BHPian andrewsbruce recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road. Jack Kerouac, On the Road So, the new year has rolled in, and due to a quite busy and stressful schedule between my college and my career path, balancing them both out was quite uneventful. This proposed an idea for another hungry road trip. But whenever the thought had arisen, it was always postponed and never to be cared for. Meanwhile, the Dussehra vacation is already fast enough on its arrival on the calendar, and this provided a scope for a much-needed exhilarating road trip. But this time, the plan was to drive across the southern belt of India, starting from the eastern coast, covering Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, and exiting through the Western Coast, i.e Kerala. And the finalised mode of transportation was to be chosen as the Tata Punch. Along with us, my cousin and fellow Bhpian @Amek77 and his family have also joined the trip. Actually, he was the mastermind who has initiated the idea for this trip…. Day one: Hyderabad to PondicherryWe started from Hyderabad at Around 8 AM in the morning and our preferred route to traverse is Catching The Nehru ORR From LB nagar And Adjoining the Nh- 65 and travelling up until Narketpally where we’ve taken a diversion which led us till Miryalguda After Which we’ve hopped onto the NH 167 And 167A Till nekarikallu, All along the way which We’ve joined the Nh 32 till the Medaramatla Bypass, then proceed onwards to Chennai Through NH- 16 Till The Chennai ORR. The roads were fantastic, and we got a glimpse of the Krishna River as we travelled towards Chennai. But as we’ve entered the Chennai outskirts before joining the ORR, we’ve encountered numerous Signals Barred in the middle of the highway, which took quite some time to cross. Anyways, after crossing that Section, we’ve Travelled On-Course Through the Chennai ORR Till Tindivanam and finally hopped onto the NH-32 via which we’ve finished our first leg of the Journey By Setting the Wheels into Pondicherry.Day Two: Exploring PondicherryVisited Aurobindo Ashram, Explored the White Town, took a Small Ferry to Paradise Beach and ended the day walking along the coast of Pondicherry at Rock Beach while having a gastronomical and a diversified experience by glancing and visiting Various Bakeries Around the Beach. @Amek77’s Volvo and Punch parked together. Felt like being transported into a Wes Anderson Movie. Strolling and stopping at various Boulangeries for some Macarons, a Baguette sandwich, croissant and whatnot.Day three : Pondicherry- Madurai – RameshwaramWoke up early morning, all packed up and started our journey towards Madurai. Travelled through the Chennai- Villupuram- Trichy Highway and finally reached Madurai at around 4 PM. The traffic in Madurai Was On a Different league, and we finally crossed the congestion and proceeded onwards to Meenakshi Amman Temple, only to realise that the Entrance Shown on Google Maps Was Closed due to Heavy Traffic. Hence, after a lot of confusion and enquiries with the Traffic police, we’ve navigated our way towards the temple From the Other side. I was actually worrying about where to park the car, but surprisingly,y there was a dedicated Parking Place to Park The car At around 20INR per hour. This was quite a relief. So, Parked the Car Changed Into my Traditional Attire and proceeded to walk towards the Temple. Mind you that the timeframe that we’ve visited is during Dussehra Vacation, so as expected, the temple was Quite Busy with a lot of devotees, in spite of that, we managed to seek the divine blessing under 3 hours. Later, we had dinner and decided to drive towards Rameshwaram. Why? Because most of the roads that we’ve experienced so far were a breeze to drive upon and did not give us the slightest feeling of discomfort nor exhaustion. Even the Punch Managed to Perform Well, but had to use the manual mode For overtakes due to the lazy AMT shifts. Anyways, coming back to the centre of attention, we entered the NH-87 and travelled to Rameshwaram Via Ramanathapuram. Boy o boy what an experience it was. The tarmac was smooth, and in between we’ve witnessed several villagers wide awake in the middle of the night and I guess they’re participating in local festivities, at around 11PM. Took a coffee break in the middle and then Resumed the drive. After crossing Mandapam, what was around us was just water and the Pamban bridge on either sides. And we could see the old Railway Line running towards the side of the bridge. Driving on the almost deserted Pamban Bridge At Night Is something Else. As a kid I always used to be fascinated by Pamban bridge and Danushkodi through the textbooks, but this was the first time that I ever got to witness it in real life.Then, after crossing it we’ve entered the town of Rameshwaram around midnight and as our stay for the day was already booked, we straightaway crashed at our hotel.Day Four: Rameshwaram- KanniyakumariStill haven’t got over yesterday night’s knackeredness due to the overnight stretch, but have to grind the road due to the ambiguity of witnessing the Places with my Own Two Eyes in real time, taking over the Fatigue, but no need to worry too, as we’ve got Extra Drivers in spare. There was Unusually a lot of traffic inside the entire town of Rameshwaram every narrow road and main clusters Jammed with vehicles behind one another, but nonetheless we’ve managed to see the magnificent Ramanathaswamy Temple and then headed out to Dhanushkodi as expected through a maze of Traffic consisting of Tourist Buses, Cars Blocking the Entire Narrow road running through the White Waters flowing their arcs through the Bay of Bengal while on the other hand the equally dichotomous Indian ocean Boasting with it’s everlasting blue-waves. The irritable Pinch of Crusty Crowds and Clamours was all out of sight when we somehow stressfully parked our car and walked over to the South-Eastern tip of India, when my Phone Suddenly Displayed a notification saying: “Welcome To Sri Lanka” although I wasn’t. We’ve let our Minds get washed over by the clean-sounding bliss generated out of