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Athirapally falls...Nov 5th to 7th

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  • Athirapally falls...Nov 5th to 7th

    Hey guys

    Ever since i ve seen the movie "Raavan", i ve been mesmerised by the location and i have decided to visit Athirapally falls and the places around between Nov 5th to 7th. I Will be starting from trichy on my RTR 160.I require your help regarding the following things as i will be riding solo.I will probably have a day and a half apart from the riding time.

    1.Route to be taken
    2.Places of interest
    3.Any budget hotels nearby
    4.Touring Partner if anyone's willing to join to share the experience and expenses.
    5.Can i tie up my backpack with a net and bungee cords on the backseat?
    6.Whether i have retune my carb for hilly rides as i had some trouble while climbing the ghats on the way to mudhumalai.

    I would really appreciate your expert advise on the routes & accommodation.

  • #2
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    • #3
      Guys anyone ?

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      • #4
        Which of the falls in Raavan are you mentioning???? There are 3 or 4 different ones in them.The first scene where you see Abhishek jumping(not literally) is hogenekkal falls (near dharmapuri),2nd is Athirapally and the others im not quiet sure of buddy.If athirapally is your destination Trichy-Manaparai-Dindugal-palani-Ududmalaipettai-Pollachi-valaparai-Athirapally(80 kms from valaparai).This was the route that was mentioned in one of the travelogues i read some time back,don't remember which one.And by the way why do you want take the Madhumalai route?????That almost doubles up the distance.You can take that out of your list unless you have time and want to enjoy the ride.

        Regarding tying your bag.You defnitely can with bungee cords but make sure you tie it as firmly as possible so that it doesnt slip.

        regarding tuning your carb:If its been a long time since you have not got your carb cleaned then its advicable to do so,otherwise its fine.But make sure you have a clean air filter and chains tightned. Also lower your tyre pressure a bit(say about 3 or 4 Psi) than what you normally ride.This helps to keep the grip on the ghat road steady.

        Check out the link from Team-bhp: Might be of some help for you
        Bangy Drive to Athirapally waterfalls (Indian Niagara) - Team-BHP
        Last edited by phanikar; 10-26-2010, 03:30 PM. Reason: adding more info
        Stories of the open road...........

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        • #5
          @^^

          Lol don really wanna jump like abhishek.Anyways ill take the route suggested by you.

          Any idea about the accomodation buddy? Where do i stay and stuff.Probably the cochin guys can drop in a few suggestions.

          But seriously, via mudhumalai will be like too far.I am planning to start on 5th early morning and reach by evening check into a hotel and enjoi the next day there. The road till dindigul is worse,but after that its good as i ve been to Valparai a couple of months ago on an official trip.My driver took the same route too.

          Might sound silly,this being my first SOLO ride,i am a bit freaked out how i ll manage lol. Last time went with a pillion to Mudhumalai,it was fun.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Revverend View Post
            @^^

            Might sound silly,this being my first SOLO ride,i am a bit freaked out how i ll manage lol. Last time went with a pillion to Mudhumalai,it was fun.
            Chill buddy its gonna be awsome fun when u riding solo.U dont have to wait for someone to come to you rear view mirror and can take breaks whenever you require.But make sure you have a nice phone with a good music system or an iPod,otherwise you will be bored.Na idea about the accomodation buddy.Happy riding
            Stories of the open road...........

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            • #7
              Originally posted by phanikar View Post
              Chill buddy its gonna be awesome fun when u riding solo.U don't have to wait for someone to come to you rear view mirror and can take breaks whenever you require.But make sure you have a nice phone with a good music system or an iPod,otherwise you will be bored.Na idea about the accommodation buddy.Happy riding
              Thanks man.Ya will be carrying some music along.I ve talked to one of my drivers who suggested two routes.One was Trichy-Dindigul-Pollachi-Wadakkanchery-Chalakudi -Athirampally. and the other one is the one you are talking about ,Valaparai-Athirampally.He said the second one is absolutely scenic and it goes through the dense forest.The road is average and it takes around 6 hrs from valparai to athirampally.But he says its not advisable on a bike.But i am damn tempted to take this route.He said there are a lot of hotels available in athirampally and it should not be a problem.So guys need some help here.

              Should i take the valparai route,if yes i probably have to start from trichy on 4th midnight,so as to travel from valparai to athirampally before dusk falls in.If not,should i avoid the risk of unforeseen delays and take the chalakudy route.What say??

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Revverend View Post
                One was Trichy-Dindigul-Pollachi-Wadakkanchery-Chalakudi -Athirampally.
                Take this route if you want to stick to your plan; alternative would be Salem-CBE-Palakkad-Thrissur-Chalakkudi, but since the roads between Thrissur-Chalakkudi are bad, you may take a detour, so that it becomes Salem-CBE-Palakkad-Shornur-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur-Chalakkudi.

                Originally posted by Revverend View Post
                He said the second one is absolutely scenic and it goes through the dense forest.The road is average and it takes around 6 hrs from valparai to athirampally.
                It depends; but on riding solo it may not be advisable; we'd our friends from TVM, even fall down on taking this route during June. Also the forest route is open between 6AM to 6PM or 9PM or so.

                Originally posted by Revverend View Post
                He said there are a lot of hotels available in athirampally and it should not be a problem.So guys need some help here.
                If you don't find hotels at Athirapally, you can opt to stay even at Chalakkudi. Chalakkudi-Athirapally is less than 15 Kms. You WILL find accomodation at Chalakkudi.

