Advice for South India itinerary!

Gabahd

Hi, my partner will be joining me in Chennai Jan 2 where we will stay until the 7th, including day trips to Tiruvanmalai and Mamalapuram.

The rest of our itinerary would look something like this, though the dates are approximative. We need help on that!

-Mysore: 8-9 (for sights)
-Wanayad: 10-12 (for nature)
-detour to either Ooty (for nature and train) or Kannur (for theyyam) 12-13
-Cochi: 13-16 (for kathakali, ayurvedic, fish and chilling)
-Munnar: 16-17 (for nature, spices and tea)
-Madhurai: 17 (for temple)
-Trichy/Tanjore : 18-19 (for temple)
-Pondicherry/Auroville 20/23 (to relax and to witness the utopia for 2-3 days!)
- Back to Chennai 24th

Our intention is to see an equal mixture of nature, cultural events and temples/sights. Besides Cochi and Pondi/Auro, we don't want to linger around the cities that much, just see the essential and move on. We are willing to take night train or sleeper busses if that means getting more time to visit. We might rent a car from Mysore up until Cochi, as it will be useful for Wanayad and our undecided detour destination.

Question 1: We are interested in seeing theyyam in Kannur and also see the train in Ooty and Nilgiri Falls. Unfortunately, we might have to chose only one of these places, due to lack of time. What would Ooty have to offer be similar in Munnar, since they are both hill stations? Suggestions?

Question 2: Is it possible to include backwater tour at some point? We might make it a daytrip for Cochi.

Question 3: Any cities better for a casual yoga sessions? I was thinking Cochi and Pondi, since we'll be there for longer.

Thanks for any feedback!

ramsblore

Hi,
Between Ooty and Munnar, I personally would prefer Munnar, as Ooty is over commercialised. Like you said both are hill stations, but if you are loooking for a serene atmosphere, Munnar, it should be. You could include backwater tour in a day from Kochi. That shouldnt be a problem. Casual Yoga sessions, would be better in Pondi, and you could go in for Ayurveda sessions and Kathakali etc in Kochi. If you need any specific information, let me know

http://marinersdiary.blogspot.com

Gabahd

Thanks! Munnar it will be!

Any advice on how to proceed to see theyyam in Kannur? Do we have to go to Kannur "the city" or can you catch somewhere closer, not so out of our way?

Gabahd

This is the itinerary we are thinking of now... Tickets are not booked yet, wanted to see if we could get feedback from knowledgeable people! If you have any advice, let us know soon!

Thanks!

In Chennai until Jan 7, including day trip to Mamallapuram on Jan 5

-Mysore: 7-10
- SLEEPER TRAIN - Jan. 7 - Chennai to Mysore, 9:30pm Arriving in Mysore at 7:55am

-Wanayad: 10-12
- BUS - Jan 10 - Mysore to Kalpetta, TBD
RENT A CAR ON LOCATION TO SEE THE SIGHTS IN THE AREA
- BUS - Jan 12 - Kalpetta to Cochi - TBD

-Cochi: 12-15
- Backwater day-trip, Jan 14, Arrange in Cochi
-BUS - Jan 15, afternoon -Cochi to Munnar, TBD, 4 hours, 30 min

-Munnar: 15-17
- BUS - Jan 17 from Munnar to Madurai, Once daily at 2:30pm, (six hours)

-Madhurai: 17-18
- SLEEPER TRAIN - from Madurai to Trichy, 6pm - 8:50pm

-Trichy : 18-20 (Day trip to Tanjore by BUS, Stay in Trichy)
BUS -Trichy to Pondicherry, 3 x/day, 5 hours

-Pondicherry/Auroville 20/23
- RICKSHAW from Pondicherry to Auroville
- BUS from Auroville to Chennai

- Back to Chennai 23rd

pmvelu

My comments inline Gabhad. If you need more info, Please Post




-Mysore: 7-10
- SLEEPER TRAIN - Jan. 7 - Chennai to Mysore, 9:30pm Arriving in Mysore at 7:55am

As you have 2 Days in Mysore, Try out Local sights like Palace,Karanji Lake [Next to zoo], Zoo,Chamundi Hills and if possible include on the second day Talacad [ City under sand -Very interesting place where several temples were buried under sand -- Photos I shared in the IM-Photo Section and just 30 kms from mysore], Somanathpura [ Hoysala Architecture temple and nearer to Talakkadu]

-Wanayad: 10-12
- BUS - Jan 10 - Mysore to Kalpetta, TBD

If you would like to do in bus, you could catch "Calicut bound bus" Or "Kalpetta Bound bus" and as buses are minimal, as soon as you reach Mysore, Go to "Mysore Suburb bus stand" and try to reserve one .[ For Karnataka State buses you could try searching in www.ksrtc.in - E-Reservation and apart from this there are Kerala State buses for which you don't have Online timetable and another pointer. [ In Mysore Sub-urb bus stand there will be a Timetable Board near to the "IN" - Gate . You could have a look on the same]

RENT A CAR ON LOCATION TO SEE THE SIGHTS IN THE AREA

Yes, to explore Wayanad we need to have a Cab on our own. Good idea !

