Dosas in Ernakulam / Cochin / Kochi?

I can’t say how much I used to dread having to eat vegetarian food in Ernakulam (Cochin / Kochi) when it’s not the usual puttu, appam, idiyappam. Most hotels that have the Udupi tag in this city serve trash in the name of Dosa and hence when Benoy Chettan said “Let’s go to Pai thattu, they have a huge variety of dosas” I wasn’t quite enthused. Lijo Chettan came that night and said “Have you tried Pai thattu, I go there every night with Benoy, the dosas are amazing” and then I thought I should go there just once and see how the foods is.

Pai Brothers is on a small lane off MG Road, the lane is called Pai Brothers Lane and shows up within a kilometer of turning into MG Road from Banerji road. They’ve advertised that they have 36 types of dosas however their price list has more than double that number. There is no service at the table and guests are expected to pay first, get the bills and produce them at the cooking counter to be served piping hot dosa. Butter dosa, egg dosa, duck egg dosa, VOLVO dosa, family dosa, tomato onion dosa, kanchipuram dosa are some items which stood out from the usual masala dosa, onion dosa fare.

The dosas were tasty, the chutney wasn’t. The sambhar served with the dosas were very nice. A meal for two would cost anywhere from 150 to 300 bucks depending on if you want to eat 1 dosas each or 3. This eatery is open from 6 PM in the evening till 2 AM  early morning, Benoy Chettan says that it’s actually open till 4 AM. So the next time you are driving through this city and dread eating the dosas served in all the Udupi places head to Pai Brothers, just make sure it’s in the evening. Their address is:

Pai Brothers, Pai Brothers Lane, MG Road, Ernakulam - 35

Timesheet - Coimbatore to Bangalore - A duet

Coimbatore to Bangalore - A duet

After posting the distance chart for the drive done on the 12th July I was compelled to repeat the same drive via Sathyamangalam and make another one. This time there was Kanja for company and we started after tea from Coimbatore. We chose to take the Sathyamangalam route to get to Mettur instead of the Avanashi to avoid getting stuck in the evening traffic. I finished 175 kms of my drive upto Mecheri in 2 hrs 56 mins, the average speed works out to a lacklustre 57 kmph. Kanja did 176 kms of his drive from Mecheri to Silk board in 2 hrs 15 kms, the average speed works out to a very admirable 73 kmph. Here are some quick facts:

Route: Coimbatore to Bangalore via Annur, Sathyamangalam, Anthiyur, Mettur, Thoppur, Krishnagiri, Hosur

Departure: 26th July 2009, 1713 IST (Sungam Bypass, Coimbatore)

Arrival: 26th july 2009, 2305 IST (Viveknagar, Bangalore)

Total distance: 357 kms

Time taken: 5 hours 52 minutes (includes a 10 minute stopover for tea at Mecheri)

Avg speed: 61 kmph

Avg speed after deducting break time: 63 kmph

Fastest sector: Thoppur to Krishnagiri (NH7) - 85 kmph

Slowest sector: Mettur dam to Mecheri - 37 kmph

Fuel consumed: 23 lts (Petrol)

Mileage: 15.5 kmpl

Timesheet - Coimbatore to Bangalore - Driving alone

Coimbatore to Bangalore - Driving alone

After almost a year I was going to drive from Coimbatore to Bangalore without a person for company. This time the vehicle was Maruti 800, the old warhorse which has clocked 1.5 lac kms in the odometer. Left home after tea in the evening hoping to get to Mettur by night fall. Got to Trichy road from home and took it to reach L&T toll gate in Chintamanipudur. Drove past the toll to Avanashi via Nilambur and Karumathampatti. Early evening traffic on the two laned NH-47 made the drive tight and packed though I got to Avanashi with 6 minutes to spare for an hour.

A block in the usual Mettupalayam road junction got the traffic stacked up in Avanashi town. After reaching Chengapally the drive was faster in comparison and it took just 30 minutes to cover 44 kms to reach Bhavani. The drive towards Mettur via Ammapettai was marred with shoddy roads and diminishing day light. The clock showed 19:12 IST when exiting Mettur dam and taking the road to Thoppur. The distance of 84 kms from Komarapalayam to Thoppur 4 landed road junction took 90 minutes, the average speed worked out to 56 kmph which is not bad given the heavy traffic and twilight conditions.

