Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai

narayans80 · 14th February 2011, 09:20

rajushank84, Nice travelogue Munnar trip has been in mind for quite sometime. How is the weather these days. Am traevelling with my one year old, dont want her to catch cold there.

About the fog, did you have you headlight on ? (In dim ofcourse) If not help you directly, would atleast lets know the vehicle opposite to spot you better than honk.

BTW, am surprised you crossed MDU in 1/2 hour in your return !! Which route did you take ?

One more question, is there a ramp to the Samayanallur-Kappalur bypass from Madurai-Theni road (NH49) ?

rajushank84 · 14th February 2011, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by narayans80

rajushank84, Nice travelogue Munnar trip has been in mind for quite sometime. How is the weather these days. Am traevelling with my one year old, dont want her to catch cold there.

About the fog, did you have you headlight on ? (In dim ofcourse) If not help you directly, would atleast lets know the vehicle opposite to spot you better than honk.

BTW, am surprised you crossed MDU in 1/2 hour in your return !! Which route did you take ?

One more question, is there a ramp to the Samayanallur-Kappalur bypass from Madurai-Theni road (NH49) ?

Thanks. It was quite foggy/misty last week. But not that chill. Yes, I did have my headlights on, to be visible to other vehicles.

I went straight through Madurai - from Theni, took the bridge onto Alagar Kovil road and then followed the boards that pointed to Chennai.

Sorry I didn't notice Samayanallur/Kappalur... I wasn't watching the nameboards (and busy overtaking trucks) in this stretch as I was sure of my direction towards Theni / towards Madurai.

Ride_4_Fortune · 14th February 2011, 17:57

rajushank84,
Thanks for the pictures, your travelogue and pictures brought some nostalgic moments. I have spent a good 15 years of my lifetime in Madurai and this being the longest in any city I lived. So Madurai has a special place in my life. Good to know you have visited this city of temples.

rajushank84 · 14th February 2011, 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ride_4_Fortune

rajushank84,
Thanks for the pictures, your travelogue and pictures brought some nostalgic moments. I have spent a good 15 years of my lifetime in Madurai and this being the longest in any city I lived. So Madurai has a special place in my life. Good to know you have visited this city of temples.

Thanks. After this trip Madurai has a special place in my memory too. The main thing I love about this place is the people - though they have a reputation of being tough, I noticed they are not unnecessarily rude or abrasive. In fact they are polite to strangers.

hvkumar · 15th February 2011, 10:58

SN Tourist Home is my favourite budget hotel in Munnar, reasonably priced. But it is bad news that they do not supply hot water. They also have a little more upmarket hotel called SN Annexe. Was the hotel full? Did you have to do advance booking?

Where exactly was the road diverted between Sirkazhi & Chidambaram? How were buses going? I don't see any traffic in the 1-laner dirt roads that you have taken? Are there alternative routes to the alternative route too!!?

rajushank84 · 15th February 2011, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar

SN Tourist Home is my favourite budget hotel in Munnar, reasonably priced. But it is bad news that they do not supply hot water. They also have a little more upmarket hotel called SN Annexe. Was the hotel full? Did you have to do advance booking?

Where exactly was the road diverted between Sirkazhi & Chidambaram? How were buses going? I don't see any traffic in the 1-laner dirt roads that you have taken? Are there alternative routes to the alternative route too!!?

I didn't know about SN Annexe. I did advance-book SN tourist home. They had hot water only between 7 to 9 AM/PM, so it was very inconvenient having to plan around that esp. in the evening. But most impacting was the credit card aspect, I wish the person had told the truth when I specifically asked about this when booking. "No room service" was also surprising and inconvenient. One of the main things I look forward to in a holiday is ordering bed coffee / breakfast. Anyway, despite all this we had a good time.

About the 1-lane road: When coming from Sirkazhi, there is a huge board saying "ROAD CLOSED" straight ahead, where apparently a bridge was being built. There was another signboard saying Karaikal to the right side. We had no intention of going to Karaikal, so we were forced to ignore the "ROAD CLOSED" sign and go straught ahead. There we asked one of the construction workers how to get to Chidambaram, and he directed us to go through the village. However on hindsight, I guess the Karaikal road might have some other left turn that would join the Chidambaram road. That must be the case, because we saw a lot of buses plying between Sirkazhi and Chidambaram.

Gansan · 15th February 2011, 14:35

^^ Did you spot this "road closed" sign while approaching Sirkazhi from Mayiladuthurai? Then it must have been the by-pass road for Sirkazhi. Because there is no problem with the main road passing through the town. I know, because I hail from there!

rajushank84 · 15th February 2011, 14:41

Yes, I was coming from the Mayiladuthurai direction.

14th February 2011, 09:20	#31
narayans80 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Madras Posts: 3,112 Thanked: 4,522 Times	Re: Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai rajushank84, Nice travelogue Munnar trip has been in mind for quite sometime. How is the weather these days. Am traevelling with my one year old, dont want her to catch cold there. About the fog, did you have you headlight on ? (In dim ofcourse) If not help you directly, would atleast lets know the vehicle opposite to spot you better than honk. BTW, am surprised you crossed MDU in 1/2 hour in your return !! Which route did you take ? One more question, is there a ramp to the Samayanallur-Kappalur bypass from Madurai-Theni road (NH49) ?
	() Thanks

14th February 2011, 17:57	#33
Ride_4_Fortune BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Chennai Posts: 92 Thanked: 28 Times	Re: Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai rajushank84, Thanks for the pictures, your travelogue and pictures brought some nostalgic moments. I have spent a good 15 years of my lifetime in Madurai and this being the longest in any city I lived. So Madurai has a special place in my life. Good to know you have visited this city of temples.
	() Thanks

15th February 2011, 10:58	#35
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,454 Times	Re: Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai SN Tourist Home is my favourite budget hotel in Munnar, reasonably priced. But it is bad news that they do not supply hot water. They also have a little more upmarket hotel called SN Annexe. Was the hotel full? Did you have to do advance booking? Where exactly was the road diverted between Sirkazhi & Chidambaram? How were buses going? I don't see any traffic in the 1-laner dirt roads that you have taken? Are there alternative routes to the alternative route too!!?
	() Thanks

15th February 2011, 14:35	#37
Gansan Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 4,535 Thanked: 5,551 Times	Re: Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai ^^ Did you spot this "road closed" sign while approaching Sirkazhi from Mayiladuthurai? Then it must have been the by-pass road for Sirkazhi. Because there is no problem with the main road passing through the town. I know, because I hail from there!
	() Thanks

15th February 2011, 14:41	#38
rajushank84 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,116 Thanked: 1,098 Times View My Garage	Re: Chennai - Madurai - Alagar Kovil - Munnar - Thanjavur - Chennai Yes, I was coming from the Mayiladuthurai direction.
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