22nd August 2019, 14:06
| #1 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar One fine Wednesday at work, it just dawned to me Kungfu Panda (Jr.) has not had much adventures lately, and was doing only city duty. After his first year run of some 45K Kms, he was mostly left for smaller duties in the city and some airport runs. Why not give him an opportunity and wake him up from this slumber? Why not just switch the Exploration Mode ON? Spoke to a colleague who likes to join me on drives, and immediately got an okay for a drive. I asked him if he'd be okay for a day off plus the weekend, and he readily agreed. Yes, its going to be the subsequent Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I have Thursday to plan pack and leave! Well we make decisions like that these days, since well planned trips normally do not convert, sudden decisions do. Trip of three days for me to plan, I sat at my desk contemplating the possibilities. I did not want a mile crunching drive, but an exploratory one. It flashed on mind about a trip to Kodai, but not really to Kodai, but around Kodai. Why not we find how many routes are there to reach Kodai? What are those villages nearby Kodai? What one could expect in these parts? With that theme in mind, details were put together to execute this trip. My trip partner had no clue what was in the cards for the trip. In the end we found 7 routes to reach Kodai, while for six of them you could drive, the seventh you have to walk in from Munnar or may be a 4x4! So here is a log of a drive to Kodai, without actually visiting Kodai and a walk from Kodai to Munnar! Read ON  |
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22nd August 2019, 14:52
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar The Plan Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday : Bangalore - Kodai Outer Day 02 : 08th June 2019 : Saturday : Kodai Outer Day 03 : 09th June 2019 : Sunday : Kodai Outer - Bangalore So Simple  The route  But the plan had all the entry routes to Kodai possible, and ask me, it was fun charting this out and executing!! Detailed Drive Plan  The marked numbers are the entry points to Kodai. 1. Normal / Usual route to Kodai from Batlagundu via Kodai Road. Plain Boring stuff, following all those crazy guys showing their skills on the hills. 2. Turn off at Sempatty and take Sitharevu - Perumparai - Thandikudi - Pannaikadu and join the Kodai road and go on wards via Perumalmalai to Kodai. 3. Sempatty - Adalur - and join route 2 at Perumparai. 4. From Vedasandur - OddanChathram - Pachalur and join route 2 at Perumparai. 5. Palani - Melpallam - Perumalmalai - Kodai, I guess this route would be the second most popular after 1. Again boring stuff! 6. Periyakulam - Adukkam - Perumal Malai - Kodai, will make you heart skip a beat. Its via Adukkam forest range, and half of the road is not completed yet. 7. This one needs permissions if you want to take vehicles, I was told. Vehicles are strictly not allowed, even if they allow it won't be of any use. You need 4x4, but that too only till Kerala border, after that it's better to walk into Kodai!! Only the villagers who stay in between the borders use this, either they take a donkey to bring the produce to Kodai side or they take a Mahindra pickup to Kerala side. Rest of them just walk. |
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22nd August 2019, 17:16
| #3 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal As with all our drives, we start very early to beat the traffic and to reach our destination by day break, there by maximizing our day time " Sun light" time at the destination for exploration. This was known to my travel partner and we decided to get rolling by 02:30AM in the morning. We start by 02:30. Kungfu Panda (Jr.) just short of 46K  By 06:00 we stopped by for a chai break and to stretch our legs  Hope he did not mind keeping the sticky chai cup on his bonnet   A little later we exited NH to be on smaller roads We stopped by to catch some fresh air and to enjoy the sound of the wind amidst the coconut trees   By 08:30 We moved on ahead and took one of our exploratory roads to Kodai as in the plan. We took deviation from Sempatty, this is our Route 2  We drove on till we stopped by to check out a waterfall, Pulla Veli Waterfall continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 17:30
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal We trekked towards Pulla Veli falls, but as expected there was no water. We don't care as this was just an exploratory drive, no expectations anyways. A mild trek to the falls   Stream has no water and you could see it is all littered    That is the step where the water falls  Disappointing sight with no water, not even a trickle      A wooden bridge for those real watery days!   My colleague tries to test it, thankfully it stayed  An interesting berry, no we did not try tasting it   By 09:30 we decided to give this place a miss and move on. We tried for a chai, but we were told we can have milk instead. Time to rush! continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 17:46
