9th December 2009, 14:25
| #16 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne
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9th December 2009, 18:46
| #17 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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9th December 2009, 18:59
| #18 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore
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Beyond Tholpetty, on the Kerala side, after having seen the horrendous Karnataka side, the road is definitely better, but not by much. | |
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9th December 2009, 20:16
| #19 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Coorg/North Coastal Kerala/Wayanad in Swift D!!! Day 2 (29th November, 2009): Madikeri – Bhagamandala – Panathur – Kanhangad – Kannur Trip Meter – 332kms to 585kms After a tiring day 1 because of lack of sleep, woke up late by 9:00AM. Night at Madikeri was cold with the temperature around 13 degree C. We quickly get ready and order breakfast in the room. Pack the bags and check out by 10:30AM. The main road at Madikeri towards private bus stand is closed as concrete roads are being made. So in order to get to the main junction at Madikeri you will have to take the road towards Raja Seat or the interior roads. Take the road towards Raja seat and head towards Abbey Falls which is about 9kms from Madikeri. We are at Abbey Falls in 30mins. Park the car and walk down the path leading to the waterfalls. Place is a little crowded being a weekend and the entire pathway is littered with plastic waste which is disgusting. But as soon as you see the waterfalls all is forgotten by it beauty. We spend about 20mins at the waterfalls and walk back to the parking lot. By noon we leave Madikeri town towards Talacauvery.  Road towards Abbey Falls which is about 8kms from Madikeri  Beautiful Abbey Falls As we leave Madikeri town the roads get bad. The turns are dusty and the next 8-10kms we drive slowly behind a train of buses headed towards Talacauvery kicking up dust. Then once the roads get better I quickly overtake the train of buses and make my way towards Talacauvery. The road condition is good all the way till Talacauvery with occasional potholes. On the way, stop at a small temple just before Bhagamandala for about 15mins. We usually stop at this small temple whenever we travel this route.  Road towards Bhagamandala/Talacauvery.  Swift D at the small temple we stopped.  The small temple before Bhagamandala.  Another view of the temple and Swift D parked. Cross Bhagamandala and travel uphill for another 11kms to Talacauvery. Everytime I have visited Talacauvery I had encountered fog, but not this time. Place is little crowded with lots of tourists. Quickly finish darshan and relax on the temple steps for sometime and taking snaps. I know we are terribly running behind schedule and I still have to travel into territory which I had never ventured before. Leave Talacauvery after about spending 30mins and drive down to Bhagamandala. Visit the triveni sangama (Kaveri is joined by two tributaries, the Kanika and the mythical Sujyoti River). Also visit Sri Bhagandeshwara temple nearby but find the temple closed. Time is 2:00PM and temple opens in another hour. We decide to carry on with the drive towards Kerala now.  View of hills around when climbing up towards Talacauvery.  Talacauvery - Birthplace of River Cauvery (No fog this time :()  View from the temple of the road leading to Talacauvery.  The entrance arch to the temple at Talacauvery.  View of the hills around at Talacauvery.  Smooth roads on the Bhagamandala - Talacauvery stretch.  Entrance to Sri Bhagandeshwara temple.  Inside Sri Bhagandeshwara temple. The deviation towards Panathur is near the arch at the entrance of Bhagamandala. I was pretty excited about the drive on this stretch as not many are aware of this route and search on google map showed no roads existed. We quickly take the road towards Panathur, single lane road through dense forest. Once you leave Bhagamandala town, you will encounter civilisation only after about 25kms. The first 15kms the road was allright with occasional potholes but later on road gets bad. Nearing Panathur the road gets real bad for a couple of kilometers due to a dam construction going on. It took about 45mins for me to get to Panathur town in Kerala from Bhagamandala and I only encountered 3 oncoming vehicles. Such is the traffic density on this route.  Signboard at Bhagamandala - Kerala border not very far..  Narrow road through a dense forest on the Bhagamandala - Panathur Stretch. From Panathur onwards the road improves. I have another 50kms to Kanhangad and another 14kms to Bekal Fort from there and on top of that my grumbling tummy reminds me of the skipped lunch. I manage to keep my tummy happy with some biscuits in the car. You can expect decent hotels for food only in Kanhangad. Make my way through the typical curvy 2 lane Kerala SH. Road is in good condition and nearing Kanhangad the landscape changes as I get down the hills. Wide open spaces with coconut trees and I am eager to see the sea. Anyday I prefer the sea than hills and wifey is the opposite. She is unhappy coz we are leaving the hills behind us. Enter Kanhangad town around 4:00PM and still no sight of the sea. Join the NH17 passing through Kanhangad town and travel north towards Bekal Fort. Before that find a decent restaurant and have a light meal. The traffic is dense on NH17 and road is not good with uneven surface. Travelling north on NH17 I spot the sea on my left and such is the effect that I completely feel rejuvenated. We travel for another 10-12kms north and there is a traffic jam near a abandoned half-finished flyover on NH17. We slowly crawl out of this traffic jam and take the left turn towards Bekal Fort. By 5:00PM we are parking the car at the Bekal Fort parking lot. We come to know that the ticket counter closes by 5:30PM and we quickly make our way inside the fort, buy entry tickets and we are in. Bekal Fort is the largest and one of the oldest forts in Kerala and it is around 300 years old. The fort has watchtowers and observatories which has a huge significance in their architecture, good enough to notice the tiniest activity on the shores of the Arabian Sea and also to house huge defense canons which used to be there of course. I always wanted to visit Bekal Fort and fort looks magical in monsoons as seen in the song 'Uyire Uyire' from the film Bombay. I will be back at Bekal fort during monsoons but the thought of the punishing NH17 during monsoon might stop me.  