Ramakkalmedu, Unwinding the windiest paradise

Quick Facts given at the end of this post

"Blistering Bernacles!! What am I doing? The vehicle is just going sideways when I am pressing the accelerator". It was a spurt of the moment decision and it seemed to be turning bad. I am struck". 

The journey had started early in the morning for attending a friend's wedding, which was happening at a beautiful hamlet in the Western Ghats, lying between the popular tourist destinations Thekkady and Munnar. Beautifully maintained roads made the journey to Nedumkandam from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, a breeze. It was surprising to note that how neat roads can make the travel less tiresome and one feels like the roadside scenaries just got a touch up to enhance the beauty.

The travel upto Changanacherry was through the Main central road, from where an eastward deviation was taken to take the Kumily road. From Mundakkayam, the real upward climb with lots of twisties happen. In between Mundakkayam and kuttikkanam as we were unwinding the twisties, we had a quick stop when we saw a sea of white animals standing amidst the picturesque mountains. It was a cattle market.

Idukki - The complete Picture : Part 5

A small offroad experience at Idukki.

Continued from Part 4 - Arch dam & Cheruthoni dam

Our next destiny was to visit our colleagues home near Kulamavu.

The Idukki - Kulamavu road is one of the best motorable roads of Gods own country. These roads are always well maintained, might be partly due to the fact that traffic through these roads are less.

This is what we can view through our front windscreen.



At some points the twisties form a snake like pattern


The color tones of the thick flora and fauna are a treat to watch

These longish trees were again on display with the green blanket covered hills in the backdrop.

The view on our sides was also eye catching with the evening sky adding some interesting patterns aided by the settings sun's color tone

All of us were truly indulged fully in the pure joy of a ride through these beautiful surroundings and I took care to ride the vehicle in a calm and sedate pace ensuring minimal lateral movement. Soon the landmark provided to us by our friend was in sight and we had to turn right to a hilly road.

Initially it was a steep climb. The road was narrow but seemed like we are going deep into the forest.


There was a warning sign that elephants are prone to be spotted in this area. Soon the dense forest gave way to an open area and we stepped out of our vehicle to enjoy the scenary, which is beyond description.


Just watch the road through which we came.


This is the view which we got from the edge of the road.


Watch closely and you can see a light greenish patch towards the middle of the photo, which was having a distinctly different color tone than the rest of the area.
Zoomed in to capture that greenish patch and found that something is being cultivated there


Sun was trying to finish his job for the day and we had some more distance to cover and a small trek also was necessary to reach our destination.


So we hastily started from this prestine location and proceeded to the next landmark. Stopped our vehicle at this point as the road ahead could be done by a 4 x 4 offroader only.

Started our trek through this rocky roads


The walk through the woods was another experience of sorts and it gave a nice work out to our travel weary muscles.


Lot of such roads are present, if one takes a deviation from the main roads and these roads could well be explored by a good off roader vehicle.

The rocky road was over soon and we could see a road leading to a lonely house in this area.


It was our friends house and we were happy that we found out our way without without much difficulty.

He was happy to host us, not only him but his entire family. They never expected us to travel this far to make a visit. After exchanging pleasantries with the newly wed, we started our trek back quickly so that we could get near our vehicle before complete darkness take control of the proceedings.



The journey from there was through typical hilly roads again, but since it was night only the roads illuminated by the vehicle's light could be seen. By about 8pm reached Kottayam. Had a nice dinner and by 9pm we again hit the road to Thiruvananthapuram via the MC road. None of us were ready to sleep and the sense of excitment of having seen some of the most beautiful scenaries were keeping our energy levels high. Amidst all the discussions, I kept on maneuvering the steed through the twists and turns of the road and by about 11.30 pm we were back in our huts after a travel of about 650 kms, covering different kinds of terrain, different cultures and alltogether a different experience, memories of which will cherish for a long time.

The overall feeling of this truly wonderful journey is depicted by this snap



So here comes an end to the 5 part long story of our Idukki trip and I would appreciate if you could share your feelings on this very long post by way of comments both positive and negative.