                Originally posted by Revverend View Post
                Should i take the valparai route,if yes i probably have to start from trichy on 4th midnight,so as to travel from valparai to athirampally before dusk falls in.If not,should i avoid the risk of unforeseen delays and take the chalakudy route.What say??
                IMO, since you riding solo, you may want to take the Thrissur-Wadakkanchery-Chalakkudi route.
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                • #9
                  Originally posted by aargee View Post
                  Take this route if you want to stick to your plan; alternative would be Salem-CBE-Palakkad-Thrissur-Chalakkudi, but since the roads between Thrissur-Chalakkudi are bad, you may take a detour, so that it becomes Salem-CBE-Palakkad-Shornur-Wadakkanchery-Thrissur-Chalakkudi.


                  It depends; but on riding solo it may not be advisable; we'd our friends from TVM, even fall down on taking this route during June. Also the forest route is open between 6AM to 6PM or 9PM or so.


                  If you don't find hotels at Athirapally, you can opt to stay even at Chalakkudi. Chalakkudi-Athirapally is less than 15 Kms. You WILL find accomodation at Chalakkudi.


                  IMO, since you riding solo, you may want to take the Thrissur-Wadakkanchery-Chalakkudi route.

                  Uh..i am kinda confused aargee.You say Thrissur - Chalakudy roads are bad,but the alternate route u suggested includes Thrissur-Chalakudy.Am i missing something here?? And the route to salem from trichy is kind of in a bad shape.

                  Ok then ill take the main highway avoiding Valparai.

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                  • #10
                    If you are coming via NH47, ie, Salem-Coimbatore-Palghat-Trichur-Chalakudy-Athirapalli, the roads are pretty good until Palghat. Palghat-Trichur stretch is extremely bad, the Trichur- Chalakudi stretch is comparatively better, though several stretches of the road are under construction right now. Chalakudi-Athirapalli is an excellent stretch of road.

                    I have not driven along the Pollachi-Valparai-Athirapalli stretch completely, but going by the Athirapalli-Valparai stretch ( or half of it), the roads are of "ghat" condition, ie severely potholed at some stretches, but excellent in scenery. It can be driven through in bike however it would be quite strainful. The most important thing to take note of if driving through the Valparai-Athirapalli section of the road is that it is a highly controlled road, secured by Forest Dept. There are checkposts on either sides of the roads and your bags and person would be thoroughly checked. You would be advised to minimize the plastic carried. Your entire plastic inventory would be checked at both checkposts and the Forest Dept guards are quite stringent. These roads are closed after 6 PM, so no one would be permitted to enter this stretch after 4-5PM in the evening.

                    If you are driving this road, I would advice you to plan it so that, the Valparai-Athirapalli stretch is covered before mid day. There are no eateries along the around 70 km stretch between Valparai and Athirapalli, with a few restaurants at Athirapalli. For lodging purposes you would be better advised to go to Chalakudi which is around 25 kms from Athirapalli. It is unlikely that you would find any budget hotels in Chalakudi which does however have a lot of luxury resorts.
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                    • #11
                      @gokulvarmank
                      Correctly said bro.

                      @Revverend
                      Although I haven't rode on the Valparai route(hope to ride sometime soon),I have ridden quite a few times on the CBE-Thrissur road.Hope some of my minute lil' inputs will come handy to you.
                      The road from CBE to Palakkad is excellent till you reach the Kerala border. At places like Navakkarai,and Walayar, there are quite a few potholes on the road.Most of the times, you fail to notice them and it would cost you dearly if you fall on any one of these hell-holes while cruising at good speeds(I have fallen many a times ).It would really take a toll on your bike and on your back too.
                      Then onto Thrissur from Palakkad, its really bad at some places. And yes, the golden rule is, not to drive at the same speeds that you get in TN; after crossing the border to Kerala. Wherever it might be in KL, the roads here aren't just prepared for that kind of riding. So in my opinion keep a steady speed of 70-80 max.
                      Thrissur- Chalakudy is much better and vast,than Palakkad-Thrissur. And like he pointed out, construction work is going on at some points.
                      After reaching Chalakudy,the road to Athirappilly is heavenly,once you enter the forest area. Actually, most of the auto shows we have here in malayalam tv channels, they actually take their vehicles for a drive in these roads.
                      Enjoy the tour man! have a great time! Hope I could be of help..
                      Lonely Rider~
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                      • #12
                        going solo not advisable!!..

                        recently i have been doing a lot of reading about this route(Valparai-sholayar-athirapally falls-chalakudy)..i myself am planning for a ride on this route in a couple of months time..This route is the ghat route which has an 80 kms odd section which consist of dense jungle vegetation and hardly any inhabitants arounds..so if you are going solo and in case of any mishap, you will be left stranded in the middle of the jungle...so going solo is not advisable...
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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by apacherenator View Post
                          recently i have been doing a lot of reading about this route(Valparai-sholayar-athirapally falls-chalakudy)..i myself am planning for a ride on this route in a couple of months time..This route is the ghat route which has an 80 kms odd section which consist of dense jungle vegetation and hardly any inhabitants arounds..so if you are going solo and in case of any mishap, you will be left stranded in the middle of the jungle...so going solo is not advisable...
                          Really appreciate your inputs guys,but unfortunately have to postpone this trip. Was summoned home due to some emergency. But i will be completing this trip within this month. Will keep you guys posted.
                          Cheers

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