[vrprabhu]

Thanks, mysticeyes! Pictures DSC003666 (Nov. 09) made my day!

The three - 'thennai' (coconut), 'vazhai' (banana) and 'ma' (mango) cholai (groves) - have an attraction of their own.

Waiting for the rest of the story and the pictures... and I wouldn't mind if you run off on another trip

[venki.bala]

Mystic eyes:

Beautiful............. this is one area in tamilnadu that is awesome treat for ur eyes after Monsoons. Lush greens, very friendly people. I am awaiting more snaps. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[evo8]

Awsome. Kallidaikuruchi is my native and have a lot of fond memories from this place. I have trekked a lot inside kalakkad Mundanthurai sanctuary and been to kuturaivetti(There is only one forest bunglow here and a lot of wildlife around) which is on top of Manjolai tea estate. One of my favorite destination. Will go through my old pictures and post some If I get. It has been a while(5 years) Since I visited. Definitely planning one during next vacation.

Keep the pictures coming.

[k149in]

I am planning to visit Trivandrum next month and when I return I would like to use this route on the way to Trichy. Looking forward to see more photographs.

[sami316]

Awesome pics bro. The lush greenery in the pics is really inviting.

[Driving_Dreams]

Awesome Pictures Brother. Just Saw this thread. Been there to Courtralam for two days this August(7th & 8th). Enjoyed the "Saral" on both the days. Couldn't take bath in Courtralam falls during Day time(Queue was a mile long in Day time so took bath on 8th Morning by 0130 Hrs. in Old Falls) Went 20 Kms away and took bath in a Private Falls after Shencottah on both the days. The Climate, The travel, The Falls no words can describe the fun and happiness we got.

@MX6: You forgot to add Panatheertham Falls.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Driving_Dreams

Awesome Pictures Brother. Just Saw this thread. Been there to Courtralam for two days this August(7th & 8th). Enjoyed the "Saral" on both the days. Couldn't take bath in Courtralam falls during Day time(Queue was a mile long in Day time so took bath on 8th Morning by 0130 Hrs. in Old Falls) Went 20 Kms away and took bath in a Private Falls after Shencottah on both the days. The Climate, The travel, The Falls no words can describe the fun and happiness we got.

@MX6: You forgot to add Panatheertham Falls.

How is the volume of water? Do post some snaps. It would be good to look at them.

[Mysticeyes]

Here it goes..We had actually planned to take the Trivandrum-Nagercoil-Thirunelveli-Thenkasi-Shenkottai-Palode-TVM route. But my uncle who's a travel freak suggested the Nagercoil-Kalakkad-Ambasamudram route as he we could travel thro more of the interior parts in this route. Never had we imagined it would be such a great drive.


I gathered all nuts into my car by 6 Am and started the journey. The traffic was on the higher side in the narrow NH till Nagercoil, may be the holiday traffic taking its toll. The usual hotel (Gowri Shankar)was filled to the brim and there was a longgggg que to get in. Our tummy needed immediate attention and finally we settled for 3 laddus each. Thanks to the sweet filling, the drive was even more sedate till Kavalkinar, stopping near the windmills couple of times.



As we got into the 4 lane NH at Kavalkinar, we had the temptation to keep driving in NH till Thirunelveli and then take the diversion. However, better sense prevailed and we pulled off at Panakkudi.



We went quite a few distance and just wanted to confirm if the same was the Panakkudi-kalakkad road. The duty fell of one of the friends who was an expert in Tamil. We stopped near a tile factory as couple of workers were sitting there. The tamil expert got off from the car and:

Tamil Expert (TE): Annai, Kalakkad pokathu road ithu thana? (Brother, is this the road to Kalakkad?)

Workers: (In Tamil) "Tamil Theriyathu"

Oh boy, you shoudl've seen the expression in TE's face when he heard this. The fact was that the workers were northies who had learned atleast "Tamil Theriyathu". But our proud TE didn't let it go and he crossed the road and asked another guy who was hacking wood:

TE: Annai, Kalakkad pokathu road ithu thana?

Wood hacker:(In Malayalam): Sahodara, njan malayali anu, ithu thanne Kalakkad road (Brother, I'm a Malayali and this is the road to Kalakkad road)






We had a whale of time pulling his leg and started the Kalakkad journey.

Through Panakkudi town




There was no board to mark the arrival at Kalakkad and soon we got into a small town. Our TE was in action again. Sitting inside car he asked:

TE: Annai, Kalakkad road ithu thane?

Shopowner: Ithu than kalakkad town, enga ponam thambi? (This is Kalakkad town,where do you want to go)

We didn't have any particular destinations and suddenly, i told him to ask where the tiger reserve was..

TE: Annai, tiger reserve enge irike?

