The Mountains Are Calling...


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Drive to kolukkumalai from chennai

This is my first travelogue , so excuse me for mistakes.

How it all started - After our fellow member Madhu (karma0306) drove home is new Figo Sports, the itch for a trip on the highway began as we were discussing, Vinoth (appu) noticed a long weekend covering Aug 15 Independence day which was the best time for every one to make it.

After several discussion through whats app group and cafe coffee day meets we narrowed down to Kolukkumalai and top station as the destination [clap]

The final count was 9 members.
Vinoth (Appu), Madhu (karma0306) , Jerwin , Aniruthan (Ani) , Dhaya (coolDhaya), Surendar, Karthikeyan (pkk_84) , karthikeyan (karthikkrish) , Ramanathan.
Span:4 days and 5 nights. Between 12.08.2017 to 16.08.2017
Cars : Ford Figo sport TDCI , Ford Ecosport TDCI , Mahindra Thar CRDE.

Day 1 ( 12-08-2017)

It was a tiring day after office for everyone almost half past 12 we all assembled at Vinoth’s place. We started the journey by 1.30 am, with the American brothers all prepped up for the trip.

That day being the start of a long weekend chennai to Chengalpattu was jam packed. Spontaneously Vinoth and Karthikeyan pkk came up with an idea to pick a different route to reach Melmaruvathur via Manapakkam and Thiruporur. The roads were very small and not so good, still it saved us time as we were continuously moving instead of driving in bumper to bumper traffic if we had continued in NH .

Finally reached Tiruchirappalli after 7 long hours of travel because of traffic. Had breakfast and started the trip towards Suryanelli, we reached by 4 clock in the evening after driving for 14 hours.

The Ghats section to reach suryanelli was wonderful roads were super good no issue what so ever. We had our rooms booked in Silver Mount Holidays. Very good place to stay, good food and enough place to park our cars safely.

We spent the evening around the hotel going for a walk enjoying the climate and the scenic view.

Day 2 (13-08-2017)

The day began with the sound of Surendar's Mighty Thar roaring in front of the hotel gate to join the crew . After which Figo was pampered into a corner parking as it started to hibernate in peace. We Had breakfast and started the most awaited journey to Kolukkumalai with Thar and Eco sport :D

We did some serious off-roading with the ecosport it did struggle here and there but Karthikeyan pkk made it look like a walk in the park for the urban suv , Meanwhile THAR was like did someone even say off-roading ? [lol]

After few kilometers, we stopped near a waterfall and we didn't want to continue as the path was filled with big rocks, also we were warned by a auto driver that we shouldn't be taking private cars into the trail as the mountain is a private property and vehicles need to pay a permit kinda fees to proceed and only yellow board vehicles are allowed inside. :O

The same guy helped us book a jeep taxi and also safely park our cars, we were a bit concerned about the cars as both of them had Aux lights and many valuables inside. The jeep drive uphill took about an hour, some serious off-roading them Mahindra jeeps made it look so easy, ultimately that one of a kind drive led us to a view point.

We got out of the jeep (I was still shaking for few seconds even after getting down [lol] ) and walked towards the view point it was a easy 15 mins walk which took us to a breath taking view between two mountains, we took infinite photos there.

As we started walking back to the jeep, we received a call from Aniruthan (who was on his way from Madurai to join us) stating that he had reached the view point in a separate jeep and was looking for us. He joined us in the view point as we started our journey downhill.

P.S- Kudos to both the Jeep drivers, highly talented and humble.

Boarded our cars and had lunch in a hotel nearby (Note: people from Tamil Nadu, never ever order biriyani in Kerala :-/ ), after which we explored around and found a small water falls where we spent time and fun. Enjoyed the cold water and just before dark we returned to the hotel.

We spent the night exchanging photos captured that day with each other and chit chatted through the night, one of the best nights of the trip.

To be continued​
 

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Re: The mountains are calling. . .

Well it indeed was a wonderful trip! [;)] The travelogue you have written is short and crisp and i figure you should start penning more trips you cover! Waiting for the rest of the travelogue! [:D] . kudos to all of us who made this trip happen and enjoyed each and every moment! [:)]
 
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As Ram mentioned, it was one of the wonderful trip,

Sharing Few incidents from the Awesome trip:

1. We (Myslef/Ram/Jerwin) watched half of the Movie while waiting for other guys to reach my home(Still half Movie is pending[lol])

2. We had dinner at two different hotels at Suriyanelli. But, none of the hotel food tasted Good.

3. we have donated Blood in the trip. Yes to the Leeches;)

4. Trekking in rain is such a unique experience. Mixture of rain and sweat made our Tees wet.

5. No mobile signal anywhere, only BSNL and Jio helped us to connect with the country.

6. Thalaiva & Pause/Play are the words played most important role in the trip.

7. Jeep driver were not able to utter a single word, but we felt the tears from his Heart and Eyes due to over load in Jeep(8+1)

8. We all woke-up with a big laughter on last day of the trip, Thanks to Maddy ;)

9. Finally, we are searching for the guys who posted a video of Eco-Sport saying they went to Kolukumalai [angry]

still so many incidents are there, but we cant share those here [lol]

Trip might have ended, but the Memories will be there in our heart forever.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip Fun and Memorable.

Will share some pics from my cam, when I get some time.
 
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Thread Starter #5
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Continuation. . .

Day 3 (14-08-2017)

Started the day lazy at 8, packed our bags, had breakfast and checked out of the hotel in Suryanelli by 10. Started our journey to Ellappetty (Kottagudi Hills) widely known as Top station via Munnar. We booked our stay for the night in Cloud Farm (trekking and tents).

