[aneezan]

Great travelogue Satshan. I am from Nagercoil and the sights of all these places through your photos brings a warm feeling. Made up my mind to visit these during my vacation next week.
Thank you.

[srikrishna717]

Sastshan, Great Travelogue and great pictures. Man! you have covered a LOT of places !
Thanks for sharing the satellite image of Dhanushkodi..Now I know why it got that name !

[Satshan]

Originally Posted by ampere

Nicely done! Lots of places covered. These places no matter how many times you go, there is always one more!

Some notes on the drive

- You said you reached Krishnagiri by 8AM ? And you left BLR by 4:30? Thats a good 3.5 hours.
- Was it heavy traffic ? Because even with a sedate drive you should be there in about 2 max (absolute max, unless you are beaten up by the waiting game at toll booths!)
- So is the case with reaching Madurai by evening.
- As per what I have seen : With sedate drives (consistent 80-100), one can make it to Salem in 3/3.5
- Dindigul in 2.5 and from there to Madurai in about an hour.
- So with a break you should be be able to make it by 12/1 at max.

Thank you Ampere. Encountered moderate truck traffic at toll booths before Krishnagiri. Slow-moving traffic also found near diversions due to fly-over constructions in progress. Also had to halt for responding to nature's call. (due to early morning departure)

Before Salem, halted for breakfast. We were also taking several halts clicking snaps (mountain landscapes, paddy fields and pastures, highway milestones) and couple of lavatory breaks on the way towards Madurai. Further stopped for lunch before Madurai. All this contributed towards overall increase in time.

[Satshan]

Originally Posted by ampere

Nicely done! Lots of places covered. These places no matter how many times you go, there is always one more!

Some notes on the drive

- You said you reached Krishnagiri by 8AM ? And you left BLR by 4:30? Thats a good 3.5 hours.
- Was it heavy traffic ? Because even with a sedate drive you should be there in about 2 max (absolute max, unless you are beaten up by the waiting game at toll booths!)
- So is the case with reaching Madurai by evening.
- As per what I have seen : With sedate drives (consistent 80-100), one can make it to Salem in 3/3.5
- Dindigul in 2.5 and from there to Madurai in about an hour.
- So with a break you should be be able to make it by 12/1 at max.

Thank you Ampere. Encountered moderate truck traffic at toll booths before Krishnagiri. Slow-moving traffic also found near diversions due to fly-over constructions in progress. Also had to halt for responding to nature's call. (due to early morning departure)

Before Salem, halted for breakfast. We were also taking several halts clicking snaps (mountain landscapes, paddy fields and pastures, highway milestones) and couple of lavatory breaks on the way towards Madurai. Further stopped for lunch before Madurai. All this contributed towards overall increase in time.

[HillMan]

Hey Satshan,

It was a great travelogue. Enjoyed reading it. What I liked most is the way you have captured the importance and history of each site that you have visited.

This thread has good information for anyone to plan a trip down south.

Thanks.

[silverado]

Fantastic log dude, he had heard about these places but to see them through this log was amazing. must says the roads are topnotch and the car is looking sexy after that sticker.

[alphadog]

Hi Satshan

That was a fantastic travelogue. I have been to a few of these places, but many moons ago. It is nice to go through a well written travelogue with loads of photos, made it all the more enjoyable. It sounded like a well researched and planned trip and great to hear that you had no problems with your vehicle.
The roads in TN look very good without much traffic, I am sure it must have been a pleasure to drive. I look forward to doing a similar drive myself in the near future and please do put up posts of any other trips that you will be doing.
Cheers

VK

[Satshan]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Hi Satshan

That was a fantastic travelogue. I have been to a few of these places, but many moons ago. It is nice to go through a well written travelogue with loads of photos, made it all the more enjoyable. It sounded like a well researched and planned trip and great to hear that you had no problems with your vehicle.
The roads in TN look very good without much traffic, I am sure it must have been a pleasure to drive. I look forward to doing a similar drive myself in the near future and please do put up posts of any other trips that you will be doing.
Cheers

VK

Thank you very much Alphadog. Yes, I had done some quite a bit of research before the trip, route planning and spots on the way. My car stood by me always, without any hiccups during the whole trip.

