The
discussions were going on for some time at office for an unofficial offsite to
break away from the monotonous work life. During these discussions, somebody
threw in Munnar and Kodaikanal as an option.
I was more than eager to take the Linea to the outing. The farther the place, the happier I am as I
get to drive more.
With
10 people game for the trip, the date was finalized as 16th February 2013.
Here
we go with how the trip transpired over the 3 days.
Day
1: 16th February 2013
We
had all agreed to meet up at near our office at 5:30 am. However, on the way, I would be picking up my
colleagues, so headed from home at 4:45 am.
By
the time we got together near office it was already 6 am. With a quick rearrangement of the group, we
headed off towards A2B near Krishnagiri.
We reached A2B, refueled ourselves with idly, vada, pongal and strong
coffee. How can the cars be left out, so
we topped both the cars (My Linea and my colleague's Fiesta) at the BPCL COCO
bunk.
We
continued our journey towards Dindigul leisurely cruising and a target to reach
Theni for Lunch around 1 pm. However,
with a slight delay and a coffee break in between we reached Theni at 1.40
pm. Stopped over at Hotel Meenakshi
Bhavan for a nice Tamil Nadu style lunch.
Our cars got refueled too at Theni.
Took
the deviation towards Bodi from the Dindigul - Kumily - Kottayam highway. From here on we made slow progress soothing
the atmosphere and the surroundings. A few snaps from the many stops we took.
The
ghat roads were in decent condition, yet it was a leisure drive so the speeds
were quite low. The Linea took these Ghats
yawning.
We
deviated from the Munnar route to go to Anayirankal Dam a couple of snaps from here
before moved to the Lockhart gap road to catch the sunset.
At Lockhart
gap road.
We
reached the Bell Mount resorts/Hotel by 7:15 pm. It was time to get refreshed and assemble
back for dinner at 8:30 pm.
Post
dinner, we were sitting across and chitchatting till half past 10 in the
night. It was time for a well deserved
rest for the group.
Day
2: 17th February 2013
It
was a day of leisure sightseeing around Munnar. We hit the road to Top Station
early in the day to avoid the crowd. It
indeed helped us to enjoy the place with few people around.
On
the way to top Station.
At
the top station, the place transformed from a sunny little place to a misty
place in a matter of mins. This helped
the temperatures remain low.
We
drove back towards Munnar but a break in between in Kundala Lake. The group decided to take the pedal boat
ride, but I decided to stay back and sooth into the fresh atmosphere there.
We
returned to Munnar for Lunch. With a
quick break of 30 minutes, we decided to visit the tea museum. It was a first visit for the group. After an hour spent at the museum we came to
the hotel and on the way we picked up the tea products from the TATA tea
factory outlet.
It
was relaxing time at the hotel for the rest of the day.
Day
3: 18th February 2013
It
was time to get back to Bangalore. The
route was decided earlier that we will drive via Udumalpettai - Pollachi -
Coimbatore - Satyamangalam - Chamarajanagar - Kanakapura.
The tea plantation and the valley
En
route we visited the Lakkam falls near Marayoor.
A macro shot
We drove slowly in the hope of spotting a few
wild animals in the Chinnar Wildlife reserve.
However, the heat was getting a bit unbearable, the chances of spotting
wildlife was zilch. A leisurely drive
got us to Pollachi around 12:15 pm. We
halted for an early lunch.
The
lunch was sumptuous and the AC comfort of the car and hotel was the best place
to be in as the temperature outside was hovering around 38 degrees. With the AC at full blast, we drove via Coimbatore. We refueled the cars before we drove towards
Satyamangalam. The traffic up to Annur
was high ensuring our progress very slow.
Post Annur, the traffic was sparse and we made good progress. It started pouring as were nearing
Bannari. The rain accompanied us for a
few kms. The drive through Dhimbham Ghats was fantastic. We stopped at Chamarajanagar for coffee.
During
the break, spotted a nail in the right rear tire. It was time to get it fixed. Lost a good 30 minutes and we headed towards
Bangalore. The rain again gave us
company after we cross Malavalli for about 15 kms. We regrouped near the NICE road junction, and
headed our way home, but not before my colleagues dropped off to their
residence.
I
topped up the car again before reaching home just to keep the trip stats to
near perfect.