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal We drove on towards Mangalamkombu Nearing Mangalamkombu I saw a loop and turned around to explore   We did a Mangalamkombu Kodalngadu Kammanoor Mangalamkombu loop just for fun We then drove from Mangalamkombu to Pannaikadu Some views from a viewpoint near Pannaikadu   We then drove towards Kodai Road and joined at Moolayar Junction and pushed further towards Perumalmalai  Pannaikadu to Moolayar Junction Joining Kodai Road coming up from Batlagundu Moolayar Junction to Perumal Malai continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 18:06
| #6 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal Our next exploratory drive was to Adukkam. This is our Route No.6  Near to Perumalmalai we take a left turn, while climbing towards Kodai. Kodaikanal is just 13 Km ahead. Here we take a left and Adukkam is 11 Kms and Periyakulam in the Batlagundu Theni Highways is 34Km.  Its a forest range and there is a check post  The road that goes ahead is to Kodai, Adukkam is via this check post  We drive in  We enter Adukkam Forest Range Roads. Roads seems to be all done and it was a smooth drive. We stopped by for some clicks of Adukkam forest      Kungfu Panda (Jr.) enjoying the sun and good roads      But little did we know all good things does not last for ever continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 18:20
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal We moved ahead towards Adukkam and Roads Vanish Crossing over this was funny, with Kungfu Panda (Jr.) pointing nose down and scooping ground Pictures don't show the angle or inclination  No damages, we made it across   After crossing over, we stopped a little ahead hearing the sound of a stream flowing by We stopped by in search of the stream  Kungfu Panda (Jr.) somewhere in Adukkam Forest   continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 18:29
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal We took some time off to enjoy the stream            Beautiful stream It was already 12:45 and we decided to move on and exit Adukkam Forest continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 19:04
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal Exiting Adukkam forest check post We drove from the check post to a Mango Orchard After getting us some mangoes we drove towards Kumbakkarai Falls We were not allowed to the falls, we were wondering why? There was not much water anyways. The roads had shade from Tamarind Tree, it looked very beautiful  We drove back to the Mango orchard to complete a loop We then drove to Periyakulam to join the Batlagundu Theni Highway This was what we did  We the drove towards Kodai road, this is the Theni Dindigul Highway  Periyakulam to Kodai road turn off continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 19:38
| #10 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal We then decided to drive back to Kodai via the usual route, Route 1  This is the route through which everybody lands up at Kodai, so I particularly hate this route. All newbies show their racing and hill climbing skills here, and add to it the impatience and reckless speeds of the cabs, this is not a route I would like to take. Not just here, it is the case with any major road to any hill station. But for now we need to reach Kodai faster, it was already noon and we were getting hungry. From Batlagund Highway to Kodai Checkpost Since this is the major route to Kodai, there is a check post before the ghat section begins. Umpteen stories of harassment are heard from this place. We were stopped at the Check post Immediately there was another car with a couple in it and the inspector got interested in that car and shooed us away. We drove towards Kodai and stopped at Manjalar Dam Viewpoint We parked at Manjalar Dam Viewpoint Area. The viewpoint entry itself was barricaded!  Beautiful Manjalar Dam from Kodai Road      By 14:00 we drove towards Kodai. We reached Kodai Road Palani Road Junction We continued on and reached Kodai Entry Toll Booth. We paid some 50Rs for Entry Immediately after the entry is Silver Cascade Waterfall We then continued non stop to Kodai Lake area We parked near the Lake and found us some food, all places were crowded like mad, and we made ourselves comfortable with a place which gave us something  continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 20:15
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal It was almost 16:00 by the time we satiated our hunger and got ready. We could really feel the crowds and impatience in and around Kodai Lake. I decided to drive out to a smaller village which is about 40KMs from Kodai Lake and check out. It was almost sure that you will not get any accommodation in Kodai, and a cursory glance on booking apps gave us minimum rates of 3000 for a double bed for the night, and that too in shady ones!! With no idea of a stay, well it was not a concern for us, since we are the types who might even drive back to Dindigul for the night if we don't get rooms , we drove towards Mannavanoor.We clicked some signboards for making plans the next days, we had two more days still at hand. We noted down Kookal, Palampudhur for next