Aralvaimozhi - Chekkar Giri, Tamil Nadu

Photo by Neelan: View from Aralvaimozhi Railway Station

I recently organized a family trekking program to Chekkar Giri at Aralvaimozhi in the Western Ghats, which is about 15 Km from Nagercoil (enroute Tirunelveli) in Kanyakumari Dist in Tamil Nadu. Since trek group includes my son (age 7) to my mom (age 55) we decided to start early in the morning, have all the fun in the mountain and return home by 3 P.M.

Trail Mark : It was not as bad as it looks

Well, we started our journey on a Sunday from Nagercoil at 7 A.M by local bus (which is available in plenty and hardly takes an hour to reach Aralvaimozhi). The moment we reached Aralvaimozhi and saw the Chekkar Giri, we all had a second though about our adventure trip except my son who was eager to start the trek right away - skipping his breakfast even. I had a spend a bit of time to convince him that he needs a lot of energy to climb while hiding the real reason of our uncontrollable desire to have steaming idili and sambar at a local hotel. Once our tummies were full, we were ready (by 8 A.M) for an exciting trip. (If you are one of those guys who look for very decent restaurants, try your breakfast at Hotel Chitra International, Hi-Tech Vegetarian Restaurant in Nagercoil and look no beyond)

Trek team on the Chekkar Giri

At the foot of the mountain, we tried to get a local to be our guide, everyone laughed and asked us to follow the trail marks or animal tracks, which will lead to the top of the mountain and when we hesitated, they inspired us by saying there is no other animals in the mountains except cows, goats and dogs. They could have stopped there instead they added that, even the kids around that place used to climb up and down by themselves. What an inspiration!! So we decided to climb by ourselves - without any guide.

After two hour of laborious climbing and hoping from one rock to another once a while, we made it to the top. It was mind blowing view of the Western Ghats. Atop of Chekkar Giri Mountain is a small Murugan temple, locally referred as Uchi Murugan Koil with a mandapam in front and nothing more.

From the top, one could see Muppandal, one of the best & largest windmill sites in India. There is an also a traditional story that Avvaiyar (female poet saint in the 1st century AD) had arranged for a marriage, to which she invited the sovereigns of the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms. The kings erected pandals (mandapams) in the respective places allotted to them and this eventually led to the place being called Muppandal (meaning 'three pandals'). One can also see clearly the Poigai Dam from the top.

Photo by Neelan: Murugan temple

After enjoying for some time the cool breeze and views Western Ghats has to offer, my mom started the lunch preparation. Since we bought the few basic vessels/plates/cups and the necessary rice and vegetables, it was time for every trekker to do their bit of work. Me and my son went looking for dry sticks and leaves for cooking using the outdoor fire pit and my wife and mom started washing and cutting the vegetables. As a result of one hour of hard labor we had our plates filled with kuttanchorru (mixed vegetable rice made from locally avaliable vegetables like brinjal, drumstick, patato, gourd, yam etc.), vathal &  papadum (thin Indian crispy cracker) and narthangai (bitter orange) pickel. Wow, the rice has never tasted so good.

Wind Farm seen from the top

Photo by Neelan: Aral Mountain View

Our lunch was over by 11:50 A.M and after-lunch relaxation for an hour, we started to head down. It hardly took at 45 minutes to reach the foothill and another hour to reach Nagercoil.

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Other Place of Interest near Aralvaimozhi :

Avvaiyar Amman Temple

Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

I along with four of my colleagues decided to explore the areas around Araku valley on 21st Feb 2010, which is in Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh. We decided to explore the famous Borra Caves, not well known Katiki waterfall ( mini trek) and finally Araku hillstation.

About Borra Caves

We choose one of the best ways to reach Araku valley from Visakhapatnam - by train. The best as the train goes through many bridges and many many tunnels (50 plus and the longest tunnel is 520 meter long). As the train departure time is 6.50 AM, we got up early in the morning and fulfilled our taste buds with real Andra breakfast Upma Pesarattu-Ginger chutney at Sairam parlour and was down at train station on time. The journey started with little anxious moments as one of us lost the backpack, which fell off from the auto we were driving from the hotel to station. Fortunately a noble heart picked it up from the roadside and waited till we came to the spot looking for our lost luggage. The train journey started as planned and as we passed each tunnel, the excitement in us grew louder and louder. We got down at Borra caves around 10 A.M and hired a Jeep vehicle (which you find in plenty offering tourist and the local, a mode of transport) to take us to Borra Caves, Katiki waterfall and finally to Araku hillstation - for Rs. 150 per person, where we decided to spend a night at the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Resort house.

Photo by NVR Prasad: (from left) Siva, Subru, Subbu & Ratan

Our first stop was at The Borra Caves located in the Ananthagiri hills of the Araku valley. The Caves, one of the largest in the country, at an elevation of about 700 m, distinctly exhibit a variety of impressive stalactites and stalagmites. The entry of the cave measures up to 100 m (328.1 ft) horizontally and 75 m (246.1 ft) vertically. These caves are stated to be one of the largest caves in the Indian subcontinent.

Stalactites inside Borra Cave

After buying our entrance ticket of Rupees 50 per adult, we were at the mercy of the real beauty that sets our eyes on and the peace all around for the next 2 hours. Stalactites deposits that hang from the top of the cave and stalagmites that form at the bottom of the cave and grow upward have developed into interesting forms and structures inside the caves. These shapes have captured the imagination of tourists, while some have been given religious identifications such as Shiva – Parvati and Rishi’s beard. Whatever your believes are it is sure that you will be dumbfound in front of these millions of years old calcium formations, which was discovered by William King the British geologist in the year 1807.

Katiki Waterfall

After enjoying Borra caves, which is open between 10 AM to 5 PM it was time to trek to Katiki Waterfall. Katiki is about (8 KM) 30 minutes dirt road drive from the caves followed by (2 KM) 30 minutes trekking in the forest. After walking for nearly an hour (thanks to many unscheduled stops to enjoy the nature), we could reach the falls. The trekking was very pleasant one, not totally tiresome, but quite exciting and enjoyable. The falls was also not big but what can match the refreshment one gets after a dip in those waters especially after 45 min trek. We got back to our vehicle by 3 P.M from the waterfalls and started our journey to Araku valley.

We spend the night at Araku hill station (best time to visit October to February) and next day the visit to Padmapuram Garden (entrance fee of Rs. 10) and the Museum of Habitat, which showcases the lifestyle of the tribals who inhabit the valley made the trip complete. Tribal museum also allowed me to try my hand at archery (Rs. 10 for allowing 5 attempts to showcase the talent).

Ratan leading our Katiki Trek (waterfall seen in background)

Journey back to the Visakhapatnam by bus provided us with one of the most valuable lesson of our life as to never depend on those plastic cards. You could all imagine our state when there is only one State Bank of India ATM, in the entire hill station and it was out of order during our visit. Right from Bus conductor to (surprisingly) Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation insisting on cash it was really a fun and enjoyable trip. Special thanks to Ratan my colleagues who inspired this trip.

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