Our Unexpected trip to Malampuzha Dam-Palakkad.

Bunking classes and exploring new places were the cherishable moments during everyone’s college life. My gang was the exact set of craziest, energetic people who love to visit new places in the world. Though Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam may not be alive today, I could proudly say his words inspire not only me but every college student on making memories. “Sometimes it’s better to bunk a class and enjoy with friends, because today when I look back, marks never make me laugh, but memories do…”, echoes in my mind even now.

Yes! Your guess is right, we bunked our classes one pleasant Tuesday of October.

I would say that our trip was unexpected, sudden planned on Monday night, and gathering my fellow folks was pretty difficult. The next morning by 6.30 AM we assembled near our hostel and boarded the bus for Coimbatore railway junction. Finally, 9 of us turned up for the trip.

The train timings to Palakkad from Coimbatore junction will be available in the IRCTC app or google or else you can board trains according to the time you reach Coimbatore junction. We reached junction by 7.10 AM, and we bought tickets for 7.30 AM-Mangaluru Central Fast Passenger train. Since this train was an unreserved passenger train, you can make yourself comfortable in any of the compartments, and we settled in one of the compartments in-between middle and last.

The fun we were making on the train made the fellow passengers stare us throughout the journey. After passing the not so high mountains, small waterfalls, tall trees that were sighting us from the farms, we reached Palakkad Station by 9.00 AM when the bright morning sun and our hunger welcomed us.

Since we were in God’s own country, Idiyappam and Kadla curry smiled at us from our plates. We were visiting Palakkad and Malampuzha dam for the first time, we didn’t know much about the places and that made us communicate with local people speaking half Tamil and half Malayalam. Beware of the cab and auto drivers since you can go by bus to Malampuzha dam saving your money.

We reached the bus stop suggested by resident and after waiting for about 5 minutes we boarded the bus. The travel of about 20-30 minutes made us get more excited to reach the Malampuzha dam.

I like to enlighten you with the highlights of Palakkad and Malampuzha dam I have read and known so far.

1. Palakkad is the popular city in Kerala and it serves as a gateway to the state. The temperature remains moderate throughout the year. This place has rivers that come as tributaries from the Bharathapuzha river.
2. Apart from the Malampuzha dam, Palakkad has many attractions such as Palakkad fort, Kalpathy Vishwanatha Swamy Temple, Dhoni hills, Thiruvalathoor, Manappullikavu Devi Temple.
3. Malampuzha dam and gardens are located 50 km from Coimbatore, 10 km from Palakkad. Among 33 dams in Kerala, this dam is the largest reservoir and it crosses the Malampuzha river- the second longest river in Kerala. You won’t believe that this dam was built by the Tamilnadu government and now it belongs to Kerala.
4. The Dam is opened from 9.00 AM-8.00 PM. Recent discoveries say that the low-lying hills in the fringes of the Malampuzha dam which is close to the Western Ghats are said to have traces of Iron Age burial cists of Kerala.

 

The view while traveling on the bus was so mesmerizing and the beauty of the mountains is still flashing in my mind. We took an entry ticket of Rs.25/person with additional charges for the camera of Rs.100 and entered the garden. The place was not crowded since we went on a weekday, and we found few families, couples and workers who work there.

We started our roaming taking left from ‘milma shop’ and took a few pictures. We found various types of trees and plants having their name written on the board. Then walked in a way that had trees surrounding us both sides clicking a few pictures. Next, we went near the walls of the dam and were climbing those walls even though we know that we can’t climb after a certain level.

Failing after several attempts to climb the wall, we went near the shutters of the dam which looked like human eyes that shed both sad and happy tears. Unluckily on that day the shutters were opened slightly making less water to discharge out. The water that came out the formed river at the toe of the dam.

You’ll be astonished how the hanging bridge is bearing more people when they walk through. You can feel the vibrations when you walk on the bridge and your friends will make you scream out loud by playing like pushing you from the bridge to fall into the river. Everyone’s stomach grumbled after crossing the bridge.

I suggest that you take more water bottles and packed food from your home when you start for the trip since you’ll not find any food inside the garden apart from snacks. We managed with the snacks we bought while starting our journey. After making all the snacks disappear to our hunger we started for viewing the water reservoir.

We walked through a small mountain-like elevation which is well-built by road to reach the climbing steps. The width of the steps is small where only one person can climb after one person. We were able to view the flawless water along with tiny mountains that waved Us ‘Hai!’ from far. On the top bridge, we spent a minimum of 30-1 hour by playing and taking pictures. We got down at the other end which ends up in the garden. You have a rope facility to enjoy the dam and garden view.

The final destination of us was the private swimming pool that was present inside the premises. Charge for this place is separate which costs Rs.100/person and there is no time limit for leaving the pool. We played for about 2 hours and started our way back to Palakkad junction.

Have you ever heard of buying two hibiscus flowers for Rs.100? Haha! Yes, we bought it since my friends who plucked the flowers in the garden without noticing the warning board “Plucking flowers is prohibited”. After paying the fine amount we vacated and boarded bus for Palakkad junction. Since we didn’t have a proper lunch, we bought snacks on our way to the junction.

We bought Palaapala (Jackfruit) chips, Nenthrapala chips, Halwa, and boarded 4.00 PM-Shoranur Jn-Coimbatore train. After 1.30 hours of journey, we reached Coimbatore junction. Then, we took the bus to our place and had some hot coffee along with snacks in our favorite bakery and disappeared for our sleeping journey.

Though our journey was unexpected and a one-day trip, we made it safe and sound.

I hope your journey’s goals be accomplished as you embark on another trip, till then bye.