Hi readers, this post is to share some beautiful journey experiences of mine. Here I have selected two of them. First one is about 13 years back..!!, when I was in my 5th standard. I am recollecting this only because; something is missing from that picture now. Second one is my latest ‘exploration’ trip on this Diwali..!!
- Nostalgic memories on rails!!
I am still remembering that rainy day..!! We were moving to the state of Tamilnadu, birth land of my brother and myself. We had a good plan about that trip. Like always, my dad was the team leader and my dear mom was the co-leader. My little bro and me were the obedient(??still I have that doubt..!!) followers..!! We started from our home in early morning itself. As my father was an employee in tamilnadu government service, he was aware of everything about that state. So we got a wonderful guide..!! Then first we reached in the bus stop of our home town, Parakode or Anantharamapuram (time is about 5.30 am) in Adoor city. There was a chance of rain. So we were prepared for facing that crisis..!! Then our bus came. First destination is Punalur, a historic place. It is about 25 km from our starting point.
After about 1 hr journey we reached Punalur KSRTC bus station. Then from there about 3/4km is there to railway station. Then we reached railway station and had our breakfast from there. Now the time is 7-7.15am. So waiting for the train which may(!!) come at 8am. The wonderful fact about this meter gauge railway line is it was the one of the oldest railway line built by British government in Travancore state. It connects Kollam(Quilon) of Travancore with Virudhunagar of Madras presidency(Tamilnadu). Now this line is closed for renewal. It may be opened as a broad gauge line after 3 years..!
Ok..then back to our topic.. At last our little train came at around 8.15am. Huh..there was a large crowd to compete with usJ Some how we all were got into the train..! thanks to somebodyJ Train moved from Punalur to our destination point Sencottaih. It was moving very slowly. Maximum speed allowed in hill area is 20-30kmph..! There are some small stations on our way. So we were get boredL also we couldn’t find a seat. All were standing. Some tamil ladies gave some place for my bro and me as we were youngsters..! I just looked outside through the window. It was slight raining there.! Superb scenery of snowy Nilgiri mountains, small rain drops and dense forest made that picture very beautiful. There are 5 big tunnels on our path. Each one has a story of sacrifice and bravery of some British engineers and Indian workers. They had taken tremendous effort for making the king’s order to make true. The last tunnel(Aryankavu) has a length about 5km..! While entering into the tunnel, the youth and children in the train make huge noise as the sound will echo back.
In the tunnel we can’t feel the movement of train or what is going on outside. Full darknessJ we just amazed on that time. The dimmed light inside the compartment made the scene more terrific! After coming outside of that tunnel we just replaced into a entirely different scenery. Large paddy fields in far distance, Dry atmosphere and trees without leaves welcomed us to our neighboring state or our birth land! From there our small train got a little acceleration. It ran about 50kmph speed. We reached Sencottaih railway station about 10.30am. There are around 3-4 km to railway station to city. So we started our trip in a TNSTC bus! On that trip we stayed in my father’s friend’s home in Ilanji. Then we visited the famous waterfalls of courtalam and the famous Shiva temple. Over all it was a wonderful experience.! We enjoyed a lot. Our child hearts filled with the beautiful sceneries of mountains and some beautiful animals and birds. Now while travelling through same way, I remember about that trip. Unforgettable..!!
I am also adding a video by Kerala tourism promotion. It is about Tenmala, which is on above mentioned route. Hardly 35 km from Punalur. Here you can see the extinct meter gauge train and beauty of Nilgiris.
2. With ocean waves..!!
This was my latest exploration journey..! As I am here in Amritapuri and I got a good holiday in the form of Diwali I decided to go to my friend’s home (in Oachira, about 5-6 Km from Amritapuri) and celebrate this Diwali with his family. It was also a rainy dayL While Coming back I decided to make a slight change in my route. There was a new bridge which connects Aayiramthengu with Azheekal! This bridge was made after the tsunami happened on 26th December of 2004 and it was opened for public just before 1 year only. Even though I got many chances I didn’t try to go through that way because it is somewhat time consuming. But this Diwali time, I made a plan to go by that. The KSRTC mini bus came and I got into that. There were very few people in the bus as it became about 7.15pm. We started from Oachira. Our bus passed through the bridge and reached Azheekkal. This place is famous as a beautiful beach.
Bus travelled through the sea shore.! I could see the fishing boats in the far distance. A wonderful journey with beautiful memories..! After about 30 minutes I reached Amritapuri. There I saw the Diwali celebrations in the Ashram. This time Amma was not here in ashram. Then I started my lonely walk through the beautiful ‘Amritasetu’ (A bridge connects Ashram to main land) to my hostel. An unforgettable Diwali I ever had.!
Really these are some of my amazing journey experiences in this life time..!!
My Vision 