It was a long awaited cousins trip for the second time, first being to Kutta, Madikeri district way back in August 2013. We pondered over many places like Agumbe, Chikmaglur and Gokarna for our second trip but eventually zeroed in on Valparai, the reasons being it allows all the four drivers to drive the car and the inviting forty hair pin bends.

The cheetah all set to roar !!

Day 1 – 2nd October, 2015 (Friday)

We started from Bommanahalli at exactly 4:50 AM. The moment we got into the car, the rain gods showered us with a heavy downpour. There was little traffic at Tamil Nadu border and soon we reached McD pump and did a tank full.

The ever beautiful stretch from Hosur to Krishnagiri.

With ease we crossed Pollachi around 12:30 PM and proceeded towards Valparai. Enroute stopped for many photo ops. Ever scenic Aliyar Dam with a clear blue sky as the backdrop

Aliyar Dam – Up Close

From an angle the water looked interestingly green with blue sky.

From my brother: Shot on iPhone6 🙂

Aliyar Dam as seen from the top of the beautiful ghats

This view is from 8th or 9th ghat

The famous view of the aliyar from the 12th ghat

Now over to the top.

We began heading towards Athirapalli where our accommodation was booked. It was at Deepikas Resort (Home Stay) right opposite to Sholayar dam. It was indeed a comfortable stay with great food. We reached the resort at around 3 PM and were immediately served lunch.

The property (Home Stay)

En-route to rooms

Kitchen

Day 2 (3rd October, 2015)

Our plan was to visit Athirapally falls and stop at as many places possible to click pics. Descending down from the resort, we got a beautiful view of the ghats and Sholayar dam.

Sholayar Dam

A temple enroute the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

A dam or a lake enroute to Athirapally falls.

A driver’s delight with prominent markings surrounded by lush greenery

Kissing the tarmac !!

We crossed over to Kerala. Our vehicle was checked for liquor and we were allowed to proceed. After a journey of about 2 hours, we reached Vazhaichal check post. We stopped here for making the vehicle entry and quickly proceeded towards the more mightier one. But just couldn’t ignore this cute little Charpa Falls.

Within a few minutes, got the first glimpse of the falls and stupefied by its beauty

A panoramic view of the falls from where we parked our car.

Zoom in !!

Zoom in further !!

We had two options. One to get to the top of the falls and enjoy the panoramic view of the river that eventually falls or get to the bottom of the falls and enjoy bottoms up view of the falls. We chose the latter. The steps leading to the bottom of the falls.

We got down and here is the view of the falls. Not many pictures because I spent most of the time enjoying the live view and yes cleaning up my lens with water sprayed all around :(.

After spending considerable amount of time there, we climbed the top to get the view of the river.

We started our return journey back and yes again we had to face the wrath of rains. We reached the stay at 6:30 PM and had our dinner and slept.

Day 3 (4th October, 2015)

We started to Bangalore at 9 AM and when we started coming down, it was misty all around.

And the visibility was reduced to 100 metres.

After many pit stops and a brief stay at our uncle’s place for lunch at Coimbatore, we reached our home at 12:30 AM, the next day morning.

Finally the image of the trip belongs to my brother, again shot on iPhone 6