“Kerala”!! This is one word we have been using each time we meet. This is one trip all of us have been dreaming of since a long time. Moreover it now seems practical too . Three factors that motivated this blog-

1. I have lots of time in office. I spend almost 7 hours doing nothing..believe me its an art to enjoy this phase of life and not be bored at the same time.
   
2. Before my 2nd trip to Kerala in mid-may I researched a lot about the road maps, places to visit etc. in Kerala.
   
3. And Ofcourse the purchase of My dearest Ävi.
   

The first time we discussed about a road trip to Kerala was 2 years before. At that time I had a Splendour, Avadhut had his antique CD-100SS, Mukul was planning to buy a new bike and Anmol was as always stubborn for a bike trip and Manmit preferred a car/train trip. We had decided to go by Konkan railway and load our bikes in the train, roam the entire Kerala state on our bikes and then return back by train. But today things have changed, a 350cc Bullet, a 500cc Bullet and two Avengers (If Anmol is willing to bring his motorcycle) are more than willing to hit the national highways.

The plan is for 14 days in Kerala. Ofcourse it is just a rough plan and things are bound to change dynamically.

The basic outline for the plan is something like this.

Pune-Panaji-Mangalore-Munnar-Periyar-Alleppey-Trivandrum-Kanyakumari-Trivandrum-Kochi-Mangalore-Panaji-Pune

From	To		Activity	Day	Distance	Total Distance
Pune	Panaji		Bike ride	1	461	461
Panaji	Mangalore		Bike ride	2	402	863
Mangalore	Munnar		Bike ride	3	505	1368
Around Munnar	Around Munnar		Explore Munnar	4	100	1468
Reserve Day/ Optional Day. If everything goes fine then no need to wait in Munnar this day. But if stopped total days needed will be 14. However a stopover is recommended			Explore Munnar	5
Munnar		Periyar	Bike ride/ Explore Periyar in evening	5	110	1578
Periyar		Alleppey	Explore Periyar till afternoon/ Bike Ride	6	155	1733
Alleppey		Around Alleppey	Lazing in the backwaters	7	25	1758
Alleppey		Kanyakumari	Bike ride	8	244	2002
Kanyakumari		Trivandrum	Bike ride	8	87	2089
Around Trivandrum		Around Trivandrum	Explore Trivandrum/ Reserve or Rest Day	9	50	2139
Trivandrum		Kochi	Bike ride/ Explore Kochi in evening	10	220	2359
Kochi		Mangalore	Bike ride	11	402	2761
Mangalore		Panaji	Bike ride	12	402	3163
Panaji		Pune	Bike ride	13	461	3624
			Total Distance:	3624
			Misc	200
			Total Max distance to be covered in 13 days	3824

All distances are practical in a sense thinking of the highways traffic jams, weather conditions, offroading and its consequences . I know it is easily possible to complete 700kms in a day thereby saving a day and we might even do that.

Day1: Pune to Panaji: Distance covered is 461kms.

 

NH-4 Road Map

 

Everytime we goto Goa it is from the Kolhapur-Amboli-Sawantwadi route. However since we are interested in going to Panaji directly and not to Calangute, the route from Kolhapur to Panaji via Belgaum is the shortest.Till Belgaum we take NH-4 and then we turn towards Panaji to join NH-17.

 

Day2: Panaji to Mangalore: Disatance covered is 505kms.

 

NH-17 Road Map

It’s riding only on the NH-17. Seems to be a beautiful ride through coastal Karnataka.What I like most of such bike trips is not just visiting the places but the travel time too.

 

However there is a high probability that we will cross Karwar on the first day itself. Karwar is about 550kms from Pune.

 

Day3: Mangalore to Munnar: Disatance covered is 402kms.

 

Mangalore (Mangaluru) to Munnar Road Map

 

Till Calicut we still continue to ride on NH-17. From Calicut onwards we turn in the interiors of Kerala towards Idukki district for Munnar.

