My First Travelogue: Thrissur - Kodaikanal - Mysore

[kumargmks]

Hi all,

After going through lot of travelogue in TAI, i am sharing my travel experience Thrissur to Kodaikanal - Mysore and back to my wife native place - Kannur via Bandipur.

This is my first ever travel with my family for a distance of around 1K KM in my Wagonr and truly speaking my machine has not given any issue and it was a good experience.

My initial plan was going to GOA via Banglore and Hubli with my friends during this onam vacation. But things change when one of my friend has an interview in Mumbai and second one has a family function. Sadly i have to cancel my goa trip. I go through all travelogues in TAI ( thanks to Smooth rider, AR Ram sir and Appu ).

After find me getting frustrated , my wife said ' why don't you take us for a trip'.
Initially that idea didn't click as me , my wife and two kids- 4 and 6 month each, practically it will not work out.
But my thirst for a ride force me to think in the opposite way. So i started my journey and completed it yesterday ( 10-09-2014).
I will share each and every point i have done during my travelogue. Senior please correct me if i have done any error...

 

[pravin1987]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

Nice start up. pics please

 

[AR Ram]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

That's really a good start and of course congratulations for your maiden road trip.

Waiting for your great experience and wonderful pictures.

 

[kumargmks]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

Day 1 ( 6-9-2014)

Odo Reading : 37569

Started my journey at 4:00AM. i use the sygic map as navigation in my Samsung tab and it helps me a lot. Since it was with my wife and kids, i started very slowly. My first place was udumulpet at 7:45AM for breakfast. It is a vegetarian restaurant and the food is very nice. They keep the ambience well and confortable parking space. We started at 8:15AM there and continue our journey.

The stretch between Udumulpet and Palani is good and safe journey where you can see the incoming traffic 1KM in adavnce. So confortably reach 100 Km/h.

We use the ring road from palani and taken the Palani-Kodaikanal Ghat road. From palani it is 65KM to kodaikanal where 57 KM is purely highrange road. You have 14 hairpins.

After entering the Ghat road, my wife take the wheels from me. She confortably drive the distance of 10KM , but once the high range road starts, she feel litthe scared and stop the vehicle after the first u turn. The kodaikanal road is narrow stretch and it is hard for two vehicle to pass. I have gone to different place in my bike but first time to a hill station in my car.

 

[smooth rider]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

kumargmks a fine start. nice snap of your son on the cars bonnet but their age doesn't add up. 4 and 6 months each how did you manage that ??????

 

[kumargmks]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

we reached kodaikanal at 11:25AM. I have already book my accomodation through Cleartrip at Hotel Woodlands. It is a nice cottage hotel and they got a good restaurant. Cleartrip has given a discount of Rs 525. I suggest all of will check and compare the hotel through any of travel website. We have taken a quick meal and they charge Rs 85 for a quick meal ( They charge Rs 130 for a normal meal ). i had already informed the hotel to get a guide cum driver for my tour at kodai. They have arranged a person-Dileep. He is a native of kodai and a good driver.

We started our tour at 2:00PM. This is second visit to kodai ( first was 15 years back during my college tour ). Our guide has given a chart which contain all places in kodaikanal. As i told him it is two day trip, he planned according to that.

We started with Kurinji Andavar Temple ( little religious ). The temple is famous because it has the kurinji plant which blooms once in 12 years. Next blooming is 2018. Photography is not allowed so i can't take the photo inside the temple. From there we can see the good view of palani and the surrounding villages of Kodai. The time we have visited kodai, the mist started forming , so some areas are hardly visible.

After the temple, we gone to the chettiyar park. It is a small one but arranged in a beautiful way. I saw a lot of people trying their photography skills. i also tried using my digital cam .

From there i saw the Jain temple , a small one but since the renovation is going on , we take a look from outside. We moved towards the Coakers Walk. The place is known for a jogging place in kodai. The surrounding views of coakers walk is incredible view but since mist , it not fully visible. Coakers walk is around a building which is owned by the Kodai International School.

From coakers walk, we gone to the Kodai lake. This lake is in the center of the city or you can say Kodai city is around this lake. This is fresh water lake and water here is used for the drinking water supply for Kodai city, surrounding village and also Palani. So the administration took good care in maintaining the lake. Boating is not allowed but once in an year, they give contract to people to catch fish using net. Those fish are sold locally. We took a rowing boat with a person to do that.
My wife is very interesed to go for a horse riding ( i am very afraid of climbing the horse ). She hired a horse and started her journey. The roads around the lake is arounf 6 KM and good for cycling. Cycles are available for nominal fee. I took a cycle and go with my son for cycling. it was so interesting.

The Bryant park is nearby the Kodai lake. Compared to chettiyar park, Bryant park is very big in size and i saw a lot of tourist around their doing the photographic skills. ( Let me tell you one thing i also took photograph but it is only up to the mark. sorry friends).

