Country Roads

End of June is not exactly the best time to be travelling to Central Tamil Nadu. Especially when our friendly Gormint is trying to improve the infrastructure. So in short, the drive was hot & it was dusty. But they did do a good job of itl improving the infrastructure that is. And while they were at it, they also made all maps redundant. Because as the NH 7 moves up in life to a 4-lane track, like all things that move up in life it has also moved out of the neighbourhood. Post Krishnagiri, the NH 7 has a different alignment, and all towns till Thoppur have been passed by.

After a pit stop at Salem, a combination of stupidity & lack of road signs caused us to travel an extra 30 kms. We did go through some pretty countryside though. We re-joined the NH some where near Namakkal. Which is where the heat & dust comes in. And the constructions. And the heat. And the bikers coming the wrong way. And the heat. And the speed demons. And the heat. Well, actually it wasn't that hot. But it felt like it. But what I don't understand is, why in the name of all that is holy, there are no places to eat along these new fangled highways. Not that there are no places at all, but The Wife didn't like the looks of them. And what The Wife doesn't like, I don't like. Or at least I have to say so.

Since we were travelling after almost 6 months, we decided to splurge. We ended up at the Gateway in Madurai and thanks to the country jaunt, we reached in the middle of afternoon. The place is incredibly green & there is a visible drop in the temperature. Or rather a sense-able drop. It's on a small hillock called Pasumalai just off the highway. You've to admit the Brits did choose the most sensible way to live & work on the sub-continent. As opposed to the steel & glass structures that we seem to favour nowadays. For this is the erstwhile residence of the MD of the erstwhile J B Coats company and reportedly boasts of South India's first swimming pool.

Getting around in Madurai seems to be fairly easy. Autos go everywhere. Predictably, they don't go by the meter. The bus service is fairly efficient and fairly un-crowded as well. Not to mention unbelievably cheap. A 7 to 8 km ride costs all of 2.5 INR. That same ride will cost you 70 to 80 INR in the autos. Buses & cars don't go all the way to the Meenakshi Amman temple so walking will be involved. And I'm assuming that that temple is one reason most folks go there. There are tons of other stuff to see there though. In Madurai, the temple leitmotif cant' be escaped however. If that's not your thing then you can go visit the palace. It is called the Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal. From the temple it is a 3 km walk. And of course, we did just that. The entry to the palace is INR 10 with a 30 INR charge for still cameras. Of course, all foreigners fork out more. That'll show them. Going around colonising. There is work going on to spruce up a Light & Sound show here. The work is expected to complete by August of '09. Crossing the lane opposite the palace will bring you to the St. Mary’s Cathedral Church. But besides walking around the Meenakshi Amman temple we didn't do much of significance at Madurai. Except laze around at the Gateway. Watching the peacocks. Which are in hordes at the Gateway. Come to think of it, besides the walking we didn't do much. But such is the effect of heat.


Onwards took us to Villa Retreat in Kodaikanal. Now for someone with an obvious bias towards the Nilgiris, Kodai didn't enthuse enough. Again, besides one very long walk around the lake & a half-hearted attempt at going to Bear Shola falls we didn't do much. Plus Villa Retreat has one of the best views going so there was not a lot of incentive. It's right next to Coaker's Walk. Right, so we did that too. For those who don't mind exerting a bit, the walk around the lake is highly recommended. It's around 5 kms and besides the lake & pretty houses around it, the view will also throw up assorted honeymooners doing what honeymooners everywhere do. Trying out goofy stuff which somehow makes abundant sense in the hormonal period when you're finally getting some on a regular basis. The point is, there is plenty to look around in Kodai. The interesting thing is that there is an Observatory, but it's only open on Fridays during the off season & that too only for 2 hours from 10 to 12 in the noon. It's a solar observatory before any of you ask. The peak season runs from March 15 to June 15 when it is open in the evening too. However, if you give prior notice, they'll allow you to visit at night. This option was not exercised for the simple reason, that I didn't know it existed.

