[DImPo]

Thanks for the nice travelogue. I was looking for some details about Manampalli guest house stay which I got from your travelogue. You could have added more photos of birds and nature in and around Valpari. During my proposed trip to Valparai in December, I plan to have a bus ride to the power house and back. I suppose the bus would start from Valparai in early morning.

[vgsr]

Good wite up. Could you give a bit more details of nearby places to visit and accomodation details like whom to contact for bookings. Is the travel agent the only way to get rooms or is there a govt website. I could not locate any such website .
Whats the nearest town from which one could pick up food stuff for cooking if one does not want to carry it from home. What about stoves for cooking. ? Does one need to carry beds or bedsheets ?

[arunrajk81]

Nice Pics,
One of the Favorite spot for me and is around 80 Km from my House. (I am from Kalady Kerala). Almost I had 1-2 Bike trips and 8-9 car trip. That Place you clicked Bison looks very familiar to me. Is that Sinna Durai's bungalow ?. If you happen to stay there, early morning Bisons will be a sure sighting and if you are lucky enough, will get chance to see Elephants as well. If you Plan for a trip at Night Drive through the tea estates, there are chances to sight Leopard since this area is known to have some considerable Leopard Population which I have sighted. One of the issue is most of the hotels there wont agree booking via online-(makemytrip, travelguru etc) unless you call and confirm with hotel directly. I had two bad experience with two different stays in that sense

-Arun

[jacs]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Nice travelogue with great snaps, narration was thrilling as well. Those many gaurs and the guide drove them away? I would have run in the opposite direction . Thanks for sharing

Thanks Arvind. Glad to know you enjoyed reading it.

Originally Posted by peterjim13

Amazing ! Great pics and well narrated. Lucky you !!

I assumed the bisons to be pretty easy with crowd/humans till I read this news from near my hometown.

Thanks peterjim. Good I did not see this video before the trip .

Yes, Bisons are known to be dangerous but they rarely attack while in groups unless agitated.

Originally Posted by bullet-tooth

Nostalgia! I can recollect the time i spent in Manampalli. My dad's brother was managing this estate at that time. Me and my cousins used to roam around these areas during daytime. Playing hide and seek among the coffee plantation

Thanks for bringing back the memories

Oh Man! Playing hide and seek? How was this place a decade back? I assume it would have been even wilder. You are really lucky to have enjoyed this place in full flesh.

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Dear jacs,

I have rated this 5*

How were you prepared? Other than taking along the guys who could shoo wild animals - of course!

Thanks Mahajan.

We did not explore any of these risky areas by foot, only on vehicles and hence the fear factor was only elephants. Of course, an experienced guide is the best investment to handle these unknowns.

Originally Posted by NPV

@jacs - Excellent trip and your account of it is excellent, great pictures there - Thanks for sharing
Had never heard about this place Manampally, and definitely don't remember seeing that signboard during our Valparai trip, though the Urulickal name sounds familiar, not sure if we passed by that checkpost.

Thanks NPV. Even I noticed this signboard for the first time though travelled many times vis this route. You would have certainly passed by this checkpost while driving to Sholayar dam.

Originally Posted by Raaj*

Excellent pictures, bringing in the "green effect" to our eyes! Thank you Jacs

Noticed many takeaways in your travelogue!
Manampalli - a new location to visit (Carry all necessaries for food)
Elephants - Be careful. If possible, follow the big brother (buses) on these roads.
River - Dont urge to venture into lazy waters. An active crocodile might be waiting on the other side. Check with locals.
Bisons - Dont take chances in shooing away the herds. Captain will come down for defense. Better wait or back off!
Last but not the least
Checkpost Pass - Walking not only burns calories but also fetch the passes fast ahead of others

Thanks Raaj. And you got it right

Originally Posted by Cruiser_D

Such a nice presentation Jacs. I am sure that by this time you would have explored every nook and corner of Valparai. We have been through Sholayar road on day 3 of our Valparai encounter. But we couldn't notice this deviation towards Manampalli. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Cruiser_D. Yes this deviation is not easily noticed though sufficient signboards are there. I believe its mainly due to the blind curve narrow road where we could be concentrating on-coming traffic tackling through the check-post.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Some beautiful pics! I think the last para summed up the trip well. Its extremely satisfying to know the rest of the pack enjoyed the trip equally. The greenery is to die for!

