[ampere]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Maravanthe is one of my favourite spots, one of the nature's wonders one side is sea, another side is river, sperated by a road.

LDL, your travelogue would be a benchmark for people from north while they visit south India. great work in documenting all the things you did over this long long drive.

+1 to that Star! LDL are you planning a drive to the eastern star a similar way!

[LongDrive lover]

Originally Posted by ampere

+1 to that Star! LDL are you planning a drive to the eastern star a similar way!

Thanks Star and ampere.

Yes, my idea of writing it as a story is that others from North will have confidence and benchmark that such a 'purely family' trip to south all alone, is easily possible and its perfectly easy to plan and execute safely. In the end, I found it more comfortable then taking flights/trains and hiring taxis at all places! Though, at times (mostly during to & fro long journeys, obviously, there come times when family feels a bit overdose of traveling, but, even that too is manageable with proper planning in a good comfortable vehicle).


Now pics from the drive from Udupi to Maravanthe, and evening views at Maravanthe

My wife was astonished on seeing so much water all around! From Mangalore to Ankola, every few kms we'd cross a small bridge with plenty of water on both sides!! On 1st few occasions, we thought some river is crossing, then it became all too frequent and too spread to be a river!! It was like sea is spread all around!

More pics from Maravanthe coming up soon..

PS:I think I have messed-up with writing number of days! Udupi sight-seeing and departure to Maravanthe-Murdeswara was on Day 17 (not 16). Just checked it.

[LongDrive lover]

Day 17 continues..

More pics from Maravanthe

[ampere]

Beaches are amazing. When we moved to Uttar Kanara from North India, I was out of school.
Hence the only time I spent in that region was either during collge summer vacations or during break from work.

But the time I stayed, were pure fun. Each day was new. Long walks were order of the day. Nothing could beat that.
The arsenal we needed to have: An Umbrella and/or a rain coat. I was not a petrol head then, else
the exploration levels would have been different.

[Chevy_lover]

I finally managed to catch up with you, my friend LDL. What a fantastic journey you have completed! Hats off to your family for their spirit!! I am enjoying your pics too!

I agree with your view about Ooty. You need to spend atleast three days in Ooty, just to get used to the crowds there! When I visited Ooty in '94, I instantly fell in love with its natural beauty. When I returned in 2000, I was shocked to find a traffic signal in Ooty and about 50K tourists in the botanical garden. When we went again in 2009, my wifey was feeling so uncomfortable seeing so many tourists everywhere.

It took us a couple of days to get used to the crowds and to learn to ignore them. On the third day, we began to truly enjoy our stay in Ooty. Now my wifey dear is more fond of Ooty than Kodai. We visited all the worthy points in Ooty in '09.

We couldn't resist going back to visit the 'Queen' in May 2010, when an opportunity came knocking at our door! We loved our stay there and visited two of the most beautiful places on earth, Avalanche and Emerald! We stayed away from madly crowded spots like Doddabetta and Pykara. We also did not visit the lake. Instead, I spent hours clicking photos of the lake, from a hill nearby. Those shots of the lake, made our trip worthwhile! Ooty is an amazing place to spot brilliant cloudscapes!!

So, from my experience, one needs to spend some days in Ooty to really get used to its ways. There will be crowds even during offseason. Don't forget that Ooty is the favourite weekend getaway of people from Bangy.

I am sure you'll like Ooty more, when you visit it the next time. You will get used to its crowds and learn to enjoy yourself!!!

And back to your story, Hotel Kediyoor is excellent. Our dear HVK sir had guided us there during our trip to Trivandrum. The food they served was so delicious! I still remember their Chicken 65. It was brilliant!

Nice to know that NH17 is in good condition. My Chevy's crash guard has suffered whenever we have taken that route.

[LongDrive lover]

Thanks C_L for taking time to write your views. I agree, a relaxed stay and exploring less crowed areas at Ooty would be interesting.

Day 18:

Views of/at/from Murdeswara

Lot to be written/shared. Shall write later, posting pics first. They are self-explanatory.

[LongDrive lover]

Day 18 Pics continue..

More Views of/at/from Murdeswara

[MX6]

I somehow hate that tower. In an attempt to make a record highest temple tower, they've made it look disproportionate and bland. When viewed next to some gopuras like in Madurai or Tanjore, this one pales. Instead of spending so much on a tower, they could have helped donate that amount as well to Sriramachandrapura mutt itself which is doing a fabulous job of saving cows setting up a goshala. Incidentally the pontiff of the same mutt inaugurated this tower.

[ampere]

That beach hotel reminds me the times I have been there!
Nice room with a view!

[LongDrive lover]

Day 18 Pics continue..

Shall write in evening...

Our Hotel at Murdeswara and Morning Views from our room there

[MX6]

You were lucky LDL. Not much crowd when you went. I was there in Murudeshwara on 26th Dec. It was damn crowded. The car parking was full. We were asked to park in the beach! There was sand all over in my car once we got back. We just stopped there and enjoyed the nice breeze. The crowd was a turn-off. So I gave a skip to the darshan which had a queue as big as hanuman's tail.
I'm not averse to the crowd. But the real issue was that 90% of the public started flocking to the temple due to attractions like the huge gopura, huge statue, parks, hotels and filthy beach, rather than actual old shiva temple. When there was none of these, there was just a small temple on a rock surrounded by the sea on three sides. Very few people went there, and fewer returned (sea was so rough that it ate up the foolishly adventurous). The beach was pristine. Now it's full of plastic.

[LongDrive lover]

Originally Posted by MX6

You were lucky LDL. Not much crowd when you went. I was there in Murudeshwara on 26th Dec. It was damn crowded.

I'm not averse to the crowd. But the real issue was that 90% of the public started flocking to the temple due to attractions like the huge gopura, huge statue, parks, hotels and filthy beach, rather than actual old shiva temple. When there was none of these, there was just a small temple on a rock surrounded by the sea on three sides. Very few people went there, and fewer returned (sea was so rough that it ate up the foolishly adventurous). The beach was pristine. Now it's full of plastic.

Agreed. Including us! Yes, we too went because saw good views (I mean from scenic/ picnic point of view) in some other TLs!

And this is what I referred to as Murdeswara 'going Ooty-way'. Despite very low crowd, beach-sides were dirty. And construction was going on to add yet another additional wing/part towards sea-side on left side of the Huge Shiva Statute! So, more concretization..!!

[hvkumar]

How was the RNS Highway Motel? It is a new property, were the tariffs reasonable and food good?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

How was the RNS Highway Motel? It is a new property, were the tariffs reasonable and food good?

Is it new? I somehow remember seeing that property for last 6-7 years. Or is it an old property taken over by RNS?

[lohithrao]

This for sure is a dream journey! and am sure Safari played a huge role in making it an success