CHALAKUDY VALPARAI ROUTE

17-Dec 2008

The most beautiful route in south India. A narrow route through the fungle, with more than 100 sights to see including dams, waterfalls. and more. Most of us will be knowing the athirapally Waterfalls, but may not be knowing about the road ahead. The forest road reached a place called Valprai, a plantation town of Tamilnadu from where one can reach Pollachi very easily.

It has been a long  while since I have been looking for a nascent  route to make a trip. I have travelled  along almost all the border routes of Kerala and Tamilnadu, and there was only one major route which was left. That was the Chalakudy (Kerala) Pollachi (Tamilnadu) route. The route is passes along the shoal forests of Western Ghats starting from Chalakudy in Kerala, heading west along beside the Chalakudy river via Athirapally,  Puliyilapara, Malakkapara,  Sholayar,  Valparai,  Aliyar and  reaching Pollachi in Tamilnadu. The famous Athirapally and Vazachal Waterfalls is on this same route. Most of the travelers make a visit to the waterfalls and just return. Believing that was the end, even me.

Starting the trip
There are very few Buses along this route. There are many buses which will go up to Athirapally   (13Kms from Chalakudy ) from Chalakudy and returns.A far as I could learn There are only 2 buses daily from Chalakudy to Valparai. The First bus is Sri Abhirami  which starts from Chalakudy Private Bus Stand by 6:30 AM Early Morning. The next one is at 1 PM and I am not very sure about that one. The bus fare to Valparai from Chalakudy was Rs 69 (The distance is 88 Kms. Bus fare in Kerala is A bit high when Compared to that of Tamilnadu). The conductor of the Bus was a very friendly person, who was talking at least a few sentences to everyone in the bus. He explained to me the major picnic spots along the route. There were at least 20 Major ones and more than 100 Minor Ones. It was one of the most Beautiful routes I have travelled in South India.

During the Trip
The bus moved out of the Chalakudy Bus Stand slowly heading east. The roadsides drifted from the closed shops to Houses and then Plantations on either side. Most of the people in the bus were villagers. The road was a narrow and was just enough for a bus to move. There were steep up and downs. The driver a young man who had long hairs was able to manage the bus along the route.

At times there were heavy pits in the road which made the passengers bounce up and down. We were moving beside the Chalakudy River, which was flowing along the right side. Now I could hear the loud roaring sound of water, and it was not very hard to understand that it was the sound of the Athirpally waterfalls a very Famous Waterfall of Kerala.

The Athirapally  Waterfalls (GPS 10.23 N, 76.57 E) is one of the most beautiful waterfalls of Kerala, and is a hot spot for many cameramen of south Indian movies.  There are many buses to Athiraplly From Chalakudy. There were many tea shops and Pettykadas all Along the road here as it was a hot tourist destination  And  a forest range Office. .

The bus halted here for a few minutes,and then crossed the forest check post and winding roads and moved. They played some movie in the bus, and everyone was enjoying that. I heard some guy asking the conductor, if they should stop the bus at his destination which was very near for a long time so that he can finish watching the movie and get out of the bus, but the smart conductor invited him to  Valparai the final destination of the bus a 4 hour Journey.  There were teak plantations and Cashew nut trees all around but most of the surrounding lands were covered by bamboo trees. The co passengers tried to frightened me by telling that there are elephants all around the place and sometimes they used to block the road and cause damage to Vehicles. Luckily or Unluckily I haven’t seen any

After moving a few kilometers the bus moved along a bridge over the Chalakudy  river making the river to our left. The bridge was a very narrow one and you need real guts to drive a bus over the Bridge. The river was another beauty wrapped in mist, and was a blessing scene.  The condition of the roads became much worse and was almost like a jeep road now.

There was another tourist spot here, the Vazahal Waterfalls, just another waterfalls. I have visited here when I was a kid, and will visit here once more soon. The waterfalls were not visible from the road, but I saw the signboard showing the road to the falls. There was forest range office here and a few small houses here. The bus made a short pause here for the entry and exit of a few passengers. There was a lot of luggage in the bus now, including but not limited to eggs, milk, bananas etc.  From here it was almost like thick jungle. There was no sign of human Life anywhere. 

