[arvi86]

@ MX6 - Even I used to play with toy cars till I was in college, but then my parents made sure that I stop it. Now all I do is, whenever I buy a scale model, for one or two days, I try to play with it and then it goes straight to my showcase where it stands forever.

Coming back to this travelogue, what I noticed is that Kerala is supremely good when it comes to maintaining strict rules and cleanliness. Both Munnar & Wayanad, though very popular among tourists, are very neat and devoid completely of plastic and other waste. The only place in Kerala, which I saw in this trip with lots of plastic and garbage strewn around is the Echo Point in Munnar. It's a complete contrast to TN hill stations like Ooty & Kodaikanal, where the visitors just litter the place with everything as they wish.

[Murugan]

Originally Posted by arvi86

(quoted in part) But, the temptation that NH45 gifted me overpowered my logical thinking and I touched 140 kph once or twice. Somehow, both myself and the car did not feel comfortable and I again returned back to sensible speeds. I tried taking a snap of the speedo at that speeds with my mobile but before I could click, the speed came down a little bit.

In the interest of the safety of the occupants of your car and the safety of other road users, suggest you avoid the temptation of taking photographs when driving (especially when driving fast). Please do not mistake the advise made with good intention.

[arvi86]

@ Murugan - I stand corrected. Apart from this one incident, I have never did this before and will never do it again also. This time too, the road was literally empty when I took the snap.

Coming back to this travelogue, is there any other route that you people know to go to Wayanad from Trichy? Because, I hear from some people that we need not go through Ooty and Gudalur at all to go to Sultan Bathery. Your comments will be very helpful as a friend of mine is planning for a trip in this same route...

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by arvi86

@ Murugan - I stand corrected. Apart from this one incident, I have never did this before and will never do it again also. This time too, the road was literally empty when I took the snap.

Coming back to this travelogue, is there any other route that you people know to go to Wayanad from Trichy? Because, I hear from some people that we need not go through Ooty and Gudalur at all to go to Sultan Bathery. Your comments will be very helpful as a friend of mine is planning for a trip in this same route...

Arvi, yes there is no need to go through Gudallur for reaching Sultan Bathery. While coming from Sathyamangalam route as you came (or from Bangalore/ Mysore) proceed towards Ooty in Mysore - Ooty road. You will cross Nanjangaud and then Gundelpet (Last town in Karnataka, also got RTO check post).
Just after Gundelpet town the road splits in a Y- junction. You have taken the left arm of that towards Bandipur- Gudallur- Ooty. Instead you should have taken the right arm. It will take you direct to Karnataka - Kerala border. The first town on Kerala side being Sultan Bathery. From Gundelpet its around 55Kms IIRC to Sultan Bathery.

The route passes through Wayanad wildlife sanctuary and its scenic and also with good roads. Would take around one hour to reach Sultan Bathery. Only issue being just like Bandipur - Ooty stretch this route also is closed to traffic between 9PM- 6AM since its through forest.

[arvi86]

@ mpksuhas - Tks for the above tip, but I still cannot understand. Because, while coming from Sathyamangalam, only after crossing Ooty town, I take the Ooty-Mysore road and proceed towards Mysore for some distance. So, as you have mentioned above, I did not travel towards Ooty in that road. I guess the route you mentioned is for people driving from Bangalore/Mysore.

To be frank, the roads there are quite confusing and one could easily miss the correct route. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by arvi86

@ mpksuhas - Tks for the above tip, but I still cannot understand. Because, while coming from Sathyamangalam, only after crossing Ooty town, I take the Ooty-Mysore road and proceed towards Mysore for some distance. So, as you have mentioned above, I did not travel towards Ooty in that road. I guess the route you mentioned is for people driving from Bangalore/Mysore.

To be frank, the roads there are quite confusing and one could easily miss the correct route. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Agree with you on the roads being confusing part . The route I was saying was, suppose you coming from Sathyamangalam side instead of going all the way to Ooty and then taking Ooty-Mysore route, you can from Sathyamangalam take the route to Nanjangaud. Nanjangaud falls some 35Kms or so from Mysore on Mysore- Ooty route.
From Nanjangaud proceed towards direction of Ooty you will reach Gundelpet which as I was saying is last town in Karnataka. From there you take a right (NH212) towards Sultan Bathery. Left takes you to Ooty from here.

[arvi86]

@ mpksuhas - Thanks again for clearing my doubt. Now I have a fairly clear idea of the route to be taken. As you have explained, I am planning to suggest that route to my friend and will try taking it the next time when I plan a trip there.

[arvi86]

Friends, since this is my first travelogue, I thought of posting some other snaps taken during many of my previous tours. Hope there is nothing wrong in posting them here. Have a look at them and give your feedback.

Following are some snaps taken during my trip to Kodaikanal in June 2009.

1 - The calm and serene Kodaikanal Lake


2 - What a wonderful place this would be to live in !!!


3, 4 & 5 - View of the awesome lake in different zoom levels from Lake View Point




6 - Tree covered in full mist in the ghats

[arvi86]

After the previous snaps in Kodaikanal, I am attaching some of my fav snaps, taken by me during a trip to Tada in Sep 2008.

Our transporters to Tada


Awesome view of the ghats surrounding the area


These are not just stones and rocks, but stones and rocks under crystal-clear water.




The cool, calm & natural atmosphere

[gadadhar]

@arvi86 - Thats cool snap of the pebbles under water, I could spot some small fishes in one of them. If you have not mentioned water it looks like just laid pebbles

[mpksuhas]

arvi can you let know details of Tada, is it near to Kodaikanal?

[arvi86]

@ gadadhar - Yes. Even I was stunned at first looking at the water. Infact I waited for a few minutes in the water to let it calm down so that I could take nice crystal-clear snaps and it worked out well.

@ mpksuhas - No. Tada is located in South Andhra Pradesh and just around 80 kms from Chennai. You have to take the NH5 and take a detour once you enter AP. We heard from quite a few people that there is a good waterfall there, but even after walking in the sand/rock/water for around 1 km, we couldn't reach the waterfall.

[arvi86]

Have anyone out there visited the Tada Waterfalls?
As I said in the above post, I couldn't even have a glimpse of the waterfall there. If someone can throw light on this, it would be very useful as some of my buddies are planning to visit Tada Falls again !!!

[arvi86]

All you folks out there, I need your help to plan my next trip. Me and my friends are at a split over the destination of travel. I will reveal the as-of-now-finalized details.

• Trip Planned in - Dec 2010 or Jan 2011
• No of Days - 4
• No of travelers - 6
• Vehicle - Tata Safari
• Beginning & End Place - Chennai
• Destinations Planned - 1.Goa, 2.Murudeshwar/Jog Falls or 3.Bhubaneshwar/Puri/Konark

With all your travel experiences, kindly advice me which of the above three would be ideal for the trip. Please note that the 4 days is inclusive of our starting and returning day to Chennai. Also, any new destinations/suggestions from your side is also welcome.