[MX6]

All packed up on the 6th of Jan, we had our breakfast in some nearby hotel at Chamarajanagara.
We were in our car and left chamarajanagara at 10 am. The road to Dhimbam was poor to start with. And work was going on on stretches. I've read about how the quality of roads improve across the border.
The camera shake show how eneven the road surface was.

Uneven roads, but trees on both sides


Roads started getting better as we neared the border


Roads were like this. But the hills beckoned


Once we entered the forest area, it was a lot different. The roads were good. We had a pit stop for 15 mins so that our baby had a stretch, out of her car seat. She was very excited to see hordes of monkeys crossing the road!

Look behind you, there are monkeys


Happy spotting monkeys


Eyes firm on the monkeys


We stopped again at the border. Didn't get off the car. It was around 11 am and the sun was high up. Through the glare, I was excited to capture the signboard that welcomed us to Tamil Nadu. I sang the line of AR Rehman's Thai Manne Vanakkam from Vandemataram and proceded.
Bye Bye Karnataka, as Karnataka says Vandanegalu.


The road from there to Dhimbam was a breeze. We had a pitstop at dhimbam to have tea.
At Dhimbam


Tea shop at Dhimbam. The tea was too sweet. Reminded as that we are entering the domain of Bannari Sugars.


After a 20 min break there talking to locals, we started on our descent from Dhimbam. I recollect around 27 hair pin bends over 11 kms of ghat section.
The road was unbelievable! Never seen such a friendly ghat section! I recounted the Agumbe Ghat we climed 6 days before. Dear Karnataka. You need to learn a lot from your neighbour TN.

The drive was very good. Vehicles were well behaved and priority was given to heavier vehicles coming up. There were more buses on this route at the time we went than trucks or cars. Everything was fine, till a moron on a honda city tried overtaking me over one of the hairpin bends and cut me off badly. I asked my family, should I catch up and teach him a lesson?
And before they could say anything, I let go the low life and forgot about it. I saw him doing similat things around every curve and bullying trucks coming from opposite side. His lucky day, he reached down in one piece.
Views of the great Dhimbam ghat road.





In no time we were down and had a 2 min stop in front of Bannari Amman (?) temple.

It was fast approaching noon and we wanted to reach Karur at the earliest for lunch.

[aargee]

Finally you made to TN, welcome buddy, looking forward to hear the route conditions from you

[LongDrive lover]

MX6. Very soothing pics of Hotel premises at Mysore. Your narration continue to keep one glued to the thread.

[sriswe]

Hi MX6,

Just now finished reading the log from page 1 to here..Good narration with excellent pics ... very much enjoyed the sringeri cleanup section ....waiting for more pics/log ...

Thanks,
Srini...

[chennai-indian]

@MX6 fantastic travelogue so far !! - and your bundle of joy is very cute !! She is lucky to have a dad like you. The pictures and narration are very very good. Looking forward the rest of the journey

[MX6]

Originally Posted by aargee

Finally you made to TN, welcome buddy, looking forward to hear the route conditions from you

Yes Aargee. Finally I made it to TN. It's always a great feeling to go back to a place where one grew up! Ofcourse, every visit I see lot's of changes. But still, it's always amazing.

Road conditions were amazing. Dhimbam to Sathy was a breeze. Sathy to Erode was amazing roads. Erode to Karur was damn scenic. Though it was a two lane highway, I could keep 90 - 100 all the way.
Karur to Tirunelveli was a belter of a circuit. NH7 was damn good. Rest I'll tell as the story unfolds.

Originally Posted by LongDrive lover

MX6. Very soothing pics of Hotel premises at Mysore. Your narration continue to keep one glued to the thread.

Thanks LongDrive lover. You'd now see Temples of TN in it's glory.

Originally Posted by sriswe

Hi MX6,

Just now finished reading the log from page 1 to here..Good narration with excellent pics ... very much enjoyed the sringeri cleanup section ....waiting for more pics/log ...

Thanks,
Srini...

Thanks for your kind words Srini.

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

@MX6 fantastic travelogue so far !! - and your bundle of joy is very cute !! She is lucky to have a dad like you. The pictures and narration are very very good. Looking forward the rest of the journey

And I'm lucky to have her as our daughter. She was very co-operative during a trip of such magnitude.

Once again thanks all readers for kind words. I was away (went on a quick overnight drive to Bhimashankar over Shivaratri. So whole of saturday was spent in resting. And then the attack in pune, rattled me to the core as that's the route I normally take to office.
Time to continue with the thread again. As we are entering the domain of temples now, I pray for all the dead in Pune. May their souls rest in peace.

[DWind]

I had travelled in this road on 6 trips from July 2007 till Aug 2009 and have been in shock and awe of the road maintenance done by both the states on this road. I have not seen any improvement on the roads on KA side and looking at your photos I see that there has not been any improvement while on the TN side gets pampered a lot. I fail to understand how there can be such a difference on the same NH. Something to do with the corruption levels on KA state (not that TN is a saint). And no the PWD of KA cannot say it is due to rains as both sides of border get the same amount of rain. I can understand the plains being in rain-shadow but not Hassanur which is the border town on TN side.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by MX6

With a heavy heart I had to turn down an eager couple's request of taking photo of our baby in the restaurant.

If it was privacy you were worried about, you yourself have posted pictures of your wife and kid...which totally defeats your argument. Posting pictures in an online forum is like distributing it to 100,000 people where 99% are absolute strangers!

-- Torqy

[MX6]

We got lost in Sathy and had to do the market road twice. Then we realised that we need to cross a bridge and then branch off from there.
It was so fun hearing Kongu Tamil.
The road from Sathy to Erode via Gobi was a belter of a track. For once in the trip, I loved the fact that we don't have damned speedbreakers before and after each village.
From Erode, we took the scenic route to Karur that has fields on either side.