The main watch tower at Bekal Fort.  View of the Arabian Sea from one of the watch towers.  View of the Arabian Sea from Bekal Fort.  View of Bekal Fort Beach from the Fort.  View of the Arabian Sea from Bekal Fort.  One of the watch towers inside the Fort.  Bekal Fort. We spend about an hour walking around, taking pictures of the sea and nearby Bekal fort beach and the beautiful sunset. I just wished we had arrived atleast an hour early. But we enjoyed the hour spent at Bekal fort and we leave by 6:30PM. It’s dark by the time we rejoin NH17 and travel south towards Kannur. Kannur is about 85kms south from Bekal Fort. NH17 gets better once you cross Kanhangad and I maitain a safe speed of 60-80kmph on this 2 lane NH17.  Watching the beautiful sunset.  Your's truely at Bekal Fort.  Sunset from Bekal Fort.  Beautiful Sunset  One of the watch towers closer to the Arabian Sea.  View of the sea after the sunset.  View of the neatly maintained garden inside the fort. By 8:00PM we enter Kannur town and check into Hotel Green Park Residency near Kannur Railway Station. The hotel has very good, clean rooms and very good service. They have a nice restaurant too. After lots of driving and walking done at Bekal fort, relax for sometime in the room watching TV. While entering Kannur town, I had noticed a nice Chinese restaurant at a Junction. By 9:30PM we drive to this restaurant, but find its closing time for them. We just drive around the town and head back to the hotel by 10:00PM. Order food from the restaurant which was very good and doze off by midnight. Continued.... |
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9th December 2009, 20:36
| #20 |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore
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9th December 2009, 20:44
| #21 | ||||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Thats one hell of an experience you had. Lone tuskers are very dangerous and I always keep a safe distance with them. No I did not take the Kutta to Mananthavady route. I heard Kutta to Mananthavady stretch is in very bad condition. Quote:
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9th December 2009, 22:52
| #22 | ||||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Yes, even I was not expecting bad roads between Kutta and Madikeri. I found it more difficult driving on this stretch coz it was dark by the time I left Irrupu Falls. I mean its more drivable if you cover this area in daylight as you can negotiate the potholes better and no oncoming glare from headlights of oncoming vehicles. Kutta via Manathavady is bad as well. Better roads towards Gudalur I guess. Quote:
Bangalore - Mysore - Hunsur - Madikeri - Bhagamandala - Panathur - Kanhangad - Kannur. (I took the longer route to Madikeri from Bangalore via Nagarahole Forest.) But the shorter Bangalore - Madikeri route is about 240kms + Madikeri - Kannur via Panathur which is about 180kms. Will take about 8-9hrs driving time. More info on Bangalore to Kannur road conditions here on this thread: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...fo-needed.html Quote:
Last edited by Dippy : 10th December 2009 at 17:20. Reason: Back to back posts. Please use the edit function if posting within 20 minutes of your earlier post. | ||||
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9th December 2009, 23:26
| #23 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cochin/Bangalore
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10th December 2009, 07:58
| #24 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Nice thread. I loved those Bekkal fort. I am sure this became more famous after Maniratnam's Bombay  |
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10th December 2009, 09:33
| #25 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kottayam
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10th December 2009, 20:01
| #26 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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 Yes seems like its about 1 trip every 2-3 months. My boss keeps wondering how many friends and relatives marriages or imp. functions I attend frequently and all of them outstation...Quote:
My wife was telling me the other day that we have visited Thirumalai Nayak Palace at Madurai where "kannalane" song from Bombay was shot in our previous roadtrips. Now we also have visited Bekal Fort where "Uyire Uyire" from the same movie was shot. Now we have to plan a trip to Mumbai (Bombay)!!!  Quote:
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11th December 2009, 10:05
| #27 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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11th December 2009, 22:19