That was sort of the end of the vacation. We wanted to extend, but Villa Retreat was full up. But we had a couple of days in hand & figured it wouldn't hurt to extend the vacation by a day. A lot of research done by the slacker writing this, (basically clicking on the first links Google threw up) told that the route from Kodai down to Palani was scenic. Considering the heat we encountered on the way in and the fact that The Wife was rather partial to tanning quite fast and the fact that she expressed her displeasure at that state of things quite vocally & frequently, we decided to take this route. The real reason was of course that I wanted to enjoy the drive.

And the drive didn't disappoint. Especially, the drive down from Kodai to Palani is worth the superlatives it gets. And at this point in time - middle of 2009 - I have to say that the TN state roads are the best. It is smooth, it is empty & it has signs all the way in Tamil. But that's alright. At least they didn't change their alignment. The plan was to hit Salem & stop off at Yercaud. Some ways through we hit a fork on the road - well not really, but it was clearly visible on the map - which promised Yercaud 123 km to the right & Coonoor 123 km to the left. The Wife being very partial to Coonoor, indicated that a lot of brownie points could be scored by bearing left. So bore left is what I did.

Well since it is Coonoor, the 1 day extension turned to 2 days. We stopped off at The Wallwood Gardens and did what we did all vacation. Walked some more. We walked towards Tiger Hills for no other reason than the fact that it was there. The mist precluded any activity apart from looking at the mist, but there were folks who squinted hard as they were shown around the tea factory there. The rest of time was spent eating and working on a wicked jigsaw that The Wife had picked out for this vacation.

We decided to take the scenic route back. Well not all of it was scenic, but some of it allegedly was. So we went down the Mettupalayam route. Right up to Avinashi, the state roads are excellent & the drive very pleasant. At Avinashi they give you the tour of the town, presumably because of the work going on on the NH 47. There is work going on, but the roads are excellent. We took the right at Bhavani towards Mettur and as we knew, the road didn't disappoint. What did disappoint was the heavy tipper trucks that seemed to be piloted by speed demons. At Meccheri, we took the left to Pennagaram the plan was to get into Bangalore via Anekal. All the way upto Pennagaram that was the plan. That's when it went kaput. Due to extremely bad roads from Pennagaram to Anchetti, we had to detour to Hogenakkal. The road from Hogenakkal to Anchetti was bad as well. But Anchetti onwards, the roads reverted back to the 2009 standard TN state roads. So before you quibble about where the scenic route sections are, the drive from Meccheri to Pennagarm was wonderful. The drive from Hogennakal to Anchetti was too, but you might appreciate it more if you had a vehicle with good ground clearance. But the best was the route from Anchetti to NH7 near Denkanikota. It helped that around that time, it started raining, not heavily, but just enough for the weather to cool down. And in this case, country roads did take us home.

Of Cooler Climes

So I'm sitting here and watching doomsday movies about climate change and how we're screwing Mother Earth's happiness. But I don't think we're screwing anyone but ourselves. The Earth was here before we came and it'll be here long after we're gone. All the talk of climate change & global warming reminded me of the times spent in cooler climes.

A couple of summers ago, The Wife & I made our way to Amberina in Devala. It's in an area called the Nilgiri Wayanad. It helps that we take our holidays when most people don't. So like most places we end up typically don't have other visitors. Not that, that would ever be the case at Amberina. You see, there is only 3 rooms available there. So that would rule out your average tourist travelling with everyone except their neighbours' in-laws' kids. Though the bathrooms could take in those. To say that they're huge would probably not mean anything in this jaded day & age. But let's just say that if you wanted to dictate your magnum opus while you're soaking in the bath tub you could do that. You see, the kind folks at Amberina have very helpfully provided a table & chair in each of the bathrooms.

While this is actually in the Nilgiris, it's about 70 plus kms from Ooty & Coonoor, the traditional spots that the species Tourista Indis heads for. That rules out the check-list tourists who value quantity over quality. For those who are so inclined, forests of Mudumalai & Bandipur are there to explore. This can actually be a good base for that. The extremely friendly manager at Amberina will help arrange for jeeps if you want to travel and don't want to be bothered with the driving. A better base to explore the forests would be the sister bungalow, The Northern Hay. It abuts the Mudumalai forest near the Singara power station.

