[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by Ruchitya

Keeping Vagamon on tab for a vacation some time. Nice write-up as always. Small question though, why does your car have an L at the back? I assumed both you and Atul are quite adept at driving.

Thank you. L was there for quite some time, just didn't remove it out of sheer laziness. It's gone now but

Originally Posted by Prowler

Thank you for the nice travelogue. Crossed Kumuli many a times but never got around to Vagamon.

Thank you. You should definitely visit Vagamon.

Originally Posted by revvenant

Sounds like Skiddy wants to be taken out more often .

But seriously an amazing travelogue. Kudos on making this trip in monsoon as the roads in the route can be quite tricky due to rains and fog.
Hope hulk gets better soon.

Thank you so much

Originally Posted by Sunrock

Beautiful pictures and beautiful views. Have passed through Dindigul-Kodaikanal multiple times, never thought of visiting.But after seeing your photos vagamon is on my must see list.

Thank you. You should definitely visit Vagamon once.

Originally Posted by sourav9385

Absolutely stunning pictures! Short & sweet travelogue. Loved it! Vagamon looks so lush green!

How is the cellular network coverage at Vagamon? Is it poor? Google maps has this weird thing where it finds the shortest routes, and tries to send you through non-existent routes. Have experienced it multiple times during my trips in India.

Based on your experience, the best way to reach vagamon is through Kuttikanam & Elappara? How are the rest of the roads in & around vagamon?

Thank you so much. Cellular network was fine in most of the places, however, accessing mobile data was a pain. The max we could get was E.

Kuttikanam and Elappara route is definitely scenic and relatively better (lesser potholes and bumps) as compared to Elady route. Within Vagamon, roads are pretty ok, curvy and narrow though.

Originally Posted by swami69

Nice travelogue. I recently drove to Vagamon from Chennai.

On the way up to Vagamon, from Kumily, i took the Kuttikanam, Ellapara route and while coming back, I took the Upputhara, Marikulam, Anavilasam, Kumily. The route coming back has some sharp bends and steep ups and downs between Marikulam and Anavilasam, but it tested the skills and fun to drive and shorter by approx 18 Kms.

I drove my XUV5OO and it was fantastic.

Swami

Thank you. Yes, heard about the Marykulam-Anavilasam route, might try out the next time we go to Vagamon.

Originally Posted by siddarthab

Lovely narration and awesome photographs !!! Thanks for sharing.

Warm regards,

Siddhartha.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Jeevan Sukumar

Amazing travelogue adorned with some superb snap shots and all relevant details. After going through your well written travelogue, I have already planned to visit Vagamon this month itself. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thank you. Please do visit and let me know your experience.

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by Vignesh_N/A

Leaving the car with parking brake engaged during monsoons could be the reason. It happened with our Spark too. So now instead of parking brake, I leave it in 1st gear.

Originally Posted by saratjyo

Have experienced the same in Hyundai Santro. The car was not at all moving from it's place. We later called the Hyundai Roadside Assistance and they removed the wheels and released the brakes. They later advised that parking the car with handbrake on a cold weather and leaving it still for multiple days may result in this situation and it is better to put them in first gear.

Nice travelogue too and will plan one soon to this place

This Saturday, Skiddy experienced the same problem - left rear wheel was completely jammed. We tried moving the car in 1st and reverse gear, no help, the wheel was dragging all the way. Called a mechanic from the service center, he mentioned the brake cylinders needs to be replaced. Got them replaced, Skiddy is fine now. Hopefully!

[saratjyo]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

This Saturday, Skiddy experienced the same problem - left rear wheel was completely jammed. We tried moving the car in 1st and reverse gear, no help, the wheel was dragging all the way. Called a mechanic from the service center, he mentioned the brake cylinders needs to be replaced. Got them replaced, Skiddy is fine now. Hopefully!

Oh so we have another finding(the break cylinder) now..! The Hyundai Santro I was talking about was only around 5 to 6months old when this happened.

