[KarNut]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

Day 4 (Kotagiri – Kodanadu Viewpoint - BTM – 425 kms)

Yet another beautiful morning, with mild Sunlight, fog covering distant mountains and breezy surroundings. Three of us woke up around 7:30am and our plan for the day was to visit the Kodanadu viewpoint, some 18kms from our stay, before heading out for home. Without much delay we took shower, got ready, and did all packing and loaded Skiddy with the bags. While we did all these, we ordered for three cups of tea at the hotel reception, which we had along with some snacks. There was nothing to finish off with the check-out formalities and by 9am we left the hotel for the viewpoint.

Beautiful travelogue, It made my day, Took me back to Kerala Wonderful family you have, Wish you many many more road trips.

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Originally Posted by coolmind

Is it not too high to charge Rs 2500 for 15 kms(one way) ride?
Or are these fares common for the people to visit the place?
By the way, super snaps. I loved every bit of it.

Rs 2500 is pretty exhorbitant = Tourist Prices, I bet any local would not even pay Rs 1000 for the same, But you can't complain when you are having so much fun

[mpksuhas]

Great snaps as usual.

Around Marayoor, you could have visited Muniyara / Dolmens tooPic (Wanderlust Traveller - Call of the Hills: Munnar, Thekkady & Idukki)

Originally Posted by coolmind

Is it not too high to charge Rs 2500 for 15 kms(one way) ride?
Or are these fares common for the people to visit the place?

No, these are jeep hire charge, locals use share option. No doubt they are high, however like in other tourist places, its a demand - availability logic.

[ARAY]

Yet another blockbuster thread from the team. Epic pictures the sky does look like as if it was drawn. Brought back fond memories of our Munnar trip. Keep traveling and sharing such wonderful blogs.

[gunsho]

Originally Posted by coolmind

Is it not too high to charge Rs 2500 for 15 kms(one way) ride?
Or are these fares common for the people to visit the place?
By the way, super snaps. I loved every bit of it.

~2500 is common rate for up and down for entire jeep. One jeep can accommodate 2-4 people. Some corners / steeps are very scary that people want to get down and walk rather proceeding in jeep. The drivers are experienced and they claim it is perfectly safe. Usually they start at 4 AM, so we will reach the top for sunrise. It is one of an experience. When you complete the ride, you will definitely feel the money is worth spending

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Nandita,
Thank you for yet another detailed travelogue filled with excellent photographs. You have a flair for the camera. I like your spunky, lively, carefree style. Didn't realize you also drove on 4-wheels. Ooops. Look forward to more.
Narayan

Thank you. And, yes, we do trips on 4 wheeler as well. However, bike trips are more compared to cars

Originally Posted by Hayek

Great travelogue with fabulous pictures. - I am glad we did so.

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by R2D2

Another fun to read travelogue with lovely pictures of sights I have never seen before. - look forward to reading about your next holiday.

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Great travelogue.
But one observation:- hardly the footwear for walking on trails.
Regards Sutripta

Thanks! The trails were not very difficult, it was plain surface with hardly any trekking involved. I would rather call it walking than trekking. We did check with the hotel manager and the jeep guy, if there is any sorts of trails/trekking involved, they mentioned it can be easily done with normal footwear. We have done trekking at Dzukou Valley, Double Decker Root Bridge, Chembra Peak and few more other trails, so do realize the importance for proper trekking shoes.

Originally Posted by gunsho

Excellent travelogue!! - Again, appreciate for sharing the travelogue.

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

Great pics, nice compact trip. Just FYI, that 100 bucks the cops take is pure bogus, was it the TN or KL cops asking this time? Same scene last time i crossed that checkpost, a stern question immediatly got the cop gingerly smiling and asking for some cash to buy tea.. LOL..

Thanks! They were KL cops. As mentioned, Atul didn't want to have unnecessary problems when there is family along. Will surely try your idea next time.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Kerala is nowhere near recovered from the excess rain that lashed the state over 3 months ago. It will take another year atleast, by which time, I hope the state is better prepared to handle such emergencies. Relief fund for farmers are all stuck in red tape.