We stayed a long while, but like always, ended up doing nothing more than devouring the excellent food & the fairly eclectic (if a little inclined towards WWII books) library. I joined the manager for a short walk around the estate one day. I was educated about the finer points of tea & coffee growing and plantation life as it is now. While the pretty tea plantations and coffee estates attract a lot of travellers & tourists, he explained about the hardships that everyone involved in the plantations go through.

We did step out to take in the views of Mudumalai one day & checked out the Northern Hay. While it was officially monsoon over peninsular India, we were in the middle of a dry spell. The mist covered & rained out days we spent were a welcome change. It helped that the very polite & efficient staff kept us in good supply of hot coffee. .

Amberina can be reached via Gudalur - Thepakaadu - Gundulpete - Mysore - Bangalore. You can get directions to Devala once you reach Gudalur. When we reached, cell coverage was not very strong here. But we were not complaining. Those were 5 days spent lazing and gazing at the views outside, covered in mist or dripping in the rain. And for a while we could forget that all the troubles were over the hills & far away.

In which we laze. (And I resolve to retire "in which" in the title)

In the last holiday season - considering Diwali to New Year's - we went to the Nilgiris twice. Thrice, if you acknowledge that the holiday/festival season starts in August in India. Why this munificence in our custom? Simply because sometimes, a place makes you want to keep going back. Like the song that you want to keep playing all day, sometimes even in your head when all is quite in the night.

Right, so now that we've got the attempt at poetry and mood out of the way, the more prosaic reason is that The Wife loves the place. That is not to say I'm not. Far from it. The one reason we like it is because the once you wrap your head around the fact that there is not much to do in the Nilgiris, it is the perfect place. To laze that is. All that jazz about fresh air and similar enticements aside, there is a lot to be said for the benefits of doing nothing.

Though the best way to appreciate the Nilgiris is simply by ignoring all signs to the various points and walking around. I understand that that is not exactly in the lazing territory, but it can be if you have no particular aim than knowing what is around the corner.

If staying closer to town is your thing, then try Neemrana Hotels' Wallwood Garden. On the main Coonoor Kothagiri road, this is an old colonial bungalow converted to a hotel. Though, the folks who will run the place will make you feel like you're in a homestay. They do not have a regular fixed menu, and you'll need to let them know if you're eating in before hand. And once you taste the food, you'll insist on dining in. The food is to die for. The rooms are named after the trees found in the Nilgiris and the rooms with the best view are in the bungalow proper. The bungalow is pretty close to the Sim's park. Which is an advantage if you are an early riser. That way you can beat the tourist hordes that come in. The park early in the morning is a nice place for a leisurely stroll.




If on the other hand, isolation is your thing, then head over to Red Hill Estate. This is about 28 kms from Ooty near the Emerald & Avalanche dams. Though to really appreciate the isolation you should travel during school and college exam periods. Feb to mid-March is recommended. This is an old tea estate that lets out place to stay. It is on the expensive side at INR 5000 for a couple all inclusive. However the view is to die for. Your hosts, the Vijaykumars, are very helpful and will arrange for walks within their property. Red Hill is pretty much at the edge of the Nilgiris - or rather cultivated Nilgiris - and a short distance away is the Mukurthi National park. It is also near a lot of forest areas, and it would be advisable to get permits to go in here before you get to Red Hill. If you let the kind folks at Red Hill know early on, they'll help you out too. For short walks around the estate, you'll be hard pressed to shake off your buddy for the stay, Moby, the resident mutt. Don't be afraid of his boisterous welcome, for he really is quite friendly.

However, if you're looking to base this as your center of discovering the Nilgiris, then this might be a little out of the way. 28 kms can be quite a distance in the hills. But then if you have all the time in the world, then this is the exactly what the doctor ordered.

In which we partake of freebies

Us desis like our freebies. The more the better. When we book hotels on the Continental plan, we're the ones lining up for breakfast like the way "real estate agents" line up when somebody mentions SEZ. Or how we stampede into Big Bazaar when they offer 50% off on their 100% crap. Now thanks to The Wife, we lucked into gift vouchers to any Taj anywhere in India. Now based on empirical data, you could have a dinner for two at the Taj, Bombay (and shell out some from your pocket to settle the bill) or have a dinner for a family at Taj Westend in Bangalore (and shell out some from your pocket to settle the bill) or go to Taj Coonoor for a long weekend (and don't shell out any from your pocket at all, gotcha there didn't I!). I'm not implying this place is cheap, it is not by any means. But it definitely is worth the money we didn't spend.

