Direness in tramping un-trodden paths is essentially what required to make a trip memorable. By moving along highways you will find nothing. So try tuning yourself to nomadic ways at least for the time being. You might then start feeling the vibrancy and thrill in being a traveler. However, what really counts is your mental toughness and attitude to life.
Hey, don’t be in a hurry. Before setting up your backpack, try remembering one thing. Backwaters and houseboats are not the utmost things Kerala offers.Gods own country is also blessed with umpteen secrets. All you need to do is open up your eyes. There are spots on this paradise that are less familiar, but astonishingly beautiful and with potential to provide extreme sporting experience that one always dream about.
So don't let your heart compromise on any options, especially if you are a Cochite. Open up your eyes, and you find as many quality locations as you like, all inside a span of 50 kms.
‘THOMMANKUTHU’ is one such spot. Distant 60 km from Ernakulum railway station and 80 km from the airport Nedumbasseri, the place will give you both beauty and beast in a single package.
As the place is yet to find its ways to touring charts, Thommankuthu is at least for now a virgin, where one could enjoy green nature at close quarters.
Cascading down the hill in seven steps, with a pool at each step, falls at Thommankuthu is exotic. It offers a view that shies many others of its kind. It is such an eye candy sight that one would always treasure it in his heart for years to come.
If you like swimming, then move like a fish through those shallow pools, filled relentlessly at one end by those foamy and chilling mountain blood. When exhausted, rest yourself at the feet of those giant trees guarding the pool along its shores.
But remember, we are here not just to cool and rest, but to lock horns with the wild wilderness of virgin nature.
So, let us make our muscles stretch. You can now start scaling the treacherous mountain heights that give birth to the cascading falls. A fully fledged 12 km stretch of trekking path is there for you to tramp on.
The climb will provide you with the fun for a life time. You will find not only the mesmerizing beautiful virgin forest land, but also the intimidating flip side of Mother Nature.
There are giant trees dancing to the tune of winds, all the while painting blue skies with dark clouds. They murmur and swing their heads relentlessly and in tandem. Make your ears sharp and hearken to those strange, distant noises echoing around breaking rock silence.
The place will make your heart transformed to that lone traveler who told you once, Woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.
Above all, what makes Thommankuthu endearing is its cost effectiveness. One could explore all those scenic treasures at a price as low as 500, if you like riding a motorcycle. You may make it expensive as well, with your choice of transportation.
From Thodupuzha, it takes a 20 km drive to reach the foot steps of the Thommankuthu wild life sanctuary. You may also catch a bus from Thodupuzha to reach Thommankuthu directly. As there are so many restaurants and hotels available food and accommodation won’t be a problem.
Nearest airport is Nedumbassery, It is about 80 km distant, while the nearest railway station is equidistant (60 Km) both from Kottayam and Cochin.
Fishing and horse riding are the other pass times available for fun at Thommankuthu.
There are certain things in this world that need to be felt rather than said. On the top of the world feeling a motorcyclist gets while rolling along the streets come rightly under this category. Thirst for this one great feeling was the only thing that kept myself gyrating yet again for a motorcycle ride.
I insisted only one condition. This time I should choose a place easier to reach, so that I could send more time enjoying nature. Our search was for a place that could paint our imaginations with greenish meadows, milky water falls and rocky mountain slopes.
As always, it was Sandeep who started pumping in touring ideas. A little after, Pachan and Kuttu joined forces. In a short while, our strength reached four. yes, now we are a team of eight legs and four wheels.
We all started sifting through locations with in the 50 Km perimeter. It was kuttu who came up with the idea of 'Prakrithi Gramam.' Kuttu is very familiar with the place and likes to visit it yet again. Pachan has also been to the place once, but he barely remembers any thing. So in a way, Pachan is as fresh as us.
Kuttu gave an encouraging briefing of the place. 'Prakrithi Gramam' according to Kuttu is an well gifted place on the outskirts of Vazachal. Vazachal, as you all know, is a gushing waterfall on the Chalakudy River, Thrissur.
A trip plan was shaped up. we are to ride on two bikes, have food along the way and return by evening 6-PM.