Coming from a state (Assam) where flood is a very common scene where every year innumerable numbers of homes, cattle, crops, wildlife and humans are wiped out. Hence, I know how much time it takes for recovery and no help coming from Govt at all. That is the hard truth, we all are aware of. By this travelogue I just meant that natural beauty is still intact in Kerala and even if they are baby steps, there is at least some progression happening. At times we just need to see the brighter side.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

A word of advise. Never, ever, walk in a tea plantation, or any plantation for that matter with bare foot wear. The last thing you want is a reptile bite that can ruin your holiday. Please wear ankle boots. Yes; you are not going to like it but better be safe than to be stuck in a hospital ward.

Of all people, I'm extremely afraid of reptiles and well aware that all of the tea gardens have them in abundance. Once again, since I'm from Assam and the state is full of tea gardens, most of the time we keep hearing incidents of reptile encounters with humans. Hence, we mostly kept towards the outer periphery of the tea gardens while clicking pictures and keeping a guard. However, thank you for the word of advice and concern.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Lovely report and pictures.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by DBeast

A great travelogue with some awesome pics. I had a doubt earlier, whether Munnar can be explored in 4 days where 2 days are only driving to and fro from Bangalore, but I think I can plan now!
Cheers!

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by coolmind

Is it not too high to charge Rs 2500 for 15 kms(one way) ride? Or are these fares common for the people to visit the place? By the way, super snaps. I loved every bit of it.

Thanks! The price Rs 2500 was two way (hotel - viewpoint - hotel) and we had hired the jeep exclusively for us (when the other party backed out).

Originally Posted by KarNut

Beautiful travelogue, It made my day, Took me back to Kerala Wonderful family you have, Wish you many many more road trips. Rs 2500 is pretty exhorbitant = Tourist Prices, I bet any local would not even pay Rs 1000 for the same, But you can't complain when you are having so much fun

Thank you so much! Rs 2500 was the price quoted to almost everyone by the jeep drivers. The fare included pick up from the hotel, to Kolukkumalai top and then back to hotel.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Great snaps as usual.
Around Marayoor, you could have visited Muniyara / Dolmens tooPic (Wanderlust Traveller - Call of the Hills: Munnar, Thekkady & Idukki)

Thank you so much! Will try visiting the places mentioned by you, next time.

Originally Posted by ARAY

Yet another blockbuster thread from the team. Epic pictures the sky does look like as if it was drawn. Brought back fond memories of our Munnar trip. Keep traveling and sharing such wonderful blogs.

Thank you so much!

[shankar.balan]

Thanks Nandita for your thread and photos.
I grew up in Munnar and the Annamalai’s (just across the Grass Hills range from Munnar), as a kid and the Nilgiris, specifically Ooty all through my schooling and Kotagiri which was home at the time - not very far from Kodanadu in fact, because my Dad planted Tea and Coffee for years and years and years, in all those areas.
It was nice for me to be able to re-live my growing up years through your eyes and camera.
Those places are truly beautiful. Though when we were growing up there weren’t all that many casual visitors or tourists simply because these areas were considered quite remote and access wasn’t as easy as all that.

[Nithin.J]

The roads inside the plantation looks much better in your pics. It deteriorated way too much by the end of October, to the extent that even those local jeep guys started cussing (the differential started to scrape in the ruts). Came across atleast 5 jeeps(ours included) with broken suspension in a matter of 4 hours we spent. Good thing that you guys visited in first week itself because most of the flowers decayed soon after the rain by last week.

[Ashish0485]

We did a kerala (road) trip earlier this year (first week of June) Bangalore-Munnar-Ashtamudi-Poovar-Bangalore. I can identify and relate to most of the pics in the travelogue.
One piece of info. We also went to Kolukkumalai tea estate paid INR 1,800 + INR 300 (to and fro) from the hotel. I am not that great in bargaining, just told the first person who approached me with standard INR 2500 offer that another driver is ready to take me for INR 1900 and he suddenly dropped his price point to INR 1800. On a related note, one major reason behind the exorbitant pricing told to me by the owner of the vehicle, the terrain is so challenging that jeep tires need to be replaced every six months. Also, it needs maintenance and part replacement every 2 months. During off season, a jeep is only able to do 2 such trips per day on an average.

[yogeshsom29]

Nice narration & fab pics; some of them are worthy of being wallpapers.

