Better late than never! So here goes the story of Inddie's southern adventure starting from 21st December to 26th December 2013. It all started in the month of October when I began feeling the need for a trip during the annual shutdown at our workplace. Initially the idea was to cover Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram, Tanjavoor, Thiruvananthapuram, kodaikanal and back to bangalore. However, little into route planning, the reality struck that it would be too tiresome and most of the time would go only on the roads rather than visiting places - especially, with my two esteemed co-travellers - My Dad and Mom. Quickly, the plan was changed to cover Bangalore - Kanyakumari - Trivandrum - Madurai - Kodaikanal - Palani - Bangalore.
Did not do much as part of the prep work for the car other than getting the regular 40K Service in november which i have already written about. Did not plan much of night driving, in fact, no night driving at all. Just a basic check of car fluids and air pressure including the spare tyre - that's it. Tanked up diesel the previous day.
So the when the day arrived - we got started on 21st Dec at around 7 AM from my house as against a planned 5:30 AM start. Well! well! Traffic snarls right from the end of the elevated express way. The two toll booths (Hosur and Krishnagiri) took 1 Hour put together to pay the toll and get out on the other side. We just kept going ignoring all the breakfast hotels - the Kamat, the A2B, the Saravana Bhavan..all of them! In each of these, you could see an ocean of cars parked - so I knew we did not stand a chance of coming out of that place before 1 hour. Kept driving till Thoppur toll, made a U turn, went to A2B. Hardly 15 cars were parked - what a relief! We reached there by 9:50 AM and after a hearty breakfast of dosas, left the place at around 10:30 AM. Covered distance pretty fast after this stop. Traffic got thicker near Salem. Waded completely after Namakkal. Held the Inddie below 80 as we approached Salem. Once past salem, let all the horses loose.. Was able to comfortably ride 120 KMPH. Crossed Madurai around 1:45 PM. Tanked up diesel in a place where i saw many private cars filling diesel..Inddie drank around 1200 Rs/- worth of diesel. We were not feeling hungry, so did not stop for lunch. Had a Kumbakonam Degree filter coffee at KDMC (if i remember it correctly) after madurai. Took a couple of stretch breaks. After Madurai, it felt that we were the only ones headed to Kanyakumari - absolutely no traffic on the highway! Oh Boy, we were so mistaken! Felt like half the world was already in Kanyakumari when we reached there :D. Reached Kanyakumar by 4:00 PM, Checked into the hotel and the Trip meter said 675 KMs.
Went out to the beach relaxed by the sea that evening. Had some good food at Hotel Saravana in Kanyakumari, the one near the temple. Went to bed early.
Woke up early next morning (Dec 22), started to Thiruvananthapuram by 6:30 AM. Frankly, nothing much to see in there - or atleast we did not plan to cover any of the places there except Lord Padmanabhaswamy temple, which was mother's to-do list for a long long time; even before the temple treasures news came in the public domain. So, distance wise it was only 90 KMs, but took around 2.5 Hours. There started the brush with the reality - the temple was too crowded with Ayyappa Swami devotees. It is a very bad season to visit any temple in south india during that time - the wisdom dawned after this trip though :) It was virtually impossible to even get to the cloak room. So I decided to be the cloak room for my parents, took my dad's shirt, mobile etc and sent both dad and mom inside. I prayed to the lord from outside only..We finished the visit, ate breakfast at a place called Arya Bhavan on the Kanyakumari road and drove down to Wooden Palace in Padmanabhapuram. Between Thiruvananthapuram and Padmanabhapuram, at one of the curves, an old lady decides to just run right across in front of my car. My car was at around 45-50 KMPH on the national highway. Just slammed the brakes on my car..No time to down shift..ABS light comes on in the dashboard. Steering is still responding thanks to ABS as wheels were not locked. I swerve left, avoid the collision with old lady, car stops and the old lady just walks past quickly! Phew! one heck of a lucky day! Thanked lord Padmanabhaswamy :) and continued with journey. ABS really saved the day for me and that old lady both! Especially for me, because in such situations things can go from bad to worse any time..you know the mob mentality that is prevalent here in India irrespective of whose fault it is!
Anyways, finished visiting the wooden palace, drove back to Kanyakumari, got some rest, went out to watch sunset near Gandhi mandapam. There was a sense of serenity amidst all the sea of humanity all around:). Ate some street junk food, came back to our hotel SivaMurugan, went to a good sea food dinner at Sea View hotel and crashed to bed. The car odo read 210 KMs for the day trip.
