Our South India Trip 2007

After promising to blog various events for the past year, I finally forced myself into initiating it for this one. Hope u enjoy it ! Planning vacations is something most people learn after staying in the US for a long term.We were no different at this. Finally all things came together after we started a new vacation timeshare membership with Club Mahindra. Plan was for 4 days at Munnar, Kerala and 3 at Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu.

We started our journey 100 km north of Pune from the Panvel Railway Station. We embarked

on the Mangala-Lakshwadeep Express train, which travels all along the west coast thru Konkan Railway Line. This route is an absolute treat for all nature lovers as well as an engineering marvel. It has the tallest railway bridge piers in India and tunnels that stretch a total of 20+ km.Interestingly I observed that even the small size roads in Konkan area were pot-hole free and I hope PMC takes cognizance of this and does something in Pune. Food on the train was not great as compared to the Rajdhani express but the home-made parathas more than compensated for this. Atharva-Tanvi were thrilled with this experience of spending a night in the train.

Nevertheless, our train journey ended in 24 hrs and we got down at the Thrissur Railway Station, a bit north of Cochin aka Kochi. Our taxi cab driver was waiting for us with this colorful placard. We packed all our stuff in a black Tata Indica and sped away to our first sight-seeing spot which is the Niagara Falls of India, yes, make no mistakes, this is a magnificient 80-ft fall on the Chalakudy river that is directly comparable to the American Side of the Niagara Falls. The thundering fall emanates white mist that refreshes all souls - big and small. Manisha also captured a pic of monkey sitting on top of an apt sign-post. Beware of Monkeys when u go on vacations. One brave chap grabbed a glass of orange juice from a teen here and gulped it down in a jiffy. I have it all on video....

We then moved onto our destination - Hill Station Munnar in district Idukki in Kerala that borders with Tamil Nadu. The drive was treacherous. Our driver however showed no signs of fatigue in this 5+ hrs drive. Me on the other hand was trying to control the headache from the blind turns that seemed to never stop. The only thing that soothed us in this journey was excitement of Tanvi and intermittent rains that added to the scenic green carpet of this mountaneous landscape.We arrived at around 8:30 pm at the hotel. The Club Mahindra property at Munnar is a splendid resort which has been accredited 5-star gold crown status. Our check-in was smooth and the Studio apartment we got was simply great with a well-equipped kitchenette and dining table with well maintained decor. We freshened up and immediately went down to the restaurant. The food was very delicious and our palate was treated with a buffet that started with sweet corn soup and ended with a desert called malpua-rabdi.

As we woke up the next day, nature greeted us with a sunny and picturesque view right outside our cottage terrace. The hills were laden with lush green tea plants that stretched forever. Tata Tea employs about 12500 workers in Munnar area alone. We visited the Madupatty dam and enjoyed some fresh carrots and hot corn. Next stop was the Tata Tea Musuem where we were enlightened on the orthodox and CTC methods of tea preparation. Man, tea making is no joke. 100 kg of tea leaves produce just 25kg of processed tea. It is indeed a laborious job right in the heart of God's own country, Kerala.

We also enjoyed some artifacts in this musuem like photos of the British Raj, the early telephone, typewriter, telegraph system and rare species hunted by the estate officers like wild boar, wild deer etc. The evening was an icing on the cake for me when India took on South Africa in the Twenty-20 match. Yuvraj and Dhoni brought lots cheers to the win.

Day4 - was a trip 90 km south to Thekkady where we all enjoyed a 1/2 hr ride atop an elephant. He was treated on the way to a entire banana plant stem and gulped it down as it was a tiny morsel. Both kids were super excited and Tanvi learned a new word - aaateee meaning "hathi". We then stopped for a Kerala face massage and authentic kerala meal of rice, sambar, rasam, sweet potato vegetable, pickle and papad. It was delicious indeed and ended with rice kheer - payasam. We then embarked on a 2-hour boat ride in the Periyar National Tiger Preserve. It was a rainy day, but nevertheless we were able to view some wild deer - "sambhar", a few bizon and a family of elephants atop a hill. Our long range Bushnell binoculars made all this possible and I must credit myself for bringing this on this trip. Again the evening provided a memorable event that I wish repeats again and again in the forthcoming months. India defeated Australia in the Semi-finals with Sreesanth all on fire. He hit the timber twice with scalps of Gilchrist and Hayden. Not to forget the cameo knock by Yuvraj of 70 in just 30 balls.

This was a rest day that saw us relishing some mouth watering dosa, uttapam at authentic SArwana Bhawan in Munnar town, followed some shopping for spices, oils and of course banana chips. The cardamom tea at a local side stall was refreshing. We then packed our bags and readied ourselves for the long drive to Kodaikanal the next day. Before we checked out of Munnar, we had a quick stop at the Activity centre where Tanvi and Atharva got glued in playing the various toys and stuffed animals. The facility was gr8 with video arcades, table tennis and pool tables. Fun for all ages especially in the rainy season.

The route to Kodainkanal was probably not as treachorous as the one to Munnar and Thekkady. Moreover it gave us enormous views of miles of acres of coconut trees on the way. We also passed thru a town called Theni where DMK workers burned an effigy of a local BJP MLA on the SethuSamudram issue. The gathering of nearby villagers was tense and we were stuck right in the middle of this violent agitation. Finally police took control and we heaved a sign of relief as we continued on our path via Dindigul to Kodaikanal. As we neared Kodai, we treated ourselves to some jackfruit and pomegranate. Tanvi and Atharva relished on the sweet coconut water as well. The resort at Kodaikanal, Hill Country Resort by Club Mahindra is another amazing property with different beauty in its lap. Cradled between surrounding terraced mountains it offered us beautiful views right out of our cottage suite window. The long journey was not in vain. We reached just in time to view the final betn India and Pakistan. Just as were about to lose in the final moments, sanity prevailed and we won a tense and nailbiting finish. I was the happiest person on earth by this time. Dinner was superb, where we relished vegetable sizzlers and singapore noodles.

The next day started with a boat ride in Kodai Lake alongwith some mouth watering local masala groundnut mix laden with raw mango and spices. This was followed by a ride on a twin bike. Tanvi had a fantastic experience in this one, she was the main attraction for all on-lookers. We then had Gujrati thali for lunch and visited some more scenic points.

This was the penultimate day of our trip and we took it easy by enjoying the resort's children play area. Tanvi and Atharva had a blast with the see-saw and swing rides. We did some shopping and relaxed at the Activity center since rains engulfed the entire area. The evening ws spent in playing table tennis with some other guests followed by several losses to Atharva in the snakes and ladders dice game. The day concluded with another sumptous dinner. We also met the Chef and appreciated his culinary skills.

The final day of our trip was another long drive from Kodaikanal to Coimbatore that started at 6:30 am. After the treachorous downhill ride to Palani we stopped for a coconut water break. After this we sped on the smooth state highway to coimbatore stopping just a bit to collect some tamarind from the trees that laced the road. The route also had lots of windmills and coconut tree plantations. We finally reached Coimbatore airport. The Indian Airlines flight to Mumbai was on time at 2:10 pm and unexpectedly we were treated a fantastic Taj dinner. The domestic airport at Santa Cruz has been transformed into a clean and well maintained state of the art facility and one can easily spot this difference in relation to its international counterpart at Sahar Airport. We finally reach home sweet home at Pune with the arranged cab at 8pm.

7 nights and 8 days - whew what a trip this has been. Memorable indeed.