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-   -   Travel tales - Idukki, Ramakkalmedu, Vagamon, Valparai, Thattekadu, Id Amalayar and more (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/96567-travel-tales-idukki-ramakkalmedu-vagamon-valparai-thattekadu-id-amalayar-more.html)

Disclaimer:I am a very lazy writer. If I can put down something in 4 sentences I will try to reduce it to 2 sentences :). It may not be as descriptive as you would like it to be. Also since there are quite some
places to cover it may take a long time to put down all these.

My mom and dad were in KeSRTC. They had an annual pass using which we could go trips without paying fare. So I was bitten by the travel bug from my early childhood where we visited places like Madurai, Thekkady, Velankanni, Wayanad, Nelliyampathy etc in the KeSRTC buses. By my 10th or so these trips became non-existent .This travelogue is of my trips in the past 10 months

1)Idukki, Ramakkalmedu

Idukki which used to be the biggest district in kerala, has some of the most beautiful places in Kerala and is home to the biggest hydro-electric project in Kerala.
This was a one day drive. Picked up 3 of my friends and we could start by 5.30AM from kakkanad. Took the tripunithura,muvattupuzha,thodupuzha route. The road is a breeze to drive and we could reach muvattupuzha by 6.15.Took the breakfast halt at a small hotel around 1km onto the muvattupuzha-thodupuzha route (bang opposite an indian oil pump). Youll get nice "Chiratta puttu" there. Too tasty and easy on the pocket. bill for 4 came to around 100rs.
We continued our journey and the road is just brilliant all the way till Thodupuzha with good scenery around (Good houses and pineapple farms). Pineapple is the only fruit that Kerala is self-sufficient for and the credit for this mostly goes to the muvattupuzha, thodupuzha areas (vazhakkulam to be more specific). Reached thodupuzha by around 7.15 and you have to proceed on the erattupetta route for sometime before taking a left to idukki.The view of thodupuzha river on the left side of road is really a sight to behold. after taking a left and continuing we reached near moolamattam from there have to again take left for idukki. Mulamattom is the town where the power house of idukki project is located.

Continuing for some more distance there is a place called thumpachi mala. there is a church located on top of this hill. There was a slight drizzle which made sure that the climate was pleasant and cool. parked the car on the foot of the hill and we walked up. The climb is steeeeepppp!!!. Eventhough its for about 150m or so the climb can throw you gasping for breath. It was all misty around and we were the only people there . Starting early for trips has its own benefits. Walked around the place and there is a small rock cave kind of thing where the "path of the crux" is depicted and the view from there was oh so beautiful. Felt lost in time there...Enjoyed the cool breeze and mist for quite sometime and we walked down to the road. Had a tender coconut and resumed our journey.


friends walking up



church

the valley below


through the rocks

through the path of the cruxe



all misty


companion for my trips


To be continued......

What brilliant pics SF!!
I'm really looking forward to this travelogue and have already subscribed to it.
Thanks a bunch for posting it up.

Nice. I've seen this board Thumbachi Mala in Thodupuzha Buses Wonder What it Was :o . Now Resolved.
I recently travelled to Palarivattom via Kakkanad. the Roads are re tarred and some parts rubberised. overall good roads via Kakkanad to Muvattupuzha SH 41.

beautiful route.
This one is the thumbachi calvery samuchayam?

thank you. 2nd part to be logged today

he he. the roads are realy good thanks to KSTP

thanks lalu - the master "travellogger":D. this is indeed the thumbachi calvery samuchayam

Soccerfan - pull my legs :)

I am unable to travel nor find time to update my logs making it look like like it is never ending!! Don't know if the episode will reach a designated end or get pulled of air soon :(

Socceru - Brilliant start! Only one request - more photos pls. :D Also what was the total distance from Ekm?

@nutty - you mean total distance from ekm to idukki? its around 110kms

Resuming from thumbachi we reached our next stop which was Nadukani view point from where you can get a nice view of the mulamattom town and the powerhouse. Here also we were the first .But to our disappointment it was very misty and we couldnt see a thing down. We waited for 15-20 mins chit-chatting and enjoying the cold breeze. Then the clouds started moving and we could see the mulamattom town below and the powerhouse. Everybody was so happy to see that. Took some snaps and we continued from there towards Idukki. Drizzle continued...


what greeted us


slowly started moving out


a view of mulamattom


parting gift


friend checking out some flower


"Mist"ified


yours truly


Continuing we passed the kulamavu and cheruthoni dams. No photography is allowed here. We then proceeded to the DTPC park near cheruthoni dam. Parked the car at the guest house and we walked up to the park. There is quarry below from which the rocks used for building the dam was mined. Its like a lake now and boating is also there. But since some renovation work was going on there was no boating available. Also there is a pavilion there. You can get a distant but good view of the Idukki dam from here.

idukki reservoir




the railings. the quarry is just beyond


cheruthoni dam



idukki dam- a distant view



By around 12.15 we reached Painavu and went straight to a restaurant to have our lunch as everybody was too hungry. Had fish curry meals, biriyani and some juice. We started from there by around 1.30 to Ramakkalmedu.


Next halt was at the Idukki dam, which is the largest arch dam in India. Visitors are allowed in the dam only during the Onam, xmas holidays for around 10 days. Sometimes they extend this. At that time you can walk over the dam and visit the tunnels inside the mountains which is too good. Since the dam was closed we walked down till the security gate and stood there admiring the beauty and the imposing size of this dam.


idukki arch dam

continued.....

The cloud pics are just breath taking !!!

Awesome write-up. And travel ideas for my next trip to Kerala... More reason to beef up the leave planning :)

Nice snaps there, soccerfan. I think Idukki still is the biggest district in Kerala
Thodupuzha - Moovattupuzha - Moolamattom is an amazing drive - beautiful scenery and beautiful houses as you said
We have some localites in T-bhp from there. Jacs and Milestone, where r u?

thanks Mohsin .
Happy to hear that this thread is of help to you

Palakkad is now the biggest district, after some parts of Idukki were added to Ernakulam some years back. Yeah the drive to Moolamattom is superb just for the reasons that you gave

I remember seeing your car in Kattappana

Great start buddy. Go on. Especially the view from Moolamattom is amazing. Could you please add the Google route map or track ?

Awesome Pictures! Just a curious question, How did you get the Idukki Arch Dam picture? Last time i was there - We & our bags were completely checked to see if we carried any camera inside the dam area.

Sorry to Hijack your thread - Did you visit Kalvari Mount too? Couple of pictures from my last trip at Kalvary Mount - Offers spectacular view of Idukki Reservoir (July 2010).