- BUS - Jan 12 - Kalpetta to Cochi - TBD

From Kalpetta, catch any of the Many buses which Ply to Kozhikode [Calicut] and Reserve well in advance in train for Calicut- Ernakulam stretch. Kalpetta to Cochi in Bus will be an uncomofortable tiresome journey


-Cochi: 12-15
- Backwater day-trip, Jan 14, Arrange in Cochi

Fine

-BUS - Jan 15, afternoon -Cochi to Munnar, TBD, 4 hours, 30 min


There are Many Private buses as well as Kerala State Transport buses between Perumbavoor / Kothamangalam / Ernakulam and it will take 4 1/2 Hours to cover the distance. May be in Munnar you could hire a cab to explore local things. If you are on Budget and want to explore Munnar's tourist spots , you could even join any of the many package tours which is available in Munnar [There are Many and as soon as you get down in Munnar bus stand people give "Advertiment Slips which talks about many a local tour options .. May be you could decide 1 or 2 tours based on your interests]

-Munnar: 15-17
- BUS - Jan 17 from Munnar to Madurai, Once daily at 2:30pm, (six hours)

As Far as I know, this is one of the outdated information. For Sure, you have more than 2 to 3 buses a day to Madurai from Munnar. But My suggestion is, get the Much frequent "Theni" Bound bus and from theni to Madurai there are many many buses and you could select and board a bus.. No Issues. Please do not wait Or plan for this Munnar -- Madurai direct bus as it's not needed as such and anyways Munnar-Madurai bus will also PLY through Theni only.So Munnar- theni , Theni- Madurai is the BEST option


-Madhurai: 17-18
- SLEEPER TRAIN - from Madurai to Trichy, 6pm - 8:50pm

Yes it's a good plan And also you could do it in a bus as Buses are so so frequent [ 15 Minutes once] and it's just 3 hours journey .. your call.


-Trichy : 18-20 (Day trip to Tanjore by BUS, Stay in Trichy)
Yes Trichy to Tanjore, you could get a bus [ Buses are so frequent 5 Minutes once ] but "4 Laning of this highway is in progress" and almost 35 kms out of 56 kms it will be dusty / Poor roads.. In Car it might get more worser too. Stick on to bus OR if you would like to avoid all these , you could board any of the Passenger trains from Trichirapalli JN which takes same or even less time to reach Tanjore JN . If you want fast and Luxury , try to board "Janshatabdi Express" [Except Tuesdays] which leaves from Trichi JN at 10:55 am and reaches Tanjore at 11:40 am .

There is NO need to get back to trichy for Stay . From Tanjore you have buses to Pondicherry OR Cuddalore .

BUS -Trichy to Pondicherry, 3 x/day, 5 hours

Discussed above. If you like to have comofortable Journey and you are backtracking to Trichy on purpose , try out any of the trains from Tiruchirapalli and get down at Villupuram Jn and from there you have buses to Pondicherry once in 15 minutes and it's just hardly a hour away .

-Pondicherry/Auroville 20/23
- RICKSHAW from Pondicherry to Auroville
- BUS from Auroville to Chennai

You need to get back to AuroVille to Pondy bus stand from where you have frequent buses to chennai. 2 things,

1. try to board "Non-Stop Buses"
2. Try to Board bus which passes thru {East Coast Road - ECR} --> A Big Sticker will be there in all buses stating "ECR" [Best Route ,2 lanes , Scenic, Seaside drive / Sea View at several points] and the other ordinary route [which is indicated in the bus by "Super Highway - NH 45"[ 4 Lanes, No Scenery , Heavy Traffic]

- Back to Chennai 23rd

fine.

How to reach Kannur

You could plug-in Kannur on your way from Kalpetta to Cochin.From Calicut you could get bus to Kannur [Which is 90 kms in excellent NH-17 Highyway] and once you are done with Kannur, you could board Ernakulam JN bound trains from Kannur itself !

Gabahd

Wow, thanks a lot for that! Will look at it closely and comment if I have questions. Thank you so much.

Gabahd

We hear the temple in Madhurai is under serious renovation. I'm thinking if it's still the case in Jan, we can go to Madhurai someother time in our lifetime. We would probably skip Madhurai to spend more time in Munnar.

What's the easiest way to go from Munnar to Trichy?

Gabahd

Madhurai temple is in renovation until April 2009, says the Madhurai Tourist Office.

We're thinking of skipping it. But Munnar to Trichy seems long, is it?

Gabahd

Now I'm thinking we should keep the whole Tamil Nadu temple circuit for another time.

Any tips on how to spend those days in Kerala instead? Was thinking of working our way down and then go directly from the last spot (Trivandrum? Kanyakumari?) to Chennai.

Possible destinations: Allepey, Varkala, Trivandrum, Kanyakumari
How much time is needed for that? Is Kanyakumari worth it?

Where's a good spot to stop between Munnar and Allepey? Kumily? Not sure we want to stay that long in Periyar, if at all, as we have our quota of wildlife places (Wayanad, Munnar...)

Preferably we'd like to travel for cheap (bus, train) but if renting a car for a segment is worth it, we might consider.