23rd Dec: Woke up early, visited the temple with special darshan tickets. Here too Ayyappa devotees rule the queues! Tough, very tough. Especially for aged people like my good ol' man! Anyways, finished darshan, went and stood in the long vivekanand ferry queue, visited vivekanand memorial, thiruvalluvar statue, and back to mainland. Checked out from the room and visited Chottavilai beach - was super good. Very clean, not many humans roaming there. It was very, very good. After half an hour to 45 mins, left the beach, drove towards Madurai. Reached madurai late afternoon. Filled diesel for 1000 Rs on the way to Madurai. Had booked a hotel online called Hotel Kathir palace, which is near the west gate of Meenakshi temple. This was one hell of a driving experience - narrow streets - cows - bullock carts - auto barging in from all directions - and top of that, a slow GPS software in my smartphone. Missed one right turn and then struggled like anything - entered narrow lanes where there was space barely enough for my inddie to navigate. The relief when I found the hotel is something that i still feel to this day! After profusely sweating and managing to reach this hotel, the A/C of this hotel was the only solace. I decided that i am not going to pull the car out of the parking lot of this hotel until check out, decided to use autos instead. Went to Meenakshi temple in the evening, again Ayappa devotees. Again the unmanageable crowd. Add to that security checking and two separate queues! Took the special darshan tickets, Meenakshi Amman darshan was smooth, lord Sundareshwara darshan was impossible with the kind of crowd who behaved as if lord is going to run away any moment from now! My parents were simply struggling to get on the ramp that leads to the sanctum sanctorium and not one person would allow our queue to merge at all. Finally, I think the lord himself took pity and one gentleman obliged and let my parents squeeze into the queue. I had blown all my wits by then and I made the decision on the spot to drop Palani from the tour list. I had enough of this mad rush and I could not take it anymore - not for me per se- but more so for my parents. Cannot see my parents go through this madness, I thought. Makes me wonder sometimes as to where the conscience is, in public life. What a stark contrast to me offering my seat to the old and needy to this day vis-a-vis this crowd. Phew. Out goes Palani from the trip. I call the hotel in Palani that evening to cancel, they say i lose the entire amount, I say ok. Simply could not digest more crowds in temple. Came to hotel, relaxed. My friend had told me not to miss Jigar Thanda, Murugan idli Kadai and Bell Hotel Jumbo Prawns. Saw Jigar Thanda and my jigar got thanda the moment i saw what is jigar thanda and decided not to go for it. I think it is for people who are not in the risk of being diabetic :D. But looked good I must say. Enjoyed bell hotel prawns.
24th Dec: I get a call from my friend Beni and he has also landed in madurai. What a pleasant surprise! He showed up with delicious Idiyappam. We had breakfast, spent some time chit chatting, and after that checked out. Started driving towards Kodaikanal, where I booked my stay in Sterling valley view resort. Took the kodai road, the road was good all the way. Inddie is a star - be it flat highways, hill roads, bad roads - he is the real mile cruncher. Inddie more than eager to gobble up KMS in the ghats once turbo opens up at 1750 RPM; there is no stopping Inddie! Reached there by 12:30 PM. Checked in. Gala Dinner was complusory. They sent us to buffet lunch which was absolutely avoidable. Relaxed for the rest of the day in the property. Booked a cab for 25th dec to show us around in Kodaikanal. Had gala dinner spiced up with dance music and other activities - me strictly from a audience perspective. Came back and crashed into my comfy bed.
Dec 25: Next morning, the sunrise was simply too awesome! One of the most memorable sunrise of my life time. Had buffet breakfast, hopped into the car and started sight seeing. Visited all the view points in kodai except guna caves as the walk up to the caves would be too much for my mother. Completed most other view points like pine forest, kurunji temple, view points, coakers walk, some garden, pillar rock, suicide point, moir point, lake, boating etc etc Came back in the evening. Relaxed at the resort.
Dec 26th: With Palani cancelled, the plan was to drive straight to Blr. Went to suicide point one more time, and then started to blr. It was 10:30 AM when we left Kodaikanal. Decided to drive back via kodai road and then NH7 only rather than take the dindigul road. It was a good decision. Reached NH 7 by 12:15. Started driving back. Filled diesel somewhere near salem. Stopped at the same A2B near thoppur toll plaza at 3:30 PM. Had good food. Reached electronic city by 5:45 PM and home by 6:45 PM.
Total distance travelled: 1735 KMs
Number of days: 6
Mileage: Dont know, did not calculate.
Each day passing, I am more convinced that Inddie is a great car! Inddie is a steady mile cruncher and is super comfy for long drives.
Will publish photos next..
- Aravind
