Upcoming Munnar Thekkady Bike Trip - 19th to 21st sept 2009

Well my one year break from mainstream job is over and I am already into 3rd month of another mainstream job but its so cool that I am loving it. All this is not without mentioning that the one year of lovely Jaago re! campaign has its huge side effects in my personal life. I didn't doing any bike trip as a matter of fact I hardly did any trip, no running, not much of football too :(((
So after a hiatus of more than a year I noticed there are lot of long weekends coming up which are ideal for bike trips. It was time to ring up old friend and brief them about my intention and apparently even they were looking forward to do some trip.

So on a quick conference we decided to go to Thekkady & Munnar this coming weekend. As I newly got my 70-300 mm lenses and this will be the first trip with this lenses, both these places offer excellent opportunity to learn some nature photography.

Well for the plan, I am copy pasting the mail which I sent to Ady and raj. I will update the travelogue and pics once I make it back to Bangalore safely.

Start - 5.30 AM - LEFT OF SILK BOARD(where the flyover ends) on hosur road with tank full, Guess we will be doing 1400+ km in this trip :)

18th Bangalore - thekkady
18th Night halt@ Thekkady
19th Thekkady sight seeing, we have to be at periyar reserve forest around 5.30 am to get the upper deck in big boat for good photography. Looks like the boat starts at 7am and ends at 11 am
19th night halt@ Munnar
20th morning Munnar sightseeing, lot of places to see.
21st morning - Head back to Bangalore early morning through different route

Taking a 20 km de-tour to see only and only Meenakshi Temple at madurai.
Onwards Journey - Bangalore - Krishnagiri (80) - Dharampuri(123) - Salem (192) -Vallipuram - Paramathi(253) - Velur(260) - Karur(280) -- Dindigul(353) - Madurai (411) - Theni(480) - kambam(516) - Thekkady (550)

Return Journey - Munnar - Udumalaipettai(65) - Pollachi(92) - Coimbatore(130)(from Coimbatore we can two possible routes depending upon energy and enthu)
Route 1 - Coimbatore(130) - Coonoor(180) - Ooty(198) - Gudalur(226)- Bandipur(255) - Gundlupet(268) - Nanjangud(303) - Mysore(323) - Bangalore (460)
Route 2 - Coimbatore(130) - Annur(160) - Satyamangalam(196) - ChamarajNagar(260) - Kollegal(300) - Malavalli(332) - Kanakpura(376) - Bangalore (425)

Places to see
Eravikulam
This is a must visit place in Munnar for all animal and nature lovers. The park is situated around 8KMs from the munnar town. You can drive down to the base of the park in your vehicle or one of the autos(you have to see them climbing the steepy hills!!). From here you will have to go to the top of the hill where the Eravikulam National park is situated on one of the buses provided by the park. The park is home to the Nilgiri tahr - an endangered goat species. At the start of the 20th centuary only 100 of these beautiful animals were left after being almost destroyed by hunting and poaching. Since then the nilgiri Tahr has been included in the list of endangered species. Efforts are being made to prevent the extinction of this wild goat like many other endangered species. With the efforts of the park officials and others involved in saving the Nilgiri Tahr the population has increased to above 1600 and around 700 of them reside in this park. The park is spread across 100 sq KMs and is claimed to be one of the cleanest national parks in India. The entry tickets to the park cost Rs 35/- for Indians and Rs 200/- for foreign nationals. Incase you are carrying a camera you would have to shell out Rs 25/- for a still camera and Rs 200/- for a Video camera.

Mattupetty
14 KMs from the Munnar Town, at a height of 1700m, is situated Mattupetty. It is known for its highly specialized dairy farm - Indo Swiss LiveStock project. Mattupetty lake and dam are just a KM from this farm. One can do boat riding and speed boating. I suggest trying out speed boat.
It is really thrilling to ride the speed boat on the waves created by another speed boat. There is an option to hire a speed boat that can accommodate 4-6 people or hire one for a couple only. The boat ride will be only for 15 Minutes but the adrenalin rush during those 15 minutes is amazing. You will scream and shout and after those 15 minutes you will feel really relaxed in beauty of the lake and tea gardens around it.

Top Station
Top Station is nearly 34 Kms from Munnar Town and 33KMs of this is a real good road. This place offers a "panoramic view" of the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu but remains covered with mist most of the time.

Devikulam
Around 7 KMs from Munnar Town is situated a charmingly simple and serene place, Devikulam. It is covered with Tea Plantation and provides a load of opputunity for photographers. The Sita Devi Lake in Devikulam is a good picnic spot and ideal for fishing.


Munnar - Thekkady

From Munnar, Thekkady is 110Kms. The road is pretty good for the first 85 Kms but quite narrow. The last 25Kms are in bad shape and you can't drive at more than 20-30KMpH

Places to See

Periyar Lake

Nature Walk at Thekkady ( Periyar) Different nature trails traversing diverse habitats form the trekking routes, generally 4 to 5 Km. in length. This program offers excellent opportunity to watch birds, butterflies and other wildlife. The trails pass through evergreen and moist deciduous forests interspersed with marshy grasslands. A maximum of 5 persons can go for trekking at a time along each nature trail, accompanied by a trained tribal guide. The nature walk is the right program to feel nature, her whispers and smell her flowers.


Cheers,

Rajesh Choudhary