Trio trip - Tenkasi - Thenmala - Tirunelveli

Trip members: Karthik and family

Trip date: 9 - 11 Dec 2016

Trip Plan : Chennai - Tenkasi - Courtallam - Sankarankoil - Thenmala - Tirunelveli - Chennai

Day-1

We arrived in Tenkasi around 8:45 am. We had booked our cab for 3 days and also the resort in Courtallam for 2 nights. We had breakfast at the famous Vinayaka mess for varieties of Dosa and did check-in at Esakki resorts. Esakki resorts is around 2 kms before Old Courtallam waterfalls. Its a quite comfort stay amidst the mountains and we heard no noise at all, The sleep quality was quite good and the rooms were very clean. The rooms had water heaters, televisions and a small refrigerator. They do not have a running restaurant but need orders to be given 2-3 hours ahead. We never tried food there during the 2 day stay.

We started the trip going to Old Courtallam. It had water enough for 10-15 people to bath in - the day being Friday, we were the only ones to take bath - it was like a private waterfalls. Wow feeling was there as we had never seen this place with no people. Nature and Solitude - great feeling, isn't it! We spent close to 1 hour in the falls and started to Main Falls.

Main falls had very less water, given the drought this year. There was appreciable crowd of Sabarimala and some tourists in the location. We had hot vadais and tea at the main falls and prepared fore the bath. The crowd and less water did not prevent us from getting wet again. As water was very less, we were able to see the rock cut sculptures on the wall of main falls - lingas and goddesses.

We visit the Courtrallanathar Temple after the bath around 12 noon. The temple was open and we had an excellent dharshan. We visited all the sanctums of the temple. The temple is quite old and one can feel the energy as you do your prayers at the temple. Kuzhalvoimozhi Amman is the Goddess in the temple. This temple is Chithirachabai - one of Pancha Sabais of Lord Shiva.

We then had lunch at a hotel - Shree Meenakshi Restaurant - meals for Rs.60 each. The food was hot and simple - quite an average meals. This is just opposite when we reach the Tenkasi road from Main falls parking area. There are very good restaurants and small mess in Tenkasi - which we planned for other foods.

After taking some rest, we went to Sankarankoil. We started around 3 PM from the rooms and reached the temple around 5 PM. We took the route of - Courtallam - Tenkasi - Serndamangalam. The distance was around 55 kms. The temple was not so crowded. About the temple - God : Arulmigu Sankaranaaraayana Swamy and Arulmigu Sankara Linga Swamy and Goddess : Gomathi Amman. The temple is famous for Holy Sand "Puttrumann". It took around more than one hour for us to complete the dharshan of all the sanctums of the temple - the temple is quite old and big and needs patience and time to go around and be satisfied.

Around 6:30 we started back and reached Tenkasi by 7:30. We stopped by at Kasi Viswanathar temple - the most famous destination of Tenkasi. Lord Shiva is in the form of Viswanathar and Amman is Ulagamman. This temple is more than 500 years old and an very important temple in the South of Tamilnadu. It took around 20-25 minutes to have a pleasant dharshan in the temple and we were out of the temple by 8 PM.

We then decided to have food in local joint - Murali's cafe. Hot piping idlies with excellent sambhar and chutneys - no count of idlies can be kept as you gulp down the throat. The NICE dosa was equally good too! Definitely - a must taste place in Tenkasi - just outside the temple.

Day-2

After a good night's sleep at Esakki resorts, we started the day around 7:30 to Thenmala. The most awaited place in my bucket list for some time and was getting stroked off this day !

We had breakfast at Hotel AVM restaurant - Pooris, idlies, vadai and dosas. They were just ok - no complaints. We then started to Thenmala. Our first destination was Ariyankavu. We paid Rs.200 to the driver for the Kerala permit - took 5 minutes to get it.

Aryankavu is one of the important Sastha - Lord Ayappa temples. The temple is on the Ghat road - 28 kms from Courtallam. The Dharmasatha temple is reachable as we climb down around 50 steps from the Ghat main road. Male should remove their shirts to enter the Sanctum and female of age 10 to 50 are restricted to go inside. It took around 20-30 minutes for the dharshan and going around the temple. There are lots of shops along the way for domestic shopping.

