Mountains and Sea... Coorg and Kannur.. Karnataka and Kerala

During the month of October our December holiday planning started. Thanks to all the AI intelligence Tripadvisor a offbeat beach place in Kannur called Thottada, Kerala. Photos and reviews in trip advisor did tempt us. Distance from Bangalore and the stunning photos in the internet fixed Thottada as our holiday destination. Felt a drive from Bangalore to Kannur may be a long one, considered a mid way break. Virajpet(Coorg district) looked interesting for a stop. Plan took a shape with 2 nights at Virajpet, 4 nights at Thottada.

Day 1: Reaching settling at Virajpet

Vacanza entrance

Stream flowing through Vacanza estate house

 

Left Bangalore at 7AM. Breakfast break at Shivalli Restaurant, Channapatna. Smooth drive till Virajpet. Lunch at Udupi hotel at Virajpet. Decent quick eat(Of the few vegetarian places in Virajpet). Headed to Vacanza Estate house at Virajpet. All the Bookings through booking.com. Homestay amidst coffee estate. Last 2KMs bad road but motor able. Location is awesome. There is a stream flowing through the place. Loads of plants(coffee and other flowering) neat bonfire, great home cooked fresh food, comfortable stay. Relaxed in bonfire and rested well. Took a stroll around to catch a glimpse of Thadiyonamol trekking place.

Day 2: Trek day Tadiandamol.. here we come

After a refreshing sleep and a tasty breakfast headed to our trekking place Tadiandamol. Tadiandamol is the second tallest peak in Karnataka(first is Mullayangiri, Chikmangalur), tallest in Coorg. There are two routes for this trek one around 4.8KM(Honeyvalley homestay route) other 3.75KM(Nallakad palace route). We stayed closer to Nallakad palace so selected this route. Jeep folks in this area threaten saying our cars can't reach the last KM but it isn't true, roads are bad but motor able. Our old Indica could reach till the point where jeeps drops folks. Autos are able to take people till that point. Take for about 1KM away from check post. There is a board stating Tadianamol trek point starts here. The path is well laid walk able and loads of folks doing the trek. There is no need of a guide. Airtel mobile signal also is there on and off. Path is marked in google maps too. Pay 20rs per person as charge and enter the trek starting point. The trek gets steeper during the last KM but definitely doable. View from peak is amazing. The check point has a small shop apart from that there is nothing available here, carry your own water and snacks. We could do total up and down in about 5 hours. This trek is refreshing. Breath some fresh and enjoy the beautiful mountain ranges of Karnataka.

Day 3: Rest and Iguthappa temple

Had a sound sleep after great lunch and dinner, headed to Iguthappa temple. This temple is in a beautiful view point and has the most friendly priest. Serves free food for all devotees. After a quick darshan, headed to Kannur our next destination on the winding roads crossing Karnataka border and reaching the Kerala border. Whole drive took around 3.5 hours, roads are getting laid at few places which slows down the traffic significantly. Caution: Winding roads, ride is slow.

Kannur is a reasonably large district well developed one. Caution for vegetarians, there are only a handful of pure vegetarian options in Kannur, all of them near railway station/bus stand. Chapatis are prepared real good in Kerala(oil-free and soft). Any place you can eat chapati and any curry(dhal/Paneer/vegetable) dishes. Finished our lunch at Dakshin veg place near railway station and headed to our beach destination, Thottada.

Our booking was with club7 beach resort. This is a simple homestay style place at a excellent location. You live so close to beach can hear the waves all through day and night.

Neat kitchen everything prepared to order. Nice breakfast, lunch and dinner. Very very slow service. Prepare to wait for 1.5 hours for any meal. Order go for a swim come back refresh and food would be ready.

December had the perfect weather to stay in water as long as one wishes too.

Club7 beach resort stone throw distance from the awesome beach

The beach is safe upto 1/2KM we were told, but waves were gentle and beaches were super clean

Day 4,5,6:Swim.. Rest.. Sunset.. repeat

Rest of our stay here we did the same every day. Morning a long walk to Ezhaara or Kizhunna beach which are either side of resort. Whole beach walk is about 4KMs. There are rocks which are hard to cross and full of colorful crabs in between. Our personal favorite was Kizhuna beach where there are almost no waves. Breakfast at resort, long swim at any of the spot for couple of hours, back to hotel place order for lunch, again another hour of swim, back to room refresh and by then lunch is ready.

Large rock barriers to reach Thottada beach

Post lunch rest and back to sea in the evening, till it gets dark swim, order refresh and have dinner sleep.

We visited the popular drive in beach of Kannur, Muzhapplangad. Nice beach but spoil with garbage everywhere. We were told each morning it's cleaned and by evening it becomes so dirty. Sad! :(

Visited another view point called overburry's folly at Thalassery. Beautiful elevation on a rock, made as a viewpoint with a park. Nice location to watch sunset.Cafe 916 near Overburry's folly is an interesting place to eat. Designed like train, they serve awesome chats and ice creams. Do not miss!

Theyyam

One evening we visited a nearby temple to watch the famous north Kerala traditional dance, Theyyam. We took the help of auto driver for Rs.1200 pickup drop and some explanation. The performance itself is totally free and the temple organized everything. If you are a local of Kerala one can easily visit all by themselves. 

The dance was stunning accompanied by energetic percussion's. The makeup fire and thrill was well worth it. We could spend only couple of hours there. We were told the performance goes on whole night. Do not miss if you are in Kerala.

 After sun tanning and burning, we checked out on the last day at 11PM and returned Bangalore by evening 7:30PM with a lunch break. Do take the Hassan route during return, make the drive lot more pleasurable.

 

 

 If you are looking for a truly offbeat beach just to enjoy sun,sea and Sand. Kannur beaches should be in your list!