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Old 21st June 2010, 22:31   #31
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Lucky to see a Nilgiri Tahr so close. My honeymoon was in Munnar and I very well remember the Eravaikulam NP and the trek on the tar road to the Anaimudi peak. I just can't forget that experience all my life. Thanks for bringing back those memories.

By the way Congrats on the start of a new innings!
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Old 22nd June 2010, 12:47   #32
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Day 5: 8th June 2010

The day did not start off too well with me; the previous day’s Gujurati Thali took its toll on me. The first half of the day gone, decided to have a light and a bit late lunch. Back to Saravana Bhavan for the lunch. After lunch was loitering around the town doing nothing, but ensure I saw all the roads in Munnar.

Then headed to one of the view point, oops I missed the name. It is located on Ernakulam route. A few pics from day 5.


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Night view from the hotel room


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Old 22nd June 2010, 13:48   #33
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Excellent write up, superb pictures. Weather looks awesome and road is inviting. I would marry some time this year. Long ago, I had already decided that my Honey Moon would be a drive somewhere in India and would prefer to be driving atleast 3 days in total. May be I would go for a week.

I am now inspired to drive to Munnar and a few other places. You did it in a Fiat Palio. I would do it with the classic Fiat 1100. People whom I have discussed with have already started criticizing me for this idea terming as risky. I wouldnt budge!!
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Old 23rd June 2010, 10:39   #34
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Day 6: 9th June 2010

For a change my wife woke me up pretty early, a little surprising though. Got ready and finished our breakfast quite early by 8.30 am, which was actually a rarity. Headed off to Matupatty dam and the Top Station. It was nice drive all along.

I was very disappointed when I reached the Matupatty dam to see very shallow waters. Skipped the boating part and moved on towards the Kundala Lake. It was even worse. With high disappointment taking over control, drove back to the hotel room to pack up everything and vacate from the hotel.

Did so by 11.30 am, and headed straight to Saravana Bhavan, for an early lunch. It was time to bid adieu to the Munnar hill station but not before we bought quite some tea and other ayurvedic stuff from the TATA CTC shop. We decided to drive towards Chalakudy and halt for the day. With ample time on hand, drove very leisurely.

After a few kms from Munnar, the mist had completely covered the hills around. Thick mist I must say, visibility was very low. Time to get the head lights on at around 12.30 pm. It was like a competition to spot the right way contest all along the road for quite a few kms. Then the mist eased off after descending in the route for about 8-10 kms. Then a serious of spice gardens and the water falls greeted us through the route. The road is narrow and broken at a few places, the rest of the roads are in good condition.

Then after the ghats we took the Kothamangalam – Aluva route. Once we reached the highway still in broad daylight with only about 30 odd kms to Chalakudy. I wanted to drive more, so took the deviation towards Cherai Beach. On reaching the place, it was already raining heavily and also the road that leads to the beach was closed for some repair works. With a heavy heart headed back to the NH – 17 towards Edappally. From here turned left on the NH – 47 towards Chalakudy. Refueled on the way and halted at Chalakudy.


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Day 7 coming up in a little while
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Old 23rd June 2010, 12:50   #35
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And suddenly there's a burst of amazing landscapes! Trust me, these kinds of honeymoons have a long effect! Even now my wife goes through our Manali photos and momentarily gets transported to some wonder land!
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Old 23rd June 2010, 13:08   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MX6 View Post
And suddenly there's a burst of amazing landscapes! Trust me, these kinds of honeymoons have a long effect! Even now my wife goes through our Manali photos and momentarily gets transported to some wonder land!
So bottom line is no Manali trip? Just kidding .

I have heard old widow aunties speaking so emotionally about their first few days after marriage, the trips they had (though very few or nil).

Honeymoon memories will live in all, so its a message to all recently married and would be married soon. Get the best you can afford.
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Old 23rd June 2010, 13:39   #37
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Congrats on your wedding!! And a great place for this time of the year for your Honeymoon. Liked the Thekkady snaps especially.

Exactly 2 years back, even i took that big mistake and had been to the same place for my HM. I added Kumarakom along with Munnar.

