Trip To Manjolai in Manza


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About Manjolai

Manjolai is a hill station near to Tirunelveli in Tamilnadu.



I was planning for a solo drive for a long time. i was inspired by a solo trip by a guy from punjab. he has made a solo trip from punjam to kanyakumari. i was actually planning a solo trip to pondicherry in the 2nd week of august. but due to some constraints i had to change the location to some places near by. then i selected this place Manjolai. I had come across this place during our earlier trip to mundanthurai tiger reserve. before that i had written a letter to the project tiger office in mundanthurai to give permission for me to enter to this place. i knew a officer over here and he gladly gave me the permission officially.

i had to drop my wife in tirunelveli to write a exam and then im a free bird till evening.

the companian for my drive is my manza. lol.

from tirunelveli, i had to go to ambasamudram to get my permission letter from the project tiger office. the permission letter was readily available over there. got the letter and took some photo copies of it and then headed to manjolai.

from ambasamudram had a drive till kaladikurichy and from there to manimuthar. in the manimuthar dam entrance, i have to show the permission letter and pay the pass.

for vehicle they charge 15 rs. for camera its 15 rs and for each person its 15 rs. he forest official asked me how many people are there with me, i said im all alone. he was quite surprised to see me. i love to travel alone always. he asked me if i love the forest. without wasting a single milli second i said YES. from manimuthar dam i had to go to the manjolai via the manimuthar falls. in the entrance of the falls, i had to show the copy of the letter to a forest guard he then opened a small gate. now its into the forest. the roads are now steep to climb. i had to ride the car in the 2nd gear. the climate too began to change. i was feeling around 35 deg in the low areas. the temperature began to fall. i can feel it.

i was driving, driving, driving. cannot able to spot a single vehicle comming from opposite side. then after time the entrance gate of the tea estate comes. i had to show the permission letter and even that security was quite surprised to see me alone driving in this place. now i have to travel to a place called kudiraivetti. from the main gate to udiraivetti its nearly 26 kms. travelling this 26 kms will take nearly 2 hours as its steep roads. according to my knowledge kudiraivetti is the highest peak in this manjolai hill station. not so sure if its correct or not. i had to travel to a towns named manjolai, naalumukku, oothu and then travel to kudirai vetti.

on the way to naalukukku i saw a beutiful place. its a golf cource i believe. but entry is prohibited. there is a small lake near to the area. its awesome. had spent some 10 min over there and spoke about manjolai to the security guard. i then headed towards naalumukku.

on the way i asked several people where is naalukukku they said its 1 km 2km 5 km. but road is going on and on. i got a doubt if im travelling on a wrong route. but i met a officer in the tea estate, he explained me the route very clearly that its better to avoid asking any one. after some driving reached naalumukku. its a small town. the people who works in the tea estate stays here.

from naalumukku there is a road which goes to kodayar upper dam. the lower dam is in kanyakumari dist. for going to kodayar we need to get permission from the EB office in kalakkad. i enquired about kodayar in naalukummu. the locals said its not so worth to travel over there. then i continued my drive towards kudiraivetti. on the way there is a place called oothu. there were two boys playing around i just waved my hands. they asked me where im going. i asked them to accompany me if they are free. they came along with me. they shared many things about the forest. these two boys are studying in a school in manjolai. i asked them what would they want to become. one boy said collector and another boy said civil engineer. awesome !!!

now the roads become really worse. felt really bad for my manza. anyways, she did not cry. atlast from a distance saw a watch tower and whooooo.. this is kudiraivetti. beautiful place. from the watch tower can able to see manimuthar dam, karayar dam. these boys showed me some hills. i think some 3-4 hills. they said these are the places that you have travelled. oh my god. amazing. the winds in kudiraivetti is very strong. it will push you down in some occasions.

can able to see lots of wastage over there. the people who travel over here just drop here. dear people, please dont throw any wastages over here. just respect the nature and the wild life.

its now time for me to return back to home. dropped the two boys in oothu and then had a drive till the main gate of the estate. in the entrance office they sell tea. i bought a organic tea named oothu tea. just 200 gms cost around 150 rs. its purely meant for exporting. then i travelled via the manimuthar falls and manimuthar dam and finally reached tirunelveli at 4:45 PM.

it was a great experience for me.

distance from the manimuthar dam to kudiraivetti is 35 kms. so readers, do get confused at any cost.

i had a talk with a official in the tea estate. he said he will arrange a stay in the EB Guesthouse next time and arrange for a night trek in the forest. i hav his number too. may be i hav to plan a trip there very soon.

climate is fascinating. hardly 25 deg in the day time. but in the morning it would be 18 deg.



