Kodaikanal – Amaravathi – Marayoor / Apr 30 – May 1
Apr 30, 2016
Today was a weekend, It was time to say goodbye to Kodaikanal & run away from claustrophobic touristic spots to a less crowded town out. Destination was Marayoor, Kerela (40KMs from Munnar towards Annamalai Tiger Reserve).
The route of choice was TN-MDR-170 (Kodaikanal-Perumal Malai-Palani).
Route Recap
Hyderabad – Chennai – Kodaikanal – Marayoor – Munnar – Kochi – Vagamon – Thekkady – Munnar – Palakkad – Kalpetta (Wayanad) – Masinagudi – Ooty – Ananthpur (AP) – Hyderabad.
For previous part click here
My first attempt at working all night, touring all day has been a grand success so far. Thanks to the rocking BSNL 3G. BTW, do you know that I carry 4 sim cards and a data card all by different providers whenever I am travelling. So, having internet is of utmost importance to me to be able to work. If I don’t have internet, there is probably nobody who has internet in my 500 m radius at least 
This road is way more beautiful compared to Dindigul-Kodaikanal but it’s a really narrow road with deep valleys on the side. At times, it really becomes difficult to pass a bus. It becomes wider as you move away from Kodaikanal. There is a 4-5KM stretch which is bad and has large but not so deep potholes.
If you see my previous posts, you will realize that I always enjoy discovering or at least exploring new places along the way. May be they are not that inviting or famous but as a traveler who is driving almost all the time, finding these small places on the go gives a sense of pride to a traveler’s ego (only people who travel extensively can understand what that ego is like :-).
I have this affinity for visiting dams. For a country like India which is agriculture oriented & for a person like me who hails from family of farmers, exploring variety of dams & reservoir systems that this country offers with its vivid engineering always intrigues me. I could have driven all the way to Marayoor directly, but I decided to drive down to Amaravathi Dam. I knew that there will be hardly any water but then I thought water-less dams have never hurt anyone. So, why not. Turned out to be a good decision.
I’ll let the pics do the talk for the rest of this visit.
On the way to Amaravathi Dam
This entire region is dotted with these beautiful flower trees
Amravathi Dam
Amravathi Reservoir
Amravathi Reservoir
Amravathi Dam Info
Amravathi Dam
Amravathi Dam Canals
Another canal – Totally dry
As mentioned earlier, I didn’t expect much of water here. May be because it was summers or because of the ongoing drought situation all over the country. The largest wild breeding population of crocodiles in South India lives in this reservoir. The broad-snouted mugger crocodiles also known as marsh crocodiles and Persian crocodiles, are the most common and widespread of the three species of crocodiles found in India.
Of course I don’t have photographs of them. Thank god for that!
Overall this place could be missed on the way if one has an itinerary that has more famous & worthwhile places to visit but if exploring new things on the way excites you, then this place could be considered.
After visiting Amravathi Dam, I continued to Munnar. Here is an important alert, especially for those who are driving to Munnar. The Tamil Nadu forest guards at the first check post are totally hungry for bribe. They don’t mind asking for money. Was never asked for money at any of the Kerala forest check posts. Beware of them & gear up with your negotiation skills because you might need them very much if you are taking this route.
Reached Marayoor around 2 PM. For this week, my homestay was Sailsbury Manor. It’s perfect for that long stay kind of thing. It’s not that exotic sought after tourist hotel so might not be recommended for people who are planning to visit Marayoor as a weekend getaway. But certainly people who drive & travel for long will be able to appreciate the beauty & comfort this place has to offer. I will share some pictures of this homestay for you to decide.
Sailsbury Manor, Marayoor
Sailsbury Manor, Marayoor
That’s all for now. In my next Blog post, I will be discussing my week long stay at Marayoor.
To be continued here