[bhugs]

Hi guys, there has been no latest thread on this route so decided to post my recent drive experience in a new thread. Being a newbie, please ignore if I miss out on some details or if this all seems too hurried up, but this being my first travelogue I assume I can be excused

Before proceeding further, let me inform that I took this trip n March 2023. I have done Hyderabad0-Munnar non stop too, in the past but this time I wanted to enjoy the trip so decided to take a halt just before Munnar before continuing the journey next day. Earlier the halt used to be either Bengaluru or Mysuru but this time, we decided to take Hyderabad-Bangalore-Salem-Dindigul-Munnar route so that we can enjoy Thalappakatti biryani at it's origin







Day 1 Hyderabad -Dindigul ~ 1000Kms

I always make it a point to leave home early in the morning so that I can avoid city traffic and don't feel tired by evening when I check in to my hotel/resort. So boarded my Harrier XZA and we left home at 03:55 am sharp from Kukatpally, Hyderabad.

Drive through ORR and then to NH65 was smooth as ever passing Kurnool and Ananthpur before people woke up fully. Stopped at Qube Stop after passing Ananthpur to have breakfast of dosa and coffee and use their clean toilets.

[bhugs]

Reached Bengaluru by 11 am which included a fuel/toilet stop again and picked up my daughter en-route which added around 45 mins to my journey time. We then decided to have lunch at the outskirts as traversing Bengaluru traffic during day time is tiring. Based on my daughter's recommendation we decided to have lunch at Nandhana Palace at Attibele. Turned out it was awesome with their Nellore biryani, South India Meals, Chicken Kshatriya all tasting great and the Tender Coconut Pudding to wrap it all up was an awesome dessert.








After the good meal started towards Salem and was faced with truck drivers blocking both lanes (as usual) almost every 5 kms. I always sympathize with truck drivers, who have to cope up in their shoddy cabins and drive non-stop for many days but never understood their logic of driving in right lane, even when the left lane is free. Anyways these are hazards of travelling on Indian highways so grin it and bear it. Took a toilet cum coffee stop at A2B in Namakkal on the highway itself. A2B has many outlets on the stretch between Bengaluru and Dindigul, so they come in handy for pit stops.



Reached Dinidgul at around 6 pm, checked into my hotel which surprisingly was very good in view of this being a small town, freshened up and drove down to the original outlet of Thalappakatti restaurant from where it all started. Opted for their regular Dindigul biriyani and it did taste great, very different than our own Hyderabadi biryani which has longer rice and less masalas. Their black pepper chicken also is quite famous, and we had to reorder it as everybody liked it so much with parathas. Wife was on veg diet, so she opted for regular PBM with rotis which wasn’t bad either, whereas we feasted on the non-veg stuff. After the hearty meal it was time to tuck in, which we did comfortably at our hotel.

[bhugs]

Day 2 Dindigul-Munnar 150 Kms

We had complimentary breakfast in the hotel as part of the room tariff, and I was amazed by the buffet variety being offered. Almost everything including juices and continental stuff was available with piping hot dosas served right at the table. After filling our tummy, we started for Munnar which was just another 150 km away. Ride was good with scenic roads passing through small towns and then ghat section started at Theni. Roads are wide enough for 2 vehicles so there wasn’t any problem navigating the turns at all.





As soon as we crossed Poopara, the tea gardens started and the view was so scenic we had to take frequent stops to enjoy the same. As I said, we were not in a hurry to reach our resort and wanted to enjoy such beautiful expanse of green cover, which was like a heaven for our souls scorching in concrete life of plains.





After taking in the sights and enjoying the boiled sweetcorn’s and coconut water on the roadside bandis, which are abound on this stretch, we finally reached our Club Mahindra Resort by noon. Ordered lunch from the resort and decided to spend the evening at resort itself with bonfire planned for the night.

[bhugs]

Day 3-5

Munnar town is round 20 kms from Club Mahindra resort so it’s a nice drive and we tried several restaurants mentioned on the trip advisor and had some great meals. One of them was Tea Tales, a quaint looking eatery, located on the first floor in the middle of the busy main market street of Munnar. Had some great Crab fingers, Chicken nuggets, burgers, Strawberry Shakes, Oreo Magic and Mango Smoothies..











We also had lunch at Gurubhavan for their Middle East inspired dishes like Chicken Alfaham, Shawarma and Mangalorean dishes like Chicken Kothu, Red Snapper Fry(whole fish). The cost was on lower side though taste wasn’t.






As Eravikulam National Park was closed, due to mating season for the Nilgiris Thar, we could not visit them but were lucky enough to spot a few grazing on the mountain from our resort with help of binoculars. Even otherwise the flora around the resort was lovely and we could sight many birds too.

[bhugs]

One of the gems we discovered was the Sita Lake, which is an hour trek from our Club Mahindra resort and swear to god, that's a place everyone going to Munnar must see. A small lake named so as folklore says, that Ravana while transiting with Sita, to Lanka, stopped here and Maa Sita washed her hair in this lake. This was almost like Switzerland, as you can see from the pictures with not soul in sight and voices of only wild monkeys, birds abound.