From Aryankavu, Thenmala dam is around 15 kms - takes around 30 minutes. An either side you have excellent views of the running streams in shallow valleys and gigantic railway bridges. Quite a photogenic site during rainy days and not on sunny days, as was the day. They charge Rs.10 per adult and Rs.5 for children; Rs.10 for the car for entrance. Tourists are allowed to walk almost a km by feet to enter into the dam area - one has to climb around 150 steps to reach the top of the dam. It would be quite demanding for elder people, however can do it with patience. The view from the dam is quite scenic. Small hillocks all around and water in the reservoir. Quite a site! It did not demand a wow as many sites and reviews command for! It was ok.

We looked next towards the Thenmala Ecotourism park. The Adventure zone has lot of activities for the adults - like rope walk, River crossing, Rock climbing, mountain biking and likes. Since we had a mix of all ages, we preferred to slip this and move on to Children's park. This is a small park for kids to play and one can spend around 20 minutes here. Most of them are located within a km from the dam entrance. Adventure zone is 500m before the dam itself and rest of them 500m after the dam on the road to Kollam.

The butterfly park (safari) is at 3 PM only and it was only around 11 AM by the time we visited. We then decided to get back to Tenkasi. Overall, Thenmala on a sunny day was not so interesting and you need to have the right mix of gang to go to Adventure zone.

Lunch - we had at Raj Mess in Tenkasi - the lunch was simple and homely, yet tasty. The lunch was definitely one to remember and better ones in the town. After some rest, we had plan to visit Thirumalai Kovil.

Thirumalai Kovil is around 14 kms from Courtallam via Senkottai-Panpoli. We reached the temple around 5 PM. The main deity is Lord Muruga. There are around 600 steep steps to climb up to the  temple. There are well laid roads as well to reach the top by car. The hilltop offers a great view point of the green cover of Senkottai and around. Definitely, one can spend more than 1 hour to enjoy the view - sunset view is more exciting to see from the hill. A place for photographers to kill time!

Around 7 PM, we returned to Courtallam and did some shopping in the small shops all around - which normally are put up during the season of June-July and again during Sabarimalai season. It is a good time killer. We also had yummy hot parottas and dosas at a small shop near the main falls. Almost all shops would be vegetarian only during the Sabarimalai season.

Day-3

The plan was to see Manimutharu dam, Agasthiar falls and Nellaiappar temple before we catch train at Nellai junction. We started the day by 8 AM. We had our breakfast at Hotel Akshaya Bhavan in Courtallam. The tiffin was quite good here as well - pongal, pooris and dosas. The highlight of all these places is that they offer good sambhars and chutneys for all tiffin items.

Manimutharu dam is roughly around 50 kms from Courtallam - enroute - Pottalpudur - Alwarkurichi - Ambasamudram - Kallidaikurichi. One has to go through the railway crossing immediately after Kallidaikurichi railway station - 7 kms from there is Manimutharu dam. The road for this stretch is quite bad. The dam was very dry because of the scarcity of rains this year. We went on to Manimutharu falls - the tickets are Rs.15 for car, Rs.15 per adult and Rs.25 for still camera. This is sanctuary area and you can expect only bad roads here. The drive of around 5 kms is all on the banks of the reservoir - it would have been amazingly scenic if it had water.

There was enough water gushing on one corner of the falls - for 30 people to get wet. We spent around 1 hour enjoying the super cool water. A definitely cannot miss place in South Tamilnadu - for the natural beauty around and water. After drying our clothes and satisfied with the long shower, we started to Agasthiar falls.

We took the route of Kallidakurichi - Ambasamudram for Papansam (Agasthiar falls) as the road would be much better than the internal ones. This highway route is around 28 kms Also, we want to have lunch as it was almost noon when we left Manimutharu falls. We stopped at Hotel Gowrishankar - Ambasamudram. The meals was very good - simple.

We reached Agasthiar falls around 1:30 PM. The place was quite crowded as it was Sunday and during Sabarimalai season, it is expected to be crowded. Water was falling enough for a small crowd and one had to wait to take turns to get into water. We spent around 45 minutes in water and then started to Nellai.

Around 3:45, we reached Nellaiappar temple. The day was a Pradhosham and it was quite crowded. Normally, the temple does not have crowd. We had a quick dharshan before the crowd settles down for the special poojas and we also saw the special abhishekam for some time. Lord Shiva is worshipped as Nellaiappar and Goddess Parvathi as Kanthimathi Amman. It is one of the oldest temples in Tamilnadu and the prakarams as so symmetric that stands as a symbol of excellent architecture. This temple is Thamirachabai - one of the Pancha Sabhais of Lord Shiva. The temple also hosts musical pillars in the main deity mandapam. We spent little more than 1 hour in the temple.