Joining the NH7 at Thoppur was relieving, the next 9 kms to Thoppur L&T toll gate took 10 mins and I stopped for a much deserved rest at Adyar Ananda Bhavan (AAB), the first stop coming after 198 kms. After a 30 mins dinner break I rejoined the road. The second leg of the journey was quicker due to NH7 and the general dislike for the night by most on the road helped speed the journey up, 44 minutes and 66 kms later I got to the NHAI toll booth in Krishnagiri. The clock showed 21:14 ISt and I had 87 kms to cover before calling it a day.

Driving to Hosur from here took 40 minutes (47 kms) and a small traffic holdup on the road in front of the inter city bus stand took a good 10 minutes to clear. After another 51 minutes I managed to cover the remaining 40 minutes of the journey to reach home and doze off into the night. Here's a quick stats cheat sheet.

Route: Coimbatore to Bangalore via Avanashi, Bhavani, Mettur, Thoppur, Krishnagiri, Hosur

Departure: 12th July 2009, 1634 IST (Sungam Bypass, Coimbatore)

Arrival: 12th July 2009, 2246 IST (Viveknagar, Bangalore)

Total distance - 351 kms

Time taken - 6 hours 12 minutes (includes a 30 min stopover for dinner at AAB, Thoppur)

Average speed - 56.6 kmph 

Average speed after deducting break time - 61.6 kmph

Fastest sector - Thoppur to Krishnagiri (NH7) - 66 kms in 44 mins (Avg speed - 90 kmph)

Slowest sector - Hosur to Silk board - 34 kms in 37 mins (Avg speed - 55 kmph)

Max speed achieved - 140 kmph

Fuel consumed - 18 lts (Petrol)

Mileage - 19.5 kmpl

The pilgrimage ..... 5 yrs and counting

Paulo Coelho's 'The Pilgrimage' is the writer's account of his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. St.James' Cathedral is a famous attraction that brings in scores of pilgrims to this place. The trek to Santiago is renown and arduous and requires a lot of personal determination to undertake the journey. St.James is also the patron saint of Spain. In the ancient times all pilgrims going to the holy land (Jerusalem) from Rome would visit Santiago on their way.

Catholics in India have their own St.James in St.Thomas who came to India in the first century via the spice route and got off in Cranganore which is modern day Kodungallor near Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. During those times the caravan route from the west coast to the east between Kerala and Tamilnadu was through Malayatoor. It is in Malayatoor that St.Thomas fled to the top of the hill to pray and meditate. Malayatoor is a small hamlet of farmers. This is situated in Ernakulam District about 14 kms from Kalady, which was the birthplace of Adi Shankara. St.Thomas died a martyr's death in Madras and was interred in the site of the Santhome Cathedral before being exhumed and taken back to Rome.

The river Periyar flows in all it's glory through the sleepy town of Malayatoor, this separates the town from the elephant reserve Kodanad. After the onset of the monsoon the river periyar in spate is a sight to behold. The places where one would normally be able to get down for a bath or swim would become very dangerous with strong currents and flash floods. Situated on the banks of this river is the Church of St.Thomas, believed to have been built centuries ago. The hill that St.Thomas prayed on is today an international shrine and the end of the Lenten season plays host to lakhs of pilgrims visiting the shrine re-enacting Christ's last moments on Earth by reciting the stations of the cross.

I've been a visitor to Malayatoor for 6 yrs now, my first trip to Malayatoor was in 2004. This year it was just Kan (Renald George) & Bob (Antony Renald) for company, Josh couldn't make it due to professional commitments. For us it was a repeat of the trip we made in 2004, it was just the three of us then and it was the first time Kan & Bob visited Malayatoor. This year we reached the foothills at 10PM. It took us over an hour to get to the top. After getting down we spent some time in the Periyar and headed to Ernakulam hoping to get home by 2 AM so as to get some food to eat and sleep.

A quick moment in St.George's Church, Edapally from where we reached Ben's house in Thripunithura. Molly Aunty's meat curry with parotta and bread brought a top class day to it's fruition. This year's trip was filled with more driving, less arguing (with Kan), more eating, more talking, more traffic and very less tension. Over to Malayatoor 2010 ......

