Kerala in Monsoon (August 15th 2008)

Schedule:
Start time (From Bangalore):12:30 PM August 15th
End time (Reached Bangalore) : 5:30 PM August 18th

Effort: Close to 28 hours of driving

Defects:
Took wrong route to enter Mysore: Lost 10 minutes
Took wrong decision to drive through Iritty – Virajpet (Coorg) – Mysore (Reversed back at Iritty) - Lost 2 hours
Took wrong decision to drive through Kabini - HD Kote - Mysore (Reversed the decision after looking at the road before Kabini) – Lost 4 hours

Distance and Height:
Total number of KMs traveled: 1056 KMs
Maximum height reached: 700 meters from sea level (Lakkidi)

Roads:
Number of Ghat roads: 2 (Lakkidi to Calicut and Kannur to Kalpetta)
Best Road: Kalpetta to Ooty (to reach waterfalls)
Worst road: From Karnataka boarder to reach Kabini – HD Kote – Mysore (reversed back after traveling for 3 kms in forest)

Energy:
Petrol consumed: 65 Liters
Lowest petrol price: 47 Rs/ liter at Mahe belongs to Pondicherry (between Calicut and Kannur)
Highest Petrol price: Rs. 62/liter (Power, at Kalpetta)

Books:
52 weekends from Bangalore (outlook)
Eicher all India road map
India (lonely planet)

Main Places:
Tea plantation, waterfalls and valley in Waynad
Kappad Beach in Calicut (Vasoc da Gama landed here in 1498)
St. Angelo’s fort at Kannur
Talacherry fort
Scenic views from ghat road

Electronic gadgets:
Delphi GPS V1.2 (from map my India)
IPod
Laptop (electronic data of map and hotels)
Two cameras (DSLR and Normal)
Of course mobiles (Airtel and Hutch to have wide coverage)

Story Starts here....

Once again it is Kerala. We went to Waynad last year (2007) June. But this time we planned to extend to Calicut – Talacherry – Kannur and back to Bangalore. I did not decide till 15th August morning. We decided at 10:30am and packed the luggage in one hour. Swapna (Usha’s sister) and Shekhar (Swapna’s husband) joined with us. We started from home at around 12:00 noon. Reached Bangalore outskirts by 1:15 pm. We skipped Kamath for lunch as there is heavy rush. At around 2:45 pm stopped at Amaravathi (After Mandya) restaurant. After lunch started again at 3:40 pm. Sailed through Mysore with ease as there is less traffic. Took the root of Nanjungud – Gundlupet. We did not stop anywhere just to make sure that we will cross Bandipur (Karnataka) - Muthunga (Kerala) forest before it becomes dark. Spotted deers on the way. Could not see elephants this time. We reached Sulthan Bathery at around 6:10 pm. After Tea at Isac’s Regency we reached Kalpetta at around 7:15 pm. Without much difficulty we booked hotel (Woodlands) at Kalpetta. Had dinner at the same place. Service is not up to the mark but food is good.

On August 16th morning we started to Calicut after breakfast at Woodlands. Breakfast (buffet) is not so great. It’s Idly, Dosa and breads. On the way to Calicut, a board towards waterfalls engaged our eyes. Took a left turn from there and drove through tea plantation. Reached Kanthanpara waterfalls through a very narrow road (right turn from NH212). Drive from here is little difficult as the road is narrow and bumpy. From main road water falls is 4 kms. Spent 30 minutes at falls. Again from the NH 212 went towards Ooty side. After 9 Kms reached Sun raise vally. The view is breath taking from here. One can witness very narrow water way and small water falls. After this returned back in the same road to go to Calicut. On the touched Vythri, Lakkidi (just read that it is the place which gets second highest rainfall in the world). It was raining the very time we reached Lakkidi. From Lakkidi the ghat road starts to reach Calicut. As soon as we left Lakkidi the scene changed. Clouds almost started touching us and we stopped for tea. Though we could not get tea, adjusted with Omelette. Time in the watch shows around 1:30 pm. The ride down is bit hectic with many curves. Reached Calicut around 2:45 pm and directly went to Malabar Palace (Opposite Railway station). Here service is good but food is not good. After dinner directly went to Kappad beach. This is the place where Vasco Da Gama landed in 1498. The beach hasn’t been quite developed. Art gallery was in the list but good not go because of time factor. From here started directly to Kannur. On the way to Kannur near Payyoli (PT Usha’s place) car lights gave trouble at 7:15 pm. With emergency lights on drove for 5 Kms. First time I was stopped by Police for Alcohol check. After clean chit
thankfully found a car mechanic shop on the way at around 8:00 pm. It took 30 minutes for the repair. On the way to Kannur touched Mahe (Pondicherry) at aaorund 9:00 pm. There are lot of liquor shops. And petrol is cheap by 10 Rs/Liter. Filled the petrol there directly reached Kannur at around 10:00 pm. Here the hotel is Malabar residency. Decent hotel. In the middle of sleep, some how had dinner. Here food is not so good. After breakfast on August 17th went to Arakkal museum and St. Angelo’s fort on the banks of Kannur beach. This fort if built in 15th century and changed many hands. This commands the view of sea and the land. After this we went to Tellicherry fort and Church. Time is around 12:30 pm. Next plan is to reach Bangalore by August 17th night. I planned to take an alternate route through Iriity – Virajpet (Coorg) – Hansur – Mysore – Bangalore. I do not know that I am doing a mistake. Though GPS helped me with the routing, the estimation quite went wrong with the quality of road. After reaching Iritty locals advised us to not to take Virajpet road as it is not motorable for Cars but okay for busses. Then took right turn from there t reach Mananthavady. Again here I did a mistake and took the road that goes through Kabini – HD Kote – Mysore. As soon as we left Kerala and entered Karnataka the road became …… I do not have words to describe. I took a turn back after travelling for 3 KMs again with the advice from locals that the fate of the road continues for another 30 KMs. On top of it tyre half flat (thankfully it's not puncture). It would be scary to have flat tyred car in the middle of jngle in night.

Now we decided to take Mananthvady - Kalpetta - Sultan's Battery - Mysore - Bangalore road. However by the time we reached Kalpetta it is 7:00 pm on Sunday and we decided stay back there in stead of driving in the jungle road in the night time. We stayed at Isac's Regency for that night. Next day morning Breakfast is not so good (Only I had because I felt it is difficult to drive without food). We reached Gundlapet at around 11:00 am and stopped for Break fast. Passed through Mysore and stopped at Kamath's for Lunch at around 2:15 pm. Finally reached Bangalore on Monday evening at 4:45 to Bangalore.