Day1: Mysore --> Chamrajanagar --> Erode --> Madurai --> Rameswaram
Total Distance Covered: 577 kms
Mist Covered Sathy Ghat RoadThis would be one long journey, a journey where we may encounter very good roads, marginally good roads, worse roads or absolutely no roads. Thankfully the stretch which we would be covering were almost on NH, so not a lot to worry i hoped. We started of at 6 am early morning sprinting our vehicle towards chamarajanagar. Stopped for breakfast on the highway restaurant. Started off towards Satyamangalam Ghats. These ghats are famous for their hair-pin bends, and these are not very normal hair pin bends but very sharp and steep bends. It was the time of Northwest monsoon, I guess!! because all along the route it was almost Cloudy and raining and the ghats were covered by a thick fog, and I could understand the frustration of our driver, driving these sharp hair pin bends on a foggy day and you cannot see the vehicle coming in front of you. We sprinted towards Madurai via Erode and Dindigul cruising at speeds above 90km/hr. Had Lunch at a wayside restaurant in Dindigul. (P.S: We were traveling on a Sunday and I don't know the Strange things happening over here in TN, almost all restaurants are closed on a Sunday). We reached Madurai at 4pm, just passed by the outer edges of the temple as we had already visited Madurai long back, and we proceeded towards Rameswaram. The drive towards Rameswaram on NH49 through the country side is an exhilarating experience. The paddy fields on both banks of the road stretch upto your eyes can view.
Fields across the green belt of Cauvery Delta near ErodeOnce we started reaching the coastlines of TN, we could smell the fragrance of the Sea, though at night we couldn't actually see the sea altogether. Rameswaram is located on an island off the coast of TN, and the only connecting point to this island is the Pamban Bridge which is the Rail bridge, and the Indira Gandhi Setu which is about 2 kms long. We passed by this bridge during the night, reached rameswaram around 8pm in the night, booked our lodges and set out on a town roaming spree. Rameswaram is a very small town and there aren't any good food joints and almost all the food joints you visit will be infested with house flys(Infact the town being next to the sea attracts lots of these visitors, so you will find them everywhere, in hotels, in lodges almost everywhere, they even dont spare your car if it is kept uncleaned)
Day2: Rameswaram --> Dhanushkodi --> Rameswaram --> Trichy --> Srirangam
Total Distance Covered: 282 kms
Early morning we started off to the temple, spent lot of time around the huge corridors of the Rameswaram Temple. There are 3 huge corridors which span a length of around 200m. Had lots of photosessions over here. It almost took us 3 hours to entirely navigate the length and breadth of the temple complex, admiring the beauty of the architecture and the skills of the artisans involved in it. If u do visit this place, do not forget your camera. Photography is not allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum, but is allowed outside the sanctum sanctorum. Our next stop would be Dhanushkodi, the tip of Rameswaram island. Dhanushkodi is around 18kms from the town of Rameswaram. Only 9 kms upto the IndianNavy checkpost over here is motorable, after which u need to hitch a ride on the Matadors which carry upto 20 passengers.The Indian Navy Checkpost has been setup to check illegal immigrants from across Srilanka and to check any human trafficking across the border. The final 9kms ride upto Dhanushkodi was a very rough one, pushing our adrenaline upto a max.
Dhanushkodi: This is a small fishing hamlet at the tip of Rameswaram Island. Can be called a ghost town as most of the people have left the place after it was devastated during the 1964 cyclone. what remains here are the remnants of an old church and abandoned railway station. I find it difficult and sad to say in this forum that some people whose main livelihood is fishing have stayed back in this village braving everything. This fishing hamlet does not have any access to proper medical healthcare. People have to either walk across the sand beaches to Rameswaram town or wait for the matadors. And during monsoons or high tides, I believe the entire village would be cut off from the outside world. I salute the spirit of the people staying over here.
Had only half an hour to spend on Dhanushkodi Beach, I was standing at the tip of Rameswaram Island or better known as Adam's Bridge( Ram Sethu Bridge). The weather was perfect and I was in a mood to have a dip but was forced back by my mom! Ok Can I go till my waist deep! "Yes" is what I heard thou I wasn't sure and just jumped into the water. I dont know how much I was enjoying and engrossed in photographing the beach, I heard a voice calling us for the trip back! Oh they dint even let me enjoy the place in peace. Without much enthu I trail back to our matadors ready to ferry us back to our origin, The Indian Navy Checkpost.
And after that we started back to our final Intended destination for the day, Srirangam. We had missed the darshan of Lord Ranganatha the earlier time we had visited Srirangam and since we are on the same destination back to mysore, we decided to visit Srirangam.
Final Day: Srirangam
I do not have to explain much about this place as I had already mentioned about Srirangam in my earlier post. Had darshan at Srirangam at early sun break.
Final Journey: Srirangam--> Karur --> Erode --> Sathy --> Chamarajanagar --> Mysore
Total Distance Covered: 349 Kms
Were back at around 5pm, just with the glimpses of the journey we had been.
