Jan 2nd begins at three a.m for the fifteen of us from Chennai..along with J., his bro and his friend from Erode...there are 18 of us who start off to Top Slip (dont get disillusioned by the close proximity of the words top and slip into thinking that its a ladies boutique) It is a forest range..three hours from Erode if you are a good driver, but the driver of our van was only decent so we reached there by 8:30 that is like five hours approx. Top slip is near Pollachi, which is a popular shooting spot for most South Indian films... the last time i was in Pollachi was for a film shooting...but thats for a later post...
In Top Slip one can take a three hour trek..that will cost 100 bucks for four people inclusive of a guide.or a one hour van ride which will cost 625 rupees for 25 people.. as luck would have it.. the guides had take off and the next van ride was only at 3 p.m.. so in other words, Top Slip was a bust !! ( Never thought i would use the words bust, top and slip in the same sentence without refering to a lady )
But we did get to see two lovely tree houses and two majestic elephants before leaving Top Slip..intend to stay in one of those tree houses in the near future..the view from the tree house is astounding i swear !!
We also have breakfast at Top Slip, J. household have packed our breakfast and lunch and some snacks.. they stayed up the whole night packing.. hospitality at its finest !!!
BREAKFAST - Rava Briyani with minced mutton... BRILLIANT !!!
We start to Monkey Falls at ten, and we reach Monkey Falls by twelve... fortunately there is more of Falls than Monkey and most of us enjoy a wonderful wash in the bitingly cold waters.. nature's shower provides us with an appetite..just as well cos next stop is lunch... but we need to reach Aliyar Dam before finding out what lunch has in store..
Aliyar Dam is a super tourist spot..it has featured in many movies including Kadhaluku Neramillae and Mounam Samhadam and we get to enjoy lunch sitting on the banks of its reservoir.. LUNCH - Tamarind Rice, Fried fish (that we purchased at the dam) and muruku..BRILLIANT !!
Lunch ends at three p.m and we need to ruch back to Erode to have dinner and board the train to Chennai at 9:30. Dinner that day is the only vegetarian meal i have had for three days.. DINNER - Masala Dosa, hot Vadas and Idlis.. i detest Idlis so i avoid them and have three dosas to compensate, we rush to the train.. and its a real pity that such a memorable trip has to end in such a rush...but the memories stay..
The new year brings with it a timely lesson in hospitality, humility and togetherness from the greatest of teachers... Jaheed and family !
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