[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Would you mind sharing more about the place? Name, route etc.

Thanks Kaushik. You mean the route to Peppara Dam or Ponmudi?

Originally Posted by Nutty Nair

Hope we can meet the next time you come to Trivandrum.

Shall look forward to meeting you next time I am in TVM. However, the guys there meet up regularly, so try joining them. PM Jkdas or immortalz for further info on the TVM meets.

Originally Posted by hellstar

hey did you guys just stop at the KTDC , place or did you continue up to the top where you have the deer park ( is that still there?) and the Kerala Police Wireless Monitiring and Repeater station ?

Anup, we never got a chance to go all the way to the top. Since the entire 3 days went in dealing with the cops, we stayed close to the cop station itself. Only going for food to KTDC which is like 100mtrs away.

Sad but this place now has a bad tag due to some incidents which happened here some years back giving the place the nasty distinction of being haunted by the souls of the victims.

Hhhhmmm, haunted did you say? Sounds interesting .

There is a walkway which leads down to a stream beside the KTDC restaurant. If you walk a bit further from the stream you will come to a very isloated , beautiful yet dangerous place . The view here is awesome but thread there with extreme caution as due to the rocks to water they are super slippery and if you slip you will have a free fall of atleast a couple of hundreds of feet !

I know what you are talking about. Read the latest update on this. We had a really hilarious time here with Aneesh slipping for a couple of feet and falling straight onto his bottom on a small rock.

its not a good idea to wrestle off a leech , coz if you do , they sometimes leave some of thier teeth inside you , which will make the wound take longer to heal and that too with a scar , they would fall away themselves at the slightest hint of heat or salt. But off topic getting bitten by leeches once in s while is good , if you were in the US you wud have ended up paying big money for getting leeches to suck out your bad blood !

Yup! Never a good idea to wrestle a leech of your skin. They wont come off easily, even if they do expect them to tear a good chunk of your skin off. It totally slipped my mind that this is the season of leeches given the monsoons. That is the reason why I didn't carry salt with me. But cigarettes & lighters always come in handy here. Who says smoking is dangerous?

Not just in the US Anup, even in India they use leeches to suck away the infected blood in medical practices. I know its good for the health, but like I mentioned earlier I find them too creepy to see them on my skin. I am ok if they suck my blood unnoticed and disappear.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Thanks Kaushik. You mean the route to Peppara Dam or Ponmudi?

I was asking about the Dam. The place looks very beautiful.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

I was asking about the Dam. The place looks very beautiful.

Its on the same route to Ponmudi. After you cross Nedumangad, look for a small road that takes you to the right. This road slopes upwards, its very easy to miss it. I remember seeing a sign board directing towards the dam. The road is pretty bad initially. Here is more info.

Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mclaren1885]

I forgot to add that I did visit Kovalam beach in between all this. Its shocking to see that no "beaches" exist due to the rising water levels during monsoons. Kovalam is a nice place, but its become too commercial. Not a place you would want to go expecting to be left all alone.



My holiday was nearing an end, that night I called Jk to see if he could get me onto a bus back to Bangalore. By the time we headed back from Nedumangad it was around 9pm. Jk the saviour tells me he is going to Chertala the next morning to see his wife and he can drop me off at the bus stand. So at around 4am, Jk picks me up in his truck and we are off to Chertala. A few hours later I say my goodbyes to Jk and his wife and I am now on board a KSRTC bus to Cochin. My last experience on a KSRTC bus was nothing short of a nightmare. Those drivers are mad. And I have seen quite a few mad drivers enough to last a life time. But these guys take driving to another new level. So I hold onto dear life and pray I get to Cochin in one piece.

