[GeneralJazz]

Introduction

Planning for this trip happened while we were actually coming back from a Nelliyampathy trip. Same car, same gang, next location!

After a fair bit of argument, we finalized on Bhoothathankettu & Edamalayar route. It's a well explored route and the roads are good enough for my Baleno. And so we made the trip on 20-02-2018. You can also check out rajeev k's travelogue A day trip to Thattekkad, Bhoothathankettu and Edamalayar for more ideas about this route.

Planning
The total round trip distance was approximately 200kms. We planned the route as:

CSEZ > Puthenkurish > Muvattupuzha > Kothamangalam > Bhoothathankettu



The following places were planned:

1. Inchathotty suspension bridge
2. Bhoothathankettu Dam
3. Edamalayar dam
4. Thattekad bird sanctuary
5. Paniyeliporu

Paniyeliporu is a great picnic spot and required extra set of clothes. Tech overload with cameras, phones, power banks, dashcam and so on! As with last time, 3 of us started from CSEZ and 2 others were picked up on the way.

Fluids, tyre pressure all checked. Setting the trip meter to zero:

[GeneralJazz]

The trip

Started at 6 AM this time. Lazy saturday morning so traffic was minimal. We proceed towards Kothamangalam via Puthenkurish. We were hoping to have breakfast at Muvatupuzha, but none of the hotels were open, even the vegetarian ones. We only found a good hotel near Kothamangalam (thanks to google maps).

We have breakfast at Hotel Woodlands, Kothamangalam



Selfie in front of the hotel



Inchathotty Suspension Bridge



We head towards Inchathotty suspension bridge. It is about 20kms from Kothamangalam town. Roads are wonderful here! Hilly, curvy and smooth, exactly what the low-slung, torquey Baleno likes for breakfast!

We spot a beautiful house on the way


The suspension bridge



This is quite a busy bridge. Plenty of people crossing it including school children. It was swaying quite a lot in the breeze too.



Rusty!




View from the bridge



An old timer enjoying a cool, lazy saturday morning



View from the other side





The gang


(Migratory?) birds on a nearby tree


Free fish spa!







View from the parking space by the bridge




Had a major scare at this point. After spending an hour on the bridge, without a care in the world, I came to the unpleasant conclusion that I lost the car keys! Source of my misfortune was very soon traced to a hitherto unknown hole in my back pocket. Panic and chaos ensued! Luckily for us there was a newly wed couple with their entourage of wedding photographers nearby and they had picked up the keys soon after we left. You can see their drone on top of the Beat.

[GeneralJazz]

Thattekad Bird Sanctuary

Our next location was the Thattekad bird sanctuary. Now we weren't super excited about this though. For one it was super hot and dry and we were told there weren't many birds to be seen. And the walk would be tiring. The sanctuary is abut 20 minutes from the suspension bridge.



We spent some time in front of the sanctuary and decided to give it a miss. Those planning to go there, please do visit during early monsoon when its a lot cooler. And be prepared to spend some time in there.

Looking at the map, we saw that the road runs parallel to Idamalayar river for several kilometers from there. There should be some interesting viewpoints along the way within a few kms. We found one such spot around 5-6 kms along this route.

Beautiful view



Deep in thought!



Very cool breeze here



This isn't exactly a tourist spot, more like someones backyard!





Of course there are a few waterfalls and plenty of view points along this route, but as it would take us farther away from our next destination, we decided to return. One last shot:

[GeneralJazz]

Idamalayar Dam

Our next stop is the Idamalayar dam. It's about 1 hour from the Thattekad sanctuary area. The route takes you through Bhoothathankettu dam. That should have been worth a visit, but there was construction of a new bridge going on. This meant dust and smoke everywhere. Mix that with the scorching heat, we decided to skip it.



The route to Idamalayar dam runs parallel to the Idamalayar river for several kilometers. There are numerous trekking paths in every direction. All of them lead to the river bank. We decide to stop at one of them and explore a bit. The roads are somewhat OK, but not exactly Baleno friendly. Required some serious navigation to get around some of the bumps. A car with slightly more GC would have a blast here.

We found an area with a bit of shoulder and parked here there.



There was a herd of buffaloes nearby. You can see them at the edge of the picture. I was a bit worried they might take offence to her presence.




This is a well used trail. Plenty of liquor bottles along the way. Apparently this is a popular night hangout for the locals. I though about taking the Baleno along the trail, but the last time I tried something like this was near BHPian SandyX 's home and it ended in disaster!



