[laluks]

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

You are an outdoor travel person; really salute you mate!!

quite a large no. of travelogues that are well photographed and well written ; hope you will not mind good company from next time LOL!!

Thanks raj.
I wouldn't mind

[laluks]

Something wrong the pictures are not getting uploaded.
Will try to post more in the evening if that is sorted out by then.

[jacs]

Nice Photologue. You are writing a Valparai-Nelliyampathi bible for me just like you did for Goa . I never expected such a green lush in the mid summer.

Eager to see the complete pictures in one shot!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by laluks

The officer gave us this number - 04259-225356 of their Office in Pollachi. You can call to see if the route is open if you are visiting in March/April/May.

If you are staying inside, then you can take your vehicle inside also. Also if you book a slot in advance you can take your vehicle inside too, but this is restricted to one vehicle every 20 minutes and you must be there before your time comes.

There is no further road from Parmabikulam to Chalakudi as shown in Google maps. That is a very misleading error .

The TLogue is shaping up quite nicely.thanx for these details.I always thought there was a route from Parambikulam to Chalakudy(I still strongly suspect there existed something like that?)Thanx for this piece of info.When we were in Neliampathy,there were forest fires already in some parts of Nelliampathy,you could see them blazing away around the Pothundi dam.

[Anandg]

Hey Laluks,
Your adhoc adventure is really inspiring man. This is how one should be --free. I see that many times you take a risk for deciding where to go next standing right in the center of the jungle. Kudos to you pal. Shall ping you before weekend if we also plan to wander like you and incase we require directions. Hope you would not mind.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by jacs

Nice Photologue. You are writing a Valparai-Nelliyampathi bible for me just like you did for Goa . I never expected such a green lush in the mid summer.

Eager to see the complete pictures in one shot!

Thanks jacs.
You'll have to give me some time for this as I currently cannot find enough free time to spend on the log, but I'll definitely do small bits everyday.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The TLogue is shaping up quite nicely.thanx for these details.I always thought there was a route from Parambikulam to Chalakudy(I still strongly suspect there existed something like that?)Thanx for this piece of info.When we were in Neliampathy,there were forest fires already in some parts of Nelliampathy,you could see them blazing away around the Pothundi dam.

Thanks ranjith.
There seems to be a jeep trail, accessible only to a certain permitted jeeps. Anyways that's not for our cars

Originally Posted by Anandg

Hey Laluks,
Your adhoc adventure is really inspiring man. This is how one should be --free. I see that many times you take a risk for deciding where to go next standing right in the center of the jungle. Kudos to you pal. Shall ping you before weekend if we also plan to wander like you and incase we require directions. Hope you would not mind.

Thanks Anand.
Not at all an issue.

[laluks]

Day 1, April 2nd 2010 continued

Pollachi - Aliyar Dam (27 Kms)

After lunch we were pretty decided to drive to Valparai. We called up Hotel Green Hill at Valparai, and found rooms were available. So with Valparai in mind we drove on.

Soon we reached Aliyar Dam by 02:30PM and decided to check if we could see the Dam bed here also

My junior wanted a picture with this guy.


Aliyar Dam Garden





Aliyar Dam. Luckily there was some water still.





Can you see the winding roads through the hills?




Time --- KM ----- Place
13:45 -- 545.0 -- Pollachi
14:30 -- 572.0 -- Aliyar Dam


We continued our onward journey to Valparai by 15:00PM from Aliyar Dam.

Continued...

[mallumowgli]

Good to see a Nelliyampathy Travelogue. Iam ashamed to say, though I have been staying in the same district for the last 2 years, have never visited this place. Every time I say will make it after the rains, but then the roads get washed off and the plans are scuttled

Let this travelogue be in Inspiration for me. Thanks Laluks

[laluks]

Day 1, April 2nd 2010 continued

Aliyar Dam - Valparai (42 Kms)

We left Aliyar Dam by 15:00PM and immediately reached the Check post which leads to the winding roads of Valparai. The Officer said no photography, no stopping, no smoking and asked what is the purpose of taking the road. I answered we are tripping, and the kids smiled at him. He opens the barricade and we are through.

Immediately after some curves we see Aliyar Dam below.



Monkey falls was dry, so took no photos.

As we climb the 9th of 40 hairpin bends, we see a view point named Loam's view point, and stopped there to click a few snaps of the dam below.








We drove through some nice loops.






We drive further and reached Tiger valley.







We continued further and reached the Carver Marsh Statue by 16:00PM. This is at the 32nd hairpin curve.





From here Valparai town is 12 kilometers and on both sides of the road you can see tea gardens.


The tea gardens reminded us of Munnar. Enjoying the tea estates we reached Valparai town by 16:30.

Saw that town is a small one, and Green Hills Hotel is in one of the small byelanes. The weather was hot and humid for 16:30PM. We looked at each other inside the car. Every body says - Nah! No way! Let us go further!! Let us go to the cool place. We'll come back to Valparai after the rains, not today.

Time --- KM ----- Place
14:50 -- 572.0 -- Aliyar Dam
15:00 -- 574.0 -- Check Post to Valparai
16:30 -- 614.0 -- Valparai Town


I went completely silent. Tensed whether I'll be able to pass the forest checkpoints before sun goes down. Where do we stop for the day, Valparai is behind. Should we come back? How about Chalakudi for the night? It is still 110Km away. Already we have done 614Km for the day.

I was contemplating a lot of possibilities in mind, where as the Power puff girls including the Super senior one just enjoyed the greenery around in the comfort of AC inside the swift, leaving me to my thoughts. But little did they know that we had to negotiate some roads through the forest, probably in the night.

With that uncertainty we continued onwards from Valparai, fearing that in the next 1 hour we'll have to enter the forest limits for an inevitable drive in the night through the forest to the still unknown destination for the day

Continued...

[csentil]

Good one... Don't tell me you did the Valparai - Athirampally - Chalakudi route in the night time Its an awesome route. Awaiting further details.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Good to see a Nelliyampathy Travelogue. Iam ashamed to say, though I have been staying in the same district for the last 2 years, have never visited this place. Every time I say will make it after the rains, but then the roads get washed off and the plans are scuttled

Let this travelogue be in Inspiration for me. Thanks Laluks

Hey mallumowgli , your handle reminds me of Jungle book, and that too in mallu forests. Waiting for your episode with the Jaguar (Karimpuli) in Nelliyampathy forests

[laluks]

Originally Posted by csentil

Good one... Don't tell me you did the Valparai - Athirampally - Chalakudi route in the night time Its an awesome route. Awaiting further details.

Thanks Sentil.
It kind of looks like that

It is an amazing route. I'll be back there after the rains to enjoy more of it.

[hvkumar]

That is a picture of Aliyar taken from my mobike trip to Valparai-Chalakudy in Apr 1989

[laluks]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

That is a picture of Aliyar taken from my mobike trip to Valparai-Chalakudy in Apr 1989

The water level at Aliyar seems to similar in 1989, was it a summer drive ?

[hvkumar]

Same time as you, April. Water levels look better now than at that time!