Friday, June 20, 2008

Valparai Trip


LATEST UPDATE: Will be making a trip once again this may(2017) after almost 9 years....This time it would be by car, Will keep the post updated, happy reading!


Date : 11-Apr-2008
Trip : Valparai

I'm from Bangalore,like to engage my self in exploring new places.
Its been a long time since I went out, hook or cook I was desperate to explore a new place.

Thursday night I decided to explore Valparai for the weekend.
Called up all my friends but most of them were engaged with one work or the other,
I was so desperate that I had almost decided to start the trip alone.
Out of 10+ friends, one of them(Siva) was free that weekend.
So I explained about the place and the research I did on the net about the place,
so he agreed for the trip. So finally myself and Siva reached the majestic railway station,
since we had not made any bookings, we got hold of the general compartment ticket
after an hour long standing in queue. Finally when we reached the boarding area,
we saw that the kanyakumari express was jam packed, literally there was no place to stand.
So we had to drop the train idea(the ticket was a waste,we had to forget it since it was just Rs 215)
and went on to the ksrtc bustand, the scene was no different there, even the junkest possible bus
was totally booked.
(unfortunately for us, it was a festival for both tamilnadu and Kerala at the same time,
which resulted in such a huge crowd)Suddenly we heard somebody in the crowd shouting,
Coimbatore, Coimbatore, Coimbatore..........................
That was a ray of hope. He took us to a private travel agency named Sangita travels
which had a tie-up with kallada travels. He charged Rs 600 per head for Coimbatore,
we said ok, since it was VOLVO AC bus.

We got the tickets at 9.30PM and was told that the bus would arrive at 10.30 and leave at 11.
So we went out searching for ATM to fill our purse. When we came back around 10.15,
we saw that there were so many people like us waiting for the bus.
Funniest part was each one was charged different rate. Rs 700, 800, and even 900 per head.
We were a bit happy to know that we had the cheapest ticket. At 10.45 the travel person told
that the bus is under repair some where near hosur, so it might be delayed a bit, we waited
till 11.30, 12.30......just to hear the same news....has been saying that the bus is now
near corporation from past one hour...after which one person in the crowd stood out
and started arguing heavily....and finally the bus arrived around 1.00,
we were happy to board the bus, but unfortunately the bus din't start.
So each and every body in the bus got out and started shouting at the owner,
the mechanic struggled for almost half and hour and finally the good news......the bus
started........yes we headed to Coimbatore....had a nice sleep...the bus which was supposed
to reach Coimbatore around 5 in the morning, reached around 9.

Now we had to head towards Pollachi, at the Coimbatore bustand we were told that we need to catch
the local bus to a place called okkadam, from where the we would get busses to pollachi. We reached
okkadam(Rs 3 per head) and were surprised to see busses so many busses to pollachi, almost a bus in
every 2 mins. We headed to pollachi (Rs 11 per head). After 1 and half hour we reached pollachi. There
are busses to Valparai from there almost every half an hour. But it was again unfortunate for us that
all the busses were going full du to the festival season. We let two busses go, hoping to see and empty
bus, but no luck, so we had to board a crowded bus. Yes had to spend 3 hrs standing in the
bus.....fortunately for us, the bus stopped at aliayar dam, just below the ghat section for a break for 15
mins which gave us some relief.

Finally reached Valparai arround 2 PM.

This place is 100 times more beautiful than ooty or kodai.
There are lot of lodges for accommodation.
Among the most hotel green hill view and Krishna lodge look decent from outside,
I was not able to get the accommodation as it was totally booked, saw a lot of cars, families out there,
so it seems to be a decent place for family too.

I tried a lodge named JBR lodge, from outside it looked like a crap place,
but the rooms were so neat, with ceramic walls,
I would recommend this place, I saw even some families staying.
I was charged Rs 120 for single room although the double room with TV would cost you around Rs 220.
There are some more lodges around, the Ranga lodge, myna lodge etc which I have not tried, the tariff
would be mostly b/w Rs 75 to Rs 250.

May be Krishna lodge and hotel Green hill view would be around 500, im not sure.
For food, one can go to Laskshmi mess at the bustand.
Although its not a posh place, the food tastes great and its the most recomended place.

