Fort Kochi

A very short and quick visit to Fort Kochi and Mattancherry. Its a very historic place and famous for Jew streets, churches, old style homes & buildings, beeches etc. Best place for street photographers. 

Its less than an hour drive from the city and a good place to hang out. You can see many foreigners there from all over the world, some of them are permeant resident there. Fort Kochi is also a common shooting location for many Malayalam films.

Kumarakom

Finally went for a house boat trip from Kumarakom during this christmas vacation. 

 

Vypin Island

A quick evening ride to Vypin island in Cochin after my cousin's marriage. Cochin is always one my favourite place as I have spent most of my school vacations here with my cousins.

I was not carrying my camera and took these pictures with iPhone. 

 

Wayanad again

This time to attend one of my close friend's marriage. So it was a get-together of our friends and a wonderful trip as well. We started by around 7.00 AM on Friday morning and reached there by 3.00 PM with occasional pit stops in between. This time the weather, especially the sky, was clear unlike last time. So the photos came out good and colorful.

Our stay was in Coffee County resort, which was a pretty good one. However our taxi driver wasn't happy at all as the road to the resort wasn't in a good condition. There are 4 cottages and we were the only visitors that time, occupying two of them. The owner of the resort was a close friend of my friend who was with us, so we have got a very good reception there and the stay was really enjoyably.

Next day went for an exciting trekking to Chembra peak, which helped in burning out the calories we gained from the resort. The climb was very steep but we managed to complete the full 2.5km. The view from the top of peak was breathtaking. We had a guide and they were very strict about tourists throwing garages and plastic bottles. Overall that was a really nice experience. But again the road was very bad & taxi driver wasn't happy.

Attended the wedding (sort of) on Sunday and returned to Bangalore.

Chekkadi, the rice bowl of Wayanad

Sun set view from paddy fields in Chekkadi,Wayanad

Coffee County Resort

Top of Chembra Peak, Wayanad

Tea estate in Chembra , Wayanad

See the trip video, completely made (shot + edit) using an iPhone 4s.

NH 47

On the way to Bangalore from my home town Pala, the sky was looking really beautiful as we were passing through NH 47. Anytime when I see a clear blue sky with white clouds I take photos with the sky occupied most of the frame and it comes out good. This time I didnt bother to take out my SLR but captured these using my mobile.

NH 47 near Salem

The high-way passes through Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but the road condition is pathetic in Kerala & on the other hand its very good in Tamil Nadu.

Wayanad Bike Trip

Finally at this peek of summer I did my longest bike trip - to Wayand from Bangalore, about 300+ KMs. There was a plan for a trip in car with my friends which got cancelled at the last minute so I thought why not go alone in Bike. This is my second visit, read about the first visit here. Friday around 10.30 I started from Bangalore, took occational stops and reached wayand by 6 in the evening. Stayed at my friend's place and returned on Sunday. The solo drive through Muthanga wildelife sanctuary in Bullet was unforgettable. The roads were excellent - clean and empty with frequent curves which made the bike ride really joyful. Bangalore-Mysoore highway ride was tiring as it was very hot.

Muthanga is known to people from Kerala more for the police firing incident happened in 2003. I took a stop for a cup of tea at Muthanga after crossing the Kerala border and asked the him about the incident. He told me it was the result of a political drama where one party encouraged the Adivasis to occupy reserved forest land and then the government had to forcefully remove them. Anyway that was a real bad chapter in the history of Muthanga.

Not much photos this time, everywhere it was dry and hot. The forest was better though. I was little scared to stop inside the forest, I saw many deers and a bear too. Hera are few photos.

Driving through Muthanga Forest, view from cockpit

Pulpally Forest

Muthanga Forest

Wayand Cricket Stadium

Wayanad

Wayanad is a wonderful hill station in north-east of Kerala (Munnar is another one). It shares border with Karnataka & Tamil Nadu states. The roads are very good and passes through forests, Bandipur national park, Muthanga wild life Sanctuary etc. Its about 300Kms from Bangalore via Mysoore and Gundalpet. Mysoore has many palaces, gardens etc. & in Gundalpet you can see acres of Flower on road side (depends on season). So its good weekend plan from Bangalore.

Driving through Thamarassery Churam - name is familiar to all Keralates, is the mountain road which connects Wayanad to rest of Kerala - was there in my whishlist since childhood.. It is a part of NH212 Mysore-Calicut highway and considered to be the most tedious road in kerala because of the sharp bends and hairpins.  We can see buses and trucks trying hard to negotiate the hairpins. When you enter Wayanad from Kerala you can see a big "welcome" board as soon as you reach the top of this mountain road which makes you will feel happy & proud, that finally you have made it.

There are many wonderful resorts available in Wayanad, Vythiri being the main one. Our stay was actually a company gift for serving 5 long years, but there were no rooms available in Vythiri. So we stayed in Meenmutty Heights, which was also a good one. There are many places to see in Wayanad, but we had other plans & could not visit them. Anyway here are some photos.

The great Thamarassery Churam, Wayanad 

                           Wayanad Roads                             Wayanad  Tea Plantations 

Kuruva Island, Wayanad

Meenmutty Heights Resort, Wayanad 

Meenmutty Heights Resort, Wayanad 

Idamalayar Dam

Water Dams are always my favourite places. In Kerala we have many hydro electrical power project and so there are many water Dams too. The Idukki Arch Dam is the biggest one, I have been there but photography is not at all allowed there. The dam is opened for visitors only for few days in a year.

This time I went with my cousin brothers, we all were meeting after a long time and wanted to go a relative's house. From there we went to see Idamalayar Dam. This dam was constructed in the 1980s. Its in a forest are near Bhoothathankettu. The dam is famous for the corruption case during its construction and many including a minister was jailed for it.

It was rainy day but we went on to see the dam, the complete trip was unplanned and that was the fun. Here are some photos.