We were also lucky to spot a full grown deer(sprinted in the bushes before we can say click) and a Malabar Squirrel who conveniently perched herself on a Eucalyptus tree in our resort itself. THIS WAS AN AWESOME SIGHTING AS THEY ARE NORMALLY SHY AND OUR CLUB ACTIVITY GUIDE SAID THAT HE IS SEEING IT AFTER MORE THAN 2 MONTHS.


We visited the Top View point as well during our stay and en-route saw wild elephants grazing nonchalantly in the fields and the endangered Lion Tailed Monkeys perched on tree tops. We visited some Hydel Power managed lakes made on dam and enjoyed speed boat and kayaking as well.













Day 6 Munnar-Bengaluru 500 Kms
Finally, it was time to pack things up and bid adieu to Munnar and head back to chaos of our daily hustle. Since I had to drop daughter back at Bengaluru, we decided to stop there for the night and travel to Hyderabad next day morning. As always started at 4 am from our resort, when everyone else was still sleeping. The ghat section was little troublesome this time around due to darkness and also the clouds came down (right on the road) making it difficult to navigate. Also we were warned that wild animals do cross roads early mornings so was extra careful. Drove slowly and fortunately at that hour there wasn’t much traffic either. After a 4 hours drive, took a detour at Karur, for an A2B restaurant for breakfast. Hot dosas and steamy idlis, which are their specialty, satiated us and made the drive to Bengaluru pleasurable. Traffic was normal and we stopped in between to have sugarcane juice, surprisingly fresh and much cheaper at only Rs.15/glass


Reached Bengaluru at around 1 PM and decided to try Plan B at Indiranagar, as daughter insisted that they are as good as BDubs at Hyderabad. Well tried their different varieties dry(Peri peri) and with sauce(Creamy Buffalo) and the pizza too, but I personally felt that BDubs are still way too good(rejoice fellow Hyderabadis ).



Day 7- Bengaluru-Hyderabad 650 Kms
Stayed at Fairmont by Marriott for the night, which was a good hotel and as always started back for Hyderabad early morning dot at 4 am.


NH65 is always a pleasure to drive on and the breakfast halt was at Food Pyramid at Kothakota. Made home safely by 12 non to have ghar ka daal chawal which we all know, we start missing after a trip like this.

Hope you guys enjoyed going through my experience and I am available for any inquiries on this route

A travelogue like this would be incomplete, without pics of my beast so here are some

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[androdev]

@bhugs, looks like you guys had a wonderful time. Lovely photos to boot! How are the roads and traffic as you near Munnar?

[bhugs]

Originally Posted by androdev

@bhugs, looks like you guys had a wonderful time. Lovely photos to boot! How are the roads and traffic as you near Munnar?

Thanks androdev, yes we had a wonderful trip especially so as we were not hurried to reach any destination. We took the diversion from Theni towards Pooppara, and the Ghat section now has better roads so there was no trouble in overtaking or handling the bends. Things are still chaotic when you reach the town with Jeeps, taxis and buses all trying to get squeezed in so if you are visiting town, I suggest parking on the outer perimeter and then take a hired cab/auto.

[rogercharlie]

Lovely travelogue!

I am planning a trip to Munnar from Bangalore, so your write-up is very useful. Could you please let me know the name of the hotel you stayed at in Dindigul? It seems like a nice place to break the journey.

Thanks in advance.

[komalthecoolk]

I'm always sad there's not many fun places nearby to drive from Hyderabad but posts like this motivate me to gear up for longer drives and it definitely seems like it's worth it!

Also, you seem like a seasoned driver. I'm always worried of falling asleep with all that amazing food in my tummy and so I like to travel with a light stomach.

[lejhoom]

Nice photologue. One question: why would you take NH65 from Hyderabad?

[bhugs]

Originally Posted by rogercharlie

Lovely travelogue!

I am planning a trip to Munnar from Bangalore, so your write-up is very useful. Could you please let me know the name of the hotel you stayed at in Dindigul? It seems like a nice place to break the journey.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks. I stayed at Hotel Vivera Grande at Dindigul, costed me around 2.5K at MMT per room, including breakfast. I liked it and they have basement parking to keep your vehicle safe too.

[bhugs]

Originally Posted by komalthecoolk

I'm always sad there's not many fun places nearby to drive from Hyderabad but posts like this motivate me to gear up for longer drives and it definitely seems like it's worth it!

Also, you seem like a seasoned driver. I'm always worried of falling asleep with all that amazing food in my tummy and so I like to travel with a light stomach.

thanks, yes I like to prefer taking a car wherever possible instead of taking a flight. Actually my family likes to travel together and enjoys long drives and this makes it easier to plan such escapes. Later this month I am going to Goa by road again
One of the instructions given to me during my 'Drive Safe Training' (my company has a compulsory drive training by a third party and only then you can drive on business) was to not look only at the road in the front continuously but keep looking all around, this keeps you alert and you don't feel fatigued. I recommend you try that also on long drives.

[bhugs]

Originally Posted by lejhoom

Nice photologue. One question: why would you take NH65 from Hyderabad?

thanks for pointing my mistake, it was NH44 and not NH65

[sunil thomas]

Enjoyed reading! Also i love posts where details of what to eat and where to eat are mentioned, it helps everyone by telling us where to go! By the way its always good to write about the driving experience and how the car performed.