Chennai- Cochin- Munnar- Athirampally tour..!

Everyone would precise about how they ran the gamut of their tour. To make it more simple, I would like to jot down everything that happened in the tour briefly.

20-3-2009:

-> Deparute for Coimbatore by Intercity Express at 2:00pm. Had fun in train. Had more fun with girls who traveled with us in the abreast compartments. By 'fun' i just meant the howling and hoy we threw at each other. Our pastime were nothing but cards, lurking and footling chats. [Chennai to Coimbatore- 497kms; Travel duration: 8hrs approx.]
-> Reached Coimbatore at 10pm. Had food in a hotel opposite to the station. Our next train to Ernakulam was scheduled to be at 2am. We had some time to meander in the roads of Coimbatore.
-> Train to Ernakulam was at the station on time. Took a snooze and got up before we reach Ernakulam. It was at 6am the next day when we reached Ernakulam and we were taken to hotel Shalimar Residency by Subash, who joined us there. [Coimbatore to Ernakulam- 206kms; Travel duration: 3 and half hours approx.]

21-3-2009:

->At nearly 8am, Everyone bathed and got ready to wander. We went to a nearby temple and took some pics. At 9:45am, we started on our way for sight seeing. At 10am, we reached Ferry Boating. We were taken to two islands which had two important sites- St. Francis Church and an Archaeological Museum. We also saw the Chinese Fishing Net, which is very famous in Cochin. Tripunithura Palace is where we stopped next. It was beautiful. [In Tripunithura Palace, Naresh did a funny thing. Sathish found a jackfruit somewhere behind the palace and wanted to taste it. Naresh helped him to take it out of the palace somehow. Naresh, as if he was robbing the crown of the King, packed the fruit in a plastic cover, that got torn cuz of weight and its thorny surface. It looked funny when he was walking stealthily holding a bold face but his hands shivering cuz of the fear of security gaurds.] Before leaving for our hotel we went to Chottanikkara Temple. At 5:30pm, we returned to our hotel after having our lunch on the way. It was hot as hell in Ernakulam and we were drenching in sweat.
-> That night, at the hotel, we got to know that students from SMC have come for a tour and staying in the same hotel where we stay. Soon it bruit about among us. Had fun lurking about for girls and some more fun.

22-3-2009:
-> At 6:30am, we depart for Munnar by bus. It was a tiring 4 and half hours travel. On the way, we took pics at Rajamalai. The roads of Munnar were simpy awesome. Munnar was never less of a heaven. We reached S.N Hotel at 10:45am. The hotel was awe-inspiring and was very neat. There was no fan since its very cold up there. It was 17*C at 12 noon and less than 10*C in the night. I think only me and Guru bathed. The rest did'nt cuz the water was so cold that it'd numb your skin.
-> By 1:30pm, we started on our way for sight seeing. The ghat roads en route was simply dreadful.
-> By 2:00pm, we reached some place where they take you on elephants for a ride. It was too coslty to go for a ride on them, so we took pics with the elephants.
-> In another half an hour, we were at the Echo Point. Everyone howled their names and all we got was a meek echo. There was boating too, but we had less time to go for a ride.
-> At 3:15pm, we went to Kundala Dam. There was boating and everyone gave it a shot except me. The entire place was picturesque. The place serves as a reason to leave no memory space in your camera.
-> We came back to the hotel at 7pm after shopping some spices, home-made chocolates and tea powder, for which Munnar is famous.
-> At 8:15pm, we had lunch in S.N restaurant, very close to our hotel. We had to eat early cuz all the shops will be closed by 9pm.
-> We started out for a walk at 9pm. It was fun cuz it was pitch dark and i was carrying a torch that helped us show way. It was so cold that the words coming out of our mouth turned to smoke in the cold air. We went few kilometers and came back cuz of Prakash who got scared cuz of the dark roads that were ahead of us. It was 10:20pm when we reached our hotel.
-> We slept a little early, while others were paying cards untill they fell asleep.

23-3-2009:
-> Got up at 6:15am cuz we had to leave for Athirampally early. By 8:00am, we checked out of the hotel and left. We stopped on the way near a tea estate to take some pics. By 3:30pm, we reached the Athirampally falls after 7hrs journey by bus. We had lunch on the way. [A humorous incident happened at the hotel. Me and Shanmugasundaram had a burger and a sandwich which we thought might help us on a journey that goes 15kms high altitude. All the Brahmin guys said they wont have lunch in 'Veg and Non-Veg' hotels. They needed pure Veg hotels. Me and Shanmgasundaram, after having our burger, waited in the bus. The rest went to a hotel which was some few mts away from the hotel from where we had our lunch. They had ordered for Veg Biryani. While eating, Santhanam found two dead cockroaches in it. The funny part is, he had put the dead cockroaches aside and continued eating his food. And then he found a worm in it. Only then he realized that the food has gone bad. He complained and they canceled all their orders].
-> We got a news that actor Jayam Ravi has come for a movie shooting in Athirampally. I dont know how far that was true. Or even true. We never saw him. Took many pics there. The place looks beautiful but one has to be very very careful near Athirampally falls. Cuz the rocks were very slippery and was in no good shape. I got slipped once, but managed to climb up with no injuries. Ram Kumar and Yugasirpi got hurt when tried to move from one rock to the other. The rocks were sinister and scared the shit out of everyone. Soon after we got off the water, it started raining. It was beautiful.
-> By 5:30pm we left the place and reached Trichur station at 7pm. Trivandrum Express was scheduled to be at the station by 11:10pm. It was on time. Me and Paramesh shared a lot of things in train and slept a while later. I got up the next morning at 5:30am. After everyone was astir, we played cards again. There were some northies traveled with us in the same train but in S7 compartment (we were in S9), so we had to go there to feed our eyes.
-> We thought the train wouldn't stop at Perambur, but it did. Not at the station, but before the station that we had to jump off the train. It reached Perambur at 9:45am. I reached home at 10:00am, on 24.03.2009. [Trissur to Chennai- 628kms; Travel duration: 10 and half hrs approx.]

The ones who threw up during the bus travel: Naresh, Sathish, Paramesh, Rajesh, Vijay Krishnan, Santhanam, Vijay Saravanan. (If i had missed anyone, let me know.!)

I am a Keralite, but i don't used to go to Kerala very often. Im more of a Chennaite than Keralite. I love Kerala for the place itself, beautiful girls and eye-catching houses. All three are stupendous in its kind.

For all those who missed the tour, i should have to say that you missed a very joyous trip. Yes, it was a very normal tour cuz i've been to Kerala so many times since its my hometown. But its always special when with friends. The more the friends, the more the enjoyment. We were 23, and it was rockin'. I never know if we get to go for a tour like this again. But if we do, i'l be the first on the list for sure.!

Pics: (click on it to enlarge)