Travel: Trip to Kumuli-Thekkady-Suruli- Kumbakarai-Kodaikanal

Our trip to Kumuli/Thekkady/Suruli/Kumbakarai/Kodaikanal started on a beautiful day (26-Dec-08). Our planned trip had 14 legs. I divided each section of the jouney into legs and we decided that we would not drive more than 300 Kms a day. And absolutely no night driving.

Salem: We kick started our first leg on 26-Dec-08 at 6:30 AM to Salem via Harur and Erulapatty on NH46/SH18. We reached Harur on time, had lunch and left for Irulapatty at 4 PM. Irulapatty is a village where my Mother and I were born. It's only natural that I have a sort of emotional attachment to the place and decided to buy a piece of land there as a memoire. That's the reason we had to break our journey. We reached Thopur in Salem at 6:30 PM. Thopur is my sister's in-law place and have been planning to visit the place for quite some time. Thopur is famour for its handlooms. We had the oppurtunity to visit a few handlooms and powerlooms. It's pity that the loom workers are not given enough recognition. We should consciously buy the products crafted by them. That would be a small contribution from us all. We left Thopur at 7 PM for Dindigul on 27-Dec-08 and reached Dindigul at 10:30 PM. We followed NH7.

Kumuli/Thekkady: We started off at 7 AM on 28-Dec-08 following NH220 to Kumuli/ Thekkady. The entire route is green, green and green. The hilly route to Kumuli (2500 feet approx and 20 minutes drive) was fascinating in terms of the pipe structures for the water and the view of the hydro project down below. and reached Thekkady at 11:00 as planned. We reached Kumuli at 11 AM as planned. Soon after you enter Kumuli, there's a check post after the bus stsnd. That check post seperates Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Beyound the check post is Kerala and our accommodation and Thekkady are in Kerala. Our plan was to head straight to Chithrasala Home Stay, our accommodation. Our host Ms Bindu was there to greet us. Chithrasala is a beautiful place. Here's few information: Address: Chithrasala, Thekkady-Munnar Road, Opp.Govt.V.H.S. School, Kumily - 685 509 Idukki, Phone: +91 4869 223239, Mobile: 09447615579/09447916949, Email: chithrasala@ehotelier.com. You can find Chithrasala in the Gold House category of http://www.keralatourism.org/ home stay section. Bindu-Shaji family occupy the ground floor and let out the four rooms on the first floor for the guests. They are very cordial and they both are very good in treating the guests well. Their hospitality is great. It's definitely a home away from home. We have decided to stay only at Chitrasala whenever we visit Kumuli/Thekkady and would always recommend to all my friends and relatives. Coming back to the trip, the plan was to go for elephant ride followed by the boat ride at 2 PM. As we already had reserved tickets for the boat ride, we went to Elephant Junction (there are three such establishments in Kumuli for the rides) for the elephant ride. Unfortunately we could not go for the ride because of shortage of elephants (the elephants had taken foreign guests for a safari) and more guests waiting for the ride. We purchased the tickets for the 30 minutes safari (Rs. 350 per person) through the cardomum and coffee estates and headed for the pier. The view of the lake is breathtaking and beautiful. We enjoyed the two-hour ride and got to see many wild animals - deers, boars, birds and monkeys. After the boat ride, we headed straight to the Elephant Junction, but not before having a quick bite (our lunch). The elephant ride was marvellous and thrilling. We were at times scared when the elephant walked downhill. It was panting and negotiated the slope with utmost concentration step-by-step. We even took a few snaps with the elephant. Yes, I forgot to tell the elephant's name - Sankarankutti. We also could see Maria, Kannan, Raja. Kannan and Raja are baby elephants and they are lovely to look at. We had a long walk in the evening and had our dinner in the comfort of our room. Mind you, it was very cold outside and lovely at the same time.

Suruli/Kumbakarai/Kodaikanal: We woke up at 9 AM, breakfasted, and left for Suruli falls on 29-Dec-08 and reached at 11 AM . Suruli falls is 10 Kms from Kumbum off NH220. We did not take bath but enjoyed the scenary (weather and water chilly!). The falls is inside the forest and you have to walk 100 meteres and climb a flight of steps; the falls is supposed to be holy. Almost everyone visiting Suruli Falls is bound to bathe. As we had other places to visit, we reached Theni at 1230 PM and had a relaxed lunch in a Keralite restaurant. We then left for Kumbakarai falls (5 Kms from Devadanapatti off NH220 till you reach the foot of the Kodai hills) and reached there at 2 PM. I should mention here that the trekking route from Kumbakarai to Kodaikanal is famous (Distance 12 Kms, enroute - Vellagavi village at 6 Kms, Dolphin nose, Tenali falls). Kumbakarai is a lovely place with a lot of open spaces, rocks and water. Nice place for the kids and adults to picnic and bathe in the cool water that comes from Oothu in the Palani Hills; a trekkers paradise. We had a small accident involving my daughters, Gayathri and Kushi. Kushi drowned in the water. I dived and rescued her. Gayathri too went under the water at the same time and I pulled her out. Then Gayathri slipped and fell into the water while crossing two rocks. Rescued her. Bitter experience. But I do not want to get into the details and distress myself. These incidents are to be forgotten. Despite all this, we did not fail to be happy and decided to forget the incident then and there. We headed for my home town, Kodaikanal and reached there at 0530 PM. As usual, the route and the scenary were lovely and Kodai is Kodai! Nothing to beat it! We celebrated the new year in Kodaikanal and we had camp fire on all the evenings we were there. The tour ends here. We started off for Dindigul on 2-Jan-09, stayed at my sister's place and left for Chennai the next day.

Our next trip will be to one of these: (a) Mysore and Coorg (b) Topslip and Valparai (c) Ooty and Mudhumalai (d) Cochin, Kumarakom and Wayanad.