Kerala unraveled

Thejus R It was a sunday and I was feeling bored..So I set out on an adventure to the ecotourism hotspot of Adavi. My ride took me through the small towns of Pathanamthitta and Konni. From Konni, I took a left and crossed the Achankovil river. The roads were so good and the forest was green and serene.  I pulled up towards the parking spot at Adavi and walked down the path graciously guarded by bamboo railings. A garden was set up towards the left side and down the path, stood a restaurant owned by vanashree, a ticket counter and toilet complex as well as a swing for those enthusiastic ones. The tickets were priced at Rs.500 for 4 people + 1 child. After taking the tickets, a beautiful path was taken, which eventually led towards the banks of the Kallar river, where the coracle boat awaited for me... I was such an eyeful location and the water there was so pure and sparkling in the sun.  I began my journey through the boat after donning my life jacket and went towards the Kall...

 A quick drive through the MC road and the Changanassery bypass would take you to the beginning point of the Changanassery-Kaviyoor road.  A drive through this road would take you till the Kaviyoor junction. From this junction, the road splits to two. One leads to the famed Kaviyoor mahadeva temple while the other leads you to the Kaviyoor rock cut cave temple.  Situated in a scenic backdrop, the Kaviyoor cave temple is maintained by the archaeological department of India and is an excellent candidate for the exhibition of ancient rock carving architecture, once lost from our culture.  The road to the area is well paved with colorful interlocks and a spacious parking space exists, protected by a tamarind tree from the top.  A steep flight of stairs took me to the entrance of the small structure which remains ill maintained but still beautiful. A huge rock called Kaniyanpara towers the temple and the view from the top is amazing even though reaching the top is ri...

 Thejus R A very special journey that I always keep close to my heart was the family trip to the Agasthyamala ranges of Trivandrum.  Our initial intention was to visit another place, which we covered way faster than we had expected. Having quite a lot of time left in our hands, we decided to club the journey with another destination. Many suggestions came up but in a spur of the moment decison, I decided it would be best to travel to the less explored waterfalls of Mankayam, near the Brimore estate.  Everyone welcomed the choice and we set out towards the hills. Google maps showed just 16 miles to the waterfalls but trust me on this....it was clearly much farther than we expected. We had our lunch at the famous Vazhiyorakkada near Kilimanoor and continued the journey towards the falls We exited the under construction SH-2 towards the road to Brimore. This road was very well laid and a breeze to drive through. I did have an apprehension whether the condition would deterior...