This trip happened sometime back in June 2016. I was just done with my sem exams. So it was the period of the usual "Boring" holidays, where in you stay entirely at home doing nothing. Tired of staying at home, this trip came back as  a sudden surprise. A friend of mine called me for a trip and everything was set in a day or two! The place was set for Pollachi! Had never heard much about this place earlier but knew it was a good shooting place.

So, we were set! One fine day I left Udupi, my hometown, to reach Chennai. My friend who was eager for this trip was already waiting for me there! The next day, we took a car and started off! On the way, we covered Mahabalipuram & Pondicherry.

There is already mention of the  places around Mahabalipuram & Pondicherry in this post : 3 day Trip to Chennai & Surrounding Places.

Panchrathas of Mahabalipuram

Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram

From Pondicherry, we headed straight to Coimbatore! Pollachi is a calm and quiet place located near Coimbatore. Its hardly 2 hours by road from Coimbatore. So, the next day we left Coimbatore. The road to Pollachi is so scenic which made me believe that no doubt Pollachi is used as shooting spot for variety of movies. Pollachi really is such a green place and has variety of landscapes. It boasts of huge mountains, dams, waterfalls, and not to forget the clean and curvy roads!

A ride in these roads will definitely make you forget all your worries.

Firstly we headed to TopSlip. The place is actually located in a  protected forest and in order to enter the TopSlip one has to take permission and pay an entry fee at the check post located below the hill. The road atop the hill isnt in a good condition but its  compensated by the view it provides. So finally we reached top the hill, but there was nothing much special atop except for a few amenities, an elephant ride, a park, and few log houses to stay. Disheartened, we again drew further to reach Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary. But unlucky we were, for we were stopped at the entrance as the safari for the day had already closed. When asked when would the next safari be, the officer informed us that the next is only on the next day. Disheartened, we left back traveling down the hill  back thru the same check post.

Our next destination was Aliyar Dam. Aliyar Dam, a calm and quiet place to spend ones day, was a worth a visit. On one side of the dam, had beautiful garden and the other side had a boating facility which apparently had been stopped after some incidents. Nevertheless, one can spend some quality time in this dam.

 Aliyar Dam

Panorama at Aliyar Dam

After the dam comes the Monkey falls. But again, lady luck wasnt with us. They had closed Monkey falls sighting some maintenance work.

The road further leads to Valparai! So, we further headed to Valparai. Believe me  it was one epic road! Such  a curvy road offering scenic spots everywhere . In fact one forgets that he is climbing atop a hill by seeing the scenic beauty around him. The section has around 40 hair pin bends and each one is very unique with the view it provides .

Roads en route to TopSlip, Pollachi

Valparai is also a tourist attraction. The best part is not much people flock to these regions. So, now that we had some time left, we decided to explore Valapari. First we headed to Kadampari Dam, but again to our dismay, the place was closed saying roads leading to it arent proper. So next we headed towards Nallamudi view point and through out our way we could fine beautiful tea estates everywhere.

When we finally reached the view point, it was fully covered with clouds and we were disheartened again. It was already evening and we finally left back to Coimbatore.

The next day a long ride was awaiting us to Chennai  from where I came back home finally marking the end of the trip! Anyhow, not to be disheartened as I am planning to visit the place one more time to re-discover the hidden treasures.

Someone has rightly said, your life is short so make the most of it! And do visit Pollachi and Valparai, not many are aware of these names. These places are just like heaven on earth!

Pollachi , Valaparai : The Undiscovered treasures

Kiran K 0

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Just a week before I had landed into Bangalore in the pursuit of doing my Internship. The usual company life had got into me already in a week and this time I really wanted to do something new! Few days back I had met my friend who was talking about solo trips! She had been telling about Solo trips in such a passionate way that after listening to her, I decided on the spot that even I should have one solo trip! What more can I ask for?

So, after the usual party routines of Friday, I was heading back to my home on Saturday morning. Suddenly it occurred to me that instead of wasting a weekend in Bangalore, why not get something out of it! I just had reached my home by somewhat around 12 in the noon. In no time I was out of it with my luggage all set to head for a solo trip! But not knowing where exactly to go, I was wandering the streets of Bangalore till 2p.m.  I was heading on Bannerghatta road that suddenly I happened to see a lorry with TN registration. Seeing the lorry the first thing that came to my mind was Chennai. Without any second thought in my mind, I headed directly to Nice road and then set off to Chennai! 

Just on reaching somewhere near Hosur, I found a sign board  with my desitnation name written on it! Chennai 350km was written. Whoa ! For a moment that 350km seemed so huge that I began counting number of hours I have to sit in the rider seat of my bike! But as the journey began, I almost forgot of that number. The journey was equally awe-full as the destination where I was headed. Rain god had already blessed me and now it was the turn of Sun God to do so. After crossing Vellore I started feeling the blessings of Sun god. It was getting all hot and the climate change was so evident. If its your first bike trip , then I will have to warn you, youll be all fine for the first 200 kms , later on youll be requiring stops every now and then. So was my case. After crossing Kanchipuram I was literally stopping for every 30 mins. The heat wave was so much that I had to take rest in between and cool both bike and myself down .