Malayatoor - the spiritual quest

We started at 2300 hrs IST on Sunday night from Coimbatore towards Malayatoor via Palakkad, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Angamaly & Kalady. The 175 kilometre journey took us about 4 hrs and 30 minutes which included a 45 minute stopover at Mannuthy (near Thrissur) for a midnight dinner. There was this nice place that served tasty chicken legs roasted, mutton fry and gravy with chapathi and omlet to boot.

The trek from the base to Marthoma Mandapam on the hill took about 65 minutes. It was very tiring given the fact that all of us (Sam, Kanja & Tim) are not as fit as we once used to be. I remember running up the hill 5 yrs ago when I went there the first time, compare to the slow walk and you know how much of fitness you should regain. After completing the prayers we spent some time sitting on top of the hill overlooking the forests below.

We got down to the base by 0700 and went to the Periyar river for a long bath. We started towards St.George Church, Edapally at 0930 and stopped over for breakfast in Mezban in Kalamassery. We were served idiappam, pathiri, channa curry and fish curry. The food was tasty and filling. After completing prayers in St.George at 1100 we started back to Coimbatore abandoning our plans to visit Arthunkal. Overall the 5h year to Malayatoor was a grand celebration of the power of prayer and friendship.

I already look forward to the next year's trip.

Coimbatore --> Madurai --> Coimbatore

Before embarking on this trip I tried to find out various routes to take to reach Madurai online but was not too successful in finding correct information. So I spoke to some friends who belong to Madurai and decided to go via Dharapuram and return via Udumalpet. From Coimbatore, one has to take the NH-67 upto Palladam. One has to drive past the diversion that leads to Tirupur in Palladam and about a kilometre to the right is the road that leads to Dharapuram. There are no diversions or confusions midway and the only area where one will need directions is when entering Dharapuram.

Every road is neatly marked with directions and one will have to drive towards Ottanchatiram from here. This is a fairly straight drive and upon reaching Ottanchatiram one will join NH-209 (right from this intersection will take us to Palani and left to Dindigul). One will have to take the left towards Dindigul and drive to a point where the a diversion towards the left leads to Sempatti. After Sempatti, one joins NH-7 (coming from Karur, Salem) and drive right upto Madurai.

While returning we drove upto Ottanchathiran via Sempatti. The diversion to Sempatti occurs around 45 kms from Madurai on the NH-7 highway. From Ottanchatiram we took the road to Palani and reached Coimbatore via Udumalpet and Pollachi. This drive took 3.5 hrs and the roads were better than the route I took to go to Madurai. One can cruise at 90-110 kmph speeds without any serious risk in the night time because of the lack of potholes and moderate traffic.

Journeys - Jan 2007

2007 is promising to be a journey filled year. I have to make a trip on all weekends in January and the following is how I have planned it out.

5th & 6th Jan 2007 - Avoly, Ernakulam District - Sanu's wedding
13th to 15th Jan 2007 - Madras a.k.a Chennai - Break from the routine
20th & 21st Jan 2007 - Madurai - Ravi's betrothal

Back from God's own country

Though I got back to Coimbatore on Sunday I could not get myself to put up a post about the weekend primarily because I was tired to the bone driving and the next day (Monday) was pretty hectic at work. The route was better than I expected and since we started in the evening, half of the driving was with the headlights on. Surprisingly the total distance was covered in 4 hrs which included a 20 minute tea/snack break.

One reason which contributed to the reduced running time (previously it was 5 hrs) was the improved state of roads in Kerala and the 25 km stretch in Tamilnadu which has been repaired though in a shoddy manner. I must admit that the roads after Angamaly all the way upto Avoly are super smooth and well laid. Ofcourse there will be 3 or 4 places where the road is ruined because of some work but otherwise this stretch is a drivers dream. It also does wonders to a vehicles mileage.

Sunday was the feast of the Epiphany and the main Catholic Church in Muvattupuzha (The Holy Magi Church) was draped with lights. The Church was brimming with people at 2200 hrs in the night and vendors were selling all sorts of stuff from rosaries, dollars, pendants, prayers books to halwa and other eatables. Festivals in Churches are celebrated in grandeur in Kerala and the whole town/village takes part in the festivities. I wanted to shoot some pictures and post it in here but guess what, Murphy's law simply cut me out. That's right, there was no charge left in the camera and I had to get home to recharge it. Lesson learnt and time to invest in some sort of a charger that will work in the car.

