[vikram31]

In stereotypical fashion, I’ll start my post by saying the pandemic hit us all hard and after a 5+ year hiatus, the craving to get behind the wheel and explore India was getting uncontrollable. I was fortunate to get an allocation of my XUV7OO albeit after nearly 11 months of waiting and felt almost ashamed that it completed in 10000 kms in just over 4 months with just city driving!

After covering Sikkim in the North East and Spiti in the North a few years ago, I wanted to explore something new. A few online searches on the best places to visit in India showed me a lot of places in Southern India that were a “must visit”. I started putting them together on a google map and slowly the dots started to form a lovely little loop and behold! A south India trip was glaring at me on the screen!



My previous experiences of visiting South India has been either business centres – viz Chennai and Bengaluru or the tourist friendly places like Kochi, Munnar, Coorg, Coonoor and Ooti. The plan was to travel with buddies instead of family for a change and that gifted us an opportunity to drive long hours at stretch without too many breaks. The plan was to explore the wonderful monuments that are both a visual and spiritual treat. We wanted to leave after markets at 3.30 and reach a good pit stop on the Bengaluru highway and then kick off the South India sojourn the next morning.

One of my trusted hotel brands anywhere in India is the Fern Hotels that gives clean and spacious accommodations at a reasonable price with excellent food options. We chose the Fern Karad as it was right on the highway and provided a well timed night halt from Mumbai.

Pre-planning for the trip

• 10000 kms service with DEF top up
• Emergency medicines
• Picking out a good single malt for an end of day reward
• A recce of roads with a detailed zoom-in on google maps to figure out trouble points (if any)

Day 1 was uneventful with a start from Vashi at ~5 pm with a target to reach Karad around 10.30-11. Roads were amazing with the exception of the eye-watering, leg spraining and mind-numbing traffic jam after Baner and right up to the last Pune exit. However once there, it was a breeze again all the way upto the hotel. Stopped for dinner at one of the Pure Veg restaurants called “Krishna” for some spicy Dal Tadka and Aloo Gobhi before checking in to the hotel and napping for ~6 hours.



Day 2 – Karad-Chikmagalur



Our first monument to visit was at Coimbatore but the journey was a bit much to cover in a single day. The map showed a route close to Chikmagalur and the coffee lover inside me could not resist making a 2 day pitstop here. The drive from Karad to Chikmagalur was around 10 hours via NH48 all the way up to Devangere where we knew we would probably beat Google’s estimate. We had an early morning breakfast at the hotel itself and left around 8.30 (this is something I try to follow as much as possible to save time and ensure food hygiene). The drive on NH48 was fast with the exception of the Hubli-Dharwad bypass road that slowed us down due to its 2 lane nature and loads of commercial vehicles slowing down movement. Once crossed, roads were a breeze right upto Chikmagalur. We left Karad around 8.30 pm and reached Chikmagalur by 5 pm after 2 breaks including incredible Kaju curry and dal at a highway pitstop called NH4.



On a friend’s recommendation we stayed at a home stay called Shivekaa which is built around 150 acres of coffee plantations. We would give this place full marks for hospitality, ambience and a true “living on an estate” experience. Some of the best parts of the stay were – great food, a personal campfire setup just for the 3 of us on both nights and spacious, clean rooms with running hot water. A few pics from the property below:

Simple and delicious food at the homestay:


Some pics of the property:





Whilst in Chikmagalur we also decided to explore the market (for coffee ofcourse!) and visit some touristy places like Mulyangiri peak and the famous Belur temples. The peak was a disaster as it was the 26th Jan weekend and it looked like the entire country had descended on the tiny 2 lane hill road. Broken roads, poor parking sense and the infamous Indian mentality of impatience ensured that a 30 minute journey took 90 minutes. After negotiating terrible traffic jams, we just managed to reach the top and cratered into a huge pothole scratching the car’s side steps from below. Mood was already agitated so decided to just take a customary clip and take the road back without even bothering to climb the crowded steps. Note to self – don’t go to the most googled tourist destination on a public holiday!!