This route is on bucket-list - hope to tick it off quickly

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Thanks Nandita for your thread and photos.
- Though when we were growing up there weren’t all that many casual visitors or tourists simply because these areas were considered quite remote and access wasn’t as easy as all that.

Thank you so much! I can totally imagine how beautiful these places would be way back then, untouched by humans, completely raw natural beauty.

Originally Posted by Nithin.J

The roads inside the plantation looks much better in your pics. It deteriorated way too much by the end of October, to the extent that even those local jeep guys started cussing (the differential started to scrape in the ruts). Came across atleast 5 jeeps(ours included) with broken suspension in a matter of 4 hours we spent. Good thing that you guys visited in first week itself because most of the flowers decayed soon after the rain by last week.

Even during our time, couple of jeeps had problems (suspension issues, engine break down, etc.) while going up the peak. Roads were horribly bumpy and torturous. I heard that the flowers have started to wilt/decay by the end of Nov.

Originally Posted by Ashish0485

One piece of info. We also went to Kolukkumalai tea estate paid INR 1,800 + INR 300 (to and fro) from the hotel. I am not that great in bargaining, just told the first person who approached me with standard INR 2500 offer that another driver is ready to take me for INR 1900 and he suddenly dropped his price point to INR 1800. On a related note, one major reason behind the exorbitant pricing told to me by the owner of the vehicle, the terrain is so challenging that jeep tires need to be replaced every six months. Also, it needs maintenance and part replacement every 2 months. During off season, a jeep is only able to do 2 such trips per day on an average.

The price also got hyped up during Neelakurinji time.

Originally Posted by yogeshsom29

Nice narration & fab pics; some of them are worthy of being wallpapers. This route is on bucket-list - hope to tick it off quickly

Thank you so much!

[sami316]

Hey Nandita..Awesome Travelogue as usual. Awesome pics and loved the commentary. I really liked your mom's straight face expressions in almost all her pics..!! Thanks for sharing..Cheers..!!

[Prowler]

Another amazing travelogue from the adventurous couple Nandi and Atul. A visual treat - your photographs. I came late to this - following some other Ooty Travelogue. As usual - your hallmark - wonderful photos and detailed write up - which needs some time to cherish.

I wish I find a way to get an alert when you post your travelogue. Keep up the good work.

[coolrats]

A very well written travel bog and thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

Day 4 (Kotagiri – Kodanadu Viewpoint - BTM – 425 kms)

Yet another beautiful morning, with mild Sunlight, fog covering distant mountains and breezy surroundings. Three of us woke up around 7:30am and our plan for the day was to visit the Kodanadu viewpoint, some 18kms from our stay, before heading out for home. Without much delay we took shower, got ready, and did all packing and loaded Skiddy with the bags. While we did all these, we ordered for three cups of tea at the hotel reception, which we had along with some snacks. There was nothing to finish off with the check-out formalities and by 9am we left the hotel for the viewpoint.

The drive via Kotagiri Kodanadu road is blissfully satisfying, the scenic landscape on both sides of the highway is simply mesmerizing. Green spread-out tea plantations all over the hills, ranges of mountains layering over one another, tall swanky mountain trees and small colorful vibrant villages. The roads were absolutely spotless, clean and beautifully laid. Another special thing about Kodanadu is that it is the home of former AIADMK chief and chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Late Ms. Jayalalithaa. One will be completely awe-struck by the natural beauty of the place and would not even realize how the distance got covered, and the viewpoint has already arrived. The best part of Kodanadu is that it is very less crowded giving us enough space and time to explore around, mostly, by ourselves, or few people here and there. After paying a parking fee of Rs 20, and pulling out some cash from the nearby ATM for the rest of the trip, we started walking towards the flight of stairs which leads towards the viewpoint.

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Kodanadu viewpoint is one of the main attraction in Nilgiris, not yet polluted by the typical tourists. This place enjoys a climatic advantage over Ooty because it is protected by the mountain ranges from the onslaught of the south-west monsoon. It is one of the most scenic spots in the Nilgiris with scintillating views, tall and dense pine forests, and waterfall at a distance, beautiful green tea estates and a pleasant nip in the air. I can spend a whole day here without even getting bored for a single moment and enjoying the frames in front of my eyes. I have been here thrice, once the view was quite vivid with clear blue sky and the entire viewpoint opened up, second time it was covered under a blanket of fog and nothing could be seen. Today was a mix of both the experiences, a clear blue sky along with floating fog and huge round cotton balls of clouds. Yet this was so heart-satisfyingly beautiful that one can’t complain at all. The distant land covered by the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was completely hazed out by fog but the roars of the water falling from the cliff (of the waterfall) could be easily heard. Chirping of tiny birds was melodious too and added background music to the situation. We spent some one hour here, clicking pictures, taking time lapses, selfies, enjoying the view and finally before leaving we enjoyed some piping hot tea from the nearby stall with some munchies.

