[zoomingbhat]

Thank You for your replies.

I need one more suggestion, I am asking too many things.

I need one more plan if i am going to wayanad on day 1 and skip munnar,what would be the benifits and drawback of it ,would it need to cover more distances?

Awaiting Reply
Zoomingbhat

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

SpeedZak has given you a very good itenary, but since you asked about Athirapally, here are some suggestions-

Planning to cover: Munnar, Idukki, Kochi, Alleppy, Trivandrum, Kovallum Beach, Kanyakumari and Back.

4 days is totally insufficient.

Day 1. Overnight drive to Munnar. (check this forum for route details via Pollachi and Marayoor. Stay overnight at Munnar. Start for Ekm by 7 AM.

Day 2. Reach Chalakudy / Athirapally falls by late morning (12 ish) (Munnar - Perumbavoor (with a stopby at Kalady - Adi Shankaracharya's birth place) - Ankamaly. Start for Ekm by 5. Sunset visit to Marine drive at Ekm. Stay at Ekm. Try out sunset boating here - just one hour (20 Rs. per head - bargain for group discounts).

At Cochin / Ernakulam, you can stay at the Youth Hostels (near the AIR station). There is also a Yatri Niwas (Central Govt) near Palarivattom.

Day 3. Stay back at Cochin / Ekm and visit places recommended by ramkya. And Cherai beach too - if you want. From Fort Cochin, take the Junkar to Vypeen, and go on to Cherai. From Cherai, return via Paravoor - Alwaye to Ekm. Better still, hire a boat for the whole day - Fort Cochin - Cherai - Back to Ekm after sun set. Skip boating at Alleppey.

Or skip Cherai, and start for Tvm by noon from Fort Cochin itself. (Fort Cochin - Eda Cochin - Aroor bye pass - NH47).

Visit Kovalam late night. (take the bye pass direct to Kovalam.

Day 4. Visit padmanabha swamy temple first thing in morning. Leave your shirts inside the bus. You cannot even carry them in hands. Use only mundus inside the temple. No mobiles. Visit zoo. (as if 3 days of watching Kerala drivers is not enough!!!!)

Start for Kanyakumar BEFORE 3 PM. That it what it will take for a heavy vehicle to travel those 80 odd kms. View the sunset. Start back for B'lore. Or stay back at KK and start back next day early morning via Madurai (Meenakshi temple).

Or you can come to Thekkady direct from B'lore and then drive down to Munnar and (Munnar is now day 2).

Does this start feeling like the ICE section? ;-P

[kuttapan]

Don't think of including Wynad and Kanyakumari in a 4 day itinerary. Just will not work out.

If you are going to visit Athirappally, half day will be used up for that, the roads leading to the waterfall are very narrow and one cannot do good times there.

[subbarao]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Day 1: Munnar.
Visit a tea factory, beautiful views at top station, waterfalls and nilgiri tahr sanctuary.
Leave for Cochin by 5pm and reach Cochin for the night. Plenty of good dormitory/room/hotel options available for accommodation. Bijus, Saas tower, Mareena etc.. are famous for bulk bookings.

Day 2: Cochin & Alleppey.
Start very early. Atleast 7am!
Do a city tour first. Shipyard, Marinedrive, nearby islands, harbour, ports etc.. (just a drive thru before the traffic hogs you down) Visit Mattancheri, jewtown, synagogue, fortcochin, chinese fishing nets, museums and head to Alleppey after lunch (atleast by 3pm).
Go for a backwater cruise in a motor boat (some can accommodate upto 100, get a 50seater). Return after sunset and push to Trivandrum.
Good, affordable hotels available for the night near the railway station/bus stand area.

Day 3: Trivandrum.
Visit museums, zoo, aquarium, fishing harbour, Kovalam, tourist villages etc.. (Keep Kovalam for last as you can then drive on to Cape Comorine).
Good affordable hotels available. TTDC Hotel Tamilnadu is on the beach with dormitory and room accommodations.

Day 4: Kanyakumari.
Wake up before sunrise!
Visit Vivekananda rock, salt farms, beaches and ofcourse; some good shopping to do!
Pack up as early as possible and drive back to Bangalore by 5pm atleast via Madurai, dindigul, Karur, Salem...

Be warned that this itenary is a bit tight packed and will be a bit tiring. So, take enough precautions and safety measures. Please expect enough vomiting, nausea etc..
Try and rest at nights to the max and don't waste it by chatting around etc.. if you want to see places.

Have a safe trip!

Hi,

Even i am planning to go for the same places from 8-12/13 oct, i think above said route suitable for me, just the change in the route required is to avoid night journey [Because, i may go in swift]
if i start on 8th morning 11am, which is the best place to stay for over night on the way to munnar from bangalore, my BIL suggests me tirupur/bhavani, can i get good room's here? & also i want to know about tekkadi, as per my friend's feedback it is better to go to tekkadi instead of munnar to get good glimpse of scenery.......is it so...! or shall i add both the places..... suggest me.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by subbarao

as per my friend's feedback it is better to go to tekkadi instead of munnar to get good glimpse of scenery.......is it so...! or shall i add both the places..... suggest me.

Munnar is definitely more scenic. Thekkady is the place to go for wildlife - however the rains have only just stopped so the animals arent likely to come to the lake. Not much luck out there.

You're better off in Munnar.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

if i start on 8th morning 11am, which is the best place to stay for over night on the way to munnar f

You should be able to reach Munnar by sunset. If unsure, start around 9ish; if an early morning (between 5 and 7AM) start is not possible. And what had driving a swift to do with night driving?

[zoomingbhat]

Well we have decided on the following.

Day1:Reach Munnar early morning.We have one full day in munnar.
Leave munnar by evening and head for an overnight stay on the way to Athirapally Falls.