days  As for today Mannavanoor was 7Kms and Kilavarai 19Kms  Our plan was this go all the way to Kilavarai and come back to Mannavanoor and hunt for a stay  We drove from Kodai lake towards Mannavanoor and stopped by the viewpoint Mannavanoor lake and meadows as seen from the viewpoint. It was beautiful     From Mannavanoor Viewpoint we drove to Mannavanoor and continued on towards Kilavarai. We found a turn off towards Berijam lake But there is a check post, and is closed Berijam you can visit from Kodai side via entry form Moirs Point. There is a bus service these days with a ticket price of 150 or so per head which will take you to Berijam Lake from Moirs point entrance, and exit through this checkpost here and show you Mannavanoor lake and drop you back at Moirs Point. I find it a good idea and service. But the crowds are just too much. I never attempted this, dont want to. This is the scheme of events for that trip. The bus traces the route marked in red.  We then drove all the way to Kilavarai village We went in search of the turn towards Kadavari Pass, which will go to Munnar!! We interviewed the locals and found out the way to Kadavari Pass. It was almost impossible for any vehicle to take that route. The villagers told us they normally walk it out to the other side. This excited us and we wanted to explore the possibility for us to walk it out too. It was already 19:00 by then, and we decided to get back to Mannavanoor and hunt for a place to stay and explore the possibility of the pass the next day. continued... |
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22nd August 2019, 20:30
| #12 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 01 : 07th June 2019 : Friday Bangalore - Kodaikanal By 20:00 we reached Mannavanoor. Meanwhile we found a shady place in town which had some rooms and beds. We were quoted 1000 Rs for this room with double occupancy.  Forget double, not even one guy can fit in to the bed and the room. We did a straight bargain and got us two rooms for the night at 300Rs per room. We also decided to keep this place as our base for the next night also. So two nights, two rooms a total of 1200Rs . But be warned, you must have the will power to sleep in there, it is no simple feat!! We made sure we were dead tired before we hit those beds. After the room for the night was settled it was time for settling hunger. But that too was too risky an affair as it turned out. I watched this guy again and again and asked him to fry my dosa's beyond 200 degrees to be very sure. I ate them like papad's. The only food option for the night!!  The mangoes we got form the orchard near Adukkam came in very very handy   We pulled out a table and made some temporary arrangement to sit outside our rooms till we become tired to get in the room. The room smelled, it was damp, the bed the blankets all of it required strength. While we were munching on our mangoes, we missed a fruit platter. So here make one for memories sakes.  Somehow by 23:00 we hit the bed and dozed off |
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26th August 2019, 11:22
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 02 : 08th June 2019 : Saturday Kodaikanal After braving the night in that damp and smelly room, uncomfortable as one can get, woke up early to escape to freedom. It was kind of disturbed sleep too. After venturing out unsuccessful in search of tea, we decided to start the day with rest of our exploration. Kungfu Panda (Jr.) states we had done 666Kms previous day, and the temperature at 07:00 in the morning as 15 degrees  We started our drive and near to Berijam lake turn off we decided to check a viewpoint. Driving to the viewpoint and returning, since it did not inspire much We then drove to Poondi Village Some views from Poondi Village            continued... |
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26th August 2019, 11:39
| #14 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 02 : 08th June 2019 : Saturday Kodaikanal We decide to drive to Poondy Dam  Driving to Poondy Dam. From the turn off its all muddy rocky terrain Some pictures of Poondy Dam, not much water though!       That's the path through which we reached Poondy Dam  Patchy, muddy, slippery, rocky terrain!  continued... |
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26th August 2019, 11:55
| #15 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| re: S-Cross'd : Kodaikanal (without visiting it) and a walk to Munnar Day 02 : 08th June 2019 : Saturday Kodaikanal Before leaving Poondy Dam, we decided to check out a small eucalyptus oil extraction place. Eucalyptus leaves collected for extraction   That's the hut in which the extraction was going on  Leaves dumped after extraction  The distillation unit. Leaves are kept over a pot of boiling water.  The pot and leaves are then covered with this and the steam through the pipe is condensed and distilled to get oil  After some study on the extraction unit, we decide to get back to the main road from the dam area. Poondy Dam to Main Road  Drive from Poondy Dam to the road continued... |
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