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Idukki - the complete picture - Part 2

Kothamangalam to Cheruthoni - Road side scenes

To read Part 1 - Idukki the complete picture, Click here

After one of the most delicious cup of tea, we proceeded with our journey, none of us quite sure on the way we are going to take and we were not bothered because we knew wherever we reach in this part of the country, it is sure a treat to watch.

We could see some mountains upfront the straight roads.



Soon we found ourselves starting to climb up.



Some faint remembrance of this route flashed through my mind and I could recollect that this was the route which I took for the Munnar trip one year back, but the drive was at night (Munnar travelogue is here).

What I remembered was right as is evident from this sign post.



Which way to chose? Munnar or Idukki.. Either one of them is tempting. But the plan to make a visit to our colleagues house near Idukki made us turn right towards Idukki.

The twisties were fun to negotiate in very low speeds. Each view we had was a treat and we kept enjoying the slow but steady drive through these neatly maintained terrain



There was a terrain change again, when we could spot big rocks towards one side of the road and the longish trees on the other side presenting another spot to remember.




We reached an open sort of area with a big rock on the right side and beautiful mountains on the other side and by instict I turned the vehicle out of the road towards the foot of those rocks to enjoy this view for some time. Naturally my fingers had a good exercise, by way of pressing the shoot button of my Sony H50.


After a chit chat in the prestine company of nature, we were on roads again.


Suddenly there was a heavy rush of lorries, mainly tipper lorries and we could see a long queue of them towards one side of the road with the queue culminating at this point.



Sand mining was happening there and these lorries were waiting to carry loads of sand being taken from this area.

Kerala state electricity boards sign post indicated that we are entering the Lower Periyar Hydro Electric project area.



From then on the roads seemed to go through thick dense forest. The greenery wore a fresh look owing to the recent rains which gave a natural cleaning and also a heavy dose of proteins to these flora fauna making them really shine.



We were unaware of the distance to travel to reach Idukki, when this sign post helped us to clear the doubt



Another thing which came to our notice is that there were some small rocks on the road sides which resembled some good sculputures. One such rock can be seen on the left side of this road.




Time was 1.00pm and we were still roaming around inside these forest with no hotels in sight to cool of our tummy's desire to refill. Against our tummy's wish another stop happened when we found another good spot to relax. Afterall we ventured this journey just to relax and to take our minds from then normal routines and there was no need to rush things of as we don't have any schedule commitments to meet



Atlast I decided to pose one before the camera



It was fun indulging in a discussion sitting here in the company of nature, with the sound of a stream of water, some birds and swaying trees.



It was almost 1.45 when we started from this point, even though we could have stayed there for long.

We had gained enough altitude as is evident from the view which got on our left side



Another rock which resembled a human head and body was on display. Thanks to the zooming capability of my image capturing machine, the sculpture is here.



We were nearing Cheruthoni. The roads continued to be quiet scenic.



The hilly terrain on our side kept on changing its look, feel and color ensuring that we don't get bored and wanting for more



Finally a small town was in site named cheruthoni, found out a good hotel and filled up our tummy. Enquired with the staff on the viewpoints around and decided to proceed based on his advice.

Overall the ride from Ernakulam till Cheruthoni was really enjoyable with us stopping frequently to be with nature and enjoying the natural beauty at its best. The roads were pretty good with almost zero traffic and the climate was pretty good though with no sun and no rain.

Something even better was in store for us after the lunch.

Hope you too enjoyed the scenes as much as we did. Your feedback please!!!

Part 3 - Idukki the complete picture - The Arch Dam experience

Idukki - the complete picture - Part 1

Little did we know that, we were in for a visual treat of the picturesque and marvelously engineered Idukki dam and adjacent exquisite locations, when we started the trip to attend one of my colleagues marriage held at Ernakulam.
Just watch this picture and see for yourself nature's charm at Idukki reservoir.



We started off from Trivandrum at 4.45, zoomed past through the NH 47 & reached the venue at 7.45 am. The marriage function was over by 8.30am, so we had ample time for a "small" round trip around. Six of us including me doubling up as the man behind the wheels, were part of this journey

Before we left the venue of marriage - Siva Temple - of Ernakulam, my camera captured some stills of some of the monuments in the temple.

