Recent Visit To Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace

[Mathew]

June to August is summer vacation time in middle-east. All Indian schools will close during these months and open only in September. So it is vacation time for kids and hence their parents. Just visit LULU mall at Edappaly, Ernakulam either in July or August. Non-Resident Indians (NRI) add to usual crowd of LULU Mall during these months. Attaching few photos from LULU mall during ONAM days. We had a good vacation during our last year summer days. I have some other commitments, and hence doubtful for any possible outing during this year vacation. My son is now studying at Trivandrum, and possibly have some travel to Trivandrum from Pathanamthitta to collect & drop during weekends. Hence, spent some time at Trivandrum and explored few places around Trivandrum.

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

1. The golden peak
The Golden Peak is the first place that we explored. We did not spend much time there, but a quick trip The golden Peak(Ponmudi in Malayalam) is located near Trivandrum, Kerala. It is around 55 km away from Trivandrum. It is a hill station having an altitude of 1100m.

My son wants to go back to hostel on Sunday afternoon. We decided to drop him, and hence a quick trip to Trivandrum from Pathanamthitta. We take Main Central (MC) road from Adoor. The MC road is on good condition. We stopped for lunch at Kartika residency at Karettu near Trivandrum. The restaurant is well maintained, and food really good. Ample space for parking. Including few photos of the car parking. After having a lovely full stomach food, it is time to explore something new. We have little time in between before 6pm (hostel entry closes at 6pm). It is long time wish to explore Ponmudi. Quickly this topic came to mind, why not utilize this time to explore Ponmudi. Though, this short duration is not sufficient, but decided to explore. Anyway, no time to think further. Set Ponmudi in Google maps. We took Vembayam-Vithura-Ponmudi route.









Few more photos of LULU mall during ONAM season continues.

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

I saw this YouTube video after our trip. We missed this beautiful, Meenmutty waterfalls.
Meenmutty, which is couple of kilometers away from the main road. I missed Meenmutty falls, and definitely schedule in the next visit. There is one big rock on the way to the water falls. Enjoy this video (narration in Malayalam).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJXQSVWVzyU

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

Ponmudi is located near Kallar river. The Kallar river, the name says it is having small stones on the bed of river. Lots of warning boards, indicate these stones are slippery and extreme care should consider if you want to wet your feet. Lots of private resorts on the way to Pondmudi, after Vithura. There are some easy access places to the river, where one can park the vehicle and go near the Kallar river. Always schedule a day long tip to visit each of these places. There are Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses available on different time slots from Vithura to Ponmudi.

There are 22 hairpin bends on the way to Ponmudi. The road is in good condition, neatly laid with proper markings. As the road progresses towards the uphill, it is slightly narrow on certain areas. Be careful while going up, may have speeding vehicles coming down, especially on narrow areas. As the road progress to climb the mountain, there is cash counter to collect video/still camera fees. The first few hair pin bends are easy. Big trees on both sides. As we climb further, we will feel fresh cool air. Thick dense trees on both sides. As we progress, after 15th or 16th hairpin bends there are tea plantations on both sides.

Climbing hairpin 15, 16 and 17.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eCKHFeKzEA

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

Route map to Ponmudi from Pathanamthitta in below picture. Few photos from the Karthika residency also included.

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

Tea plantation part of the mountain are mostly covered with mist. We had tough time after the 18th hair pin bend. It was raining, and above some big fog. Check the second photo below. 1-2Meter visibility for few minutes. We moved very slowly, and one place stopped for the fog to settle. We found some other bikers also taking a break for the fog to settle. Checked with the bikers about the road, and the road conditions. We continued, and reached at a point there is diversion to KTDC restaurant, and golden peak. Opted for restaurant. We had hot cup of tea with some French fries.

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

Our photographer could not do much due to low light and poor weather conditions. I found excellent photos in Anil's Travelogue.

Check these photos. Below two photos from that Travelogue, and followed by ours. We too stopped for a small photo session on the same place. Two photos from that spot (3rd and 4th below).

 

[Mathew]

Re: Recent visit to Golden Peak, and Padmanapuram Palace.

Attaching more photos of uphill journey.

 

[Mathew]

We ran out of time. The entry to the upper view point closes at 5pm. So did not visit the upper view point and delayed to next time. So decided to go back. While descending the hair-pins, we noticed that ahead of us another 7-8 vehicles. All were descending on very slow speed, have taken much care. We noticed another 6-7 vehicles behind us. So it was fun to have 7-8 vehicle on front and the same behind us. Took little time to descend and reached the lower most hairpin bend. Then I took the lead and proceed to Vithura. Finally reached the college hostel just around 6pm.

 

[Mathew]

Few more photos of the convoy system. It is good to move on groups especially on bad lights and descending the hairpins. Low light till 16th hairpin bend and the cloud cleared after 16th hairpin. Check 6th photo (hairpin 18/22), cloud cleared, and daylight is back.

 

[Highway Ranger]

Hi Mathew,

Nice log.

I remember my visit to Padmanabhapuram palace. My wife and I had a very painful time walking barefoot at the back of the palace. Those sharp pebbles really hurt us. Hope they pave the place at the back.

 

[Mathew]

I remember my visit to Padmanabhapuram palace. My wife and I had a very painful time walking barefoot at the back of the palace. Those sharp pebbles really hurt us. Hope they pave the place at the back.

Thanks HR,

The same condition is now during August 2015. Only relief is that it was rainy season not summer days. It is very difficult walking on barefoot especially on summer days. There is 'Nariyal Pani' (tender coconut juice) center is offering cool tender juice at the back-yard. Attaching one photo to recollect your memories.

 

[Mathew]

Before the viewpoint, there is one diversion to KTDC restaurant. We drove straight to restaurant to have some tea. The KSRTC bus service ends here, and wait for its next schedule. Sufficient place to park the vehicle near this bus stop. The restaurant is beside this bus stop. We moved to KTDC restaurant for some light refreshments. A small view point is available beside the restaurant. The ambience is really great. Cold and fresh air. We will get really refreshed once we stay there for 5-10 minutes. We want to take some photos, but could not make due to some scattered rain with poor light.

 

[Mathew]

Mesmerizing chilled winds will chill your mind. Stay at the view point for some time. This is a temporary make shift view point beside the KTDC restaurant. We ran out of time and could not go to the main view point in the upper part of the mountain. KTDC restaurant is located on the steep side of this part of the mountain. Feel scared if looked down of this section of the mountain. We stayed for some time and moved out of this place hoping to visit again.

 

[Mathew]

We noticed one bridge on Kallar River, leading to a private resort. We wish to stop there and take few photos. Delayed to next time. Few more photos attaching.