Kukke Sri Subrahmanya Temple

Date: 23rd April 2016

Visitors: Arun and Shilpi

Fee: None. Annadhana donations can be made in office if anyone interested. Rs 500 minimum. Two laddo and direct entry to temple skipping the queue.

From Bisle ghat view point we went to subrahmanya. The road was a smooth one with trees on both sides. It was an amazing experience to drive through that winding roads. I want to go back again during rains. On the way we saw a small water fall along the road. We reached subhramanya around 2 PM. The stay we booked was in KRS nandhavana behind the kukke college. The rooms were located in the middle of a farm with lot of trees. We rested for a while and went to visit the temple. The temple was not too crowded but not too free also. We had a good darshan in the evening. We want to go back again after sunset. We walked around and visited few other temples nearby. We came back to the temple after sunset and had a good darshan once again. Though the women in the temple calls out people to move she was not rude and yelling at people. It was around dinner time and we decided to have food in the temple. The annadhana was given to devotees in a big hall. Very surprised to see devotees were made to sit in line (men and women separate line) and fed with rice, sambar, rasam, curd and a sweet. Totally coordinated effort from the people who serve food. We approximately counted around 800 people fed in one sitting. We were the second batch and not sure how many more had food. We went back to the room with both stomach and heart filled.

Few pics from the trip.

The small waterfall on the way.

Beautiful road leading to subrahmanya.

Temple gopuram and the western ghats in the background.

Biladwara where Vasuki and other snakes hid from Garuda.

Abhaya Ganapathi temple.

Vanadurga temple.

Kashikatte temple.

Selfie in front of kukke temple.

The roof of Kukke temple.

The stones kept by devotees in Adi subrahmanya temple.

Annadhana hall. Waiting for the food.

Kukke Sri Subrahmanya temple under light.

Surely an amazing place to visit. Shilpi and I liked the temple a lot and we might be going back often.

Bisle Ghat Viewpoint

Date: 23rd April 2016

Travelers: Arun and Shilpi

Distance: 272 Kms one way.

Route: Bangalore - Kunigal - Chanrayapattana - Holenarasipur - Bisle ghat view point.

Route condition: Very good till last 8 kms. Could not go beyond 25kmph in last 8 Kms.

Not much to do over the weekend so Shilpi and I planned to visit Dharmasthala and Kukke subhramanya. Harsh is enjoying his vacation with grandparents and this was our first trip without him. We planned the trip only on Friday evening and all temple accommodation in Dharmasthala was full. We booked hotel in Subhramanya. While looking for the direction in net i saw few pics of Bisle ghat. The pics looked beautiful so we added Bisle ghat in last minute. The place was beautiful. When we reached there was no one else. The view of the western ghats was breathtaking. The place is secluded, plan your trip during the day. Also avoid mid day if you want to get decent pics.

Some pics from the trip.

Last good section.

Last 8 kms on the small pot holed road.

Entrance to the view point.

View point.

Majestic western ghats.

Few more click of the beautiful mountain and forest.

View point.

Path from entrance till view point.

Selfie

We continued to subhramanya through the same ghat road. After driving for 3 kms a lorry driver coming in opposite informed us that the road is blocked further.  We went back to sakleshpur and drove to subhramanya.

Kannur Trip: Parassinikadavu Snake Park

Date: 9th April 2016

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Timings: 8 AM to 6 PM

Fee: Adult-Rs30, 3 to 18 Yrs-Rs20, Camera Rs30, Video Rs50

We left St Angelo fort to visit the snake park in parassinikadavu. Its a small zoo with few birds and small animals along with many types of snakes. The park is on the way to Muthappan temple. There is no proper parking. Parking is on the road outside the park. Since it doesn't get crowded it is ok else it would have been a problem. Outside the park there are few shops selling tender coconut, chips and juice. The has few animals like porcupine, iguana, monkey etc. There are few birds. If anyone is interested seeing snakes then they will like it as the park has many varieties of snakes. There is also a small sea world with few colorful fishes. The glasses and the water was clean so some of the fishes were looking very colorful and bright. I liked the aquarium in this park.

Few pics from the snake park.

Entrance to the park.

Colorful Aquarium.

Porcupine sleeping in a corner.

Iguana.

2 snakes ready to fight. We were expecting that they will start fighting but one of them just gave up and went away after standoff.

A small jack-fruit in the tree.

Can have a quick tour around the park if one is visiting Muthappan temple.

Kannur Trip: St Angelo Fort

Date: 9th April 2016

Visitors: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Timings: 8 AM to 6 PM

Fee: Rs 30 for parking

On day 2 again after playing for sometime in muzhappilangad beach we went to see few places in Kannur. One of the places to visit in Kannur is the St Angelo fort facing the Arabian Sea. The fort was established by the Portuguese. The fort was also captured by Dutch and then later by British. One can walk around the fort and enjoy watching the sea and  the beauty of the old building. There is nothing much see inside as its all empty walls now. It was too humid when we went and we were sweating profoundly. Take caps and enough water if you are visiting in summer. There are 2 small shops inside selling some juices and chips.

Some pics from the fort.

Harsh learning to click pics.

Entrance to the fort.

One of the wall facing the sea.

Looks like prison or some storage house.

Canons installed every few meters to protect the fort.

Central part of the fort. Loved this view.

Hard rocks protecting the shore.

Not a great place (especially in summer) but can be visited for its history.

Kannur Trip: Muzhappilangad, Drive-In Beach.

Date: 8th April 2016 to 10th April 2016

Travelers: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Fee: Rs 30. You can use the same coupon multiple times a day.

Timings: None.

The Samudra homestay was just opposite to the beach. We reached the home stay around lunch time. We had lunch there and rested for a while. It was too hot to go out on the beach. Harsh was impatient and kept asking how long how long and finally at 4 PM we left the room. Harsh and my parents immediately went to the sea to play in water. Shilpi and I went for a ride on the beach. It was a  different experience driving on the beach. We drove and measured 4.2 kms. If taken end to end it would be surely 4.5kms. This is the only drive-in beach in India and the longest drive-in beach in Asia. Its nice to just park the car where ever you want ;). We parked the car and got into the water. We played for some time. The waves were not strong so harsh could enjoy playing in water. We too did not have to worry about the waves. Another good thing was it was not crowded as in case with other popular beaches. There were couple of mini trucks selling ice cream and chips.

Some pics from the beach.

Our Ertiga on the drive-in beach.

Another angle.

Walking on water.

Few more pics of family playing.

Plenty of place to drive around.

Sunset in muzhappilangad beach

Playing with sun.

Row boat on the beach.

One of the hidden treasures in Kerala.