After wandering inside the park for some time, we were taken by the guide to a shoping place around the lake. They are almost occupied by the Tibet people who sell sweaters and cloths meant for places like Kodai. Almost all the shops,it is written as "No bargain , only fixed price" . So bargain to them is waste of time. The cloth are of good quality and price is on the higher side. We also purchased some for us and for other family members.

Now the time is 6:45PM and it is almost dark. I was tired of the driving so though to take some rest for the day. Reached back the hotel at 7:00PM.

 

[kumargmks]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

kumargmks a fine start. nice snap of your son on the cars bonnet but their age doesn't add up. 4 and 6 months each how did you manage that ??????

Sorry Sir, Senior is 4 years and junior is 6 month.

 

[kumargmks]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

Day -2 ( 7-9-2014)

Started my day at 10:00AM after breakfast
Today our plan was to go to places little far from kodaikanal. In this , we have to travel a little bit inside the forest. For that you have to get permission from Forest department. The forest office is at the city where you hav to get that. You should give your vehicle number and phone number and pay Rs 180 including the camera charges. Our guide has arranged all that. The condition is you should come out of the forest before 1:00PM. On the way , you have lot of views which are of very interest.

First is Silent valley, the place itself say that but once you reach and have a view of that place, then you can understand how beautiful and dangerous those places are.Another place is Fire Tower which is also similar to silent valley. Next is Caps fly valley and the name itself say that you can throw the cap in the valley and beacause of the wind it comes back. ( i didnot try that ). Our target was Berijam lake which is around 44KM from kodaikanal. After that the forest people will stop you vehicle and then you have to walk a little bit ( half KM ) to reach the lake.

The scene of berijam lake is of atmost beautiful even after lot of tourist, the place is very calm and quiet.

There is a forest guest house where you can book your stay. After berijam lake , the road moves further inside the forest and our guide said that it will go to Munnar and Theni. You need special permission from the Department. while entering the forest Checkpost you have show you permission letter to make an entry in te register and when you reach berijm lake checkpost, the same procedure repeated. They will ask Rs 20 additional at each checkpost which will be used for cleaning the area of waste dumped by the tourist people. This will be done once in a week. You have to give back the document when you exit the checkpost.

The next place is Moir Point which is also a tourist spot. The next location is Pine forest. I have never saw such a place in my life. Lot of pine trees and such a quiet place and it is also a shooting spot. Those who are photo freaks will visit this place and every angle is a camera favorite view. The devils kitchen / guna cave is anothe place after pine forest. earlier when i have visited kodaikanal, we can access the guna cave inside but now they have closed the place.You can have a view of the pillar rock from guna cave. Next is pillar rock but due to mist formation i cannot see anything there. After pillar rock , we have gone to Green vally View / suicide point, Golf corse, Pambar falls etc.

We came back to the city at 6:00PM after having our lunch at a hotel near the city. Only thing i found bad is kodaikanal is the food is very costly. They charge Rs 360 for three meals. The food is tasty but there is nothing special in that.

 

[kumargmks]

Re: My First Travelogue - Thrissur-Kodaikanal-Mysore

The only sad thing is my Samsung TAB not charging after this. when checked water enters inside which damage the charging circut. So the remaining trip i had to use my Wife phone for my Navigation

 

[kumargmks]

Odo Reading : 37890
Total distance covered till now: 322 KM
After breakfast by 9:30AM , we have started our journey from Kodaikanal - Mysore.
The route is Kodaikanal - Palani- Dharapuram-Palladam-Avinashi-Satyamangalam-Bannari-Dhimbam-chamaraja Nagar-Nanjagud-Mysore ( 355 KM )
If you ask me , it is easy to climb the hill by hairpins but down is very hard. But i enjoyed the journey
The stretch from Palani to Satyamangalam is beautiful to ride. Even if it is single lane , no heavy traffic. It is 110KM which i have completed in 1hr 15Minute.
We had our lunch at one of the small hotel at outskirts of satyamangalam.
After satyamangalam , the forest range starts and you have 27 hairpins climbing the ghats and reach up to dhimbam which is the top of the hill.The road is wider enough and you have lot of heavy truck passing by. The stretch between coimbatore and mysore is very important and is a business corridor.
After Dimbam , you have forest road and waggy has crossed the 110 mark for more than 10 minutes at certain area.
Once we reached the Chamarajanagar, the road became pathetic and some of places , there is no roads and lot of potholes. After we reach Nangagud, its comfortable journey because of good roads. But sorry to say the time was 4:30PM and it is heavy traffic.
I saw a lot of Kerala registration vehicles passing by as it is onam vacation. Throughout the Mysore tour i only saw tourist from different parts of kerala.
The main stretch of Mysore is with lot of traffic signal, say 7 signals in 2 KM. After lot of search finally we reached our hotel King Castle at 5:40PM. Thanks to the google maps which help me a lot.
I had done the booking for a Non AC double room through clear trip . They charged Rs 2600 for 2 nights and i surprised to say that the facilty given is extremely good. The Hotel itself has a good Restaurant got both Veg / Non Veg. I suggest this hotel for all TAI members for budget stay.
Since it was a full day journey, i take a good bath, had my dinner and take off for the day