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It was 10:30am that we came out from the viewpoint and hit the roads again to drive towards home. The route we were taking was the usual one via Mettupalayam, Annur, and Avinashi and then hit the highway towards Salem. Driving for almost 20kms we came across this café called Silver Tip which is a chain of restaurants and hotels run by a family. Parked our car, got inside to have some quick food before we actually start our drive for home. This place, as mentioned, is on the Mettupalayam Kotagiri road, a perfect location to shop, refresh and have some nice tea/coffee while exiting or entering Kotagiri town. The café serves varieties of cakes, brownies, tea, coffee, mouth-watering light meals and snacks. They have cottage style homestay as well designed with utmost attention to make customer feel at home, these are located just behind the café. We ordered some veg sandwich, bread omelet, chicken fried rice, hot chocolate, chocolate brownies and coffee. After food, we also did some quick shopping of hair oils, handmade soaps, massage oils, etc. By 11:30am it was time for us to get started with the drive once again and a finally goodbye to Kotagiri. Just before leaving the town, we decided to do a quick pit stop and get skiddy tanked up for the remaining part of the journey.

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After finishing off with the ghat roads, we entered the town of Mettupalayam, followed by Annur and then Avinashi. Eventually around 2pm we touched the Salem-Kochi highway. The remaining part of the drive was totally uneventful with Atul and I taking the wheel in turns. We agreed on taking lesser breaks and stop only when we are totally famished and need to take food break. Within a span of next two hours we reached Salem town, being a Sunday evening with the returning traffic towards Bangalore, we were bound to get some traffic while exiting the town. Nonetheless, by 5:30pm we reached Thoppur and I had the urge to eat/drink something very badly. Luckily we were crossing the Thoppur A2B and decided to take a halt there.

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The place was crowded till the last table and we had to wait for some 10-15 mins to get one empty, while Atul purchased the food and tea coupons. We ordered ghee masala dosa, idly vada, paddu, tea and a glass of watermelon juice. Finished our food quickly, we embarked on our last leg of journey towards BTM. There was a huge piled up of traffic near the Krishnagiri toll gate and it took almost 20mins for us to cross the booth. In no time we crossed Tamil Nadu and entered Karnataka via Attibele. As usual, Bangalore traffic ensured we lose a lot of time. Eventually around 8:45pm we were home, parking our car.

One more beautiful trip comes to an end, with so many memories to cherish and treasures for life. One thing I learnt from this trip - nature creates magical beauty around us, at times it also shows it’s wrath towards us in the form of natural calamities, yet it itself bounces back together with more power and making the surroundings even more beautiful. Same was the case with Munnar and Kerala as a whole – despite what happened here couple of months back, apart from some hiccups, the natural beauty is still intact and mesmerizingly splendid.

Until I return with yet another travel story of ours…stay safe stay happy!

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by sami316

Hey Nandita..Awesome Travelogue as usual. Awesome pics and loved the commentary. I really liked your mom's straight face expressions in almost all her pics..!! Thanks for sharing..Cheers..!!

Thank you so much.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Another amazing travelogue from the adventurous couple Nandi and Atul. A visual treat - your photographs. I came late to this - following some other Ooty Travelogue. As usual - your hallmark - wonderful photos and detailed write up - which needs some time to cherish. I wish I find a way to get an alert when you post your travelogue. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the wonderful comment.

Originally Posted by coolrats

A very well written travel bog and thanks for sharing

Thank you so much!

[vijaythacker]

Wow another amazing travelogue with amazing sets of picture and information guys. Your TL's are superly narative and informative for anyone to visit that place holds all the necessary details.Somehow missed this thread of yours but nevertheless it was all worth going through your narations and beautiful set of pictures as always been.Keep it up!!