It's a short walk to the river bank. A bit a incline on the way too. The woods are very dry this time of the year. A visit here during the monsoon should be beautiful.



The water was refreshingly cool.



A fallen tree served as a good photo point. The rocks are very slippery!





The water is deep enough for a dip. A great spot for a lazy weekend with the 'boys' for the locals. We did want to take a dip here, but with so many girls in the group, we were attracting unnecessary attention.



The view was awesome. The stream of flowers/petals on the river was mesmerizing!



It was super comfortable just to lie down on the grassy banks in the shade.



They are so many trails leading into the woods. It calls for a full day of exploring. Pity we didn't have time.



Back to the road! That was a refreshing break



Dead End! The road to the Idamalayar dam is blocked! The sign says entry prohibited due to security reasons. The security officers at the gate told us that we could enter if we 'knew' someone. Since we didn't 'know' anyone, we took a few pics and turned around.

[GeneralJazz]

PVIP Garden Bhoothathankettu

Going back through Bhoothathankettu, we decide to check out the PVIP garden next to the dam. It's right next to the dam and just opposite to a KTDC hotel from where we planned to have lunch.



10 bucks entry fee



It's well maintained and clean. Not much of a tourist spot but a great place to hangout in the evening for the locals



There's a play area for the kids. Great for those kids who don't have their face glued to the smartphone



Decided to take some time out, building up an appetite for lunch







Lots of space for an evening walk for the seniors



The gang reliving their childhood days!






For lunch we headed to the KTDC restaurant. We were informed that they only had veg biriyani. So we headed out. Food was spicy and awesome. We had a great lunch of some spicy fish curry, kappa biriyani, beef roast and rabbit fry.

[GeneralJazz]

Paniyeliporu

Our last stop was the Paniyeliporu Eco Tourism Point. It is a popular tourist spot by the banks of Periyar river. Around this area, the river flows forests and rocks. This place is best visited just before monsoon. The water flow will be low, exposing the rocks. It is about 20 kms from Bhoothathankettu.



This point is a protected area. There is a forest check point where you have to take passes. Limited parking space is available near the entry point.



There is a forest trail from the entry point. Note that this a spot to take a relaxing dip, so take extra pair of clothes. There are restrooms/toilets available to change clothes.











The initial part of the trail is paved and soon gives way to rocky paths. There are forest guards at every turn. Note that this area is a known elephant crossing point. Be prepared to leave at short notice. The guards will tell you that if they get intel about elephant herd crossing, they will literally chase you out of the park.



There are plenty of areas where the water is deep enough to submerge. Take your pick! On the way we saw fresh elephant poo, meaning that a herd had crossed this point a hour or so ago.











This is a great place to spend at least half a day. Plenty of nooks and crannies to explore (within the sights of the forest guards of course). Lots of fishes in the water that nip at your feet. Not posting picture of the spot we chose since there were families there too, and they probably wouldn't want any potentially sensitive pictures online



The return route takes you close to Malayattoor, a religious shrine on top of a hill. This is another trekking point too.



Finally, we get back home by 8 PM. Total distance covered 193 km. Even though we couldn't visit many of the places that we originally planned, we had tons of fun. Other than the main tourist spots, there are plenty of out-of-the-way locations that are far better. This route would take at least 2-3 days to fully explore, and more if you are planning on trekking. Hope this travelogue gives you some ideas about the route and places to visit!



Until next time! And there will be a next time!

[theMAG]

Mod's note: Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[Ravi Parwan]

Wow, you are really getting a great time out of your Baleno. It was one of the few duds from Maruti, for no fault of the car itself. Top rated AC in its time, trumping the Mercedes of that time.
BTW, how do you manage in terms of spare parts for the car? A friend who had the car, let it go bcoz of the non availability of spares.

[ron_9191]

@ravi parwan Absolutely right. I still have one with me. I use it mainly for my long drives to Kerala from Bangalore these days and has never put a foot wrong anywhere. Fantastic ownership experience right from Day # 1 which was December 29th, 2006. She's done 64789 km on the odometer so far.

Regarding the spares, I haven't had a challenge so far. There are very little spares I had to change so far. But from what I have heard from the stockists, most of the body parts are not available anymore and you will have to make do with the replicas or the duplicates. For the ones that are there, they are SGP and they are on the expensive side, and sometimes you'd have to wait a couple of days or weeks for them to arrive.

@generaljazz sorry I overtook your turn to answer this question mate.

[prince0407]

Originally Posted by Ravi Parwan

Wow, you are really getting a great time out of your Baleno. It was one of the few duds from Maruti, for no fault of the car itself. Top rated AC in its time, trumping the Mercedes of that time.
BTW, how do you manage in terms of spare parts for the car? A friend who had the car, let it go bcoz of the non availability of spares.

