The(a) Vera Leval Trip 2.0

My third trip within two months, this time with the KONE boys. Yes, the sequel to our The Vera Level trip is here thanks to the guy who's back to India and another guy who's going to leave India, unfortunately, who couldn't make it to this trip at the last moment. He was the organizer of the V.L 1.0 and also the planner for this trip who never shared the actual plan till the last moment. This also turned out to be a sequel to my Vagamon trip which I went a few years back.

The Gang

The Plan: 

When a group was created out guys shared an extraordinary itinerary which I guess could take at least a week to cover, but after few days we booked a resort for a day in Vagamon and booked a tempo traveler. Other than that nothing was planned or at least not communicated to me till I boarded that traveler.

Plan vs Actual

The Start:

As planned we all started on Friday night from Chennai, the final count was 11 and the destination was to reach Kumbakarai Falls, which was the only thing planned. The traffic was too much on every toll gates even with Fast tags and it was 11:30 when we stopped for dinner near Chengalpet. We finished our idlies, chicken kuruma, veg kuruma, etc. But, before reaching I have been having all the "side dishes" which you can find in a shop near any Tasmac that too after having my dinner at home before the start. And, meanwhile, we were thinking about the plan for the next day.  I asked our driver about how long it will take to reach Vagamon from Kumily and he was like "what and where is Vagamon?". When we booked we communicated about Munnar and he had no idea we are heading towards Vagamon. So, I was like there is a change of plans we are going to Vagamon, but still, we are not sure where we are going to stay on Saturday.

Dinner Time

Day 1: Kumbakarai Falls and Vaigai Dam

After a few stops for tea and to sleep, we finally reach Dindugal for breakfast and to refresh. And, after checking all the possibilities and decided to go to Megamalai and stay there and canceled our plan of staying in Kumily. And, we reach the Kumbakarai falls and I haven't been there before. The place wasn't crowded at all so we had enough time to enjoy there and the first location itself was fulfilling so we decided to skip Surili falls from the plan. And, when we returned we found out we couldn't find a stay in Megamalai and it wasn't feasible to go to Megamalai and comeback to Kumily.
And, our driver suggested there's a farmhouse nearby and we can even stay there tonight, we were open to that plan as well. So, our driver was wondering whether we are going to stay in Megamalai or Kumily or in that Farmhouse since we are open to all the plans. Finally, we decided to stay in Vagamon itself and go straight to Vagamon after Vaigai Dam without stopping.

Kumbakarai Falls

After Kumbakarai Falls, we went to Vaigai Dam, the dam was so big and fortunately, it had so much water so it looked good. After the dam, we started to Vagamon itself and on the way, we booked for a stay on the way and also purchase for the barbecue again just like the last time. And, we will never forget the tea we had after Kumily before heading off to Vagamon. So, we kinda skipped Suruli Falls, Megamalai, Kumily, Thekkady and also Munnar from the initial screenshot. And, it was very late when we finally reached our resort. The weather was so good, it was very hard to stand outside in that chill weather and we booked two jeeps for tomorrow sightseeing and all were so tired and adjusted in the available place to sleep.

Vaigai Dam

Vaigai Dam

Day 2: Vagamon

We asked our jeep driver to come by 9 even though he said he will come by 6, but yet he reached there by 6 itself and made everyone to get up so early.

Finally, everyone got ready and started for our sightseeing maybe by 8 in the jeep. And, unlike the last time, our jeep driver was driving so fast even in those off roads. It was a thrilling experience, looks like this is also a part of the package. We stopped at Idukki Dam's backside view first, with so much water it looked like a sea. Then, we stopped at waterfalls, I've been there before, but this time we went a little farther in and had a fantastic bath, once again without anyone's disturbance. And, we were supposed to return to the room for breakfast, but there was an only shop at that waterfalls' entrance which had idly and Tapiaco with an awesome chilly chutney, so we all finished our breakfast there.

Idukki Dam View

Then, we stopped at few more viewpoints which didn't have any name and back to our hotel. And, we had a break before we head out for the remaining spots in our sightseeing. I've never had a break during the day whenever I was on a trip, but it was nice. We all gathered around outside our resort chatting and had some "side dishes" like chips, mixture and some fruits.

Another View Point

Tunnel near the Waterfalls

And, we head out for lunch, where everyone wanted to have lighta, but ended up eating as usual. And, it started the second set of sightseeing and this time the riding was more thrilling. We stopped at Kurusimalla and Murugan malai, didn't bother climbing any malai. Then we went to another viewpoint where our jeep climbed a mountain and he made a two 360 degrees spin at the top of a mountain which was an awesome experience followed by another viewpoint. After taking a few pictures we moved to Thangalpara, which I've been before and last time it was covered with mist followed by rain, but this time the weather was sunny and had a good view. And, the next spot was the same Vagamon Meadows which was less green than I saw last time and more crowded. 

Another Viewpoint

Viewpoint after the stunt

Thangapara

Thangalpara

Ayutha Ezhuthu pose since 2004 :D

After finishing the sightseeing, we went to the only resort which we booked before the trip. But, it wasn't easy to find since the roads were too bad and difficult to find as well. And, we somehow reached there once again late and we were expecting them to prepare the barbecue with the ingredients we bought, but they asked us to prepare. And, our chef Joeseph, just like last time jumped into action and meanwhile, we started gathering around the campfire, oops firecamp, with songs in BT speaker and "side dishes". It went for some time and we went to sleep after having that awful dinner given by that resort.

 

Another Viewpoint

That round is where the stunt happens

With our Jeep drivers who gave us thrilling rides

Day 3: The Returrrnnnn

The last day was nothing, but to return to Chennai. After getting ready and having the surprisingly good idly and chutney, which was a complimentary breakfast, took some photos around the resort and started our return to Chennai by at least 10 in the morning hoping to reach before midnight. And, of course, we had too many stops on the way, starting from Kumily where people bought Chips and stuff back home. Then, at a grape vineyard where we went and had a look around the grapes plantation, bought some grapes. Then, our people decided to have "lighta" lunch roadside, which was nothing but the ice-biriyani made from the rice provided for our dinner and finish the rest at Venu Biriyani Dindigul. 

The Picture Spot @ our Resort

We decided to play "Alex in Wonderland" to kill time in the TV available and it was the first time for many of us. But, sadly the audio format wasn't supported, so we connected the phone to the audio and played the video on the TV and took some time to sync both and we finally achieved it. It was my 3rd time and I've seen it live also, but it was still enjoyable and the process of syncing the audio and video was even more enjoyable :D :D.

Grape vineyard

And, we did reach Dindigul in the evening and the quantity of a biriyani was too little so we just bought one and everyone tasted it for the sake of reaching there and decided to go Trichy for dinner itself. 

And, we reached Trichy and had dinner and said goodbye to the NRI Ram and a guy did call him to ask "Romba Thooram Poitia Ram?" once he left and said goodbye to all of us :D :D. And, I didn't know whether they stopped after that before reaching Chennai, it was almost 3 or 4 am when everyone reached their homes.

Overall, another satisfying trip which was much enjoyable in a tempo traveler which started with a big plan or without a plan and without any tension of catching trains. Looking forward to the 3.0 next year. And, I've already started planning for my next trip with my Visteon guys.