Day2:Visit Athirapally Falls and head to cochin by 3:00.We have entire evening in cochin.Overnight stay at cochin

Day3:We can skip alleppey if we get same experience in cochin itself.So spend morning in cochin or alleppey and spend the entire evening in kovallam beach.
Head to kanyakumari for overnight stay.

Day4:Watch early sunrise,visit vivekananda rock memorial and Return back to Bangalore by 4:00pm.

Thank You for your inputs guys.Could you please tell me the must visit places in Munnar and Cochin,Need your suggestions.

Regards,
zoomingbhat
*

[menonrajesh]

Munnar - Athirappilly - Cochin - Kanyakumari order somehow doesnt look proper. You guys would be travelling the same roads more than once in this itinery and will be wasting much time. The order ideally should have been Athirappilly - Cochin - Munnar -K Kumari ( may have to come back to Cochin for Munnar -K. Kumari leg).

All said, why don't you make a half Kerala tour this time and come back later to cover the other part of Kerala? You could cover Wayanad, Athirapilly and Cochin in this trip of 4 days and plan and come back later to visit Aleppey,Munnar, Thekkady, Kanyakumari. - just a thought..

[subbarao]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

You should be able to reach Munnar by sunset. If unsure, start around 9ish; if an early morning (between 5 and 7AM) start is not possible. And what had driving a swift to do with night driving?

Hi,

Night driving is not a problem for me, but my wife, so if i start late, want to know the better place to stay overnight.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

@menonrajesh - I guess you are meaning the Athirapally - Munnar - Ekm / Cochin leg. He would not doing overlapping if he comes to Munnar via Marayoor. I am not sure if those roads could be done by a heavy vehicle. They are taking a huge Rajhamsa bus; if I get him correctly. Any Inputs on that, anybody?

In case the Pollachi - Marayoor - Munnar is not doable by heavy vehicles, menonrajesh is correct.

subbarao - I still think you can comfortably cover the distance by 9 PM maximum. Unless you are a really sloooow driver.

[menonrajesh]

Hi backSeatDriver, I didnt know about this route ( Bangalore to Munnar via Marayoor)at all! THanks for that bit of info.And yes, in this case, he will not be overlapping his legs.

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

Well we have decided on the following.

Day1:Reach Munnar early morning.We have one full day in munnar.
Leave munnar by evening and head for an overnight stay on the way to Athirapally Falls.

Day2:Visit Athirapally Falls and head to cochin by 3:00.We have entire evening in cochin.Overnight stay at cochin

Day3:We can skip alleppey if we get same experience in cochin itself.So spend morning in cochin or alleppey and spend the entire evening in kovallam beach.
Head to kanyakumari for overnight stay.

Day4:Watch early sunrise,visit vivekananda rock memorial and Return back to Bangalore by 4:00pm.

Thank You for your inputs guys.Could you please tell me the must visit places in Munnar and Cochin,Need your suggestions.

Regards,
zoomingbhat
*

Zooming Bat,

Your planning is not correct for Athirapally. Your route would go like this.

Palakkad-Trichur, chalakudy (you have to veer left 40 kms inside a single track road to Athirapally), Angamally, take left to Perumbavour, Kothamangalam, Adimaly, Munnar. You'd have to tack back the same way to Athirapally say, Angamally back to Chalakudy, Athirapally and after the visit to go to Cochin, come to Chalakudy - Angamaly-Alwaye and Cochin. Lots of duplicaiton, time and energy wasted.

If you want to do it, go to Athirapally first, you can reach there about 11-12 AM see it and then reach Munnar only by 6-7 PM again would not fit in with your schedule. Suggest drop Athirapally now and proceed Munnar, cochin, Aleppey, Trvandrum, Kanyakumari and back.

Happy Traveling,

--Ramky
---------

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Ramkya1 - he need not come to Munnar via NH 47 (the PGT - Angamally section). See the links below. My only doubt is whether heavy vehicles can take the other route.
The links:-

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...formation.html (post #2)

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ound-trip.html (See the section Day 4 in the first post and also #6).

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...nar-route.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...bangalore.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ra-munnar.html

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...irections.html

[zoomingbhat]

My friends wants to visit the falls,so tried to add to the list.

The route info I got is here,and for return to kochi is here.

In this plan we tried are skipping trivandrum and including the falls.(On group request)

Hope this can be done.

Regards
zoomingbhat

[ramkya1]

Originally Posted by zoomingbhat

My friends wants to visit the falls,so tried to add to the list.

The route info I got is here,and for return to kochi is here.

In this plan we tried are skipping trivandrum and including the falls.(On group request)

Hope this can be done.

Regards
zoomingbhat

Zoomin Bat,

If you skip TVM and include the falls, you may be able to do it, time-wise. But you would still bouble-back and forth lots of distance, Munnar, Chalakkudy, Cochin.

Backseatdriver,

I've done most of this terrain on a bike, some sections like Kottayam-Idikki section, we used to do once in 3 months, Cochin-Munnar once in a month during our field work and also the Kumily-Kodai stretch just for the heck of it. He had done the Munnar-kodai section, not closed, I think.

I didn't even think of the other route alternative

(Bangalore - Mysore - Bandipur - Masinagudi - Ooty - Coonoor - Coimbatore - Pollachi - Udumalaippetai - Amaravatinagar - Munnar)

due to the size of the bus and the time frame. Masanagudi ghats and the Amaravatinagar-Munnar section would be, IMO impossible for them. The only alternative on a bus is the Chalakudy option.

This detour would mean at least about 12 to 18 hours of extra time, but would be more enjoyable than Trivandrum/ Aleppey.

If TVM and Alepppy is not on the visit plan, they will be going all the way (extra about 600 km, two way) just for Cape?

--Ramky
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