You can view more pictures in

https://picasaweb.google.com/108823493512308133453/TripToManjolai?noredirect=1

and

Bluey | Trip to Manjolai

Note : I had made this trip an year back. I will be doing another trip to this place in my Jeep by the first week of June '13
 
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Hello Jawahar,

Traveling alone with our beloved ride would be always interesting & from the pics I can say, you enjoyed the climate & driving.

All the Pics are excellent & Interesting to see the lonely areas[clap]

Please post all the Pics here [:)]
 
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msjawahar, Interesting that you traveled alone. Post some more photographs.

How long it will take to reach for Tirunelveli?? Will the permission letters be granted at once?
 
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sure. i will upload the pics. but u can also view it from the link

https://picasaweb.google.com/108823493512308133453/TripToManjolai?noredirect=1

Getting permission is not an issue. You need to write a letter to the Project Tiger office in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli Dist, Tamilnadu that you are going to visit Manjolai. You need to give them the Vehicle registration number too.

It was really a nice trip in traveling across 3 hills all alone in my Manza. Since it was a Sunday, there was no workers working in the estates, all were at home. I was alone in the entire road (almost 35 kms kms across 3 hills).
 
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@ASIR from your profile i can guess that u r from Marthandam, even Im from Marthandam but working in Trivandrum. U need to go to Ambasamudram from Tirunelveli from there it is hardly 35-40 kms to the Kudiraivetti(last point in Manjolai hills).
 
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@ASIR from your profile i can guess that u r from Marthandam, even Im from Marthandam but working in Trivandrum. U need to go to Ambasamudram from Tirunelveli from there it is hardly 35-40 kms to the Kudiraivetti(last point in Manjolai hills).

Excellent TL. How is the road condition? Post some more pictures.
 
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this is fantastic bro. im planning to go there once again during the monsoon time. only then we can feel Manjolai at its best. im yet to visit the Kodayar Upper Dam. I have visited the Kodayar Lower Dam. You can find it in my blog Bluey | Trip to Kodayar Lower Camp
there is a way to climb from the lower dam to the upper dam thru forest. Not sure if they allow the public. anyways will check it out and post it.
 
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this is fantastic bro. im planning to go there once again during the monsoon time. only then we can feel Manjolai at its best. im yet to visit the Kodayar Upper Dam. I have visited the Kodayar Lower Dam. You can find it in my blog Bluey | Trip to Kodayar Lower Camp
there is a way to climb from the lower dam to the upper dam thru forest. Not sure if they allow the public. anyways will check it out and post it.
Planning a trip there again but didnt got a proper time.
Is Fiesta advisable to take ?
PM me your contact details pls.
 
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i think the GC of fiesta is much lower than Manza. Even in my manza i had to drive very carefully in those places. U have to be careful over the roads over there. It would be better if you go in a SUV.
 
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@ASIR from your profile i can guess that u r from Marthandam, even Im from Marthandam but working in Trivandrum. U need to go to Ambasamudram from Tirunelveli from there it is hardly 35-40 kms to the Kudiraivetti(last point in Manjolai hills).
Glad that you are from Marthandam. Hope we will visit Manjolai this end May.
 
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thats great @Asir. i wud suggest u to go after monsoon season only then u can really feel the beauty of Manjolai. but now it wud be more or less dry. did u visit places in our KK dist like Velimalai Estate, Kodayar Lower Camp, Maramalai ?
 
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Monarch red Manza

I think there are four monarch red manza owners on TAI .
Auto safari ,Rudolf diesel, yóu &me .
 
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Driving solo is always best[:)] It exposes one to all kinds of hazards and challenges, after all this is what makes the journey memorable[:D]
 
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I think there are four monarch red manza owners on TAI .
Auto safari ,Rudolf diesel, yóu &me .
That's great. Manza looks fabulous in Red & White

Driving solo is always best[:)] It exposes one to all kinds of hazards and challenges, after all this is what makes the journey memorable[:D]
You're right bro. I always love to drive solo. It's my passion. :)
 

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