Now the real journey starts. Munnar will be the first place we will explore in Kerala. I hope the weather will be great since this is one of the most scenic hillstation in India.

 

The route is Mangalore – Kasargod – Kangangad – Neeleswaram – Payyannur – Thalipparambu – Cannanore – Thalassery Mahe – Vadakara – Quilandy – Calicut – Kottackal – Kuttippuram – Edappal – Trichur – Chalakudy – Angamalli – Kalady – Perumbavoor – Muvattupuzha – Kothamangalam – Adimalli – Munnar

 

Day4: Explore Munnar and complete rest. Our biker souls will need a much deserved rest and Munnar seems to be the most idyllic place for that. There are thousand of spots in Munnar and I hope we cover almost all the major ones. I am expecting just 100kms this day exploring around Munnar since rest is on top priority.

 

Day5: I recommend a rest/reserve day here. Or else one can also explore the unlimited beauty offered in God’s Own Country. For more info on Munnar click here http://wikitravel.org/en/Munnar

 

Day 5: Munnar to Thekaddy (Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary). Distance covered is 110kms.

 

Assuming that we don’t take a rest day because of some or the other reason then we head to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.This might turn out to be the best drive of the trip.Only 110kms, but the road takes you through dense forests, slopes cornenerd by waterfalls admist greenery. Since 110kms can be covered in just a few hours we get the whole of the evening for ourselves. We can shop in the bazaar and at the same time go for the boat ride in the evening in the Periyar lake. This is one of the most unique sanctuaries in India. Although the option of exploring the 777sq. km sanctuary by car /foot is always open; but still the most preferred means for exploring the sanctuary is the boat ride in the lake which is situated in the middle of the forest. The boat rides are open throughout the day, but the probability of spotting wild animals is the most in early morning or in the late evening.

 

Munnar to Thekkady Road Map

 

Day 6: Periyar to Alleppey. Distance covered is 155kms.

 

Most of the tourist stay in a town called Kumily which is situated just next to the sanctuary. There are hotels inside the forest too, but they are expensive.

Periyar is also famous for its spice gardens and it offers guided tours to these gardens..but I am sure we might not be interested in it. There are shops which sell the best quality spices in India. Also lots of shops offer souvenirs made by the tribals/ locals. We can spend the morning shopping and visiting the park and then in the late evening we can set off for the land of backwaters- Alleppey. 155 kms by the side of the backwaters.. Oh!! I am simply going to love it.

 

Periyar to Alleppey Road Map

 

Day 7: Around Alleppey. Distance covered is 25 kms.

One of the main purposes of this trip is that it should be a laid back trip. There should be innumberable moments when we do nothing. And the backwaters of Kerala are the perfect gift of nature to enjoy this very feeling. I think we should dedicate one day to master the art of doing nothing. There are customized tours as per the need, as per the budget to fit the requirements of every tourist. There are backwater rides from 1 hour to a 3 day package.. from an AC 5 star boat to the most simplistic house boat (my personal fav.). I am looking forward to eat lots of fresh water fish here J

 

Day 8: Alleppey – Trivandrum- Kanyakumari- Trivandrum. Distance covered is 333kms.

 

Road map from Alleppey to Kanyakumari via Trivandrum (part of NH-47)

 

 

After being rejuvenated (MS-Word corrected the spelling for me ) at Alleppey it is time to reach our destination- Kanyakumari. Actually Kanyakumari and Trivendrum did not feature in my original Kerala plan since I was of the opinion that going till the southernmost point is too much of time consuming. However, I realized (after Mukul’s disapproval) that going to Kanyakumari is the biggest kick for keep the trip going.. I mean just the thought of reaching the southernmost point of India gives so much of satisfaction.

Drive till Kanyakumari is on NH-47 via Trivendrum. Once we reach Kanyakumari and after watching the Vivekanand Rock Memorial and the sunset I don’t think there is much to do here. We would have travelled only 244kms that day. Since Trivendrum is just 87kms it is better to return back to Trivendrum.