Most roads in TN were good except few bad patches. I don't have any plans for a long trip as of now. Will await your post, when you will visit these places.

[iVento]

Nice travelogue. Enjoyed reading it. Nice photos also.
Even I have a plan for a coastal TN trip.

Originally Posted by Satshan

A life size whale at the entrance greets the visitors at the entrance.

This is not a whale, it's a shark

[blue_pulsar]

Superb travelogue! The best on Kanyakumari I've ever read! Very informative too. I felt like I experienced the trip through your pictures. Nice pictures too

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by Satshan

Hello Everyone, Me and wifey did a wonderful trip to Madurai, Rameswaram and Kanyakumari in Sept 2013. Very sorry for the delay in posting my log. Due to some unfortunate incidents in our family, I could not get much time to post my travelogue in Sept month.

Congrats Satshan for a very successful trip to the Southern Golden triangle if one can call it. Actually got very interested in your write up since we had planned exactly the same trip but could not go due to various reasons but have book the same trip and in the same sequence for our in laws in Jan just a few weeks from now.

The only difference is that we have booked their journey via train all through out except for Madurai - Rameswaram which will be by bus. All the three place they will stay for 1 day and 1 night

The accomodation booked are -

Madurai - Kathir Palace
Rameswaram - Blue Coral Cottages
Kanya Kumari - Hotel Tamilnadu TTDC

All these booking were done on the basis of good review at Tripadvisor

Since they are senior folks, and do not have their own transport, would like to know the must see attractions in these three destinations given the time available.

[Satshan]

Originally Posted by girishglg

The only difference is that we have booked their journey via train all through out except for Madurai - Rameswaram which will be by bus. All the three place they will stay for 1 day and 1 night

The accomodation booked are -

Madurai - Kathir Palace
Rameswaram - Blue Coral Cottages
Kanya Kumari - Hotel Tamilnadu TTDC

All these booking were done on the basis of good review at Tripadvisor

Since they are senior folks, and do not have their own transport, would like to know the must see attractions in these three destinations given the time available.

Thanks so much girishglg. Tripadvisor is a good website and many of its reviews are useful.

Since you have the criteria of 1 day and 1 night at each location, I would advise you below attractions:

Madurai: Meenakshi temple and Gandhi Museum. (Need to travel by Auto)

Rameswaram: Ramnathswamy temple, Agnitheertham (walkable distance)
Dhanushkodi, Kothandarama temple (Leave early morning by 7 am and you can book a Jeep to go there)

Kanyakumari: Vivekanand Rock & Thiruvallavur statue (Catch Ferry from the seashore)
Kanyakumari Devi temple, Triveni Sangam, Gandhi Mandapam, View tower and telescope house: (All within walkable distances)

Please let me know if you have any further queries.

[samm]

Satshan, Thanks for the great pictures.

We had been to Rameshwaram/Dhanushkodi in October '13 (also posted the travelogue). We missed Vivekananda memorial and the Gulf of Mannar interpretation centre. Would have loved to check these out!

Is it a big centre? Where is it located? Do they have other display items - like fossils etc? What is the centre focussed on? I was wondering why not too many people know about this centre.

[kaushik_ak]

Thats a really detailed travelogue. Had recently done the same trip and written a similar travelogue. This one is much more detailed and exhaustive. Well written!

[Damu]

Originally Posted by Satshan

Epilogue:
Overall, it was an extensive trip though we enjoyed every moment...I was doubtful, if we could cover all site-seeing places. However, we completed almost all. Asking for directions was not much required as Google Maps were very useful throughout the trip. Took a lot of snaps and videos.

Hello Satshan,

Very informative and detailed travelogue. I am checking out places for a South India trip so your T/L is of great use to me.

Many thanks for sharing your experience.

Best regards,
Damu