Bought dinner at Hotel Janakiram and started back to Chennai by Nellai express - entered into the Cyclone area of Vardah !

Temples visit in Kumbakonam

Trip members: Karthik, Senthil, Shivi and Sanjeev
Trip date: 05 Nov 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Tindivanam - Virudhachalam - Kumbakonam - Thanjavur - Trichy - Chennai

This was a quick trip to 3 temples around Kumbakonam and 2 in Thanjavur as we visited the town for a marriage.

We started around 7 PM from Chennai and reached Kumbakonam by 12:30 AM. We looked for room in the Government guest house but we were told that all rooms are booked. Then, we managed to take a large room at S.R.Residency quite closer to Mahamagam pond at the cost of Rs.1800. The room was ok and clean. The bedspreads were average, however the service people were very enthusiastic to help on all aspects - right from parking to bath towels. We rested for few hours and started the trip to Swamimalai around 5:30 AM.

Swamimalai is around 9 kms from Kumbakonam. We reached the temple around 6:20. The parking is on the small roads near the temple only. That day was Shasti and we were afraid of crowds. However, we climbed the 60-70 off steps and were there to have the dharshan in 10 minutes of waiting time. The most important thing was that none asked us to move fast or get away from the queue. Each took their turn to complete the prayers at their own time with fullest satisfaction. After a very satisfactory dharshan, we had some prasadhams and planned to go to Darasuram next.

Darasuram is around 6 kms from Swamimalai. The temple in Darasuram is Airavatesvara Temple. This temple is around 4 kms from Kumbakonam and is fully rich of architecture. The temple premises are maintained by ASI and the sanctum is taken care of state government. It is believed that the white elephant of Indra, Airavatam, had worshipped Lord Siva in this temple and hence the name. The pillars in the temple are well ornamented and sculpted. This is a must visit temple near Kumbakonam. The temple opens around 07:30 and closes by 12:30 and again 4 PM to 8 PM. The lawn around the temple is well maintained as like Gangai Konda Cholapuram.

Next, we went to Patteswaram - 4 kms from Darasuram. This is a temple of Goddess Durga. Shiva is called Thenupuriswarar in this temple. There was no crowd when we went around 8 AM and had a very relaxed dharshan. Temple is open from 6 AM to 1 PM; 4 PM to 9 PM.

We then left the Thajavur and had breakfast at a hotel near old bus stand. We had some good breakfast with limited items only available at Hotel Vasantha Bhavan. Our next place was to visit Brihadeeswara temple. The temple was not crowded and we had excellent dharshan - we only were standing in the Sanctum for all time we were in. We also visited the small shop that sells souvenirs and local makes popular at Thanjavur like dolls and wooden items. We also visited Punnainallur Mariammam temple next day before starting to Chennai. At Thanjavur, we stayed in Hotel Ram Aariyas near the New bus stand. The AC rooms were very clean and comfortable. The bathrooms were also decently furnished and clean.

On the way back to Chennai, we visited Samayapuram Mariamman temple. The temple was undergoing restoration and was very crowded as it was an auspicious day. The queue was in thousands in no-fee dharshan and it had Rs.25 and Rs.100 fee queues. We did our dharshan in the paid queues in 10 minutes and came out. Parking is available opposite to the temple in a very big ground.

Some distances:

G.S.T Road

o   Tambaram – Kumbakonam – 281 kms (via Tindivanam, Villupuram, Ulundurpet, Virundhachalam, Andimadam, Jayamkondan)

o   Take left after Sengurichi Toll Plaza (Arya Nivas)  - toll comes after A2B

o   Sengurichi toll – Kumbakonam – 96 kms

o   Sengurichi toll – Virudhachalam – 27 kms

o   Virudhachalam – Kumbakonam – 70 kms

·         E.C.R

o   Tambaram – Kumbakonam – 284 kms (via Mahabs, Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Sirkazhi, Vaitheeswaran koil, Kadalangudi, Manambadi)

o   Tambaram – Chidambaram – 205 kms (via Tindivanam, Pondicherry, Cuddalore)

o   Tambaram – Chidambaram – 210 kms (via ECR, Kalpakkam, Pondicherry, Cuddalore)

o   Pondicherry – Chidambaram – 63 kms

o   Chidambaram - Vaitheeswaran Koil – 27 kms

o   Chidambaram – Kumbakonam – 81 kms

·         Kumbakonam – Swamimalai – 9 kms

·         Swamimalai – Darasuram – 7 – 8 kms

·         Darasuram – Patteswaram – 4 kms

·         Patteswaram – Thanjavur New bus stand – 47 kms

Vizag and Araku Valley

Trip members: Karthik and Vijay with families
Trip date: 13, 14 and 15 Aug 2016
Trip Plan : Chennai - Vishakapatnam - Araku Valley - Vishakapatnam - Chennai

Day-1

The plan was for 3-days and 2 nights - one night stay in Vizag and 1-night in Araku.