Not sure about the spare parts, but the rear seat of the car must be real spacious. Wonder how 6 of you guys traveled in the car an entire day!

Jokes apart, it seems to be a nice escapade from the maddening city life.

Cheers!!
Pratyush

[Ravi Parwan]

Originally Posted by prince0407

Not sure about the spare parts, but the rear seat of the car must be real spacious. Wonder how 6 of you guys traveled in the car an entire day!

Jokes apart, it seems to be a nice escapade from the maddening city life.

Cheers!!
Pratyush

Hahaha, Actually it is not so spacious since the baleno is a low slung car.
I remember back when we were in college, we fitted 7 guys in a humble M800 (4 guys in the back seat and 3 in the front). Of course this was way back in the 90s when the seat belts were touted as accessories and nobody used them!
Today we grumble when we have to seat 5 people in the 4 seater cars that we get as 5 seaters in India.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Ravi Parwan

Wow, you are really getting a great time out of your Baleno. It was one of the few duds from Maruti, for no fault of the car itself. Top rated AC in its time, trumping the Mercedes of that time.
BTW, how do you manage in terms of spare parts for the car? A friend who had the car, let it go bcoz of the non availability of spares.

Indeed its a wonderful car. Spares aren't much of an issue. She is pretty reliable. Not a lot of complicated stuff under the hood to go wrong. And parts can be sourced, albeit with some delay. SGP are very expensive, but you can find cheaper duplicate parts. You can also try boodmo.com for spares. I recently bought a left head light set for about 3k from paytm mall.

Originally Posted by ron_9191

Regarding the spares, I haven't had a challenge so far. There are very little spares I had to change so far. But from what I have heard from the stockists, most of the body parts are not available anymore and you will have to make do with the replicas or the duplicates. For the ones that are there, they are SGP and they are on the expensive side, and sometimes you'd have to wait a couple of days or weeks for them to arrive.

@generaljazz sorry I overtook your turn to answer this question mate.

Originally Posted by prince0407

Not sure about the spare parts, but the rear seat of the car must be real spacious. Wonder how 6 of you guys traveled in the car an entire day!

Jokes apart, it seems to be a nice escapade from the maddening city life.

Cheers!!
Pratyush

It does really help when some of your passengers are not as ummm... 'healthy' as you are!

And yeah it feels great to get away from the city for a change. And thats the beauty of Cochin. There are plenty of get-away locations from beaches to hill stations within a couple of hours drive from the city centre!

[harikr]

Nice travelogue. 6 people in a Baleno, that's bit surprising, but you gave the reply already.

Being from kothamangalam, it gave me few moments of nostalgia. Bhoothathankettu was one of the regular spots for our outings especially during the college days. You should have gone to the old bhoothathankettu, hardly 5kms from the park you visited i think. Its the natural dam (kettu) supposedly built by boothathans (demons). Its a wonderful sight. Quoting wiki here "The reason behind the dam's name is that monsters(Malayalam: Bhootham) planned to submerge the Trikkariyoor temple, whose presiding deity is Lord Shiva by making a dam in the Periyar river and flooding the area. Suspecting trickery the omnipotent Lord Shiva, came up with a plan to deter them. He faked the approaching dawn by a rooster's sound. The demons fearing the arrival of light fled the place. To this day there is a visible proof of their effort where you can see the boulders which the demons were supposed to have rolled onto the riverbed, the Old Bhothathankettu. The Periyar flows on through the narrow space which the demons did not quite manage to dam up."


Also, paniyeli poru is a picturesque site. But it is dangerous too. The visibly small holes and carvings are quite deep and you cannot realize this from the looks. Locals always advice against going in water as the area has seen quite a lot of drowning accidents. The severe undercurrents and vortexes which look calm from the top can fool you easily. So exercise caution always. Again a quote from wikivoyage: "The strong water currents and deep vortex formed between the strata of rocks and mangroves can be dangerous. Youths in inebriated condition had fallen here fatally. Beware of the strong under currents before stepping into the water. The slippery rocks and pebbles may lead to danger. Many people have died here during the last one decade."



Travel safe and looking forward to see more trips from the "real Baleno".

[daniel990]

Never sell this car.
I sold mine and moved to a Vento TSI automatic. The suspension and handling of the Baleno is far better! The sound insulation and lack of rattles in my car at 10 years and 80000 km on the ODO was phenomenal.
What a car!