By around 8 we reached at a place called Pulielapara, a very small town where threre was a powerhouse. The villages were speaking Malayalam (Local Language of Kerala). We all had our Morning Breakfast from a shop here. The conductor told me that, this is the last Village and the nest town will be Valparai. Though I was not very hungry, I had a few Appams and made a brief walk along the places nearby. Now there were only a few passengers in the bus probably less than 20. I took hold of the entire back portion of the bus so that I can run to any side to make photographs.

Now it was thick jungle.  No Human beings. But I saw a few racks of Bamboos collected and stacked at the road sides. At times, I could find a few tents and Human life there.  The forest was almost dry, as it was almost close to January the start of summer season. There were a lot of narrow hairpin bends, which was not that easy to drive along. Thought the forest was dry, there were a lot of tributaries from the hill top carrying water.

There were many cross roads leading to powerhouses and dam sights on both sides. Since I was travelling in a regular bus, It went along the main road without stopping at the dam sites. I saw a huge pipeline carrying water from one dam to another. There were 4 huge Pipes, like that of the Thekkady.

Soon all of a sudden, the forest was lush green all around, and there was no clue of summer season or dryness. I was a bit late to find that, all the greenery was due to a dam, Poringalkuthu dam. The Backwaters was not that vast like the Idukki dam but the reservoir was almost full. I just had a distant view of the dam from the bus, but it was so beautiful. If you are coming by a private car you can have a better view of the dam.

From here on, the Roadsides was more to green hue, even though the conditions of the roads were the same. It was thick forest on both sides but there was a bus stop nearby. There were some tribal settlements here and there were a few to people to enter into the bus.  They entered into the bus with big bunches of Bananas to be sold at the Valparai market.

Soon the forest cover disappeared and it was lush green Coffee and Tea Plantations. I remembered about the Munnar and Peermade Tea plantations. The tea plantations at Valparai is run by Tata , (They have estates at Munnar too). It was the boundary of Kerala and Tamilnadu.

The tea estate workers lived in small houses, painted in Bright Green and Blue Colors unlike Kerala. The houses lacked proper maintenance and I guess it was all built by the Tata Tea several centuries ago. Major part of the population was Tamil Speaking, even though there were many Malayalis living here. People at Valparai are comfortable with both Tamil and Malayalam.

I saw a huge construction at the right side, it Was the Sholayar dam. It is the second deepest dam in Asia. Valparai is again 20 Kilometers away. The dam is a very beautiful one, there is a bridge in front of the dam, from where one can see the water flowing out from the shutters. The overflowing from this dam is sent to Parambikulam dam.

There were a lot of visitors there to watch the beauty of the dam. The backwaters of the sholayar dam was bounded by steep hills painted with tea plantations.

I was at Valparai by around 11:30. I had my lunch and went back to the bus stop to get a Pollachi bus. The town of Valparai was like any other hill stations of Tamilnadu. There are a lot of lodges and hotels to cater the needs of the tourists. There was no proper bus stand but there is a common place where all the buses are parked. There are buses very frequently to Pollachi.

Valparai To  Pollachi

By 12:30 a bus to Pollachi came. The bus board was written in Tamil, and I could read it partially. The ticket charge to Pollachi was 21 Rs, (Distance is 45 Km). The bus passed along the Tea Plantations slowly, along the winding roads. At this side the road was a bit wider than its counterpart at the other side. Soon the bus was passing along the hair pin beds, and I had a magnificent view of the Aliyar dam. There were many tourist spots on the way like monkey falls, temples and many, But I was not able to visit there.

By around 2 I reached Pollachi, and I got a bus to Coimbatore and went to Coimbatore (45 Kms Rs 12 Busfare). Late evening I Left Coimbatore and went to Bangalore.

MAPS

Map of My route to Coimbatore From Chalakudy along Valparai

The Popular route to Coimbatore from Chalakudy along Trishur and Palakkad