We were particularly thrilled with one thought. At least the trip would get rid of us from the all hectic, dusty roads of Kochi. Ezhattumugham alias Prakrithi Gramam is a call for us to enjoy nature.
We started off by around 8.30 AM. I was riding with 'Pachan', while sandeep was paired with Kuttu. After filling the stomach our riding machines with enough petrol we began wading through the heavy traffic of Kochi. On NH-47 it is not easy to escape gutters. We felt as though we were doing some treacherous 'Viga Land Ride.' Remember NH-47 is one of our best highway that connects the Capital city,Thiruvananthapuram, with rest of Northern Kerala as well as with Karnataka. Despite its prominence, it still remains as one of the poorly maintained road system in Kerala.
Though we were getting tired, the thought of milky waterfalls was making us energetic. After suffering to an extent of 45 km, we finally diverted out, leaving highway for good.
However, the final 15 Kms was different. The road was smooth as glass and brand new. we began floating along impossible curves and sharp hair pin bends with ease. The road cut through forest, plantations and rocky mountain slops. The view was so refreshing that all our fatigue vanished in a flash. We also found several way side shops and restaurants to dine and rest.
But we made a small flaw. We were supposed to take a right turn at Black Thunder water theme part, but we missed and went on straight adding another 15 km. More than half-an-hour was lost. At last when the sign board of Ezhattumugham welcomed us in, it was almost midday.
We parked immediately and soon got lost in the refreshing sight of the plush green vegetation along the mountain slopes. It was so cool that we filmed it several times. The mountain stood like an ancient saint,meditating deeply and solemnly.
There was certainly an aura surrounding the place. what not was there. Cool breeze, endlessly flowing sparkling water all lay romantic. Along the shoulders, a garden was there gifted with many scenic settings.
There were small waterfalls and the water beds were shallow allowing up to swim around fearlessly. From there we could see green islands and smooth rocks keeping their heads out in neck deep water.
There was also scope for a little adventure. Since there were no beaten path to any of those lonely islands, it is not easy reaching there. but we may still do it with some cautious efforts. But, have to extra careful. After a little bit of exploration we too found a shady, watery spot to cool our selves.
It was fun staying under water poking our heads out of water. The water was ice cool and flowing with moderate power. We spent hours and felt totally lost in the mystic beauty surrounding us.
“Beyond the east the sunrise; Beyond the west the sea
And East and West the Wander-Thirst that will not let me be;
It works in me like madness to bid me say goodbye,
For the seas call, and the stars call, and oh! The call of the sky!”
-Gerald Gould
Thanks to the great poet who instilled in me a longing for journey and I must tell you, there is nothing other than an adventurous trip that can make your life fizzy. If the trip is on bike you would be a body with an ecstatic heart.
As a person who loves bike riding, I prefer trips on bike to hill stations as it can make you feel the real adventure in going on wheels, and feel the fresh nature of your destination as well. The last trip I had on Rozinante -my bike - was to Vagamon, a hill station situated in Idukki district or literally a beautiful young woman.We, a group of six decided to explore her and started our trip towards Kottayam from Vytilla – a place in Ernakulam district – without much preparation other than a thirst to see and ponder.
"It would take merely four hours from Vytilla to get there at normal speed" - a taxi driver guided us. Thoughts of unexplored splendid valleys helped us not to drink on the way even though we carried two bottles of rum with glasses and all necessary ammunition to fight with the chilling cold there. The road is very tough to travel as I said earlier and we started to inch, taking each hair pin bends with precession.
At some view points we stopped to see the whole drive way we covered that looked like a zig-zag line. View of the up coming mountains were also astonishing, with waterfalls here and there that seemed like chalk strokes of a divine hand. Below on the road, we saw vehicles inching up like a line of ants or as the poet said , little butterflies but with different colors. (to be continued...)
As a person working lengthy night shifts, it was really required for me to sort out a way to shed my tiredness. Discussion with friends resulted in the wonderful trekking trip to the enchanting water-falls of Dhoni.Situated in the Western Ghats, Dhoni is one such place in Kerala where travelers could watch nature at close quarters. The reserve forest and its surrounding mountains are rich with wild life including elephants, tigers, deer etc.