Here is the link :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-day-trip.html
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Old 23rd June 2010, 17:39   #38
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@jacs. Manali will have to wait. I'm planning on something bigger. My daughter will have to grow a bit to get used to high altitudes. Till then Manali will have to wait.
But my wife and I have been telling each other that we should take another trip to Manali to reminisce nostalgia!
And my 2 cents for people on honeymoon. Keep all the time for yourself.
Right from the time we left udupi till we got back to delhi from Manali, we were not reachable by anyone over any means! Actually, I didn't even reveal my travel plans to anyone in the family and they were guessing till the last moment as to where we are heading.
So it was 1 week of pure exclusivity my wife and I had.
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Old 25th June 2010, 16:05   #39
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Day 7: 10th June 2010

The day started off as expected. We had breakfast (appam) at Chalakudy and then headed towards Chalakudy. It was raining all through, the rain varying from a drizzle to heavy showers. Reached Chalakudy around 9:30 spent half an hour or so clicking pictures of the falls and the headed towards Valparai. As usual the forest check post noted all the details like no of plastic bags, bottles, etc. Drove slowly enjoying the serene forests which is pretty dense. Sparse traffic made things better for me, but not the same for my wife. She started telling me it’s boring because I had just covered about 15 kms in an hour.



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Day 7 to be continued.
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Old 25th June 2010, 17:06   #40
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Day 7 continued

Drove on and reached Valparai around 2 pm. By this time, my wife was already home sick, so decided not to stay at Valparai (a reason enough to drive here again sometime later). Had lunch and continued our drive towards Pollachi through the hair pin bends. The roads were covered with mist and tea plantations on either side made the journey very pleasant. The visibility was ranging from reasonable to poor.

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Reached Coimbatore, refueled and stopped over for coffee at Ayyappan Restaurant on the Mettupalayam road. This route is nightmare with loads of traffic driving at their own will. The private buses racing with the TNSTC buses. Crazy bikers with no helmets riding like morons. With all these, it took more than an hour to cross Mettupalayam.

The roads got better with lesser traffic. We started climbing up the ghats towards Coonoor. An interesting incident happened on the way. On nearing one of the hairpin curves, I spotted something weird in the night moving around. It was an elephant. An innova who was tailgating us did not spot this and overtook us. The moment he was taking the U turn, the elephant which at the corner started moving forwards and threw its trunk towards the innova. The innova missed it by a whisker. I wait back turning the headlights for the elephant to move away. After about 5 mins, the elephant uprooted a board and disappeared into the woods. Wifey was all excited and wanted more of the elephant to around. Being her first experience she was excited not knowing what a lone tusker can do it when it goes on destroying things it can see. Started driving up the ghats and reached Ooty by 9 pm. Halted at the Gangothri Sunrise in Ooty.

At around 11 pm, wife told she was hungry as she had skipped dinner. Ran out to the Barista shop close by, picked up a sandwich, cookies and a cappuccino for myself and headed back to the room to keep the hunger of my better half away.

Then finally it was time to snooze off after an eventful drive from Chalakudy to Ooty.

Day 8, the last day of the trip coming up.
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Old 10th July 2010, 10:47   #41
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Apologies on the delay. Stuck at with little time to type out the trip log.

Day 8: 11th June 2010

Off we go from Ooty towards Bangalore which brings a big smile on my wife’s face who is already feeling home sick. Up and running with a cup of tea in the morning. It was pretty chilly as there was a cold breeze. Drove towards the Masinagudi route. It was misty through half way down the ghats. After ghats slow drive with anticipation of spotting a few animals. This time we were not disappointed.

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Let the pictures do the talking for the residents of the forest reserve.

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Then we headed to Gopalaswamy Betta. At this time of the year, it will misty all thru the day and winds blowing at pretty nasty speeds sometimes. A visit to the temple and we were back down the hill towards Mysore, no trek this time around.

Stopped at Mysore for Lunch and after the lunch it was a nonstop drive to Bangalore. Paid a visit to M-I-L’s house and then headed back home sweet home.

Last edited by nkrishnap : 10th July 2010 at 10:50.
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Old 10th July 2010, 10:52   #42
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You were lucky enough to spot some wildlife. Nice snaps again.
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Old 11th July 2010, 02:43   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nkrishnap View Post
Day 7 continued

At around 11 pm, wife told she was hungry as she had skipped dinner. Ran out to the Barista shop close by, picked up a sandwich, cookies and a cappuccino for myself and headed back to the room to keep the hunger of my better half away.
Lol he does seem to be house trained very well or he is a very fast learner. Got no doubt that you will have a very happy and long married life. Have fun while it lasts, lol.
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Old 11th July 2010, 06:53   #44
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Krishna,

Congrats and all the best! The snaps look very good and fresh! Perfect season for a visit.
Except that mist does some spoilsport for some time.

Waterfalls look great with all their glory!
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