The big bell, which presented a clean look after yesterdays heavy rains.



The "Kodimaram" or the flag pole which seems to touch the clear blue skies.

Paintings carved in the gold platings cladded on the wooden pillars seen on the temple gave it a real traditional look.



Once we alighted the car, we had a discussion on where to go, finally decided to go towards the eastward direction, since that is where the hills are and if time permits we could also visit the house of the colleague who married today, which was located in a picturesque terrain in Idukki district.

Slowly but steadily we moved past the busy Ernakulam traffic, crossed Vyttila, then Tripunithura and reached Kothamangalam when we decided to have a cup of tea. We did not find a suitable hotel until we were nearing the end of the town, when we found a small tea shop. We were about to alight the car, when we saw a board pointing to the right side stating that there is a DTPC Hotel and park.
Turned right and reached the gates of the hotel which wore a deserted look, but it was a pleasant surprise to us, when we saw the surroundings.




Greenery cladded park, with a beautiful building.



There was even a small river on one side.



A neatly maintained aquarium towards one side was an added attraction



The cup of tea we had from that hotel was really unique in that they had used natural tea leaves for the preparation. After a chit chat for about 30 minutes amidst the nice ambience we started our further journey.

So let us start our journey together and I am going to present you almost all the road side scenes and the beautiful and spledid locations where we halted during this single day trip covering almost 650 kms in a single day. Watch out for the rest of the journey with pictures similar to the first picture in the posts to follow.

Click here to read Part 2 - Journey from Kothamangalam to Cheruthoni with pictures of road side scenes .

Vagamon Heights @ Vagamon - Part 1

"Nature at its natural best"

The search for a holiday location
Only three more days to go for the school vacation to be over. Still I have not gone for a holiday with my kids and family. Where to go? Only two full days available. Munnar, Kodai, Ooty all ruled out either due to the distance or the place has become tooo familiar.
Sometime, during a trip to munnar had heard about Vagamon. Searched the net for Vagamon. Got some pics. Felt like, it is a nice place to be in. But where to stay. Googled and some phone numbers propped up. Dialed those. Some say resort is under renovation. Some say sky high prices. Some say nice packages. Which to chose from? By instict chose the one where the guy was so courteous in his talks.
The resorts name was "The Vagamon Heights". Called up him again and he was offering, Stay, food, horse riding, fishing, trekking + boating @ 4000 per family (2 adults and 2 kids). Seems quite interesting. We booked 2 rooms as we were 4 adults and 2 kids. Got some discounts as peak season was over.

So another chance for me to drive through the hills amidst natural flora and fauna.

The journey
Come friday morning and as is the usual habit, started the journey 1 hr late than what was planned originally. We hit the road by 6.30 am. The twisties of MC road (Main Central road) were enough to charge me up. But I was not doing high speeds just to avoid travel sickness for those on board.
The MC Road

We reached Ranni at about 8.45am. Decided to have breakfast here. By about 9.15 we left this place. Next point was Erumeli - which is one of the synonyms of religious harmony. The mosque at erumeli is visible from quite a distance and as we approach the junction we could see the ayyappa temple also.



From Erumeli we proceeded to Kanjirappally, but soon found out that we were climbing some ghats. The drive, the roads and the scenary was so superb that I did not even bothered to stop for enquiring the route. After climbing the ghats for some 30 kms, I got a call from the resort guy and enquired about where I am. When I told him that I am climbing a ghat, he told me that I have lost route and now I have to turn left from Mundakkayam. Thanked for the call and continued enjoying the journey through these ghats. Stopped at 2 - 3 spots for some photo shoot and to enjoy the cool breeze.


After some time reached Kuttikanam. Kuttikanam - Elappara route also is awesome. A must drive route for all the driving enthusiasts. The greenery just got better due to rains which started some 1 week ago.
A photostop at kuttikkanam


Had a stop at elappara to climb a small hill and rejuvenate any fatigue, if present. following two snaps taken from this hill


Till elappara it was the typical kerala ghats. From Elappara we have to take a deviation to vagamon. Believe me this road is different. It is a sort of a valley. No hill to climb, but really winding roads amidst the green blanket covered mountains. Still cherish the memory of driving through this lane.