I thought Valparai would be a small remote village, but its quite big,
the bus will stop at the market road from which you could make out that the place is quite big.
This is not only for bachelors, but a perfect get away for family too.
Except that the bus journey from Pollachi to Valparai takes 3 hrs and mostly crowded.
If you are not lucky enough to get a less crowded bus, better hire a taxi (may be Rs 1500 one way).
Because I had to do a standing journey for the entire 3 hrs stretch, it was a pain.
Once you are at Valparai, commuting becomes easy and cheap(max Rs 8 per person, mostly Rs 3.50).
I would suggest you that, just catch hold of a less crowded bus to any destination/direction,
take a ticket to the last stop and enjoy the journey. I swear it would be a feast to your eyes.

Places to stay in valparai….
Hotel Green Hill: 04253 – 222262Also try Krishna Lodge: 04253 – 222387 they both look clean….
(you can book via phone)
But other wise I stayed a lodge called GBR lodge….if you look at that from outside…..you wont even feel like getting in….but the room was pretty clean for me and got away with just 120 Rs per day :-)
FYI………PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT ANY POSH PLACES HERE, ITS AFTERALL A SMALL VILLAGE.
May be you could enquire some of the bunglows if you are really looking for POSH PLACES….The STANMORE BUNGALOW is one such place….It might be very expensive unless your comapny is sponceringThey will take care of all meals(i have read comments that the food is really good).http://www.homestayskerala.com/php/listHStayDetails.php?hid=33

If you need more info.. please feel free to mail me at praskuma@gmail.com
Also I like writing plugins for wordpress.
Checkout
http://prasplugin.com
for my work.

Check out my blog on Meghamalai - The hidden paradise
Its anothor least known place , but most beautiful

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT HERE

---- Prasanna

28 comments:

kvijayendran said...

Good article, seems you have thoroughly enjoyed your trip.

treasured_creatives said...

Great story... keep writing...

Manz said...

Hey,

very informative blog. Thanks. It helped me a lot for planning my trip to valparai.

George Thengummoottil said...

The spelling of okkadam is ukkadam.

Valparai Good place, I have gone there once, you can move again to reach kerala via valparai through forest

George
http://www.travel.peermade.info

G&AM said...

What did you see in Valparai? I hear there is a village on that route where lion tailed macaques are as common as ordinary bonnet macaques, and nilgiri tahrs are also seen on the main road? Did you see any? Thanks

Venkat, Subbu etc., said...

valparai rules!
phone numbers of the lodge(s) would be great help! I've been there once, but forgot to make a note of the phone number... this christmas, i'm searching for lodge phone numbers :)

saurabh said...

nice report buddy..
i am happier since this is a recent report..
btw, did u find any direct buses plying from bangalore to this spot...
regards
saurabh
www.meondemand.blogspot.com

Prasanna Kumar Nagasamudram said...

Hey.....

Nice to see that you guys enjoyed this article ......Also read my latest blog about Meghamalai....

http://meghamalaitrip.blogspot.com

Thanks
Prasanna

Unknown said...

Good blog , very informative esp on the places to stay , appreciate if you can comment on the condition of the road from Pollachi to Valparai. I plan to drive some time next week

G&AM said...

We enjoyed our trip to Valparai in December, and as wisely suggested by you, we took bus trips every day and walked back. It was a cheap, scenic and easy way to sightsee.

Plenty of home stays at Valparai which are unadvertised, even in peak season one can go there, check them out and then decide. It is preferable to have a look first.

Green Hills has about 2000 empty booze bottles stacked on the side of their entrance lobby, not a very inviting sight for family groups, but their rooms are quite alright and they too have a home stay.

Unknown said...

Very useful info..thanks for sahring

Unknown said...

Informative.Right time read ur blog.Thx, keep ur good work.

Vinay said...

Thanks for a wonderful blog. Loved the minor details. Keep up the good work.

One of these days, I plan to visit this place.

Unknown said...

Hi there, awesome site. I thought the topics you posted on were very interesting. I tried to add your RSS to my feed reader and it a few. take a look at it, hopefully I can add you and follow.







Travel Agents in Coimbatore

Hai Baji said...
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Anonymous said...

Places to stay in valparai….
Hotel Green Hill: 04253 – 222262

please visit: http://www.valparaigreenhillhotels.com

ayshwariya said...


Thanks for sharing, I will bookmark and be back again




Travels Coimbatore

Unknown said...

hi we are from blue hills resort in anaikatty if u interested in stay pl mail me

regards
senthilkumar

Unknown said...

Thanks a lot bro for your kind information! appreciate that!
It will help others a lot...

KP said...

Gud one prasanna... Different perspective to mundane. Keep writing

KP said...

Gud one prasanna... Different perspective to mundane. Keep writing

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing. Seem like you've enjoyed your trip. Check my site here

Swathi said...
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Ashwin said...

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