Its easy to see why people state that Coonoor is better than Ooty (or Udhagamandalam or Udhagai). It's nice, its small, and if you end up staying in an expensive place, there are still a lot of places you can cover on foot that will not break the pocket. Coonoor is at a lower elevation than Ooty and hence not as cold as Ooty can get during the rains or winter. There are plenty of ways to get here from the Deccan plateau, one is the scenic route through Mysore, Gundulpet, Bandipura, Gudalur, Ooty and thence to Coonoor. Or take the other scenic route through Mysore, Gundulpet, Bandipura, Thepakadu, Kalhatti, Ooty and thence to Coonoor. Or you can take the more leisurely and scenic route from Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and directly to Coonoor. This last part can be done in the heritage railway. The actual distance by rail is about 28 km from Mettupalayam but it takes a long gentle 3 hours to get you there. On the way it covers tons of tunnels and passes over some spectacular scenery before depositing you at the Coonoor station.

You then make your way to Upper Coonoor, past the bustling bus stand and end up at the Taj. The hotel itself was a priory earlier and unlike anywhere else I've been, the driveway into the hotel passes a cemetery. Now, that, you've to admit, is not exactly the welcome you're looking for when you entering the gates of what is one the better hotel brands in the country. However, it's not as if you go past acres of them, and the residence proper will ensure that morbid thoughts are immediately gone the moment you go lay eyes on the entrance. The whole place has a nice laid back feel to it and the red tiled roof and white washed walls with ivy climbing on to them give it a charm of its own.

Coonoor is a town best discovered on foot. If you're staying anywhere in Upper Coonoor, Sims Park is not too far. It is a park laid out in a ravine, and over 12 hectares. It is worth the 5 INR and 30 INR that they charge for adults and their still cameras. Video cameras are charged extra. Over a holiday weekend, it will have it's share of boisterous kids and adults who're trying very hard to enjoy their vacation. However, like I mentioned it's large enough for people to have their privacy. There are the other usual points that most hill stations in India seem to have. Vantage points of view of the plains below, where folks from the plains come to gawk at the very plains they've left behind. Dolphin's Nose, Lamb's Rock, Lady Canning's Seat et cetera would, no doubt, keep you occupied the whole day seeing as they're around 8-10 km all along the compass from Coonoor. There are taxis available for hire at Bedford in Upper Coonoor or near the bus stand. You'll have to haggle depending upon when "season" is. For those inclined towards exertion, the Droog Fort, 15 km from Coonoor would be a good bet. Its also known as Bakasura Malai and the route to the fort passes through the Nonsuch Tea Estate. Nonsuch tea is also highly rated among tea connoisseurs.

The other direction you could go to would be towards Kotagiri and Kodanad. The Kodanad view point offers you a spectacular view of the Bhavanisagar dam's reservoir and onwards to the Mysore plateau. During the monsoon, this view is obscured by clouds of mist and rain, but the whole experience is quite stunning. There is a trek that is conducted by local Forest department. You can contact them at 0423 2443968 or 04266 278020. This is called the Thengumarada Trek and leads down from Kodanad towards Thengumarada. The drive from Coonoor to Kotagiri is quite good with the drive from Kotagiri to Kodanad takes you through some wonderful landscape. About 5 km short of the view point, there is a small lay by where you can sit an take in the peace and quiet.

Another option is to take a bus towards Wellington and spend a pleasant couple of hours walking through one of the prettiest cantonments in the country. The cantonment is about 3 km from Sims Park and you can either walk the whole way or take the bus. When you come back, you can walk about 5 mins on the Kotagiri road and park yourself at Tranquilitea, a tea lounge where your host, Sandeep will help you choose the choicest of Nilgiri teas and even fill you in on the history of the Hills. You can also click here for other staying options.

The long weekend did come to an end too soon. However, we were unable to break the shackles of the daily grind and we very reluctantly turned back. Even though we had some money still left on the freebie. Now, that, you've to admit is very hard for a desi to do.