Soon we reached vagamon after complete driving pleasure and enjoying thoroughly almost all the route covered. .
Thanks to my innovative googling to find out the shortest route available and help from some of the friends due to which I travelled through the longest route possible covering almost all the hills which I was not supposed to take .
We travelled a distance of 230 Kms.
The route was

Thiruvananthapuram > Ayoor > Anchal > Punalur > Pathanamthitta > Ranni > Erumeli > Mundakkayam > Kuttikkanam > Elappara > Vagamon.
Still we were pondering on how the resort will be

The entry to the resort
The Vagamon height resort is in the vagamon - pullikanam route some 1.5kms from vagamon.
We reached the gate of the resort. We had a look around. Only the gate and a small security check post. Where is the resort? We crossed the gate, reminiscent of the gate in the Evil dead movie.
Soon one guy came to us and told to register our names there. He opened another gate and told us that we have to travel 2 - 3 kms through this jungle trail to reach the resort’s office. Seems quite interesting. Started the journey slowly as it was a narrow road.
We saw this board there

As we moved forward found that we are moving through thick dense forest

We reached a point where there was a small river crossing and over some rocks. Crossed the river and we were approaching an open area with a lake. It simply took our breath away.

A view of the lake from this road

Then it was a climb through some dense forest and soon we reached the resort’s office on top where a big horse was roaming around alone. This journey of 2 km was an amazing start to the things to come.
My innova resting after a nice workout


A small cafeteria near the resort's main office

Check in:
The check in process was quite simple. After the check in process, one guy was assigned to us for all the support. He guided us to the cottage. Voila the way to the cottage itself was very inviting.
It was a three storey building. There was a small hanging bridge which landed in the first floor. It was a sort of open air dining room. The second floor contained one cottage and the ground floor another.



The view from inside the cottage was good, because we feel as if we are amidst thick dense forest with the sound of insects and some birds to accompany. Even the bathroom had big windows, which if opened we have a feeeling of

getting a bath amidst the woods.


A view of the woods from resort's window in the afternoon and later in the evening when fog came down



Activities at resort to followPart 3 - Activities at the resort for the rest of the day - offroading in a 4x4, viewpoints, rose garden & boating
After a rest of 30 minutes, our guide took us for sight seeing in a 4 x 4 jeep. The jeep itself was good since the passenger cabin on the back was open roof.
We were starting for an amazing experience which we didn’t expect. Soon the jeep was travelling in some roads atop the hills in such a way that we had huge steep inclination for company on both sides. We were swaying to both sides

since there were absolutely no roads.

We reached one of the view points from where we could have a breath taking view of the nature’s creations.


The kurisumala church is visible from here


another view from the same viewpoint



We could also see the route which we take, which if one sees won’t believe that vehicles can be driven through.

A view of the track which we took. On the right hand side hill, you can see the jeep trails on top


After spending some time there we were ready to climb further upThe 4x4 with kids ready to climb up


There were 4 such view points. Due to lack of time and impending rains we could go to only one more view point
Then started the decent. For a change this guy was decending steeply and not in a zig zag manner.Looking down one feels really scary. This one ride is much much better than the artificial rides on the water theme parks.





Halfway down the decent there was a rose garden. Since it was not season only very less flowers were there. Can imaging how it will look like if all the roses planted there have flowers.







Continued the decent and soon we reached the bottom which had a nice lake.




The boats were ready and we experienced the cool water in the comfort of this pedalling boats.



Soon it started to rain, but when we are in such an august company of the nature how could we run for cover. Just opened an umbrella and enjoyed the boating amidst the downshower, an experience we will cherish for a lifetime.



As we reached back our cottage, thick fog was descending


our steed was taking rest under the comfort of a tree


Soon daylight bid goodbye to this beautiful showpiece handmade by nature and undistured by the tourist invasion.

click here for part 2