Part 2 of the day spent was more fun as we drove to Belur (around 1.50 hours drive from Chikmagalur) and took the help of a local guide to understand the importance and architecture of the famour Vishnu temple. History has always fascinated me and more so because one of my all time favourite video games – Uncharted 5 picks parts of its design from Hoysala architecture. It was interesting to see the detailed carving work and the focus on perfection during those times.

The Gopuram at Belur:


Light play at Belur:


According to our guide, this ceiling can be unlocked and dismantled (very Uncharted like..)


Pretty murals all around








Chilling at the temple:


Once back in Chikmagalur, one of the must visit places we were told was the Town Canteen. I don’t know if it was bad timing but they had no sambar with dosa left and had virtually no menu. Tried a butter masala dosa, a passable curd rice and left unimpressed. What saved the day though was the incredible coffee selection at Panduranga, one of the most famous coffee shops in the main market:

Excellent training on how to pick coffee:


When in Rome, spell like the romans!


Capital raise anyone?


Day 3 – Chikmagalur to Adiyogi Ashram and night halt at Coimbatore



Day 3 of our trip was probably the worst in terms of traffic, bad roads and road irritations like slow moving traffic etc. We left from Shivekaa around 8.30 am and after a couple of halts, reached the Ashram at 6 pm. While everything seems well organized, a few sign boards would have helped. For example, on the small road at the ashram entrance, it would have helped if there was a prominently displayed signage that would point towards the statue vs the ashram (They are on the left and right side of the road respectively). It would also help if we were told that the statue is actually close to car parking. I dropped my friends to the main road and they had to walk all the way while I just parked and entered the path to the statue myself!. If you are visiting this place, the best thing to do it drive straight to the parking and just walk to the statue. We had reached around 6 pm so it gave us enough time to click some lovely pictures of the statue against the setting sun. At 7 pm there is an aarti and a 15-20 minutes light and sound show that is a sight to behold. We loved the 90 minutes we spent here and left for the 1 hour plus drive back to Coimbatore city. Unfortunately, the drive remained slow and full of traffic. At the end of the day, stopped for some seafood at the Neydhal restautant before checking into the Radisson blue Coimbatore for a night halt.





The light and show has been captured on the following Youtube link professionally:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEA7wCmJeZI

Ran out of attachments...Keep reading for Day 4!!

[vikram31]

Day 4 – Coimbatore to Jatayu Earth Center near Trivandrum



This day was much better to drive. I don’t know if it was because of Sunday but despite crossing large cities like Cochin and others, we zipped passed city roads pretty quickly. Jatayu Earth centre was opened ~2013 as an art display paying respect to the mythological creature who gave up his life protecting Sita. We reached the parking area around 4 pm and had ample time to explore. The place is very well organised and has two ticket counters. First, to visit the sculpture (INR 200/per person) and the cable car (INR 250 per person). We recommend the short cable car with a great view. The car dropped us right at the base of the sculpture and it was impressive how a nealy 160/200 feet statue would have got assembled on that hilltop. It is a great photo-op place with a lovely view of the surrounding areas as well. The place has a temple dedicated to Lord Rama and even has a spot where the marks of his footsteps have been preserved. Reading up on Jatayu on marble plates around the sculpture made me just a bit more aware about how women’s safety should be viewed and each one of us should probably take a leaf out of this part of the Ramayana. Paid our respects, clicked some excellent pics and started our 90 minute journey to Trivandrum. We stayed at the Keys Select by Lemon Tree and I have to say after the Radisson Coimbatore experience we were left pretty disappointed. Dingy rooms with peeling walls and overused linen, overcrowded dining area where one was either running out of food or cutlery and a terrible concierge that could not even arrange a taxi for one of our co travellers even if informed a day in advance.

