[ash_blore]

Finally the trip took place. I was so excited about it for a week. We decided to visit Kodai and then Madurai and head back to Bangalore. The Madurai part got canceled so it ended up being a two nights trip to Kodai.

No of people: 4 (me wife son and daughter)
Car: civic AT
Started on: 18-May-09
From: Bangalore
Return: 20-May-09

route to Kodai: Blr -> hosur -> K'giri -> Thorur -> mettur -> bavani -> chennamalai -> dharapuram -> palani -> kodai (distance 445KM)

Originally planned to start at 5AM and expected to reach at around 3PM. Ended up starting at 4:50AM. It was not yet sunrise so the drive to Hosur was in the dark. After electronics city the road is really bad till hosur. Its dug up all over the place and if you are not used to the section then better not to do it in the dark. Anyway reached Hosur. From here to roads are amazing till Toppur. Its 2 lanes per side with a divider in between. No pot holes and excellent maintenance of NH7.
Reached K'giri at 6 AM (toll is Rs25)
Reached Toppur toll gate at 6:45AM (toll is Rs48)
From the Toppur toll gate the mettur deviation is 8KMs to the right side (after all the truck stops)
This puts you onto SH20
Reached Mettur at 7:30AM (filled petrol)
Reached Bhavani at 8:15AM
Had breakfast at saravana Bhavan (idli was not soft but masala dosa and puris were nice)
Left Bhavani at 7:45AM. Here you need to proceed straight till you reach the NH47 bypass intersection. Take a right onto NH47. Take the Perunthurai exit and go into the city. Look/ask for directions to Chennimalai.
This is SH96 all the way to Palani.
Reached Dharapuram at 10AM
Reached Palani at 10:40AM. The town is crowded and they charge Rs30 if you enter the town. I am not sure if there is a bypass to the town that directly takes you to the ghat road
From here proceeded towards Kodai and reached at 12:20PM. The route is very very scenic. It had just rained so the whole drive was foggy and very very nice. Nice start to the stay.

Total trip time was 7hrs 30 mins including the 25 mins breakfast break and 10 mins for filling fuel.

Once at kodai stayed at a hotel named "Grand Palace". Nice place and is on the convent road exactly opposite Shivapriya.
They charge 2700/night including b/f and dinner. Paid 500 for extra bed (includes b/f and dinner) for my son.

Checked into the room. Freshened up and headed to shivapriya for lunch. Was not that good and decided to not go there again.

Spent the evening at the lake. Son wanted a pedal boat but didnt want to pedal. Wife refused to be part of anything that meant hard work. So I had to pedal for 30 mins around the lake. took a few snaps. Wife was happy as she didnt have to pedal. Son was happy as we had a pedal boat. Daughter who is 15months didnt care much.
After the boating exercise I was very hungry. Had garam masala chai outside the boat club and it was just what was needed. Had a hot chilli bajji. Yumm. It had just rained again and the bajji hit the spot.

Walked around town for a bit. Came back to the hotel and watched tv till 8PM. Was hungry again and headed to dinner. Dinner at our hotel was very nice. Pure veg affair but very nice. Had lots of food which meant the next item on the agenda was a very well deserved sleep.

The next morning I had booked a kodai sight seeing trip. Visited all the tourist spots (lake view, suicide spot, pillar rock etc). The tour ended at the lake. Since we had already done the lake, we decided to have masala tea again. After that we bought some fresh pastries at the hilltop shopping center. Spent more time there and headed back to the room. Took some rest and headed out to dinner. the afternoon lunch was not too good. stomach was not too well so had a light dinner and hit the sack.

The next morning (wed) I had booked the tour to berijam lake. Started at 10AM. The berijam area is spectacular and it was raining as well. there was fog everywhere. Reached the lake. Amazing views. After the tour we reached the hotel at 2:15PM

The original plan was to head to madurai, visit the meenakshi temple and stay overnight and head back home on thursday morning. However, got a call from home that the was some sporadic violence in salem and madurai (related to LTTE). So we decided to head back to bangalore on wednesday afternoon itself.

Had a choice between the same route or the dindigul NH7 route. decided on the NH7 route as the other one was through all the villages and was not sure about getting fuel whenever required at night. So decided the NH7 route.

Filled up petrol at kodai and started at 2:50 PM
reached vatlagundu at 4:15pm
reached dindigul at 4:45pm. the road from vatlagundu to dindigul is very nice but lots of traffic on both sides most of which is slow moving and makes overtaking a little difficult.
Reached Karur on NH7 at 6PM. The road sucks. Lots of expansion work going on and only one side of the highway is open. Lots of places there is no proper road also which makes it very slow progress.
Reached Salem at 7:5PM. It was dark by then and the drive was a nightmare. Lots of trucks and cars on the other side with high beam. Since I am not used to night driving it was a bit difficult. Tried not to look directly into the head lights but when there is so much traffic it doesnt work
Even where places the highway is open on both sides the trucks and buses decide to use the wrong side making it very dangerous especially after dark.