 

[smooth rider]

nice snaps kumar. take it easy on the gas pedal on drives with kids and wife on board. i too had a wagon r in the past and the brakes of it was not that good . many times on sudden braking it used to skid and come to halt and once i rear ended a tata indica which suddenly braked in front of my car.

 

[kumargmks]

Sure sir. usually when i drive with my family, i cross the 80 mark only when it is clear road and i am sure about the incoming traffic and parallel roads. Thanks for the advice

 

[kumargmks]

Day -4 ( 9-9-2014 )
This day is for Mysore tour. I informed the hotel traveldesk to arrange a similar Driver cum guide for Mysore tour. After breakfast , we started with the guide by 8:00AM.

Same as in Kodai, my first place of visit is chamundi hills. A place with in reacheable distance from city, chamundi hills got a different climate than mysore. Since it is a hilly area and we reach there by 8:35AM with little sunlight, there is heavy mist in that area. There is lot of crowd from different part and most of them are from kerala ( i saw almost all vehicles got Kerala registration ). When i asked the guide , he said this is not even a crowd. We pay our visit to the Goddess Chamundeswari.
After chamundi hills, while coming down the hill, there is a big nandi in between . I saw a lot of foreigners taking pictures there.
Our next stop is Mysore Zoo. This is one of the well maintained zoo in india with lot of precious birds, reptile and animals. Altogether there is a walkable distance of 2.8KM. You can also pay for a safari in an electrical operated 12 seater ( including the driver ). The charge is Rs 125 per person. At zoo , the most surprised one is a monkey. At one glance it looks like a statue but it is a real one. I will post the photo.
Just like every indian , i asked the driver of the vehicle that how much miilege this vehicle give. He said after charging for 8 hours , it can operate for continuous 5 hours ( thats good right )
We finish the zoo and moved towards the Mysore Place. This palace is the pride of Mysore. You can see a lot of paintings and statues. But only thing is photography is not allowed. We have to surrender the camera at the locker room. But i wonder , mobile phones are allowed and people take a lot of photos using their sophisticated mobile phone. ( Why ban on camera......). There is a palace museum where you have take separate ticket for entry ( Rs 35 /person ) and camera and mobile phone is a big NO. I saw a person explaining a lot about the sword and weapon of the army that time. I though how generous the person explaining about the history to all.
After his speech, he asked for money ( for chai/kappi ) then i identify his genorosity.
After palace, we move to little shopping. Mysore is known for Silk and Sandle wood. Our guide suggest not to purchase anything from outside as all are fake. he take us to the Cauvery Emprium which is managed by the goverment for all mysore product. The day we go their is last day where there is no tax for any items from there. When comes purchase , my wife lost control and she go through all materials. My only job was to give my Credit Card and Sign after swipe.
I asked my guide to take to a good Non Veg Restaurant for lunch. He take us to Hotel Blue Inn.The food is very nice and not very expensive. After lunch, we moved toward the tomb of Tipu Tomb. it is the place where the tomb of Tipu sultan , His wife and Tipu father -Hyderali .Spend some time there and moved towards Brindavan Garden. On our way to Brindavan, our guide show the place where Tipu's Bodys was found after death. It is now converted to a small place of visit. Take one snap of that place.
Brindavan garden, a place where you can roam around, relax and see the big Krishnarajasagar Dam. One side is the famous kauveri river and the other side is the brindavan garden. We walk through the entire brindavan garden, take lot of snaps and finaly enjoyed the musical dancing fountain which starts at 7:00PM .
After came back to the hotel at 8:45PM . Our memorable mysore tour ends here.
Going for a trip for 2 or 3 days keep your mind active and fresh and if it is with your dear one, then it is more memorable. This is the first time iam taking my family for a trip and we enjoyed and cherish every moment

 

[AR Ram]

Pictures are really great.

The travelogue got an excellence coverage.

BTW how is Coimbatore - Sathyamangalam route to Mysore, and the road condition in ghat section?

 

[kumargmks]

Pictures are really great.

The travelogue got an excellence coverage.

BTW how is Coimbatore - Sathyamangalam route to Mysore, and the road condition in ghat section?

That area is excellent except some areas but that is not long.Overall the traffic is also less so you can have free driving