Thanks man. Yes. This time my priority was to ensure rest of the pack takes home some good memories.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Too good, jacs, too good!! Rated 5 stars

So that's the story behind the 'crocodile' sighting, eh?

Thanks (from me and from a few others also) for introducing Manampalli. Will get in touch with you when we plan a stay.

Hope you there were no blaring music from the settlement or religious places during your stay

PS : When are the meet snaps getting posted?

Thanks Praveen.

Forget blaring music, hardly any sounds familiar to human inhabitation other than from the kitchen.

You are most welcome for the details. I am yet to work on the snaps from Nelliyampathi due to tight work schedules. Shall post soon.

Originally Posted by sankar8588

Thats a wonderful write-up. Great snaps too to accompany your narration.
You had quiet a wonderful sightings of animals in their natural habitat and best part of it is you were able to experience their lifestyle and mannerisms (especially the incident where the Captain of the herd came to protect his team). That would have send shivers down your spine. But I am sure, it would have been an experience of a lifetime.

Thanks for sharing and keep writing .

Thanks sankar. It was certainly an experience of a lifetime for everyone.

Originally Posted by KomS_CarLog

Nice travelogue, Jacs! And beautiful pics too. The 1st photo of a muscular Bison is just very very cool and eye grabbing. These are the Arnold of the jungle Wonder, what proteins do they eat and what kind of weight lifting do they do

Thanks KomS_CarLog. Most of them weigh more than half a ton easily. And they are pure vegetarians!

Originally Posted by DImPo

Thanks for the nice travelogue. I was looking for some details about Manampalli guest house stay which I got from your travelogue. You could have added more photos of birds and nature in and around Valpari. During my proposed trip to Valparai in December, I plan to have a bus ride to the power house and back. I suppose the bus would start from Valparai in early morning.

Thanks DImPo. Unlike my earlier Valparai trip, photography took lower priority this time being a family trip with kids to take care of. Most of the wildlife clicks were made possible because they gave sufficient time for grabbing the camera. Missed many opportunistic snaps of small animals which slipped into the forest quickly. This place is paradise for bird lovers and at least a 500mm lens is highly recommended.

Originally Posted by vgsr

Good wite up. Could you give a bit more details of nearby places to visit and accomodation details like whom to contact for bookings. Is the travel agent the only way to get rooms or is there a govt website. I could not locate any such website .
Whats the nearest town from which one could pick up food stuff for cooking if one does not want to carry it from home. What about stoves for cooking. ? Does one need to carry beds or bedsheets ?

Thanks vgsr. Sure, I shall PM the contact details.

If you have access to Pollachi, directly approach the DFO (District Forest Office) for permission and booking. I tried to book using contact details available in Government websites which did not work for me.

Nearest town is Sholayar but Valparai makes more sense for shopping. I suggest to make a shopping list in advance with buffer so that you can avoid time taking drives each time you run out of capacity. No need to carry stoves or firewood. And you have a cook there but if you wish to cook, that's fine too.

There are lot of cots and beds. Bedsheets are must carry since what they provide may not have undergone rigorous cleaning.

Originally Posted by arunrajk81

Nice Pics,
That Place you clicked Bison looks very familiar to me. Is that Sinna Durai's bungalow? if you are lucky enough, will get chance to see Elephants as well. there are chances to sight Leopard since this area. One of the issue is most of the hotels there wont agree booking via online-(makemytrip, travelguru etc) unless you call and confirm with hotel directly. I had two bad experience with two different stays in that sense

-Arun

Thanks Arun. Yes, the area where Bisons were clicked is near Sinna Durai's. Parle Agro estates to be precise.