Filled up fuel at salem again and headed to bangalore. From here the rods are great. No worries at all. reached home at exactly 10:30PM.

Total return distance was 470KM and took 7hrs 40 mins. The drive was exhausting due to night driving. Had a good dinner at home and watched IPL. Saw punjab mess up the run chase completely.

Will post pics separately.

Note on the car. What a beautiful marvel. The car handles beautifully everywhere. Amazing grip. The acceleration out of the corners while climbing to kodai was phenomenal (mileage sucks). Makes overtaking so so so easy. Even on the return downhill, the grip is great. No under/over steer. I was taking the bends at 40+ kmph and it was raining and there was absolutely no skidding anywhere. What a marvel of engineering.

Note on kodai. Seems to be raining now. There is fog all over the place. But its very nice. the nights are very cold. Even under the blanket I was feeling cold but I enjoyed it. Wife had a cold so she was not too excited about the weather. The tourist places are nice. I went to all these places in a mini bus tour rather than drive. The main reason is that i dont know the places and routes and dont really want to be bothered about parking and all the fuss.

Total trip distance 950 KM
fuel used: 90 lit

[MuraliR]

nice travelogue and good that you enjoyed it.

keep the "nice pics" coming and entertain us :-)

[ash_blore]

here are some pics from the trip in this order

kodai lake from the boat
coaker's walk
view of villa retreat from coaker's walk
family pic
son enjoys being in the driver's seat
upper lake view
pine forest
suicide point (thats a 4000ft drop behind us)
the walk back from suicide point in the fog
mini suicide point
view of the hotel
view of the room

[Jhajee]

I have been planning to do kodai in monsoon for a long long time but was not sure if that's a good idea?? But after reading your travelogue I am tempted to take the plunge this time.
anyways, nice travelogue.

[ash_blore]

here are some pics from the berijam tour in this order

view as we enter the forest area
view of silent valley
same from top of the view tower
another one from top of the tower
view from top of the fire tower (further into the forest)
another one from the tower
thats how up I was (there was more to go but the whole tower was shaking in the wind)
view of the berijam lake from top
its raining down at the lake
raindrops

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by Jhajee

I have been planning to do kodai in monsoon for a long long time but was not sure if that's a good idea?? But after reading your travelogue I am tempted to take the plunge this time.
anyways, nice travelogue.

monsoon will be a good time as well. its off season so accommodation will be cheaper. The views will be great and there will be greenery all over. However, the places like suicide point will be very slippery so make sure you are wearing good shoes

[prince_pervez]

Looks like you beat the heat big time in Kodai. Nice pics. Some of them need rotation. Your kids are cute. They seem quite a handful.

[Jedi.Knight]

Great photos. And good you also got the rain along with you to Bangalore

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Looks like you beat the heat big time in Kodai. Nice pics. Some of them need rotation. Your kids are cute. They seem quite a handful.

Sure did beat the heat. My god it was so hot in bangalore last week. I came back on wednesday night, its cloudy all day today and it rains in the evening. So nice.

Wanted to get the pics out today when I have some time. Am back to work from tomorrow ( I already have the friday blues). Kids are more than a handful. Any way kids management while on vacation is left to the better half. My job is to drive/pay/click photos.

[pjay_in]

Nice report and pics. I have some nice memories associated with Kodai in rain.

And by the way what's that brrr on your title? The civic doesn't go brrr I suppose.

[mobike008]

Great pictures there and a nice travelogue. But, why are some of the pictures in a different angle? Didnt you rotate them prior to posting?

Originally Posted by pjay_in

And by the way what's that brrr on your title? The civic doesn't go brrr I suppose.

He means it was so cold even in May, if i am not wrong

[HappyWheels]

That was a neat report! Enjoyed it a lot!

Driving at night, especially with the full-beamers that we have on our highways, can be a pain if you are not used to it.

And repeating the same question: what is the "Brrr...."? Is it due to the cold @ Kodai?

[nickatnite]

Kodai scenery looks prettier after the rain. Nice photos and writeup.

[muralisk]

Nice write up and looks like you did indeed have a good time. Great pics. Keep them coming.

[gadadhar]

Cool snaps.. The one in the mist with you and kid and the little one with umbrella are lovely.. Around 10 is not a bad average with ghats and stuff..