those Salty Waves Hitting the Rocks, combined with the equally less humid and pleasant climate, altogether leading to an experience that is well worth the Hassle. Took some pictures on the go, gazed at the marvellous creation of nature, history and started our drive towards the southern Tip of the peninsula. It took us almost 6 hours to drive towards Kanniyakumari non-stop, and nevertheless, the roads were in no shape to complain about and we breezed with ease and decided to buzz it a night. @Amek77 leading the way, while I’m tailing behind him witnessing the land getting slowly compressed as we move further towards danushkodi…. Quite busy…even at the land’s End! The view of the Temple Entrance At Rameshwaram.Day five : Kanniyakumari – TrivandrumWoke up early in the morning, sleep deprived to catch the sunrise, and along with it we’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. But couldn’t proceed to take the ferry due to the Copious amounts of people, blocking the roads, creating an almost stampede sort of a situation. Coupled with the Onset of the Festival, Vehicles were not allowed on to the streets and the entry into the town was barred due to the processions as informed by the Hotel Staff. So it’s either Stay for another day or bid farewell, And We’ve Chosen Option Two and relentlessly packed our bags to set our course towards Thiruvananthapuram. The drive towards Thiruvananthapuram was a mix of highway, crossing through sections of busy towns, and amidst all of it we’ve managed to cross it, and before we’ve consciously realized that we crossed the border into Kerala, the Signs transitioned from Tamil to Malayalam. It’s probably the Smallest Leg in the entire Journey. Before hitting the Capital, the car rolled onto NH-66- 66 where the lanes have enlarged. En route, I’ve seen the interesting service exits which were like a Slope Cut on the side of the mountain, like a piece of Cake. Halted at our hotel. Relaxed for a while and explored the beautiful streets of Trivandrum at Dusk, in search of some good Kerala food. Had dinner, and then called it a day. Day six: Exploring TrivandrumWoke up timely in the morning, had breakfast and changed into traditional attire to pay a visit to the Renowned Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple. So, parked our cars on the side of the streets as the parking lots were full, and had a wonderful experience. Then headed out for lunch at Paragon restaurant, before heading out to Shanumugham beach for another taste of the Arabian Sea. After that we got back to our hotel and called it an early day. Day seven: Trivandrum – Jatayu earth Centre – AllepeyOn Day 7, the destination was Alapuzzha. And in the middle took a planned pitstop at Jatayu’s earth centre, where we had taken the ropeway to see the eagle monument built on top of a hill. This I felt, was an overrated Place, where almost half of our day got wasted waiting in Large Amounts of Queue on top of the Atrocious Ticket Prices. I’d recommend that you Blindly Skip this place with no regret. Then, we took a small lunch break before resuming the journey towards The Venice of the East, Raring to experience the elegance of the much hyped backwaters. After several hours of driving, we finally reached Alapuzzha, as I witnessed the backwaters slicing through the narrow roads. Booked a homestay for the night and an early dinner, calling for an early night. Day eight: AllepeyParked our cars near the homestay, and the Houseboat that we’ve booked had already arrived right in front of our homestay. So, we got on and set sail on the beautiful, decadent and marvellous backwaters of allepey, creating an enchanting experience. Had some lunch on the houseboat, and then hopped on a mini Boat to venture into the narrow Canals where the Houseboats cannot be fit into. Had a tender coconut while absorbing the Vibrant views, and the Slice of life that the populace are living along the backwaters. Then got back on the houseboat, had some refreshing tea and snacks, while experiencing the amusing sunset over the Pinkish Horizon, reflecting a magnificent light above us. Then the backwaters have flown into an epicentre of the Vembanad lake, where Dozens of Houseboats, all filled with Happy Tourists like us, are Sparsely Scattered along its Course. I guess this is why they call it God’s own country, because it is quite opposite to what my eyes are used to i.e the rushed-up daily hassles of the Polluted Concrete jungles where we come from. Had a Homestyle dinner, and the boat is docked, as we’ve docked ourselves too and to rest comfortably in the heart of the backwaters. I recommend that it’s better if you rent the boat only until evening rather than for a full day as we did, as there’s pretty much nothing to do after Sunset. Day nine: Allepey- BangaloreThe crew woke us up with their Simple breakfast preparations at around 8:00 AM in the morning, and freshened up, ate breakfast and bid a ciao to the houseboat. Still day-dreaming about the Slow views, got in the car and proceeded our return leg of the journey towards Hyderabad, with a break In Hosur. Crossed Alapuzzha, and hopped on the state highway, which was leading us towards Kochi and once we crossed kochi, the terrain has yet again has impressed us, with the beautifully carved green hills spread across the region of Palakkad. Punch’s Cameo. After that, crossed the border and entered into Tamil Nadu. Stopped for lunch, and then proceeded our drive towards Hosur. Nothing much is left-over here other than mile munching towards the Destination. Day Ten: Hosur to Hyderabad.Started our journey a little late, as there was not targets to attain. And crossed the Karnataka, AP border quite unpredictably, looked at the Massive Kia Factory In Anantapur, stopped for lunch and proceed to drive towards our home. By 10 Pm we were back in Hyderabad. And the total distance covered throughout the 10 days was 3320 km. Most of the highways across the south were equally amazing except for some stretches in Kerala, which were very narrow. Odo reading after the trip. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