The first look after getting off the cable car:


Customary Selfie:


Pictures cant capture the magnitude:


Jatayu's enormous wingspan:


the legend of Jatayu


Day 5 – Visit to Padmanabhaswamy temple, drive to Vivekananda Memorial and onwards to Rameshwaram



I was told by one of my co-travellers that the Padmanabhaswamy temple is the world’s richest temple and a must visit in Trivandrum. Saw that it was just 5 minutes by car!. We decided to give it an early morning visit before leaving for our next destination. To visit the Padmanabhaswamy temple, one must be dressed appropriately – Veshti and no western clothes. The Gopuram is large and one can see it from a distance. There were multiple queues for general and “VIP” darshan. We took the one that shortens the queue for INR 100/person. There was a hustle at the small door that takes us to the huge Padmanabha statue that shows him in a lying down state. With age and through the small doors, it was hard to make out the full structure but we could broadly make out by recalling the photo we had seen outside the temple. Took a parikrama, tried an incredible millet prasadam, paid our respects and returned for breakfast to our hotel. Here is a snippet on the importance of the Padmanabha temple

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is one
among the wealthiest shrines in the world. The riches it keeps in its six
vaults and their several antechambers, are yet to be completely
determined.

The history and fame of this temple is intertwined in mystery and rich
antiquity. Several stories without any exactitude have originated from
its huge collection of invaluable precious stones, gold, silver and a yetto-be-opened vault. Such is the fame of the temple that several people
visit this abode of Lord Padmanabha daily.

The temple, considered to have its roots in the eighth century, is one
among 108 Vishnu temples in India. The deity here is in the
Ananthashayana posture – or the lying position – resting on Adisesha,
the serpent god.



Today’s journey had a good split – Part 1 was the drive to Kanyakumari where one of our co-travelers would end his time with us and fly back to attend to some important matters. The 3 hour drive was not fun and passed through small towns and broken roads. We took the google route from NH17 but were very disappointed in how badly managed the renovation work is. We are all for infrastructure development and growth but it needs to be done in a structured manner which also minimizes inconvenience for the public. For tens of kms the entire NH17 was blocked and we were left to the mercy of crossing narrow, broken village roads and traffic that could have been avoided if authorities had planned the repair work in a better manner. Despite this, we remained in high spirits and reached Kanyakumari in roughly 3 hours and parked close to the jetty. Parking is INR 50 and looked pretty safe.

The way to get to the memorial is via a ferry service that charges INR 50/head for a return fare. There are 2 islands visible from the land – 1 is the rock memorial and 2 is one with a statue of the famed Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue island was closed for renovation so the ferry took us only to the rock memorial. The rock is fairly large and the waves below looking like 10-12 stories below a regular apartment building. The place had a sense of calm and the 360 degree ocean views were an incredible sight on a cloudy day. The building looks majestic and has a parikrama concept of getting in from one side and getting out the other. Looking out into the ocean, beaming at being on the southernmost tip of India, clicking photos and visiting his enlightment spot took all of 60-75 minutes and we were back in the ferry queue to return to land.

View from the ferry waiting area:


The 100+ seater ferry:


Selfie from the land:


Clicked from the island:


Posing at the southernmost tip of Indian mainland:


View from the Coast:




View of the Memorial from the south end:


Stomach was rumbling and a quick search revealed a rooftop restaurant called The Ocean as part of The Sea Coast Hotel nearby. Google photos looked exciting and we reached there after a 5 minute walk from the ferry terminal back on land. Food was very fresh and delicious and the drinks were ice cold. We bid adieu to one of our friends from here as he drove back to catch a flight back to Mumbai and the rest of the journey was with just the 2 of us.


Squids! Yum! :


The Restaurant and the Hotel:



It was almost 3 pm when we had finished lunch so we were ok to drive all the way to Rameshwaram sans a small coffee break on the way. Highways were good pretty much all the way and it was already dark when we crossed the Pamban bridge which felt pretty normal in dark. We checked in to Hotel Daiwik that had the best ratings on tripadvisor. Staff was poilte and helpful and parking space was ample. However the room left much to be desired. Similar to Keys in Trivandrum, the bathroom was falling apart and the room was just about ok. They have a vegetarian restaurant that served us excellent dinner and breakfast and I would say it was the best part of this place. Food outside looked like a hit or miss so we stuck to eating at the clean and safe environs of our hotel.