We reached Vizag around 8 AM by Indigo flight and took a cab from Airport to Simhachalam. Vijay and his family joined us at the temple by Tempo traveller. We had breakfast at a local restaurant - top of the hill - Idlis and masala dosas; they were good - typical Andhra spicy food :).

The Simhachalam temple is for Lord Narasimha. There is a belief that the Simhachalam temple was built on the exact spot where Vishnu stood to protect Prahlada from Hiranyakasipu. The temple is quite outside the city - round 17 kms. There are free and paid dharshans. Paid dharshans are for Rs.50 and Rs,100. The free dharshan was quite long and could have taken us couple of hours. We went for Rs.100 queue and did the dharshan in 10 minutes. The temple is quite old and we had a serene feel inside the temple.

Next, we went to Indira Gandhi Zoological Park - Zoo at Vishakapatnam. The zoo is one of the good ones in India hosting - Bengal tiger, White tiger, Lion, Rhinoceros, Girafee and many more, They charge Rs.20 for an adult and Rs.10 for children and Rs.20 for still cameras. Every Monday is a holiday for the zoo. We spent around 2 hours in the zoo on a very sultry day; it was quite harsh to walk all around in sun. However, there were reasonable number of shops inside for water, snacks and soft drinks. There are battery cars at a cheap rate; however they were not available when we entered.

We decided to check-in to the hotel - Hotel Supreme in Vishakapatnam - as we preferred to take some rest on a hot day. We checked-in and had lunch at Supreme. The check-in process was ok and the rooms were quite comfortable and very clean. They offer sea facing rooms at a premium charge and we did not prefer it. There are complementary water bottles and newspaper; kettle with sachets of milk, tea and coffee.

The restaurant was quite good. Though it took time to serve varieties of rice and rotis, they were made fresh and tasty. Across four meals, we found consistency in the quality of food served was very good.

After the break, we visited Kailashgiri - the top place in Vizag y 4 PM. It is around 3-4 kms from the R.K.Beach. The small hill gives a grandeur to Vizag - amazing views of the beach from the top. One side, we can see the beautiful beaches and other side of the hill gives us complete view of the port city. We need to pay per head and for the vehicle as we enter to the hill. There is a point called Titanic point - giving a good view of the sea.

As we go around, there are few small eateries, a toy train, a big Lord Shiva-Parvathy statue and lot of spots to take photographs. A great time killer for evenings and must visit place in Vizag.

We went through the R.K.Beach (Ramakrishna Beach) and reached the second most important place - Submarine Museum - Kursura, a Russian built submarine. The Museum in closed on Monday; entry ticket is Rs.40/- and there is an additional charge for camera and they check for it inside randomly as well. The museum was very good - first time experience in a Submarine. It took less than 20 minutes to see and was a nice experience to see how small is the space to move inside; how submariners lead their life and the torpedoes.

By Sunset, we were in R.K Beach and were enjoying the sea views. The beach is approachable in certain areas and rocky in few places. The whole length of the beach is maintained very clean and excellent. There are statues for prominent national and historical people; small parks and road side eateries. There was sweet shop on the opposite side and we tasted some snacks, sweets and cakes.

We had dinner at Hotel Supreme itself and went to bed by 9 PM. The plan was to start to Araku next morning by 8 AM post breakfast - buffet; complimentary in room rent.

Day-2

Post good breakfast, we started to Borra caves and Araku valley by 8 AM. The driver said he will drive us through the fishing harbour of Vizag for a different experience. He said that this is one of the largest fishing harbours in India and yes, it was. He also took us on a detour through HPCL, Government container service, port and many more.

We reached Borra caves around 11:30. There was a long queue for getting the tickets - being a long weekend, it was too crowded. It tool almost 20-25 minutes to get tickets. The entrance tickets are Rs.60 per adult, Rs.45 per child, Rs.100 for camera. The caves are massive and anyone who sees, will definitely have an exclamation mark to begin with. One needs to get down few stairs - may be around 70-80 to see the caves. To traverse all over the caves, there are steel ladder like structures put up and we need to climb up or climb down all along to see the massive structures.