[ssengo]

I have been to Vagamon last year with family and stayed in Winter Vale.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-vagamon.html

Did u also visit the popular Vagamon lake just 3 kms from Winter Vale?

[vjkamal]

Nice photos and a great write-up..
One sincere advice based on my experiences, don't rely only on google maps. Recollecting my memories from last winter trip to Vagamon (we planned to stay there just to visit Gavi the next day), we were blindly following the google maps and at some point of time the road just disappeared. Had to take a de-tour and it costed us 2 hours of our time..
below is the photo taken just before the road worsened deteriorated and eventually disappeared.

[Vignesh_N/A]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

This Saturday, Skiddy experienced the same problem - left rear wheel was completely jammed. We tried moving the car in 1st and reverse gear, no help, the wheel was dragging all the way. Called a mechanic from the service center, he mentioned the brake cylinders needs to be replaced. Got them replaced, Skiddy is fine now. Hopefully!

We did replace the wheel cylinders too. But it kept happening again. In our case, the wheel could rotate, but with too much resistance. Ever since I stopped using the parking brake, the problem disappeared.

[sami316]

Hey Nandita, Awesome trip and very well written TL. The pics are just amazing. We are already in planning mode. Thanks a lot for sharing this gem as people like me get to discover a new place. Keep em coming.

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by saratjyo

Oh so we have another finding(the break cylinder) now..! The Hyundai Santro I was talking about was only around 5 to 6months old when this happened.

After the brake cylinder change, Skiddy isn't facing the problem again. Just returned from Coorg without any issues.

Originally Posted by ssengo

I have been to Vagamon last year with family and stayed in Winter Vale.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...i-vagamon.html

Did u also visit the popular Vagamon lake just 3 kms from Winter Vale?

We didn't have sufficient time to explore the lake next to Vinter Wale. May be will visit if we go there again.

Originally Posted by vjkamal

Nice photos and a great write-up..
One sincere advice based on my experiences, don't rely only on google maps. Recollecting my memories from last winter trip to Vagamon (we planned to stay there just to visit Gavi the next day), we were blindly following the google maps and at some point of time the road just disappeared. Had to take a de-tour and it costed us 2 hours of our time..
below is the photo taken just before the road worsened deteriorated and eventually disappeared.
Attachment 1658096

Thank you! And yes, we don't follow GMaps blindly all the time. It has caused us problems many a times. So, always cautious.

Originally Posted by Vignesh_N/A

We did replace the wheel cylinders too. But it kept happening again. In our case, the wheel could rotate, but with too much resistance. Ever since I stopped using the parking brake, the problem disappeared.

As of now, no problem of wheel jamming after the brake cylinder change. Hopefully, it is fine!

Originally Posted by sami316

Hey Nandita, Awesome trip and very well written TL. The pics are just amazing. We are already in planning mode. Thanks a lot for sharing this gem as people like me get to discover a new place. Keep em coming.

Thank you so much

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

Day 1

We took a wrong turn somewhere after Kumily yet Google maps showing us that we would reach our destination with an additional 15mins via Alady, we decided not to turn back and continue in this route. [/i]

Hi Nandita, Infact I am going to winter vale next weekend. Can you tell me what is the route that you took and the right one to take?
Can we trust GoogleMaps in that area.

Is there anything to see in and around Vagamon ? Hope the resort serves good food.

Cheers.

[atul.ktm]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Hi Nandita, Infact I am going to winter vale next weekend. Can you tell me what is the route that you took and the right one to take?
Can we trust GoogleMaps in that area.

Is there anything to see in and around Vagamon ? Hope the resort serves good food.

Cheers.

Hi redcruiser,

I guess I'm a bit late in responding but in case you haven't yet gone to Winter Vale yet, here is the route that you should take:

Bangalore-Dindigul-Theni-Kumily-Kuttikanam-Elappara-Vagamon(Winter Vale)

https://goo.gl/adyuGz

Do not take the default route suggested by Google that goes via Ayyapancoil as that's in really bad shape, we did take that route while going and regretted big time!