According to the localites, elephants have moved to Urulickal area during the time we visited. No confirmed Leopard spotting in my trips but yes there are many and sometimes seen even on trees along main road side.

Online booking for Manampally is not possible but only for Valparai. Last time I booked through GoIbibo and thankfully not had any bitter experience.

[FuelInjector]

Another good travelogue Jacs. Looks like you have a liking towards this part of the western ghats . Great snaps as well. Good break up of the journey so as to not get tired. We did our trip few weeks back as well and had been to Manampally. As most of these regions are covered (including the details given by our legendary Lalu chetan) chose to not put up a travelogue

[spoiler]

Fantastic travelogue ; gets a deep urge to start now itself.

[majumon]

Amazing write up of your experience , it made me feel as if I had been to this place. thoroughly enjoyed entire trip and accompanied by great photographs. Would be grateful if you could share the contact details to make the booking. I love to visit these lesser known places. Have only passed through that route, have this route planned for some time including Parambikulam.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by FuelInjector

Another good travelogue Jacs. Looks like you have a liking towards this part of the western ghats . Great snaps as well.

Thanks boss. And yes, western ghats is able to quench my thirst for greenery and wildlife. I would have covered <10% by now?

If you do not have patience to pen down a full-fledged travelogue, please feel free to bridge the gaps in this travelogue with more information from your travel and stay.

Originally Posted by spoiler

Fantastic travelogue ; gets a deep urge to start now itself.

Thank you spoiler. You should certainly visit before the place is exploited fully by mankind.

Originally Posted by majumon

Amazing write up of your experience , it made me feel as if I had been to this place. thoroughly enjoyed entire trip and accompanied by great photographs. Would be grateful if you could share the contact details to make the booking. I love to visit these lesser known places. Have only passed through that route, have this route planned for some time including Parambikulam.

Thanks majumon. If you are staying in Parambikulam, I suggest picking up a bungalow stay in Valparai so that you get two different ambiences in a single trip. Shall anyways share the contact details in PM.

[SujAce]

Hey Jacs,
Really cool travelogue with amazing pics. Thanks for sharing

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by jacs

If you do not have patience to pen down a full-fledged travelogue, please feel free to bridge the gaps in this travelogue with more information from your travel and stay.

Sincere thanks for the offer, jacs. on looking at the photos there were a tad many of them. So took sometime to pen down a travelogue

[Prashobmdas]

Hi Jacs.. your travelogue really inspired me to visit manampalli.. Can you kindly provide the contact number for arranging the stay. i try calling the number provided in one of the web site (from google) but with no luck..

[venkatt1800]

Yet another wonderful travelogue of the Valparai region, Jacs. This place is truly a stay in the wild, looks inviting for a get-together. Terrific pictures. Please provide the Contact details of the Stay at Manampalli and the booking procedures.

[springmist]

Hi,

Thank you for an excellent travelogue!
Wish to visit this place sooner.
Please help me with the tour consultant's number.

Thanks,
Arun

[jacs]

Originally Posted by Prashobmdas

Hi Jacs.. your travelogue really inspired me to visit manampalli.. Can you kindly provide the contact number for arranging the stay. i try calling the number provided in one of the web site (from google) but with no luck..

Originally Posted by venkatt1800

Yet another wonderful travelogue of the Valparai region, Jacs. This place is truly a stay in the wild, looks inviting for a get-together. Terrific pictures. Please provide the Contact details of the Stay at Manampalli and the booking procedures.

Originally Posted by springmist

Hi,

Thank you for an excellent travelogue!
Wish to visit this place sooner.
Please help me with the tour consultant's number.

Thanks,
Arun

Thanks All. Here you go for the contact details.

Western Ghats Tourism, 56, Arthi Complex , 1st Floor , Palakkad Main Road, Opp : NGM College , Pollachi , Tamil Nadu - 642001

Cell : +91 94420 45449 , Phone : 04259 229632

Email : tour2westernghats@gmail.com