| #28 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Coorg/North Coastal Kerala/Wayanad in Swift D!!! Day 3 (30th November, 2009): Kannur – Mahe – Calicut – Tamaracherry – Adivaram – Kalpetta Trip Meter – 585kms to 805kms I wake up by 8:30AM to a bright sunny morning. The platform at Kannur Railway Station is visible in the distance from the window of our room. The hotel is pretty good, comfortable beds, clean room and linen and very helpful staff; AC room for little more than 1K. I would definitely recommend this hotel at Kannur. Today we plan to see some places at Kannur and head south towards Calicut and then towards Kalpetta. By 10:30AM we leave the hotel after finishing a heavy breakfast. It’s sunny and humid outside, and the AC in the swift is doing a pretty good job. We head towards St.Angelo Fort which is about 3-4kms from our hotel. It’s located in the Kannur Cantonment area. We ask our way towards the fort.  Way towards St.Angelo Fort in the Kannur Cantonment area.  Map of St.Angelo Fort, Kannur. This triangular shaped fort is surrounded on all three sides by the Arabian Sea. The fort was actually built in 1505 AD by the first Portuguese Viceroy of India, Don Francisco De Almeda. It houses an old lighthouse, soldier’s barracks, an old church and the old watchtower. The fort offers splendid views of the Mappila bay harbor, which lies adjacent to the fort. The view of the Arabian Sea is beautiful from the top of the fort. We spend about an hour at the fort and head back to the hotel. We have a long drive ahead and have to reach Kalpetta before its dark.  One of the many cannon's in the fort.  View of the Arabian Sea from St.Angelo Fort.  View of the Arabian Sea from St.Angelo Fort.  View of the Arabian Sea from St.Angelo Fort.  Outside the horse stable at St.Angelo Fort.  Inside the horse stable at St.Angelo Fort.  Outside view of the stable and remains of the early oil lamp lighthouse at the St.Angelo Fort.  The Arabian Sea lashing against the wall of the fort.  The Grave stone of Dutch commandents wife and two children with Dutch inscruptions.  View of Mappila Bay from St. Angelo Fort. We check out of the hotel around noon and head out of Kannur. Rejoin NH17 and contnue our drive south. About 17kms out of Kannur we spot directions to Muzhappilangad Drive in Beach. We take a turn which says it’s about 2kms from the Highway. A narrow road takes you to the beach. I am surprised to see people driving on the beach. Later on I found out that it’s the only legal Drive in beach in India. The beach is about 4kms long and I make some quick runs from one of the beach to the other in my Swift. The sand here is not loose and there is no fear of vehicles getting stuck in sand. Made a couple of runs in my Swift close to water as wifey took some snaps; was pretty excited. You don’t get to do this very often you see. Then I realised how corrosive salt water is. First priority is a complete wash once I am back in Bangalore.  On the way towards Calicut.  Muzhappilangad Drive in Beach.  Muzhappilangad Drive in Beach.  Swift D - Beach run!!!  After the beach run at Muzhappilangad Drive in Beach. After the beach run and having Ice creams near the beach we head back to the highway by 1:30PM. The car is a little dirty now because of the beach runs. We enter Mahe, which is a part of Pondicherry Union Territory. Roads lined with numerous fuel stations and wine stores. I quickly pull into a big IOC outlet and fill up Diesel. Diesel is Rs.33.8/ltr which is cheaper by Rs.3.25 compared to rates in Bangalore. Full tank with Regular Diesel (Rs.1000/29.6lts). The Swift D is giving me a mileage of 21.52km/lt with about 70% AC Usage which is pretty good. We continue the drive on NH17 sfter this small break. As per my observation, driving on Kerala highways, the maximum billboard advertisements are Jewellery ads. I feel about 70-80% of the billboard advertisements is about some jewellery store. And you have jewellery stores as big as some shopping malls in Bangalore. I have personally seen some huge stores in Kochi. The sea sometimes comes very close to the road, always near to NH17. If you cannot see the sea, a 5 minute deviation will lead you to the sea. By 3:00PM we still have another 25kms to Calicut, we stop for lunch. After about 30mins we continue the drive towards Calicut. We see deviation towards Kappad Beach. We turn towards Kappad Beach which is about 3-4kms from NH17. Kappad Beach is about 19kms North of Calicut town. There is a small stone monument which speaks about the great importance of this place. About 500 years ago, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama landed here. We spent about 30mins at the beach here.  Kappad Beach  At Kappad Beach  Kappad Beach  Vasco Da Gama pillar at Kappad Beach By 4:00PM we are out of this place and make our way inside Calicut town. We get a little lost inside the town trying to find the road towards Kalpetta. Ask people around and we are on our way towards the hills. By 6:00PM we are climbing up the hills towards Kalpetta. The never ending train of buses and trucks slow us down.  On the way towards Kalpetta from Calicut  Smooth road towards Kalpetta  Can see the Wayanad hills ahead It’s about 7:00PM when we reach Kalpetta and its dark. We have arranged our stay in Kalpetta at Woodlands Hotel. Find the hotel without much difficulty and check in by 7:30PM. The weather at Kalpetta was pleasant and not cold like any other hilly area during this time of the year. We take rest in the room watching TV and go for a small walk out in the main road of the town for some shopping. We are back to the hotel by 10:00PM and have dinner at the fast food outlet in the Hotel. After a nice satisfying dinner we head back to the room, watch TV and by midnight I am off to sleep. Continued.... |
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11th December 2009, 22:34
| #29 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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12th December 2009, 09:20
| #30 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kottayam
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