[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Paramesh

Dude how did you get that license plate number (0000)?
Is it legal.. just curious to know: Shockked:

Edited, to hide the identity.
No such number exist as per RTO rules

[skotha]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Waterfalls view

Attachment 1590422

Hi Boss,

Was reading this as we also went there very recently and suddenly I find myself staring at my own photo

That's me in that greenish shirt with the rest of the family slightly behind. I guess we were on our way back when you captured this.

Small world!

-Shiva

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by skotha

Hi Boss,

Was reading this as we also went there very recently and suddenly I find myself staring at my own photo

That's me in that greenish shirt with the rest of the family slightly behind. I guess we were on our way back when you captured this.

Small world!

-Shiva

Haha
I saw a lot of cars with T-BHP stickers at parking area (1 Estilo, 1 Scorpio, 1 Polo, 1 Micra and a few more I don't remember) I was in a assumption that either me or my car will be a part of someone't thread.

[Aslamjaffer]

Nice write up and pictures Mr. Boss.

Did this route two years ago, CBE >> Pollachi >> Valparai >> Athirapalli >> Valparai >> Pollachi >> CBE and it was a wonderful experience.

I find the roads to be good in the pictures, but that was not the case when we took it up. Especially between the two check posts.

Cheers
Aslam

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Aslamjaffer

Nice write up and pictures Mr. Boss.

I find the roads to be good in the pictures, but that was not the case when we took it up. Especially between the two check posts.

Thanks Aslam.
Roads are better now. Between check posts roads are bit narrow but no bad stretches.

[samm]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Companion

Planned for 3 days and 2 nights (night stay at Athirapally and Valparai) covering as much as possible on the way.

Start from home town, reach Athirapally (via Thrissur) head to Valparai, return to Coimbatore (via Pollachi)

Nice pics, and you have captured pretty much everything on that route. Also, found some more stuff from your list, to plan for our next trip!

We (5 friends, no family) did a similar trip on 28th and 29th Dec.
Calicut->Thrissur->Athirapally->Vazhachal->Sholayar->Valparai->Aliyar.
Stayed at Valparai Greenland hotel, and returned the same route to experience the forest in the late evening. It was a 630km drive over two days.

Evening drive (5PM-7PM) through the forest was fruitful, saw elephants near thottapura view point, just inside the roadside bushes, bisons near vazhachal, and couple of snakes crossing the road.

It was a fantastic experience, and will do this route again!

We also took a bus from valparai to periya kallar, which goes through a forest range to a remote village. About 1 hour trip, covering about 16 km. We took the bus in the morning (it was empty, and like a chartered trip for 5 of us!), and had breakfast at a small shop near the forest border (along with bus crew). The conductor explained us everything along the way. The roads were non existent, and was almost like a jeep route. Wondering how the bus holds up without falling apart. Almost every part was shaking to the limits!

Not to hijack your superb thread, but still thought of sharing some random shots...
- Valparai hairpin bends. There were 40 of them, could frame a few
- Tea plantations at sunset
- Our safari coach from valparai to periya kallar
- The forest restaurant. The breakfast with idli, sambar, chatni and omlet was delicious!
- Thottapura view point. Repeated again, sorry about that .

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by samm

Calicut->Thrissur->Athirapally->Vazhachal->Sholayar->Valparai->Aliyar.

Not to hijack your superb thread, but still thought of sharing some random shots...

Thanks for the compliments and that's a nice set of snaps from you.
I wish I should have either tried Periya Kallar or Chinna kallar, hopping to cover during our next trip. Since I have to manage both driving and clicking the snaps, I couldn't cover everything this time.

[samm]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

I wish I should have either tried Periya Kallar or Chinna kallar, hopping to cover during our next trip. Since I have to manage both driving and clicking the snaps, I couldn't cover everything this time.

There was a forest check post on the way, so not sure if they ask for some special permission. I did see a Innova along that route, but no other vehicles.
Given the road conditions, I strongly suggest taking the bus to periya kallar.