On my way, I make a few calls to the local TBHPians to find out if they are free to catch up for a while before I board my bus back to Bangalore that night. I get down at Shenoy's theatre, drop off my bags at Jayd's office and go out shopping. Then I make a quick dash into Shenoy's and decide to watch Harry Potter. I must admit, Cochin has some of the hottest women around. Better than Bangalore, if I must add. I get done with the movie and I am told Nikkibike would be coming to pick me up soon. The LPG-AD07 shod swift arrives, I book my bus ticket to Bangalore and we are off. Louis aka rippergeo has a grand plan. He is going to treat me to how drives are done in God's own country. At a steady pace, stopping by every beautiful place you come across. I am amazed at the patience Doc has to locate & hunt down these breath taking places.

This is the scenery that invites us.


On the left hand side is Azheekkan's homestay. Louis tells me its a very nice place.


Thats the mad swift against a wonderful Church in the background.


The infamous Cochin swift. The public transport machine one must take if you are late to catch a bus, train or a flight! lol.

[srijit]

Rahul, Kovalam has gone to the dogs. You need to travel about 20 more kms to Somatheeram or Poovar to get isolated beaches.

[greenhorn]

I actually have an aunt whose backyard opens into the sea.
Nothing exotic.Lots of fisherfolk around there

[rjstyles69]

Rahul is that church by any chance Arthungal Church on beach road en route Chertala ? The last pic looks very familiar to the area close to my mom's ancestral house.

Where's ripper is that beach around Chellanam ?

[mclaren1885]

Riju, its very close to Mararikulam beach, Allepey district.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Riju, its very close to Mararikulam beach, Allepey district.

Bingo Rahul , so looks like you chaps drove right through my moms ancestral place. Wasn't it a feast to your eyes the beaches, the back waters, the waterways, those small bridges and the chinese fishing nets ? An old shot from around the same place

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Bingo Rahul , so looks like you chaps drove right through my moms ancestral place. Wasn't it a feast to your eyes the beaches, the back waters, the waterways, those small bridges and the chinese fishing nets?

Yup! It was more than a treat to the eyes actually. Still got to upload some more pics from around these places. Infact, I loved the place so much that Louis has promised me he will organize a drive and invite us Bangy guys soon. Upside is, its a drive that is going to be done at "sane speeds" with plenty of photo ops .

[brraj]

I wish i was kid like you and enjoy each and every day driving around to places like these. I seriously suggest you to enjoy your life as much as possible before marriage and job.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by brraj

I wish i was kid like you and enjoy each and every day driving around to places like these. I seriously suggest you to enjoy your life as much as possible before marriage and job.

Rajeev, I doubt if its anything to do with me not being married or working a 9-5 job. My thumb rules are:

1. Marry someone who shares the same passion for traveling as I do.
2. Make sure she doesn't suffer from motion sickness .
3. Marry someone who can understand your passion for cars.
4. Never rush into having children, I would wait for a couple of years atleast.
5. Be your own boss. I can't work under someone. Luckily, I have a family business to look after & shortly I might be starting a business of my own. This lets you take off whenever you want, only downside is when you are back you need to make up for the lost time. But I think its totally worth it.

Even (rather if and when) if I got married, I don't think things would change much. I will still be traveling as much as I do now.

[mclaren1885]

Mararikulam Beach, Allepey district. This has to be one of the cleanest, most unpopulated beaches I am yet to come across in South India.








Seeing Nikkibike's swift coming like a rocket....


Ripper's mad Pete'd swift goes into hiding .


A coconutreat with a slight twist!




The Kallu manufacturing plant!


Actually, this is my favourite pic of the trip.

[mclaren1885]

As the time ticked, I knew it was all coming to an end. 16 days of freedom from city life. Most of the Cochin regulars dropped by for dinner, later dropped me to the the bus and we went our ways.

A special thanks to Louis, Nikki, Ashvin for taking me on this wonderful drive. This route is on my priority list on must do again drives.


A special shout out to every bhpian I met during my stay at Kerala. It was wonderful meeting up with you all. Thanks for making my trip a very memorable one guys. I shall remember this for a long long time to come.

[akroy]

Just stumped into this thread. Sorry for the late reading Rahul. wonderful pics must say.
but I fail to understand how come your baleno changes numberplate when you were always in KA?

Abhi