Family Trip to South of TN Day 1

This is my first blog. Here I am going to share my vacation experience. After a long time me, my sis and parents got time for this small trip. The plan was done in a short span and worked out pretty good except for some small disappointments.

Anyways this time we decided to go towards south, since it is summer we thought waterfall, dams etc. etc. will be a good option. So we start our journey to Tirunelveli on a Friday night by Ananthapuri express. Tirunelveli is approx 600 KM from Chennai, it is towards the south. The place is famous for Halwa (a sweet made of wheat and sugar) available there. As such Tirunelveli doesn’t have any scenic places. It is the place surrounding this small town where you find gorgeous waterfalls, dams and beautiful terrain.

Oh ya before I say further let me tell you about a surprising thing which happened in the train. There we were sitting near the window hoping the signal will turn green and train would start (anyways the train was late as usual), suddenly an RPF pops up near the window and hands over a paper to my father. It was a feedback form about the Train service. Wowww!! Ok so we answered the few questions which were there in one side of the paper. It was a really a good thing, cause you can specify if you had undergone some problems or non social activity in any stations. Hmmm finally there was a suggestion column also. So my father takes his pen and starts filling it and hands it over to the RPF inside the train.

Finally the train starts and we reach Tirunelveli safe and checked-in the hotel. We have already arranged for a cab so transportation was not a real problem. The driver was also a relation of us in a very complicated way which my parents tried to explain to me and as usual I never got it. Anyways I addressed him ‘Anna’ (anna means brother, it is a friendly way of addressing people in the south).

So we finish our breakfast in a good hotel and start our journey, the first place we went was Karaiyar dam it is a 2 hour drive from our hotel. There is a boat ride in Karaiyar dam which will end in the other side of the dam from there you will have to climb a bit and presto you see a fall known as Banatheertham Waterfall.

We reached Karaiyar dam and it was a pretty sunny day and my mother being aged couldn’t walk much but she managed got to appreciate her will power. So we get the tickets for the boat ride. It’s a small motor boat with no roofing or fancy stuff meant for the sole purpose of floating over the water.

The scenic beauty seen from the boat journey is simply superb. Surrounded by hills, a clear blue sky above and ice cold water made it the perfect.

The boat ride is for 15 min. You wont see any waterfall or not even a shore for a while; then nearing the end of the journey the boat takes a small turn where you get to see the gorgeous falls so clean and the greenery makes you feel fresh. This is Banatheertham Falls.

Anyways the one you see in the beginning is just a sample of the big one. Photos are prohibited in and around the dam but it is anyways allowed near the falls and trust me it is worth spending time for taking good snaps. Climb for a little while and you end up in the magnificent main falls, which is pretty huge and the thrust of the water is tremendous.

My mother felt good cause all that climbing was worth it. So we get ourselves ready for the bath, this is my first experience in an waterfall and I completely had no idea how it is going to feel. Before entering deep into the falls itself the drizzles makes you feel cold. Finally me and my sis entered the falls and all I could remember is something heavy is falling on my shoulders and back and damn I couldn’t see anything. I dint even know if I was coming out or going deep inside. After a while managed to get out and saw my parents also. We were screaming in joy cause it was a great feeling. We prepare ourselves to go again at least this time we knew how it would feel. Entered the falls and stood there for quite a few minutes. My parents couldn’t take the force much so they came out and chose a spot where the fall was not that powerful. The power of the nature can be never explained and has to be felt to know about. Local people there sell oil near the falls. Applying one whole packet of it and you enter the falls and come out after two minutes you will not have a single trace of the oil!! . On the whole the experience was too good. This is just what happened in the first half on Day 1 of our trip.

All that fun made us hungry; the driver had already told us that there were not any good hotels near the dam so we got parcel in the beginning of the journey itself. Had our lunch in the open space surrounded by trees sat down in the dried leaves and enjoyed the lunch with nature.

From there we started coming down, less than half an hour you will find another falls known as Agastiyar falls. No climbing stuff is required here; you walk a little bit from the parking area and you end up in this falls. This one is a small one and also very much crowded which made the place look a little sloppy, din spend much time but had a good bath here also and packed for the next the dam which is known for its magnificent beauty and the scenic location where many movies shooting has also been done.

It is the Papanasam dam of the Tamiraparani River. The water is clean and very pure which can be felt in every drop of it, local people come there for bathing, fishing and washing clothes. Its like this, there will be a place where you can walk along and the cool water will be flowing through your feet, towards your right you will see water water water and then hills.

The depth of the water is somewhere around 6 to 7 feet and so you need not be scared. And if you knowing swimming you will never get the feeling of coming out the water. Towards your left is where the water falls down and goes along; don’t be scared that you are walking on the edge cause its not that deep, you will see people standing below this small fall kind of thing and talking bath. People who don’t know swimming prefer this spot. For others it’s like a huge swimming pool with natures best scenic views. We went there by evening so the sunset also added to this scenic beauty and made it breath taking view.

We took a place where there was less or no crowd; and found a place to sit which is comfortable for my parents it was actually like a big Jacuzzi !!. Around 6.45 we had to start cause the place was getting dark and local guards asked everyone to leave. End of Day 1; The day was fun filled and of course filled with water water water; something which is tough to find in Chennai!.
I will let you know about my day 2 and day 3 of the trip in my next blog… Day 2 was good but Day 3 ended up in disappointment… Will be posting soon ..