Let the pictures do the talking.

Inviting road with fields on either side


Random shots of the greenery.


There's Bananas,


And other saplings which would grow


And Coconuts, and also a nut that holds the wheel


We are at a level crossing. Time to get the baby out for her juice. A rare moment where she's sitting on momma's lap and enjoying the juice as well as the scenery. Level crossings are fun!


Here comes a train.


And here goes the train. A scenario that's a far cry from what I see at level crossings in Pune. Motorists here would choke up every available spot and when the gates open, it's a big mess. Especially the two wheelers of Pune are big trouble mongers. Surprisingly, they don't clog the track and block the train from moving. Except for the lone biker on the right, everyone formed a single line and left ample space in between. Trains gone and it's time to put our baby back in her car seat.



We reached Karur and again had to search for a good place to eat.
Took a longer break in Karur and finally hit the NH7 to Nellai.

It was already around 4 pm and I had close to 300 kms to do. I was determined to reach Tirunelveli at any cost tonight itself. However, our stock of milk is dwindling and we need to be in Nellai by 7 at any cost.
All my family was weary with so much of non stop travel from Sringeri over 2 days. They were coming up with ideas of stopping over in Madurai for the night.
Finally I decided to drive till 7 pm and stop at which ever place we arrive at.
At the back of my mind, that place always had to be Tirunelveli. Hence I broke my golden rule of 100 - 110 on 4 lane highways.

Speeding across NH7, we caught a glimpse of the setting sun.


It was a nonstop drive from Karur to Tirunelveli. That was the only photo We even took. I was weary as well after a long drive. And to make matters worse, had a severe stomach upset which put me out of gear since Chamarajanagara. Every hour I had to stop and hunt for a loo.
But nothing comes in the way of a determined nut!
After 3 hours and 10 mins of leaving Karur, we checked in to a hotel in Tirunelveli. Almost 300 kms done at an avg speed of 100. Kept a peak of 150 on stretches that were lovely. I downed 2 tender coconuts to bring relief to my troubled stomach while the family were nursing their tired legs.

Up next - Idyllic village on banks of Thamirabarani.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Torqy

If it was privacy you were worried about, you yourself have posted pictures of your wife and kid...which totally defeats your argument. Posting pictures in an online forum is like distributing it to 100,000 people where 99% are absolute strangers!

-- Torqy

Absolutely right. But why should I let others take photos with my kid?
It's not posting pic on an online forum that I'm worried off. It's people who come asking whether they can have their pic taken with my kid. I'm very protective just like other parent around the world I guess.

Now that you've pointed it out, I'm kind of worried.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by MX6

Now that you've pointed it out, I'm kind of worried.

Yes, MOST people don't post their family pictures. Those who do, either don't care or they're fully aware of the risks.

You did obscure your number plate though.

-- Torqy

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Torqy

If it was privacy you were worried about, you yourself have posted pictures of your wife and kid...which totally defeats your argument. Posting pictures in an online forum is like distributing it to 100,000 people where 99% are absolute strangers!

-- Torqy

Torqy your point is very much valid & I'll remain extra cautious about it (though I don't put up family pics anywhere in the net); I'm not trying to defend anyone, but I've the same feeling for not allowing any stranger take the pic of my baby.

But here's the difference of someone approaching you with an intention of taking a pic of your baby compared to an automobile site where you would expect lots of vehicles rather than infants & kids. How does that sound? Would someone ever come over here looking out for babies?

Think about this - There's quite a chances that someone could still take a pic of my baby using a zoom lens without my knowledge too & I'm fully aware of that.

For me, it matters on what I'm doing with whole hearted compared to something that happens without my knowledge.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by aargee

But here's the difference of someone approaching you with an intention of taking a pic of your baby compared to an automobile site where you would expect lots of vehicles rather than infants & kids. How does that sound? Would someone ever come over here looking out for babies?

True. It was just to remind that an online forum is just that. An online forum. You don't have much control on it.

[Shantanu Sarkar]

Great narration and pics. Did u drive alone all the 5k kms? Your daughter is a cutie pie, its great for a 1 year old to move in a car for that long distances.

[MX6]

@ Shantanu Sarkar.
Thanks. Yes. I was the lone driver. And my daughter did very well on such long trips.

Tirunelveli (or nellai) is one of my favourite places. A massive temple of Nellaiyappar (Shiva) stands right in the middle of this temple town. The other attraction of Nellai includes the river Thamirabharani and of course the famous Tirunelveli Halwa.
Also Nellai houses the only dual layer road bridge in the world I guess. Two levels of bridges, one over the other crossing the Junction area running towards the temple.

I couldn't go to Nellaiyappar temple, however, uploading some file photos from my earlier trip there.

Get Well Hanuman at Nellai. He derives his name from the fact that the temple is located within the Get well group of hospitals.


Main tower of Nellaiyappar temple.


Urchava Moorthi


Vahana getting ready to carry the murthy around.


Huge Prahara's of Nellaiyappar temple.


Musical pillars that resound the saptaswaras when tapped.


The underside of the gopura. How did they ever manage to bend the huge teak wood to get it to that shape?


Ayyanar waiting outside.


The cars on the car street.


Path to Sasthan Koil


Peruvembudayar Koil also called as Sasthan Koil. Lord Ayyappa is the presiding deity here who is in the form of a Swayambhu Linga.


There's also a very idyllic temple at Kurukkuthurai along the banks of Thamirabharani river, a temple of Lord Subramanya or Murugan for locals.
One can sit on those steps or wade in those waters and lose concept of time.
Kurrukkuthurai after sunset.


Illumination


The temple.


Morning ablutions at a holy place.


From inside.


Family at Kurukkuthurai.