[Mysticeyes]

Originally Posted by darklord

Achankovil river, almost dried up in summer:
Attachment 1352745

The road through the forest:
Attachment 1352746

Attachment 1352747

The valley (Tamil Nadu side):
Attachment 1352748

Attachment 1352749

Where we drove down from:
Attachment 1352750

A temple up a small hill:
Attachment 1352751
Google tells me it is Thirumalaikoil (9.035708, 77.225161).
We didn't have time/were ignorant this time around; must make a return trip in full monsoon.

The hills as viewed from Kollam-Madhura Highway:
Attachment 1352752

Attachment 1352753

Swamiye saranam ayyappa.

Darklord, can you please tell hwo the road condition is from Shenkottai to Achankoil? Your snaps reminded me of these pics from proximity

Quite near to the place where you had clicked


Meykara - the road parallel to the Achankoil road


Well, if it's a green feel one wants, this is it


And..the green gives way for yellow


If it's inside Trivandrum, a 40 KM drive would give you these kind of retreats

[venkatt1800]

Darklord, thanks a ton for providing us a glimpse of Achankovil Sastha temple. Don't think there have been many trip logs to this temple. Very nice photos and useful info. on accommodation and road conditions.

[darklord]

Originally Posted by Mysticeyes

Darklord, can you please tell hwo the road condition is from Shenkottai to Achankoil?

I had mentioned it in the previous post, Mysticeyes:

Originally Posted by darklord

The road has a good surface, albeit an one-vehicle track once the ascent into the forest begins. In fact, we were held up by surface re-laying.

[darklord]

Dredger on Mundakkal beach gets many visitors

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle8777786.ece


GPS: 8.86463, 76.60337





Lights of Kollam in the distance, the faint one in the middle being the lighthouse:

[Dieseltuned]

Guys,

I am planning a tour of Kerala and have almost 3 days around Trivandrum.
I am travelling with my 2.5 year old daughter.
My plan is to see the following places ::

1. Padmanabhan temple
2. Trivandrum zoo (for the kid)
3. Ponmudi
4. Poovar

Please suggest, If I could any more places to this.

Thanks
Dieseltuned

[ranjish]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Please suggest, If I could any more places to this.

Thanks
Dieseltuned

If you have time, you can plan for a visit in Magic Planet. It is worth visiting. Only thing to keep in mind is that it will take almost the entire day.

The planetarium is also a good place to visit and has good shows.

[crdi]

Nice! Were your pictures shot some time back? That tata/fiat one is now honda, being so since a couple of years.

[venkatt1800]

Dieseltuned, If you have the time, take a half-day trip to Varkala cliff & beach, 45 kms north of varkala. It is a fabulous beach with some wonderful cliffside restaurants providing tasty food and gorgeous views. The beach is also very swim friendly. Try it out. I am sure you will love it.

[vindrider2626]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Guys,

I am planning a tour of Kerala and have almost 3 days around Trivandrum.
I am travelling with my 2.5 year old daughter.
My plan is to see the following places ::

1. Padmanabhan temple
2. Trivandrum zoo (for the kid)
3. Ponmudi
4. Poovar

Please suggest, If I could any more places to this.

Thanks
Dieseltuned

I think you can easily skip ponmudi as there is nothing there to see that much,instead why dont you visit padmanabhapuram palace, which is almost the same distance from trivandrum?

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by ranjish

If you have time, you can plan for a visit in Magic Planet. It is worth visiting. Only thing to keep in mind is that it will take almost the entire day.

The planetarium is also a good place to visit and has good shows.

Originally Posted by venkatt1800

Dieseltuned, If you have the time, take a half-day trip to Varkala cliff & beach, 45 kms north of varkala. It is a fabulous beach with some wonderful cliffside restaurants providing tasty food and gorgeous views. The beach is also very swim friendly. Try it out. I am sure you will love it.

Originally Posted by vindrider2626

I think you can easily skip ponmudi as there is nothing there to see that much,instead why dont you visit padmanabhapuram palace, which is almost the same distance from trivandrum?

Thanks Guys,

I have already planned a trip to Varkala with an overnight stay.

If Ponmudi is not worth it, can you please suggest other places around Trivandrum which can be visited ?

Also , Please suggest if Trivandrum - Kanyakumari - Trivandrum is doable in a day or not with an early start ?