After taking part in some festivities we got to bed around midnight. The weather was pleasant and it was not sultry as I expected to be. Early in the morning around 5 the chill was getting to the bones and the sound of early morning mist falling on tin roof woke me up. For a city slicker like me, the joys that a country setting can instill is priceless. Walking across fields drenched with dew kissed blades of grass to the sounds of chirping birds and the sun sneaking across the horizon painting the sky in various hues of oranges and yellows can take one to another world.

The wedding next day was another grand celebration. Sanu wedded Deepa (she's from Manjapra which is near Kalady) in St.Sebastin's Church, Anicadu in the presence of friends and family. The wedding ceremony was conducted by Rev.Fr.Matthew Vellangal (retired Vicar General in Kothamangalam Diocese and Sanu's grand uncle) alongwith Fr.Varghese Paul , Fr.Matthew Paul (both Sanu's paternal uncles), Fr.Shyju (Sanu's cousin) and a couple of other priests from the brides side.

I was amazed at the beautiful music the choir played. It was bad that I did not find out the names of the people in it. The two female voices effortlessly navigated the complex swaras in the songs and the lone male voice was adequate to say the least. Keyborad (Korg) was deftly handled by a man who was thirtysome a tabla added support. The orchestrations that were preprogrammed were done well. There was this one time when the priest didn't keep up with the tempo or sang the wrong note, but that's bound to happen every now and then. Especially when you consider the fact that the priest and the orchestra would never have practised together previously.

We started back to Coimbatore after lunch at 1530 hrs and except for a flat tyre which was fixed in Vadakkanchery, the journey was hassle free. When we finally made it to Coimbatore, the time was 1930. We passed through St.Sebastin's Church in Ukkadam thanking God for the safe trip, this has almost become a ritual. Anytime I leave in in the South West direction by road I make it a point to pass through this Church. The statue of Christ standing atop the Church with open hands is a reassuring sight to me.

I will be travelling to Madras (Chennai, I still like the old name though) this weekend since Monday is going to be a holiday anyway for Pongal. If I make the trip to Pondicherry, it would be worth the trip otherwise Roy Maama's family will make it special anyway, especially the kids Mia and Mishma.

Off to God's own country

I am gearing up for the first travel in 2007. Where else but what's now quite popular as God's own country though I'd be glad to call it the 'Devil's own'. I hope the roads are better than the last time around, but the chances of that are remote given the fact that the worst stretch between Coimbatore and Palakkad hasn't seen any repair works in about an year now. The nice thing this time is going to be absence of rain (I love Kerala's monsoon, I love it's sun more) and the late winter weather which should make living there less sultry.

Travel notes or interesting observations will follow in the next 24-48 hrs. Let's hope it turns out to be an enjoyable weekend.

Into God's own country ---- Sep 2006 - Coimbatore to Avoly

Crossing into Kerala at Walayar from Coimbatore, I've always looked at the way greenery shapes out on either sides of the border. I love Coimbatore. I love everything about Coimbatore, it's weather, it's people the opportunities that it throws up. This time the drive to Muvattupuzha which is about 210 kms south west of Coimbatore wasn't exactly smooth. The reason, bad roads. The stretch from Coimbatore to Walayar was perhaps the worst in the whole journey due to the pot holes on the road which could at times bury a car in them. Driving into Kerala, crossing Walayar check post proved to be a challenge partly due to bad roads and more due to the number of lorries already parked on both sides of the road.

The route from Coimbatore to Muvattupuzha is fairly straight forward. One has to drive to the Athupalam and take the right which goes to Palakkad. Shortly after crossing Madukkarai one rejoins NH47 which connects Bangalore and Kanniyakumari. One has to drive on the NH47 till Angamali via Alathur, Vadakkanchery, Mannuthy, Chalakudi and take the left from Angamali junction to join the MC road to Muvattupuzha via Kalady and Perumbavoor. This journey will take one through a variety of scenic sights. The rice fields in Palakkad region on both sides of the high, the mini hill that one has to ascend and descend (Kuthiran) just after Vadakkanchery. Greenery between Chalakudy and Angamali are sights to capture on film.

Additionally, I tend to notice a large number of chapels, churches (Catholic, Orthodox and Jacobite) lined on both sides of the road after Vadakkancherry right upto Muvattupuzha. Some notable chuches are the one in Kodakkara which is right next to the highway, Koratty Muththi church which is a little off the highway and is famous for it's annual feast. The ferry that comes from Athirapally joins the highway near Angamali. There are a number of dams which are close to the highways - Peechi and Chimmoni are two of them which can be reached by motoring off the highway without too much of strain.