The calcite formations are of different forms and they are nice to go around and see. If the crowd is less, it could have been more interesting and relaxing. It takes around 90-120 minutes to see the whole place. Taking lot of water is important in calcite caves and ensure you carry enough water with you. There are restrooms near the entrance and it is for free. There are small eateries nearby and looks like chicken roasted in bamboo is a special there.

Being vegetarian, we went to a small restaurant - Hotel Nagalaxmi for meals. The typical local Andhra meals in a local food joint - the pappu, fries, curd and vegetables in the hunger was just more than exuberant!

We then drove to Araku - it is around 30 kms from Borra caves. The ghat section is around 51 kms in total stretch and Borra caves is located in 24th km of the ghat section. There is Katiki waterfalls near Borra and one needs to take 4-wheel drive to reach this falls. We skipped it and we stopped inbetween at Galikonda view point.

Galikonda view point is a nice place - offering very good views of the valley. Cameras can have a good time here. Local vendors sell spices and coffee here. We spent around 20 minutes here.

We reached Araku valley - almost a plain at the top. It was very pleasant to see the place - as very unexpectedly, the whole valley was so flat that agriculture of paddy was so prominent in the valley. We had booked Haritha valley resort in advance and checked-in. Though the check-in was amazingly slow, the rooms were good. There is a swimming pool too and it was almost full.

We took rest for few minutes and then went to Tribal museum. Tribal museum has a small pond inside for boating and lot of shops on local makes - souvenirs. There are no eateries inside and is a good place for a causal evening. The museum displays all tribal used items - used in kitchen, trade, agriculture, weaving, and many more. It is maintained very well and quite clean too. We spent around an hour there and returned to APTDC Haritha for overnight.

The dinner was open by 8 PM and ordered rotis and phulkas. It took almost 45 minutes for the food to get served. Few customers were irritated for the long waiting time. However, I see this to be a pattern across all APTDC resorts to get food served with long waiting time. This definitely has to be addressed.

Day-3

The plan was to start around 7:30 AM and goto Vizag - to visit Yarada Beach. The breakfast was not ready in APTDC and the driver suggested to have food in a roadside shop near Borra. We took the risk and the risk turned out to be a feast of excellent idlies, pooris and dosas. We went almost overboard and cherished the roadside food near Borra and continued towards Vizag.

The route in the plains were very crowded and it takes lot of time to navigate outskirts of Vizag. The city has got good broad roads and movement is quite comfortable.

We reached Yarada Beach around 12:30. The beach is approachable through hills on the southern side of Vizag. It takes almost 45 minutes to reach the beach from the city. The last few kms are very exciting as we get to see beautiful beach lines from the hills. It was drizzling when we reached. There is an entrance ticket for adults - Rs.30 to access Yarada beach.

The Yarada beach is naturally abundant in beauty - green small hill on one side and the whole stretch of sandy beach bordered by trees on other. A perfect time killer to just sit and watch the sea and the beauty around. We spent around 1 hour in the beach and slowly the rain started to pour. Many people play in the waters and there are restrooms to wash and change near the beach. Quite scenic place ! A must visit in Vizag.

There is a small canteen at the beach and they have limited options. We saw the canteen and were not convinced on the options and quality of the place. We requested the driver to take us to some good Andhra lunch - Hotel Sri Sairam was the answer. We reached the place around 14:15 and had to wait for 45 minutes to get a table. The meals costed Rs.100 for adult and Rs.55 for kids. They serve hot rice with pappu, dhall powder, ghee, gongura chutney, fries along with regular items in the meals. They keep refilling as it gets emptied. We ate steadily and ended our lunch almost at 4 PM.

We then went to Matsyadharshni - Aquarium at the Ramakrishna Beach. The aquarium is know to host few rare species. We saw Piranha. Tiger sharks, Red Squirrel fishes, Gourami and few more.

At this moment, we got to know our flight back to Chennai is delayed by more than 2 hours -- Oh Yes .. Spice JET !! OMG ... again ... I recollect, that almost all my Spice Jet flights that I had used in  the past 18 months had never been on time ! We joined our friends in their rooms in Hotel Supreme, had dinner and started to airport in Ola later in the evening!

A very satisfied, most needed break and pleasant memories !