Day 6 – Rameswaram temple – Dhanushkodi – Pamban Bridge – Kolli Hills - Salem



We wanted to cover Rameswaram temple in addition to Dhanushkodi. In similar style to Trivandrum, we left the hotel at 6 am for the short 7-10 minute drive to the temple. The Rameswaram temple has a host of statues and deities but the most famous part are the 22 wells that got created when Lord Rama shot the arrows in respect of Lord Shiva. These 22 wells are open to public and it is said that taking a bath/drinking their water in each of these wells is auspicious. I have to say it is the wettest temple I have ever visited! We were all for faith but taking a bath from 22 wells was not on the cards for me personally. My friend still took a small offering by the priests from each of the well but for me it was a few drops from each. We completed the 22 wells within 45 minutes or so and visited multiple parts of the huge temple asking for blessings for our families and for rest of our trip.



Bucket Parking? :



We were out around 7.30 and started our drive to Dhanushkodi which was around 20 kms from the temple. The most exciting part of the Dhanushkodi drive is the 10-12 kms of road that has the ocean on both sides. We tried to click a timelapse video but honestly only a drone can capture this beauty perfectly. The road is a delight for every driver and it felt as if you are leaving the world behind and driving into nothingness. The sea on the side of the road to Dhanushkodi was wild and the dips were very deep with moving sand. We tried our hand at a small swim but it was just too dangerous! At the end of the road we reached a roundabout that closes off access and we can park to enjoy the vistas. The ocean was similar to the views at Vivekananda Rock Memorial albeit right from sea level. It was a cloudy day with a prediction for rain and the sea was in a wild fury. We clicked some photos and enjoyed the sound of waves crashing.

Incredible landscape at Dhanushkodi


some deserted areas on the stretch:






Parked at land's end at Dhanushkodi:


..Ran out of attachments..Dhanushkodi to be contd...

[vikram31]

..Dhanushkodi contd..

Posing with fishing boats:



After spending an hour or so at the sea as well as this site we started the drive back and saw a small detour on our right. Decided to take this route and reached a Vibhishan temple. I was surprised that a temple existed for Vibhishan. So far I had noticed temples only from Lord Rama’s side 😊. The temple was the spot where Lord Rama did an abhishek for Vibhishan and it had a good set of followers. We enjoyed some citrusy coconuts (saw Orange coconuts for the first time) and then experienced the floating rocks that were supposedly used to build the Ram Setu! I don’t know if it was a scam to earn 10-20 INR but nevertheless it was an interesting experience. According to the priest, the Ram Setu originated from near the Vibhishan temple and not the Dhanushkodi point! Here is a map of how it looks:



Floating Rock at Ram Setu:


First experience: Orange color coconuts!


It was nearly 10.30 am by the time we had finished all this and we left for our hotel to check out and drive to Kolli Hills, our last planned activity on this trip. Here is a snippet on Kolli Hills:

With an ominous name which means ‘Mountain of Death’, Kolli Hills or Kolli Malai are a mountain range located in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. It is relatively untouched by commercial tourism and therefore has retained most of its natural magnificence.

The mountains are famous for not only their natural beauty but also have religious significance because of the Arappaleshwar Temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The peak is accessible via road as well and the road leading up to it is winding with several twists and turns.

Pic and abovementioned description courtesy (holidify.com)


When leaving Rameswaram, we drove through Pamban bridge and saw some beautiful fishing boats on one side and the railway track on the other. Here are a few pics:

Start of the Pamban bridge from Rameswaram side:


Fishing boats on one side:


..and train tracks on the other:


My friend posing as a carefree biker zips by:


On the way to Kolli Hills, we stopped on our Friend’s recommendation at a place called Chidambara Vilas for an authentic Chettinad lunch. The set meal was priced at 1475 per head which seemed fair given it was on a luxury resort location and had a huge set of items including…well take a look!



