Author Archives: ranmenon

Guruvayur is my hometown or native place as we called it all those years ago. This is where my parents, brother and I came every year during the summer vacations and spent a good two months at the ancestral home. My Ammuma stayed there alone before we descended there for the holidays. We were joinedContinue reading “The Peninsula Tour – Guruvayur”

After a wonderful time in Palakkad, we headed to Nelliyampathy, deep in the forest with lots of tea estates in the surrounding areas. The drive from Palakkad took us through some beautiful paddy fields that seemed to extend to the horizon and up to the Pothundy Dam in Nenmara. A short walk up leads youContinue reading “The Peninsula Tour – Nelliyampathy”

 In the heart of Palakkad, lies a fort.   It is not known, as to when the fort was originally built. Hyder Ali found its location strategic and captured the fort in the 1700’s.  The fort, as it stands today, has been rebuilt by Hyder Ali. The well preserved monument is accessible through a walkway,Continue reading “Peninsula Tour- A Fort, A Mana and Paddy fields”

It was a short overnight stay at Nilambur- a small sleepy municipality close to the Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats.  To chase trains and walk in a beautiful teak forest. The British constructed a metre guage line  to move teak logs from Nilambur to Shornur and from thereon to UK via Kozhikode. This hasContinue reading “Peninsula tour- Chasing trains in Nilambur”

The drive from Wayanad to Kozhikode starts with a set of 9 hair pin bends. The roads in Kerala are mostly two lane, but extremely good; however, the driving is crazy! Kozhikode is a city that we have fond memories of. I have lots of relatives in Kozhikode and this trip gave me the opportunityContinue reading “Peninsula Tour – Kozhikode”

It is thanks to Ranjit’s cousins, Raj and Jaya, that we visited the Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary. The bird sanctuary, on the outskirts of Kozhikode, spreads over a cluster of islands in the Kadalundi river close to the estuary meeting the Arabian Sea. To reach the first of the cluster, vehicles park on the mainland andContinue reading “Peninsula Tour- Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary”

This is Wayanad. It is incredibly green! It is undulating, with winding roads and forest land and many, many hills and valleys and lakes and smaller water bodies. And in the mornings, when the sun hits the slopes of the tea estates, it is breath-taking! It also crowded and contrary to the concept of aContinue reading “Peninsula tour- Wayanad”

It is a stone’s throw from Manipal ( where we stayed) to Udupi. And a complete contrast. Manipal has grown into a mini city around the campus, with malls, eating places etc. According to friends and family who studied there, none of the pictures had any recognisable and familiar places, since even as late asContinue reading “The Peninsula Tour – Udupi”

The road trip continues. From Hampi, it was Goa. To attend a wedding and rest and recover. We drove down from Goa to Gokarna, via Karwar and Yana. Reached Karwar at noon and we were disinclined to get on the beach. It’s been hotter than we anticipated. We proceeded towards Yana. As the road toContinue reading “Peninsula Tour – Goa -Karnataka coast”

Next stop is Hampi. We are staying in the neighbouring area of Hospet. Even as we drive in we see monuments scattered all over the place. Some of them are simple pavilions, while others are elaborate temple like structures. This is true of Hospet, Hampi, Anegundi, Hirebenakal and every other place we visited. Hampi hasContinue reading “The Peninsula Tour – Hampi”