That day being a Sunday the roads were filled with localities and bikers. Causing traffic and chaos in Munnar. At around 4’clock we reached our destination and parked the cars.

The mountains were calling as we started to hike into the wild through the tea estate towards the peak. [glasses]

We being used to AC rooms and AC cars, ordering food and watching TV. That night was one of a kind experience to all on board, no power no lights, only mother nature. As we were nearing, it began to rain. This made the trek interesting as we started losing grip with our gym shoes :P to top it all the place was densely populated with leeches. Them blood suckers are sneaky enough to cling on our skin and start filling them up with our blood. They also look creepy as they continuously wiggle their tail part like a lizard’s tail in danger. Finally we reached ground zero, a sign of relief on every one's face. We had camp fire to keep us warm as we started checking each other to make sure all the leeches were removed from. After a while we got adapted to the surroundings. As we started chit chatting, hot chapatis were being made on the camp fire followed by chicken gravy. Simple and Delicious!!

After dinner, we proceeded to our tents. They had sleeping bags, we zipped up into them like babies, we were talking for a while about the trek with some music and dozed off for the night.

Day 4 (15-08-2017)

Started the day early, woke up to sunrise on top of a mountain inside a tent. Could we get a better morning? We were served with hot black tea as soon as we got up. The water was icy-cold eventually making the morning rituals challenging.

As we all prepped up, we were taken for a morning walk to a nearby mountain which was an easy 20 mins walk heading towards an awesome view of the entire mountain range, we witnessed India’s highest tea plantation. Took infinite photos and spent some time, as we started feeling hungry we came back to ground zero just to discover hot poori and aloo sabzi waiting to be munched by us.

Now after last evening’s experience uphill, we corrected all our mistakes and made our self all buckled up for the trek downhill. The path was very slippery due to slush. After about 2 hours of walking and crawling through the trail we reached our vehicles, went to a nearby falls to refresh our self, changed and started the journey to Chennai via Madurai.

On the way to Madurai, Surrender had to part away to reach Theni.

We then continued our journey to Madurai, dropped Aniruthan in his home, Madurai and started our journey to Chennai. The roads where pretty empty till Tiruchirappalli, after which traffic took a toll on us, it was mostly lorries and omni busses, making it impossible for us to cruise. After a tiring drive, we reached Chennai by 4 AM.
Safe and sound.

Distance covered: 1350 KMS

Both the Ford brothers gave us the best, no hiccups or tantrums faced what so ever.

End of an awesome trip, with awesome people and awesome cars [clap]

“LIFE - MEANT FOR GOOD FRIENDS & GREAT ADVENTURE”
 

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Thread Starter #6
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Well it indeed was a wonderful trip! [;)] The travelogue you have written is short and crisp and i figure you should start penning more trips you cover! Waiting for the rest of the travelogue! [:D] . kudos to all of us who made this trip happen and enjoyed each and every moment! [:)]
Thank you Madhu, will definitely start writing more.
It was a wonderful trip indeed

ilango[speed thirst];546258 said:
Great Trip! Awaiting your continuation [clap]
Ilango , you should have joined us . There is always next time [;)]
BTW , It is complete now, have a look :D

As Ram mentioned, it was one of the wonderful trip,

Sharing Few incidents from the Awesome trip:

1. We (Myslef/Ram/Jerwin) watched half of the Movie while waiting for other guys to reach my home(Still half Movie is pending[lol])

2. We had dinner at two different hotels at Suriyanelli. But, none of the hotel food tasted Good.

3. we have donated Blood in the trip. Yes to the Leeches;)

4. Trekking in rain is such a unique experience. Mixture of rain and sweat made our Tees wet.

5. No mobile signal anywhere, only BSNL and Jio helped us to connect with the country.

6. Thalaiva & Pause/Play are the words played most important role in the trip.

7. Jeep driver were not able to utter a single word, but we felt the tears from his Heart and Eyes due to over load in Jeep(8+1)

8. We all woke-up with a big laughter on last day of the trip, Thanks to Maddy ;)

9. Finally, we are searching for the guys who posted a video of Eco-Sport saying they went to Kolukumalai [angry]

still so many incidents are there, but we cant share those here [lol]

Trip might have ended, but the Memories will be there in our heart forever.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip Fun and Memorable.

Will share some pics from my cam, when I get some time.

Thank you Vinoth for making this trip happen.
We all Thank you so much, for planning the trip and making it a huge success,despite your personal situation and hectic routine.
Thalivaa you are great !
 
Joined
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Drive to kolukkumalai from chennai
After several discussion through whats app group and cafe coffee day meets we narrowed down to Kolukkumalai and top station as the destination [clap]
Is there any whats app group for TAI Chennai/TN members? If so, would be very happy to join in the group.
 
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The final count was 9 members.
Vinoth (Appu), Madhu (karma0306) , Jerwin , Aniruthan (Ani) , Dhaya (coolDhaya), Surendar, Karthikeyan (pkk_84) , karthikeyan (karthikkrish) , Ramanathan.


Hi Vinoth / Dhaya - How are you guys? Good to see you all again! [clap]

Boarded our cars and had lunch in a hotel nearby (Note: people from Tamil Nadu, never ever order biriyani in Kerala :-/ ),
Hahahahahaaa... Of course! Kerala Biryani is never ever try for any tamil guy! I know the pain as I am both! [:D]

As we started chit chatting, hot chapatis were being made on the camp fire followed by chicken gravy. Simple and Delicious!!
Wow, that's the best way to enjoy such a trip.

End of an awesome trip, with awesome people and awesome cars
Looks like quite a trip. Friends, cars and breathtaking views. What more one would want?!
 

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