 

Day 9: Explore Trivendrum. Around 50kms

 

All capital cities have their own charm and so does this one. Kovalam beach is the most famous here. Eat, drink and a day dedicated for complete rest. We can also use this as a reserve day.

 

Day10: Trivendrum to Cochin. Distance covered is 220kms.

 

The only city left in the itinerary is Cochin. For that matter every part, every district of Kerala is worth a visit, but then we have only 14 days with us. Cochin can also be skipped and we can start our return journey from Trivendrum itself. If we reach Cochin we get time to shop and most important is we get time to bid a final goodbye L. Refer map of NH-47.

 

Day11: Cochin to Mangalore. Distance covered is 447kms.

447kms ride of pure bliss. The entire road is through coastal Kerala entring southern Karnataka.

 

Day12: Mangalore to Panaji: Disatance covered is 505kms.Repeat of Day2

 

Day13: Panaji to Pune. Distance covered is 461 kms. Repeat of Day1.

 

Refer to NH-17 road map.

 

Here is a distance chart © of the major cities we will try to cover

 

	PU	PN	ML	CO	MN	PE	AL	TR	KA
PU		461	863	1221	-	-	-	-	-
PN	461		402	842	-	-	-	-	-
ML	863	402		447	505
CO	1221	842	447		130	191	64	222	309
MN	-	-	505	130		110	191	146	843
PE	-	-	-	191	110		155	253	340
AL	-	-	-	64	191	155		157	246
TR	-	-	-	222	146	253	157		100
KA	-	-	-	309	843	340	246	100

 

PU- Pune

PN- Panaji

ML- Mangalore

CO- Cochin

MN- Munnar

PE- Periyar (Thekaddy)

AL- Alleppey

TR- Trivendrum

KA- Kanyakumari

 

I hope our (Manmit, Anmol and ofcourse myself) leaves are approved for the 2 week Kerala trip. Worst.. I sincerely wish that at least Mukul and Avadhut make this trip and use this post as a reference J.

We are planning to go after the 10^th day of Ganesh utsov..thats when the rains start to recede. Anant Chaturtithi(the 10^th day of Ganeshutsov is on 14^th Sept which is a Sunday.). I think 13-27 Sept seems to be the perfect time for the trip…

Note: In Kerala almost each town has two names, one in Mallu and the other in English (which the British Govt. kept since they couldn’t pronounce them)

Cities with the same name:

1. Alleppey and Alappuzha
   
2. Kochi and Cochin. Also Ernakulum is the also used. I dont exactly know which is used when…but all 3 are almost the same.
   
3. Calicut and Kozhikode
   
4. Trivandrum and Thiruvananthapuram
   
5. Mangalore and Mangaluru (in Karnataka).
   
6. Kanyakumari and Kanniyakumari
   
7. Moreover Periyar is not a district. The wildlife sanctuary is called by that name. But it is in the Thekkadi district and in a small town called as Kumily. So basically when I refer to Periyar it is actually Thekkadi. Kumily in some 4 kms from Thekkadi.
   

 

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website can be used by anyone..however I will love to see a “Thank You” comment. The distances might not be accurate and the spellings of some towns in Kerala might be atrocious. I hope the CPI (M) don’t go on a strike or order a ban on my blog.

PS: This is till date my most reasearched blog.

PPS: Most of the images are taken from http://mapsofindia.com and edited in MS-Paint (I love the simplicity of this tool). I have also used http://wikimapia.org extensively in my research. Although the former is a paid site I don’t intend to use the maps for any commercial purpose and use is only for personal research. I have used the distance calculator of http://www.kerala.com/distance.htm. I thank this website too. However the distance chart is not copy-pasted from any website as you might have assumed. It is done in a liscenced copy of MS Excel. The Microsoft Office Picture Manager comes handy for cropping and resizing the images.

PPPS: A big thanks for the testing team, QA Team, Client and everyone involved in testing our application and reporting 1 bug/3 days which has given me so much of time. And a bigger thanks to our team for coding the application in such a manner that there are hardly any bugs