Parked at the Vilas:


Beautiful buildings around:



I realised that I should have researched more on Kolli Hills and not made it and end of the day destination. We left from Chidambara Vilas around 3 pm and it was going to be a hit-or-miss to reach Kolli before sunset. We were trying to look for a place to stay at the foothills but before we found any, google routed us through some small villages and took us right on top of Kolli Hills even before we could reach the hairpins! Fuel started running low and we found an Indian Oil Pump right on top of the hills. Filled up to the brim and coffee break later, we realised it was now pitch dark and we still had to drive to Salem – our planned night halt. There was no signal on our Airtel phones so we resorted to the car’s inbuilt navigation and guess what – the drive to Salem would take us through the infamous harpins at 8 pm in night! After letting that sink it we decided to finish off our adventure in style and we drove back from these hairpins in pitch darkness making full use of the XUV700’s excellent night lights. Here is a timelapse video we caught from the car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02akA3hGt30

We reached Salem around 10 pm and checked into the Radisson which was an excellent place to say. By the time we had freshened up and ready for a drink, everything had started to shut down and we could just about get a couple of drinks and some grub to finish off our day. Breakfast the next day was excellent one of the best during any of our stays during the trip

Day 7 – Salem to Bengaluru



We decided to take this day easy and slept in till 9 am. Post breakfast we left for Bengaluru on a high speed road and my co-passenger thus far left for his flight to attend to work matters as well leaving me as a solo traveller from here on. I met family and friends in Bengaluru over the next two days and started my drive back to Mumbai for the last 1100 kms as a solo traveller

Saying Goodbye at BLR:





I was really missing good old Maharastrian fare so stopped at Karad to eat some spicy misal at Sai Martand:



Overall, this trip was an excellent insight into Southern India where we experienced food and culture across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Each of these places are not a big destination by themselves but when stitched together, they offered more than enough to make this trip worthwhile. I also got to experience the power and sophistication of the XUV700 in its full glory and returned impressed with how well it handled bad roads, braking, ride comfort and power. We drove on ends at triple digit speeds without breaking a sweat and managed to get an average of 11.50-12 kmpl for the full journey.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

[subuiyer]

Fantastic summary! Loved reading it and all your pics.

You have covered a lot of places in few days, clearly the XUV700 is a great ride for long distances.

I did a trip to the south in Jan 2023 - hoping to post the log soon.

[Roonil]

I did enjoy reading it. Immensely! It's been a while since i went on a long road trip. Can hardly wait.

I do think you should have included Gokarna/Jog falls in your itinerary, though.

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by Roonil

I did enjoy reading it. Immensely! It's been a while since i went on a long road trip. Can hardly wait.

I do think you should have included Gokarna/Jog falls in your itinerary, though.

Thanks Roonil - Have already done Jog/Gokarna/Murudeshwar. Blop still pending

[ketan007]

Nicely written travelogue of the excellent trip!

[bsdbsd]

Thank you for this luscious travelogue. Enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. I liked how you mentioned about the car only in the end, and in just a few words. Excellent choice in framing your write up like this.

[Raghu M]

That's an awesome travelogue. Just a piece of advise to anyone visiting Chikmangalur and then to Mulyangiri peak - never try to drive up the peak. Just park your car and hire a local guy's Jeep. You don't want to get into that messy road up the peak. It's just not safe too. You look to your right and you will see a huge valley (deep one). And you have oncoming traffic too. The red Jeeps are not costly to hire, it's just for the peak. You can get down and drive back in your car!

[vikram31]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Thank you for this luscious travelogue. Enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. I liked how you mentioned about the car only in the end, and in just a few words. Excellent choice in framing your write up like this.

Thanks bsdbsd, learning from the well travelled authors on TBHP!