ocean se7en - most memorable trip ever

this trip was done exactly 2 years back. it was long weekend - christmas weekend. this was the weekend when tsunami caused havoc in many asian countries. i 'll not be writting in details and instead i'll just be copying the original plan. yes we had a proper doc file prepared by nit ( for more photos and trips, check out his website http://www.flickr.com/photos/trance_nut )

Ocean's Seven

Bangalore Kanyakumari (23 Dec 2004 - 27 Dec 2004)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Seven

=========

1. Ashish a.k.a Dhoom Dhadak

2. Deepak a.k.a DJ

3. Eesh a.k.a Born Free

4. Guppi a.k.a Sparking

5. Nitin a.ka. 6 mein 1 ka mazaa

6. Vishal a.k.a Choos Lee

7. Vivek a.k.a Tan D

Statistics

Total Distance: 1900 km

Trip Start Time: 5 PM

Trip End Time: 8 AM

Trip Duration: 51 hrs

The Route:

Bangalore à Kanyakumari

Bangalore -- Coimbatore -- Ernakulum -- Kochi -- Alappuzha -- Kolam -- Thiruvanthapuram – Kovalam – Kanyakumari

Kanyakumarià Bangalore

Kanyakumari -- Madurai -- Kodaikanal -- Dundigal -- Salem – Bangalore

Vehicles:

Esteem: CH01-L-XXXX

CBZ 1: DL4S-Z-XXXX

CBZ2: KA03-EE-XXXX

ZMA: KA03-EP-XXXX

23.12.04

Leg 1: (Bangalore—Coimbatore)

Distance: 382 KM

Approx Time: 8 hrs

Route:

Bangalore--90--Krishnagiri--40--Dharmapuri--75--Salem--164--Coimbatore

<---------------------NH-7--------------------------><------NH-47------->

Depart by 3 PM (latest)

Reach Coimbatore by 11:30 PM-12 AM. Sync up with car. Rest at any hotel for 3 hrs (sleep, do anything). Start at 3 am.

24.12.04 (3 AM Start)

Leg 2: (Coimbatore – Kovalam)

Distance: 430 km

Approx Time: 10 hrs

Route:

Coimbatore--114--Thrissur--79--Ernakulum--2--Kochi--218--TV Puram--16--Kovalam

<------------------------------NH-47-------------------------------------------->

Sync at Kovalam with car. Have lunch. Chill till sunset. Leave for Kanyakumari.

view from the hotel @ kochi. this is where we had breakfast and took rest for 3 hrs

first view of sea @ alleppey

back waters @ alleppey. a night in this boat would cost you around 20k

sunset @ kovalam

sleeping @ kovalam beach

24.12.04 (7 PM Start)

Leg 3: (Kovalam – Kanyakumari)

Distance: 90 km

Approx Time: 2 hrs

Route:

Kovalam --90-- Kanyakumari

Search for a hotel for the night. Have dinner. Off to bed by 11 pm (latest).

its christmas time - on the way to kanyakumari

waiting for sunrise @ kanyakumari ( our bad luck, it was cloudy )

25.12.04 (6 AM Wake Up)

C THE SUN, RISE J. If we miss it, the whole trip is worthless.

Once done with the sunrise, have the option to go and sleep till 11 AM (negotiable). Have brunch, and leave for Vivekananda Rock. Assume to spend about 2-3 hrs for the rock visit. Lunch time (2:30 pm). Finish by 3:30 – 4 pm. Chill around, watch sunset, depart by 7:30 PM latest.

view from our lodge - vivekananda rock, thiruvalluvar statue

on the way to vivekananda rock - inside ferry

vivekananda rock

thiruvalluvar statue

@ vivekanand rock

experimenting - sun shades in front of camera

sunset @ kanyakumari - we were lucky enough to atleast see the sunset

Leg 4: (Kanyakumari – Madurai)

Distance: 235 km

Approx Time: 5 hrs

Route:

Kanyakumari--81--Tirunelveli--72--Virudunagar--89--Madurai

<-------------------NH-7------------------------------------>

Spend the night at Madurai. Plan to leave by 5 AM (latest by 6 AM)

madurai temple

26.12.04 (5 AM departure from Madurai)

Leg 5: Madurai – Kodaikanal

Distance: 130 km

Approx Time: 4 hrs

Route

Madurai --50-- Batlagundu--80-- Kodaikanal

Starting on the NH7 towards Salem/Bangalore, cruise for 32kms on a not so smooth road and too narrow for a National Highway. Once you take a left turn to go
under the BG Railway line and cross the road level MG Railway line.

Note: Uphill climb is not smooth. Roads are in a bad shape.

Reach Kodaikanal by 10 AM (latest). Have brunch. Roam around (Coaker’s Walk, Lake, some caves also, can decide there). We have 8 hrs in Kodaikanal. What to do is up to us.

sunrise - 26th Dec '04 - the day of tsunami - we left in time to miss it

early morning in kodai

uphill - bikers on the way to kodai

fog covered mountains

kodai lake

26.12.04 (6 PM departure from Kodaikanal)

Leg 6: Kodaikanal – Salem

Distance: 300 km

Approx Time: 6 hrs

Route:

Kodaikanal--130--Dundigal--164--Salem

This is the toughest part. Hope to reach Salem by 1 AM latest. Sleep over till 5 AM. Depart for Bangalore at 5 AM.

time for sleep- on the way back from kodai

sunset @ kodai

27.12.04 (5 AM departure fro

m Salem)

Leg 7: Salem – Bangalore

Distance: 205 km

Approx Time: 5 hrs

Route:

Salem--75--Dharmapuri--40--Krishnagiri--90--Bangalore

Reach Bangalore by 10 AM J. Totally SCREWED!!!!!!

Total Distance: 1770 km + 100 (Margin) = 1870 km in 90 hrs

marina beach - the longest beach in india

got a chance to go to chennai for some office work. though the trip to chennai was made by air, but the trip from abhirampura to marina beach was by road :-). this time of the year in cheenai is quite wet. it kept raining for all the days i was there except the day i had to come back to bangalore. it was burning hot outside but the temptation to capture sea in my new panasonic camera was enough to go to marina.

on the way to marina


a boat


ready to fly


land, water and sky

all alone

me too ( all alone )

though it is debatable if this beach is one of the longest in the world, i think it can easily qualify as the worlds dirtiest beach :(

Mysore dussehra

idol being carried on top of elephant

mysore dussehra

dusshera celebrations in mysore are famous world over for its grandeur. its a 10 day festival which ends on the day of dusshera. on the 10th day idol of the goddess chamundi is taken all over the city on elephants. the procession starts from mysore palace and goes through all big roads of mysore. there are also a lot of cultural performances in this procession.

people trying to get inside the mysore palace

mysore palace

the procession starts at around 1:30 in the evening and goes through till sunset and you need to have pass to go inside the mysore palace.

cultural performances

all through these 10 days mysore palace is beautifully lit up at night, unlike normal days when mysore palace is lit up only on sundays.

guards

the weather in mysore is much hot compared to bangalore. there are 2 ways to reach mysore from bangalore. kanakpura road and mysore road. mysore road is really good and one can cover 140km stretch easily in 2 and half hours (provided you leave bangalore early morning to miss traffic near bhel).

places to see in and around mysore :- sri ranganathan temple, ranganthetu bird sanctuary , mysore palace, vrindavan gardens, chamundi temple, st. philomena's church and there are also a lot of small exibitions of pictures and ornaments from tipu's time

st. philomena's church

chamundi temple

hawa mahal

race course

ruins near sri ranganathan temple

checking the zoom of my cannon handycam