It was a 3 day weekend and all my friends were home on holidays. So, on a warm Saturday afternoon , we decided to embark on exploration of one such paradise . We decided to take the route to Pollachi which is about 40 kms from Palakkad, a place that is much sought after for movie shooting. It's just about a 40 minute ride in car to Pollachi from here.
From there , We made our way to Valparai , a hill station located around 60 kms away from Pollachi. The best part are the roads which are immaculate in every way. The first drop off was at Aliyar. Though the usual tourist spot is the dam , we were hardly interested in it and so we kept the ride on. Just when we covered some distance and reached the back side of the dam , We found a location filled with rocks and sands with a long view of the dam . It was very serene and its a perfect place for photography. Small streams run through the sandy bottoms , small rocky pebbles lie along the sides of water, lovely trees and plants all around - It was picture perfect. Am attaching a few pictures of the place below.
After spending some time out here and taking pictures on the roads , we continued our joruney to Valparai . It was already 4 in the evening by then and we were doubtful about being able to reach the top. The hill ride consists of 40 hair pin bends and the roads are quite narrow. So, I'd suggest you not to do the travel with inexperienced drivers.
En route , there is a waterfall known as "Monkey falls" which gets its name from the fact that its surrounded by monkeys all around. There is hardly any water and the place stinks to the core. Though it's a very popular tourist destination, I strongly recommend not to try the falls . After that , We carried on the journey and reached Attakatti at about 5 PM. This place is nearly 30 kms off Valparai. There is an Inspection Bungalow which you can enter by taking permission from the Assistant Engineer.
The view from the Inspection Bungalow is breath taking. It's one of those locations where earth meets the sky . You get so lost in the beauty that you lose track of time. But, we had to return back home from this point since we had to get back home before night . The trip was great fun and it was one of those unforgettable days of my life.
So , to everyone - If you have 1 full day or a day and half with you, I'd suggest you take this trip.
Palakkad- Pollachi - Aliyar- Attakatti- Valparai- Athirapilly-Thrissur- Palakkad. Its definitely worth your time and money!
-VIKAS PLAKKOT
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ReplyDeleteI would advise not to go to athirapally via this route if u are driving a puny little car . The 60 km stretch from valparai to athirappaly through sholayar forest is so wretched that u'll be too busy figuring out when the car's gonna break down let alone enjoy the forest. And one more thing, if u are unfortunate enough not to drive an SUV, it'll take u at least 4 hrs to cover that 60 kms and in the end clutch plate is guaranteed to wear down to half the original size....sadly enough, I'm experienced , destroyed two cars.. :(
ReplyDeletelol :) poor you!
ReplyDeleteok folks, return back from valparai :D :D