[rjstyles69]

People thanks for your over whelming responses.
sb ,Shani temple yes we did check out that place also.

Danish fort !!! you gave me another reason to head back there once again .
Never knew of the Danish fort.
All we knew was that the drive was scenic and ought to be enjoyed and oogled at.Nagapattinam took some time off our schedule.
Destination was Velankanni and Karaikkal.

Will take you advice sb, next time sure will come back with more pics and some more adventure.

[mclaren1885]

I dont blame you for not coming for the meet .. Seems like you had a ball and maybe more .. Lovely pics , maybe next time you plan such a stunt do invite us mortals also .. You may just get lucky to have our company (though i doubt it due to your current company) ..

And yes , you did miss out on the baleno photoshoot !!!! For which you will be punished accordingly .. Come prepared for the next meet ..

[normally_crazy]

Awesome pictures RJ. And a very nicely written report too. Loved it.

[nitrous]

Amazing pictures,riju.
What camera is this??

[rjstyles69]

Thanks Nitrous, its a Nikon D50.

[Samurai]

You managed to get hotel rooms easily because you travelled during the week. Last time I tried Let's Go trip, it was the August 15th weekend. We had to crawl back to Bangalore with our tail between the legs.

More details here.

[rjstyles69]

Sincere advice,never even think of heading for a trip without bookings when we have a national holiday before/after a weekend.
And Samurai, the downside of the East Coast(TN) is that stay is way too expensive when compared to coastal karnataka.
Also its pretty easy to find accommodation in 3 star hotels which is what I did.

I read that travelogue am sure your son would have been the most dis-appointed traveler in the group :-).

Am doing Mercara this weekend and have found some isolated spots rather than the regular charted hang outs for tourists.
Hope my baleno hangs on for the complete trip and that I can come back with some good pictures.

[iraghava]

Lovely report & pics Raj! Maybe I should make a plan to visit Pondy sometime!

[theMAG]

Riju,

Great writeup - dont know how I missed this travelogue till now.

As for the fairer sex traveling,the rest room is pretty good and nicely maintained.
Picked some mineral water and coke and headed towards to Pondy.

Are "mineral water" and "coke" code words for whatever was being sold in the female restroom?


Beautiful photos - I'm sure all 3 of you enjoyed the trip a lot.

My advice for this route is “please watchout for the goats”.

Are they any worse than the goats that comprised of the Nandi Hills drive?

[ramkya1]

That was a great account, a wonderful pictures too.

Wonder how you load these high res pictures here?

--Ramky

=================

[rjstyles69]

Thanks guys...
Mahesh just in case you were traveling am sure they would have started selling coke,mineral water and dipers for your benefit in the restrooms .

Are they any worse than the goats that comprised of the Nandi Hills drive?

Hope the Bangy boys ain't reading this !! Well let them decide who the actual goat was.

ramkya1 , to post the image of different sizes is pretty simple.

1- On image shack browse to the file and tick resize image.
2- Choose 640x480(for message boards) in the drop down menu.
3- Once the image has been uploaded choose the last link on the web page which reads Direct link to image.
Generally this option would be displayed last on the page.

From there on follow the same procedure to paste the link(Insert Image).

[esteem_lover]

Sorry SB, a good driver still enjoys the ECR like no one else can...

But rjstyles69, what a fantastic trip & such wonderful wonderful camera work. this really tests some of our acclaimed snappers here in Team-BHP. Really proud of you man for those pictures. Please please take more snaps & post them in this forum, far lesser people are claiming to be great photographers here. I never had any idea that Pondy & its coast had such scenic beauty as portrayed in your photographs(damn, i dont want to call them photos). good on you rjstyles69.
cheeeeeeersssssss. cheers:

[THE-U-]

rjstyles, excellent pictures and writeup.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

BTW, you will might get blank stares if you ask for Danish fort, as locally it is called Dutch fort. Though in reality the Danes were there first and then sold out to the Brits. The ASI has done a good job restoring it.

I would rather you let it remain a dream. Too dangerous with crazy drivers overspeeding without knowing the limits of the road. To me, it is just an overhyped single-lane road, with some reflective lights on the tarmac. The Tambaram-Pondy road is the one to drive on.

Man, is the ECR really that bad as you make it out to be? I am planning on driving from Madras to Tharangambadi end of May and was planning to take the ECR instead of the Madras bypass-Tindivanam-Pondy route just because the ECR might be scenic.

I see EsteemLover's comment above, but I would prefer not to put pedal to the metal on the Safari (Wifey and the kids would rather enjoy the scenery!). So, should I avoid the ECR?

[esteem_lover]

OT : The ECR is an inviting road, but you got to control your speeds unless you want a date with the oncoming trucks. The road is narrow.

[raajks]

Well written with good photographs!!!
I could be with those places just with your words!!!

Good work, rjstyles!!!!