Inorder to reach Athirapally, one will have to drive all the way upto Chalakudy town (there is a traffic signal) and then take a left (a hair pin turn) and drive for about 2 kms and take the state highway towards Athirapally via Kuttichira check post and Konnakuzhy. There are three very popular Christian retreat centers which are very easily accessible from this highway. The first one passes through is Jerusalem Retreat Center which is on the stretch after Mannuthy when driving towards Chalakudy. Jerusalem is just a couple of metres away from the point where the road from Thrissur joins the NH47.

Potta Dhyana Kendram is situated on the right side of the road when driving toward Chalakudy about 2 kms away from the town. One had to drive for a short distance before reaching there. The Divine Retreat Center is situated after the river Chalakudy when one is driving towards Cochin. Right after crossing the Chalakudy river one reaches a junction named Muringoor. To the right of the road is the retreat in Tamil, Malayalam and other vernacular languages while to the left of the road is the retreat in English. Once in Angamali it's not difficult to spot the Joy Alukkas wedding center which is famous for the wedding shopping whose business runs into lakhs each day.

After taking the diversion from Angalmali one passes in front of the Little flower hospital. The next town is Kalady, famous for Shankaracharya. The tower where there is a memorial for Adi Shankara is visible from a distance. Upon getting into Kalady town, one has to proceed straight without taking any diversions. Taking left will take one to Malayatoor where St.Thomas once took refuge. It's a site of reverence and prayer and is famous for the feast that is held on the preceding Sunday after Easter. Taking the left would take one to Aluva and Cochin International Airport which is outside Ernakulam city.

The bridge across the river in the town of Kalady is one of the longer bridges in Kerala and is a little short of kilometre in length. The next town that one passes through is Perumbavoor after which one gets into Muvattupuzha. Muvattupuzha derives it's name from the fact that three rivers (muvaattu) meet in this town. It's an old town with a strong Muslim population. There is harmony between communities and the people here are light hearted. Now since I had to go to this placed called Avoly which is further east on the Madura highway, I have to pass through Kacherithazham and drive for about 1.5 kilometres and then take the road to the left from what is called the post office junction.

These roads were widened recently and it shows. One can cruise along in 100kmph if needed but normally it would take about 10 minutes to reach Avoly which is hidden from the highway a bit.

Into God's own country ..

After a long gap of almost an year I had the chance of stepping into Kerala for a friend's marriage. Driving has always been a pleasure, especially on the NH 47. 22 kms from Coimbatore Tamilnadu ends and Kerala begins. The transition is quite contrasting, this time the dam in the border was full of water. Kerala is a unique place for a couple of reasons. One is the presence of greenery everywhere and another is the different shades of people one can meet there. There are simply myriad types of Malayalees (Mallus), each has his/her own distinct trait. We had to go to this place called Shoranur which is almost between the road connecting Palakkad and Thrissur. The easiest way to reach Thrissur from Palakkad is to take the NH 47, but this one runs parallel to it and passes through places of traditional significance. A Nair malayalee wedding meal is a sight to the eyes as much as to the palette. There are 3-5 different kinds of vegetables, 3-5 different kind of dishes you can mix with par-boiled rice before gobbling them. There is a sweetish-sourish-tangy paste called 'injhipuli', banana chips, sweets and ofcourse, payasam - 3 types of them with pappad.

Driving back from this place to my hometown was tedious because of the road work that was in progress between Shoranur and Palakkad which took apart the speed off the vehicle. Secondly it was 27 hrs since I last slept which was causing considerable fatigue. But once on the wheel I am quite a steady person (this is what all drivers think, even alcoholics) and made it home in 2 hrs and 15 minutes. There is just one thought running across my mind now, the next time I'd get into Kerala and spend some time in my maternal grandparents place. Enjoy the early morning walks in the field with my Granny (she's 87 now), fresh milk direct from the udders of the bufallo. Baths in the stream running alongside the field, driving tractor in the ploughed field. Tapping rubber trees for sap and treating it before it becomes rubber sheet ...... I guess I am more a farmer than an engineer, it's the root I inherited from my parents. Make no mistake, my parents were not farmers either though my grandparents were. But there is this liking towards earth deep sown in us that it at times make us wonder all those good time a 100 years ago.