Shopowner: koncham munnadi pongo, avide vanthu left edukungo, straighta pona left side (Go a little bit further, take the left road and go straight, you would find it on left side)

TE: Evalom dhooram iriku? (whats the distance?)

Shopowner: 1.5km

TE: Romba nandri annai (thank you brother)

And off we went again-li'l further, then left, then straight and in search for tiger reserve in left side..

1km, 1.5km, 2km, 3 km, 4 km, 5km and no sign of tiger reserve on left side..

Finally, there lay another kerala registration car..we stopped near the vehicle and asked them for tiger reserve

TE: Hi, tiger reserve vannathano? (hi, did you come to the tiger reserve?)

Kerala Car: Yes, but we came so long and couldn't find the reserve. we were told at junction that it was only 1.5km

TE: Yea, we were told the same too

All of us decided to return and got back to the previous shop again. Our TE got off from the carand went to the shop owner:

TE: Annai, 5km pinnitirikku, tiger reserve kanmanillai (we went 5km, but no trace of tiger reserve)

SO: Tiger reserva??athu intha idam allai..(tiger reserve? its not at all in this place)

TE: Annan sollita iruntha tiger reserve intha edathil ninnum 1.5km thane (you only told that reserve is only 1.5km from this point)

SO: Thambiiii..neenga tiger reserve thane kette?njan TYRE SHOP ennu kelkathe.(ohhhh..you meant tiger reserve?i heard it as TYRE SHOP. My audibility is bit less due to this traffic around)

Suddenly, the other Kerala registration car halted beside us and they too came to us and told that they had asked the direction at the same shop. It was a laugh riot and we decided to proceed to ambasamudram.


Tamil Nadu is colorful whichever way you look at





White Shirt-Our TE





To go on..

[Driving_Dreams]

@Ampere: There was not much of water in any of the falls.

Old Falls: Had some 3 showers(Literally like bathroom showers) for Men out of which 1 was a bigger one and one scattered shower for Women

Main Falls: The Central one was the best one which can be called as a good force. Rest is just a normal shower. Just good enough to say a decent bath in falls

Five Falls & Tiger Falls: We din't go.

Sivaya Aruvi: Its a private falls on the way to Acchan Kovil(Mekkarai Village. It belongs to one of the Adhinam(Mutt)) from Shencottah. The first day it was definitely the best one compared to all the Courtralam falls. The Falls is just 4.5 to 5 mtrs high. but the pressure was awesome.

The Second day the water level had slightly risen in all the Falls. Main Falls was great to watch but difficuilt to get into as it was Sunday. The Private Falls Pressure was great. It was a heavy massage on the second day for us. We spent close to Two hours only in the Falls each day we visited. Worth a Revisit.

Sorry Boss. No Photographs.

[vrprabhu]

Mysticeyes, your TE and shopowner dialogue looks like a setting of 'Goundamani' and 'Senthil' comedy scene....

Looking forward for more from TE....

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Mysticeyes, your TE and shopowner dialogue looks like a setting of 'Goundamani' and 'Senthil' comedy scene....

Looking forward for more from TE....

I was almost thinking the same !
Stranger at home!

[Mysticeyes]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Mysticeyes, your TE and shopowner dialogue looks like a setting of 'Goundamani' and 'Senthil' comedy scene....

Looking forward for more from TE....

can't help the feeling..he's a character by nature "when in rome, do as romans do"

The drive from Kalakkad was pretty eventless as far as TE was concerned since there were proper signboards at places. What we were getting were a glimpse of the rustic TN..We had seen it only in Bharathiraja films, but we loved it and we were experiencing it.There was only one word all around.."wowww.."

[Mysticeyes]

some more pics from the kalakkad-ambasamudram stretch..

[MX6]

After a donkey years I'm seeing the poster of a wedding. Not seen this in other states. Weddings are big occasions like movie releases, in TN towns and villages. And they also take the blessings of their favourite stars (who sometimes even condescend and bless the couple with a hefty booty or even a physical appearance!). So most of those posters even show their favourite cine star! If they are part of some party, then the prominent leaders figure there in the posters.
One wouldn't even find pulse polio awareness posters so much. If it's some bigwig's son's or daughter's wedding, it's all around the village.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by MX6

After a donkey years I'm seeing the poster of a wedding. Not seen this in other states.
So most of those posters even show their favourite cine star!

+ 1 to that. Nowadays, there are some political personalities in them as well... (in TN every other filmstar jumps on the bandwagon, I guess )

BTW, mysticeyes can start a 'spot the moped' contest! Roads are full of mopeds in TN and are used to transport all and sundry, as can be seen for the picture!

I spotted a TVS 50 (Blue coloured one) in a picture. Which is the one (dsc06169 - 2nd last one) which is carrying so much grass and dry palm fronds?