Finally I happened to reach Chennai only by somewhere around 9 p.m. After checking in at a cheapest hotel I dumped my luggage, kept my bike and decided to go for  a stroll. I knew I couldnt ride any longer that day. Chennai was so beautiful at night. Not much crowd, roads being wide enough, it really is a nice place to roam.

The next day  I woke up quite early and headed to Marina beach to spot sunrise. But unluckily a cloudy weather was spotted and may be ill have to head again to see sunrise! After spending some time in the beach, I headed back to room and checked out. I was in a  confusion to decide where to visit. So had headed to a mall nearby, Skywalk Mall, it was starting to get crowd , the Sunday crowd. Theatres were getting full and people started to flock in large numbers. Next , I decided to visit the St. George  Fort Meusem. This was a cool place located well along the shores of Bay of Bengal and had a collection of variety of weapon's, coins, dresses,paintings and what not! 

From here I headed to Semmozhi Poonga . This was a pretty cool garden, but with couples situated everywhere. I'd say you are more probable to find more couples than trees here. But nevertheless in the scorching heat of Chennai , I definitely needed a place like this to cool off ! Still the cool it provided wasnt enough. As I was searching for a better place to take a nap, I was reminded of Planetarium . What other best place would one find where you would be given an AC room with push back chair and a dark environment to sleep off. 

Without loosing time i headed to Periyar Science Center. The Center had a science exhibition center , a planetarium, a playground, a 3D show all in a fare of just Rs.45.

So after avoiding the scorching mid-noon sun of Chennai , I decided to visit a beach. Initial plan was to visit Kovalam beach on the ECR, but due to time limitations I had to stick to a nearby beach. So, headed to Elliots beach .Spent some time sitting there peacefully.

By now, the time was all up! It was already 7 p.m and I had to leave to Bangalore (ride to Bangalore actually). So, I started after feeding my bike. The weather was getting cloudy and I could feel that i'd be  caught in a really bad rain tonight. But I didnt have a option either. So, I decided to cover the max distance possible. By around 10, I was at Vellore. 

After having dinner at Vellore, the second phase of my journey started. My stomach was full , it was raining heavily, that too in night, and a cool breeze. Everything was making me sleepy. Even though I took pit stops it didnt help. Then at one point I just found a empty bus stop and slept for some time ! Sleeping in this bus stand was no less luxurious than a 5 star hotel for me at that point of time! After a small nap, I started again.But sleep was still behind me. I had to take 2 more stops. Somehow I managed to reach Bangalore that night and it was already 3 by the time i reached ! 

That was it for the trip! My first SOLO TRIP was done and that too on my bike riding all the way covering around 750km in just 36 hours !

Chennai In BIke: A sudden Unexpected Journey

Kiran K 0

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It was February and the summer was all set to begin. Already the temperature had sored up quite high and would reach its max in next few days.

Though not the perfect time, we decided to explore Chennai & neighbouring places. So, places were searched from Google, wiki, and many other blogs and finally few of the hand picked ones were selected. The hand picked one included few places from  Chennai, Mahabalipuram & Puducherry(Pondicherry). Since our journey started from Bangalore, the plan was to leave Bangalore by Friday early morning. Visit Pulicat Bird Sanctuary, and later stay in Chennai. The next day, it was planned to visit the sight-seeing places in and around Chennai & by afternoon leave to Mahabalipuram, and visit the few prominent places there .The stay for second day wasn't decided and we were hopeful of travelling to Pondicherry for stay.The third day, was to explore Pondy and return to Bangalore by night !

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Day 1 : Pulicat & Chennai :

Our journey started from Bangalore. Since we had to cover a long distance we had planned to leave the city early in the morning by 06:00,also avoiding the city's rush-hour traffic. Our first destination was Pulicat. Pulicat is a bird Sanctuary located in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Famous for the various migratory birds arriving there, its almost similar to the Ranganatithu of Mysore. But this one is quite huge and spread over a large area. We reached the Pulicat bird sanctuary entrance by around 1:30 p.m, but were shocked to see not even a single tourist there. When asked with the local care-taker, he informed us that the season of the migratory birds are over. They usually come in the months of Nov-Jan. Disheartened as we were about to leave, the care-taker suggested us to visit the nearby Nelapattu bird sanctuary,which was 20km from there. Also, there was a small information centre, which was well  maintained, displaying the various birds that come here, along with some 3D models of few birds.

3 day Trip to Chennai & Surrounding Places

Kiran K 0

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