers who built this.

Day3: Monkey falls. Good place to spend 2 - 3 hours. Come in with a towel. Take a bath. Spread that picnic towel of yours. Much some healthy snack. Once you had your fill, pack up and get back.



Thanks for reading and spending your valuable time. Hope you enjoyed as much as we did.
A travelogue is incomplete without sincere thanks to the person who made it happen! A parting shot of an all time classic

Time flows like a river running wild,
My mind swimming
Swimming like a child,
I watch the yesterdays go by..
like moving patterns in the sky.
Coz memories never die!

[jacs]

Boss - So you have pulled out some time to compile a quick travelogue? And you got see the Nilagiri Tahrs too which I missed in both my recent trips.

[NPV]

Ah, good to see this travelogue! Seems like you had a good time, nice photos and good account of your trip, Thanks for Sharing!
I shared a travelogue of our trip to Valparai too, not sure if you found anything useful there for your trip.

The newest member of the family went on a road trip before turning even a year old - it's in the blood I think, a budding future BHP enthusiast

Originally Posted by FuelInjector

@NPV's better half.

Hmmm, so there seems to be some detailed background conversations about road trips going on in the Home Ministry!

[Raaj*]

A quick travelogue for a quick trip! Nilgiri Thars welcomed you & posed too! Lucky you
Pictures have come well. Seeing the pictures of the tunnel for the first time! Thanks for sharing.

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by jacs

Boss - So you have pulled out some time to compile a quick travelogue? And you got see the Nilagiri Tahrs too which I missed in both my recent trips.

Thanks Jacs. i must say your travelogue was influential. Yes, the Nilgiri thars was a good encounter. They climb rocky mountains easily. I especially loved the expression on their faces. It was like "please save us - we are endangered".

Originally Posted by NPV

Ah, good to see this travelogue! Seems like you had a good time, nice photos and good account of your trip, Thanks for Sharing!
I shared a travelogue of our trip to Valparai too, not sure if you found anything useful there for your trip.

The newest member of the family went on a road trip before turning even a year old - it's in the blood I think, a budding future BHP enthusiast


Hmmm, so there seems to be some detailed background conversations about road trips going on in the Home Ministry!

Thanks. Yes. Your travelogue was utilized, however the home ministry talks were more influential . Did you finalize your December-end trip?
The newest member was the most enthusiastic. She almost jumped into the Dam waters @Nirar.

Originally Posted by Raaj*

A quick travelogue for a quick trip! Nilgiri Thars welcomed you & posed too! Lucky you
Pictures have come well. Seeing the pictures of the tunnel for the first time! Thanks for sharing.

Yes. The tunnels are a must visit. Especially if you are interested in engineering and little bit of history. The guide explains like a story taken our from "Lingaa" movie