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.

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.

Spending Weekends

A new car, overly enthusiastic room-mates and a sick grandmother lead you to Munnar. At least it did me. The new car and enthu roomies are mine, the grandmother is one of my roomies'. My roomie expressed a desire to spend Christmas with his grandmother who had just recovered from a brief illnes, so off we went to Kerala. Turns out his place is close to Munnar. Relatively speaking.It's about 90 kms from where we stayed, but having travelled 530 kms already, I wasn't going to crib about an extra 90.

Munnar rises 5,000 ft above sea level and at about 600 km from Bangalore, the drive is not something to be attempted on a regular weekend. However, it is the perfect getaway for the longer weekends. Summer temperatures range between 15°C and 25°C. In winters the temperatures vary from 0°C to 10°C. The best time to go would be September to May. And since common sense dictates we go at the best time, we went in the middle of winter; December to be exact. Thus proving once more, that common sense is not so common. However, we took comfort in the fact, that we were not alone in our stupidity. We encountered crowds from half the states of India during our 2 day stay.

"Iridescent colours streaking a clear sky, low clouds, the twittering of birds, squat green tea bushes spanning acres of land, and meandering roads" is how a travel site describes it. Apart from the "iridescent colours" part the rest of it is spot on. Munnar offers a lot places to drive, take short walks and generally enjoy the peace and quite.

Take the Hosur road and get on the NH7 - NH47 combination right up to Salem. Just before you enter Salem proper, there is some work going on on the Salem bypass. At this juncture there is an excellent dhaba - I don't know the equivalent in Tamil - where you will can stuff your self on good South Indian breakfast. Three hungry guys having a go at the fare like refugees from a diet camp, and we ran up a bill of 45 bucks. After you cross Salem, take the turn to NH215 towards Coimbatore. Coimbatore you can bypass the town and get on an excellent road which will lead you into God's Own Country (you know what they say about the people). You get to Munnar via Thrishur, and Palakkad. After Palakkad take the road to Permbavur. Munnar is 90 Kms from Permbavur on the Munnar-Alwaye road

Munnar is also known as the Darjeeling of the South so there are lots of tea gardens there. The road from Permbavur is excellent and fairly fast if somewhat narrow. It winds its way through some beautiful countryside, and is best taken early in the morning. The first 3 hours in Munnar were spent trying to get acco. We knocked on the doors of all the staying places, high-brow to low-brow, and found none. There are a lot of touts - as is common with all tourists places, and even they declined room for us. We finally settled for Spring Valley Dorm a little outside town. At 100 Rs. a bed we were not complaining. The place is surprisingly clean - including the toilets - the owner is quite helpful, and they have some sort of private areas for people travelling in mixed company. We did see a group which was thus. Having said that, the prop. was surprised that we weren't tight as owls when we checked in, so be warned.

Places to stay are not a problem, there are plenty. The problem is getting one the exact same time that you want it. For those taking their own vehicles, there are Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum outlets in the centre of town. Both take credit cards.

Munnar is not some place where you 'do' things. But if you are all up to it, you can do the tourist thing, which basically involves going to the Matupetty dam, the Echo point, and the Eravikulam National Park. About one-third of the world's population of Nilgiri Thar (allegedly a mountain goat - but looks more like a small mule) is in Eravikulam. These goats are surprisingly tame, and will allow you to come quite near. The park is about 15 km from Munnar and the entrance is from Vaguvarai (auto fare is Rs 75 one way and Rs 150 for a round trip). Now the thing to wonder is whether this is worth it. As a nature lover I would've said yes. As a car-owner and someone who likes to keep breathing, I would've passed. Saying that the road is narrow is like saying Bangalore traffic is a little senseless. The road is about one car wide. One small car wide and has a healthy 1000 foot drop on one side and the mountain on the other. Oh did I mention the blind curves? Again, allegedly, elephants, gaurs, sambars, mountain goats and tigers can also be seen here. But I didn't see it. You could drive to the base, where there is some sort of fall(a water fall, not the kind where you drop off), and climb the last 3 kms. Much safer. The park is open from 7 am to 6 pm. Anamudi, the highest peak in south India, is located in the southern region of the park. One can trek up to the foot of the peak. Permission for trekking can be obtained from the District Forest Officer in Munnar (Tel: 530 487). Another trekking area is Rajamala - the natural habitat of the Nilgiri Thar. But you'll need to check with the District Forest Officer before you do so.

There is the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary about 20 Km from Kothamangalam, which is on the way to Munnar. Boat rides are available form Boothathankettu to Thattekkad and the best time to visit is early in the A.M. That time, I believe, counts most folks out.

Top Station is known for the Neelkurinji plant that flowers only once in 12 years. It is at a distance of 37 km on the Munnar-Kodaikanal road at an altitude of 1,700 m. Top Station also has a panoramic view of the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. A round trip to this place by jeep would cost about Rs 400. While the drive itself is quite scenic, top station itself might not appeal to all. It used to be a station for the ropeway, whence all the tea used to be transported to TN in the earlier days. Nothing of that exists now.

However, the rest of Munnar is still yours to explore. And that's not a bad way to spend a long weekend.