[Sivasankar]

There's a hotel in the building abutting the lodge's street and Valparai's main road. They serve tasty food cooked on traditional wood fires.

We had stayed in the same lodgings 2 years back. The floor above the parking was under construction even then. Their only advantage is the location although their rooms have much scope for improvement.

[Sivasankar]

Hi, Can you share some photos of Periya Kallar?

Originally Posted by samm

Nice pics, and you have captured pretty much everything on that route. Also, found some more stuff from your list, to plan for our next trip!

We (5 friends, no family) did a similar trip on 28th and 29th Dec.
Calicut->Thrissur->Athirapally->Vazhachal->Sholayar->Valparai->Aliyar.
Stayed at Valparai Greenland hotel, and returned the same route to experience the forest in the late evening. It was a 630km drive over two days.

Evening drive (5PM-7PM) through the forest was fruitful, saw elephants near thottapura view point, just inside the roadside bushes, bisons near vazhachal, and couple of snakes crossing the road.

It was a fantastic experience, and will do this route again!

We also took a bus from valparai to periya kallar, which goes through a forest range to a remote village. About 1 hour trip, covering about 16 km. We took the bus in the morning (it was empty, and like a chartered trip for 5 of us!), and had breakfast at a small shop near the forest border (along with bus crew). The conductor explained us everything along the way. The roads were non existent, and was almost like a jeep route. Wondering how the bus holds up without falling apart. Almost every part was shaking to the limits!

Not to hijack your superb thread, but still thought of sharing some random shots...
- Valparai hairpin bends. There were 40 of them, could frame a few
- Tea plantations at sunset
- Our safari coach from valparai to periya kallar
- The forest restaurant. The breakfast with idli, sambar, chatni and omlet was delicious!
- Thottapura view point. Repeated again, sorry about that .

[samm]

Originally Posted by Sivasankar

Hi, Can you share some photos of Periya Kallar?

My friends had clicked some, but nothing interesting as such from a photography perspective. Will see if I can get some pics and post here. The journey was great! Otherwise it was a hilly forest area, but not as lush or dense as the thottapura belt. There is one more hill near periya kallar, from where we can get a good view of the surroundings. We didn't have time to roam around, since we wanted to take the same bus back and drive down to aliyar dam. Next time we will explore more.

The conductor also said that one of the later trips goes 2-3 more kilometers inside and up the hill, but I didn't follow the name of the place. Maybe another side of periya kallar.

One more input - we did see a diversion towards chinna kallar en-route (after entering the forest), and I think there is a dam there. Not sure if its in walkable distance. Since all these were completely unplanned, also due to lack of time we couldn't explore more.

[Mr.Boss]

Missed a couple of snaps in the initial post.

Road to Balaji temple is under construction. They are narrow (have a look at the space left after Etios) and the sides were not prepared yet. Take care when there is a vehicle on opposite direction


Similar condition towards Akkamalai

[suresh_gs]

Folks

My friend intends to go to Athirapally falls from Valparai

1. How is the road condition from Valparai to Athirapally. To the best of my knowledge, the distance is around 70 kms
2. Good hotels to stay in Valparai.

[realactivex]

Folks, Planning this route next week
.
all the below road tour via honda WR-V
Basically Kochi airport -athirpally (day 1)
Athirpally-vazhachal falls-valparai-munnar (day 2) (this part i am worried if we can do approx 250km/8 hrs on a single day in the hills)
munnar-thekkady (day 3)
thekkady - kumarkom (day 4)

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by realactivex

Folks, Planning this next week
.
all the below road tour via honda WR-V
Basically Kochi airport -athirpally (day 1)
Athirpally-vazhachal falls-valparai-munnar (day 2) (this part i am worried if we can do approx 250km/8 hrs on a single day in the hills)
munnar-thekkady (day 3)
thekkady - kumarkom (day 4)

If you could arrive early,
Day 1: Cover Athirapally, Vazhachal and night stay at Valparai
Day 2: Vaparai and night stay at Munnar