Regards
Dieseltuned

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Please suggest if Trivandrum - Kanyakumari - Trivandrum is doable in a day or not with an early start ?

Regards

Yes it's do-able

But if you intend to see sunrise it has to a very early start.

It will take minimum 2.5 hours to do Trivandrum - Kanyakumari

If traffic is heavy it may take upto 5.5 - 6 Hours.

Road throughout the stretch has heavy traffic. But early morning traffic will be light.

Though the road conditions throughout are good (baring those inside Nagercoil town), it's a two lane affair almost the full distance (except the stretch immediately on the outskirts of Trivandrum.

Traffic bottle necks on the route outside Trivandrum city limits are -

Balaramapuram (can be very heavy and sometimes take upto 1 hour to cross)

Prassala & Kaliayakkavila (10-15 min),

Kuzhithurai to Marthandam (again may take upto 1 hour),

Chungakadai to Parvathipuram (15-45 min),

Inside Nagercoil town,
Suchindram Bridge (10-15 min).

But if you do a very early start (to catch sunrise) it's possible to breeze through all these areas.

On your return if you return immediately after sunset, say around 6:30-7 you are almost sure to run into traffic at Marthandam-Kuzhithurai. By the time you reach Balaramapuram the traffic would have thinned out.


Though there is nothing much to see at Ponmudi, it would be refreshing to take a bath at Kallar River, 45 min before you reach Ponmudi. It's right on the road side with adequate place to park vehicles, is clean and has changing rooms and toilets which are clean.

If you are going to Ponmudi make sure there is no liquor in the car. Also food at the hill top is limited. There are no hotels other than a small one with light food like pooris tea coffee etc. The KTDC Hotel (I think it's KTDC) is some distance away from the hill top and I am not sure about the timings and availability of food there.

[kozhissery]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Thanks Guys,

I have already planned a trip to Varkala with an overnight stay.

If Ponmudi is not worth it, can you please suggest other places around Trivandrum which can be visited ?

Also , Please suggest if Trivandrum - Kanyakumari - Trivandrum is doable in a day or not with an early start ?

Regards
Dieseltuned

Yes you can.
Start by 4:00 am and you can reach Kanyakumari before sunrise.
After sunrise have breakfast and goto see Vivekananda Rock. And you can be free by 10:30 or so.

May be if kid does not get cranky you can see the Padmanabhaswamy Palace too and reach Trivandrum by 5 pm.

Just make sure that the kid gets ample time to sleep in car.

[vindrider2626]

If you are planning kanyakumari trip then it is worthwhile to see vattakottai which is only 7km from there ,also called circular fort used by dutch and english.

[Dieseltuned]

Guys,

Had a query. How is the latest currency situation in Kerala right now. I have a tour planned to Kerala in on Nov 26th with family and dont' want any untoward incidents. Do you see any perceived political (or otherwise) disturbances in Kerala over thsi currency issue.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[Dieseltuned]

Ok.

I am back on this thread.

Had a wonderful trip to Kerala. You guys are lucky to stay in such a beautiful locale.

Visited :: Cochin - Guruvayur - Kumarakom - Varkala - Trivandrum

As thread is about Trivandrum, will talk about only TVM here.

Places Visited ::

1. Napier Museum ( A wonderful collection of artefacts dating way back to the 12th and 13th century)

2. Trivandrum zoo (Definetly the best zoo among the one I have visited in India)

3. Padmanabhaswamy temple (Had a super smooth Darshan with no queues and no hassle)

4. Puthenmalika palace (definetly a must see for the riches of the travancore rulers)

5. Methan Mani (the clock with head banging goats is an awesome experience right outside the padmanabhaswamy temple)

6. Vikram Sarabhai space center Museum (A hidden gem, speaks volumes about India's space journey and the contribution of that sleepy village of Thumba to India's space journey)

7. Kovalam (Will say that this fast turning into a huge garbage bin, the dirtiest beach in Kerala among the touristy ones)

8. Vizhinjam light house (has been recently renovated with a lift to take you to the top gives breathking views of the coastline)

9. Vizhinjam beach (one of the cleanest beaches ever seen in India)

10. Poovar (although expensive is worth every penny paid, beautiful locale)

Thank you all, who had answered my queries your contribution was helpful.

Regards
Dieseltuned