Long trips, short weekends

Valparai, 88 kms south-west of Coimbatore was the chosen destination. We did start out in time from Bangalore, but didn't bargain for god-awful traffic between Salem & Coimbatore. Not to mention the numerous breaks we took and the long detour into Erode to fill LPG. When we found one right on the road just out of Tirupur. And the couple of experiments in short cuts. Sigh. The things you learn.

Valparai is not your typical weekend break. At least not from Bangalore. For a start, it's might be a little too far - about 415/420 kms. If you are lucky or drive like Sebastian Loeb. The drive post Pollachi into Valparai is an absolute dream. You will hit the Aliyar Dam and it's reservoir will be the focal point of all the stops that you make as you climb upto Valparai. The climb however comes with a caveat, the 40 hair pin bends give the 37 hair pins on Kalhatti into Ooty a run for it's money. It's a difficult choice between the drive and the scenery. The Green Hill is the only place to stay in Valparai. There are a couple of others, but might not be up the alley of most. And at around 550 per room, it's definitely worth the money.

There is not much to do in Valparai. However, there are excellent drives around the place. The drive to Sholayar Dam is highly recommended. For the exploratory, you can then take the road into Kerala. Go to Palakkad, Calicut into Wayanad and thence to Bangalore.

But you need a really long weekend for that!

Update 24/Mar/2010: New trip report, with more staying options here.

Doing Nothing.

Yercaud is also known as the Poor Man's Ooty. It's quite uncalled for. It is nothing like Ooty. If you discount the lake. And the hills. And the boarding schools. And... so, fine. It is a lot like Ooty. But it is a heck of lot closer to Bangalore. At 230 kms, it is a good 100 kms closer than Ooty. Plus Ooty does not have Suhas and family and their heavenly food. But more about that later.

The Yercaud trip was was with a group of friends from work. And for a change, we decided to drive down ourselves rather than take the 20 odd people in a bus. Solid common sense and financial issues also played a hand. The TN govt. has mandated that all who enter its fine state need to cough up 11000 Big Ones if they are visiting in any vehicle which seats more than 13 people. So the second option of packing 20 people in 4 vehicles was exercised.

It was quite fun actually. We decided to leave office by 6.30, come hell or high water, so we left at 7.45. Hey, co-coordinating with 20 people is difficult OK? The drive was excellent, take the Hosur road (NH 47) upto Salem, turn left at Salem, and take the state highway up the hills for the last 25 kms. We were put up at the "House of Peace" a missionary, which lets out rooms at 150 Rs. per person per night. Of course, with 20 of the best and brightest of the travel club, for the next two days, it was anything but the House of Peace!

Yercaud, again, is not a place where you go to do things. It definitely affords a two days break where life goes on at an extremely leisurely pace. You can take walks in the town or around town with its long, winding mountain roads with tall conifer, kurunji trees and coffee plantations. Yercaud grows coffee. There, you got your difference between Yercaud and Ooty. While Ooty is famous for its tea plantations, Yercaud is known for its coffee plantations. Admittedly, tea plantations are more picturesque. But hiking in a coffee plantation is quite pleasant.

And this is exactly what we did. We were met by Suhas, who was our host for the duration of our stay, who took us on a short hike across Yercaud. The hike was quite pleasant and not at all strenuous and took us to through the outer edges of the town, across a wooded area and ended in a coffee plantation. The weird thing is, with all the coffee growing around, the only coffee you get is the instant variety! After the hike, followed an important - nay the most important part of any weekend. A 3 hour siesta. The evening, we went to the various points that any self-respecting hill station has. Don't miss the Ladies Point. Don't ask me just why this was named so. It looks over Salem, and since we reached around 8.30 in the night, all of Salem was laid out below us like a million stars and there was a gorgeous full moon lighting up the sky. It was a sight to remember. Nightfall saw a campfire where a spirited game of Dumb Charades was enjoyed by all. It ended with both sides claiming victory.

Now comes the important part. The Food. Suhas has a coffee plantation and also conducts short treks all around Yercaud. His wife cooks for all the people who join his treks. And boy, can she cook! The reason this travelogue is short on details is I spent the time just gorging on the food. For any of you interested in a weekend getaway to Yercaud, do contact Suhas at go2yercaud.com. His family will give you a great treat of a lifetime.