Obsessed with the idea, we soon flocked at the drawing table developing a trip plan. Now we are a crew of 5 with a guide in the form of Anoop (colleague), who knows Palakkad and its premises better.
The Way
We started our Journey on one fine Saturday morning. Considering the comfort level, we opted railway as our primary mode of transportation. We ( Anoop, Dipin, Praveen, Mirshad and Shijith)set our first destination as Shoranur. Luckily queue at the ticket counter was not that lengthy and we easily found our seats in the Intercity express frequenting between Eranakulam and Kannur. Shoranur was half way between. By the time of departure, the train was almost filled. We, however, were comfortable at our window seats, which helped us to snap shot some of the way side views. Dipin came prepared with a 7 mega pixel Cannon power shot, while others depended on their two mega pixel mobile phone camera's.
From Shornur to Olavakode
We reached Shoranur by around 9 am. After having a quick breakfast from a vegetarian hotel near by, we soon boarded our train to Olavakode from where Dhoni is just 15 km distant. It took roughly an hour to reach Olavakode. As private bus services connecting Dhoni and Palakkad town were rare, only option left for us was to reach the nearest point to Dhoni called railway station colony, which just 5 Km away from Dhoni. After a small bargaining, we hired an autorickshaw with fare fixed at Rs 50.
The rickshaw made a flying start, with the driver exhibiting certain acrobatic skills on the road, escaping gutters. The ride really tested my strength, as Anoop and Dipin was applying their weight pushing me to the corners of the vehicle.
The ride ended at the foot hills of Dhoni and we were heartily welcomed with a light, cool, refreshing drizzle. coolness of water oozing from the heaven removed all our fatigue. We were also fortunate enough to find a friend of Shijith, to help us around.
Dhoni
There is a check post of Department of forest at the foot of Dhoni hills. After paying nominal entrance fees we inched our way up to the waterfalls of Sapal at Parasuramkundu. Personal vehicles and Plastics are not allowed inside the reserve forest.It would take a four kilometer trek through the dark, tree covered jeep way, winding up the hill to reach the waterfalls. We, however, opted to be adventurous by taking the steep climbs in between, saving us several minutes of walk. But each climb made us tired requiring us to rest at least 15 minutes. There are plenty of small streams gushing down, so we never felt thirst.
Friends
On our way, we met Varghese and Thomas. we met them at the end of one of our steep climbs. While having some water from us, Varghese said, “Once we were ardent travelers like you people. Now, in our 50’s, our body is not resonating with our mind. Beyond all, our beloved friend is not with us too. He ended the journey of his life a little while ago. However, we are trying to maintain our passion, which actually keeps us alive."
After a while, leaving them behind, we went on with our steep climbs, which was making us tired too. Just then the idea of music came on. Energized by some rocking hits of Michael Jackson played out of mobile phone speakers, we made our climb a bit faster.
Leeches
Leeches were a major threat to our climb. They were in huge numbers, making it difficult for us to walk forward. We have had to halt several times to free those blood sucking things from our legs.
The waterfalls
Turning a corner, suddenly our hearts started pounding with the grumbling of water whipping hard on the rocks. The walk way lead us directly to the starting point of falls. Now we were standing above the falls. We wet our feet in the cool gushing water flowing over the walkway. Even though, the water is a bit slow at the begininig, it gathers huge momentum as it flows down the undulating slopes, incarnating it self as the famous Dhoni falls. 
Since we were warned of the danger hidden in the falls, we decided to wet our body at a safer place other than the water falls. The rocks were slippery, which took a toll on Anoop and Dipin. Dipin ended up breaking his finger nails, while Anoop found his Cell Phone damaged with water. Malampuzha and Meenvallam are also close to Dhoni and it is possible to reach there walking through the dense forest.
The return
Our walk back, down to the foot of Dhoni started by around 4.30 in the evening. As we went past the forest station, we were lucky enough to catch a bus riding straight to town. KSRTC got frequent services connecting Cochin with Palakkad town. We boarded a bus to Thrissur and from there to Cochin.
Now, when the trip ended, we could only say Dhoni and it falls, the light drizzle all fills us with some fine memories that could be cherished for ever.
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