Tag: India

Ezharakund waterfalls in Kudiyanmala, Kannur is a tourist destination maintained by the Kannur District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC).

This is one of the most picturesque waterfalls of Kannur district, situated on the Paithalmala valley close to the Kerala-Karnataka border, located at about 50 Km Northeast of Kannur via Sreekandapuram and Kudiyanmala.

Address: Kudiyanmala Pottenplave Rd, Pottenplave, Vellad, Kerala 670582

Roads in this part of Kannur are really good (mostly tarred roads). At some places, it’s a bit narrow.

The name Ezharakund  literally translates to seven and a half pits in malayalam (local language widely spoken in Kerala, India).

This waterfalls comprises of multiple levels of rocky natural pools of varying sizes and depths that contain crystal clear water for most period of the year.

We covered this destination as a part of a day trip from Koyilandy. During this one day trip we covered Parassinikadavu Temple, Palakayyam thattu and Ezharakund waterfalls.

We parked our taxi (parking charge for Innova was around Rs.50) near to the base station.  

Please remember there is an entry fee of Rs.100/person.

You are not allowed to take your vehicle directly to the falls (at the top) from the base station.

From the base station we hired a local jeep to reach the top of the waterfalls.

You can request for a jeep at the reception of the base station and they will arrange one for you.  The jeeps are not readily available at the base station. It will take some time for the jeeps to arrive at the base station. There are seats available near the base station and you can also capture some photographs while waiting for the jeep.

The jeep charges was around Rs. 300 (one side) and you can pay the money (cash only) to the jeep driver after reaching the top of the falls.

Our recommendation is to take a jeep one side (preferably onward journey to the falls) and you can return from the falls to the basestation by walk.

However we have seen people who walk both up and down the falls and please remember that it would really test your fitness levels.

The jeep journey is really nice and you would love that trip, for sure.

While going in jeep, you will find few houses on both sides of the road.

The jeep will take you to the topmost part of the falls. After getting down, you need to show your tickets to the staff at the gate. From that gate, it is hardly few meters to the falls.

There is also a small observatory tower, from where you can capture some good photographs of the falls.

The falls make a unique scene. It is like few kettles stacked one after the other. As the water over flows the first, it fills in the second kettle and so on. The area is still a hidden treasure although the state government is working to develop it.

We had visited this place in December and during that time,  we could see people swimming / bathing in the water.

There are two pools which is safe to swim. These are watched over by life guards and life jackets are also available. There are also changing rooms near the falls.

After exploring the falls, you can walk back (at your own time convenience) to the base station.

Its almost 1.2 km walk from the falls to the base station and would easily take around 1 hour to reach down. Children can also easily walk.

Tourism department has constructed a pedestrian pathway  from the base station till the falls.  

The pathways are properly marked and safety rails are fixed in many places in order to prevent people from entering the stream. These metal rails are very  helpful to hold, while walking.

On certain points throughout the walkway, there are guards on duty. We were told that there are around 20 guards in and around this place at any point of time.

In many sections of the trail, benches are placed to rest and enjoy the views. Overall, this is a very family friendly place, catered for  any age group.

Please note that this place is relatively busy on Saturday/Sunday and on Public Holidays. There is a small shop serving snacks and tea are present near to the base station. There are a few home stays and resorts near by.

Best time to visit: 

Due to the abundance of shades along the walking trail, you can visit here anytime of the day and will have a good experience.

People say that Monsoon time mainly june – August is the best time to visit this falls.

However, it might not be a good idea to visit during heavy rainy days  as the stream and the waterfall can overflow to the trails

Opening time is 9AM – 6 PM

How to reach
Ezharakund Waterfalls is located from Kannur around 50 km via Chirakkal – Kololam Rd. The nearest railway station is Kannur, about 39 km and Kannur International Airport, about 59 km.

Popular destinations near by:

1. Parassinikadavu Sree Muthappan Temple
2. Palakkayam Thattu
3. Paithalmala

Summary : Ezharakund falls in Kannur is a real gift of nature . Though not that popular yet, we definitely recommend you to visit this place to experience the beautiful waterfalls and the walking trail. You would never be disappointed, that is a GUARANTEE..

Stayed here with my Family for 2 Nights – 3 Days in January 2018.

PROS:

1) This resort has a spectacular view to the Beautiful Kanchenjunga Mountain ranges.
I remember 2-3 rooms, where you can have this view directly from the Balcony
itself. If you are staying here, I think you can easily avoid a trip to Tiger Hills.

2) There is a Monastery nearby to this resort, where you can visit.

3) If you are planning for the Darjeeling Toy train, I would strongly recommend you to
take the trip from Darjeeling station to Ghum station (means take only one side
journey and avoid the round trip). Ghum station is walkable distance from Sterling
and can save some bucks by doing so.

4) There are many activities available like Carrom board, TT and so on.

5) The staff’s were really good and food was tasty.

CONS:

1) This is little far from the city center (around 500 rupees for a Dezire/Sumo).

2) I have not seen much bigger resorts in Darjeeling. So at times some companies do some family get together which would make the resort little crowded. So check with the reception about the same, while booking.

3) They still have a small heating device in each room. Considering the normal climate in Darjeeling, I strongly feel they should look for some better heating options.

4) You will find it difficult to get hot water all the time. You will have to Switch On the geyser atleast 30 minutes prior.

Main attractions in Darjeeling:

1) Rope way (don’t miss this)

2) Toy train (Atleast you should do a one side journey, don’t miss this)

One Line Summary: Great Resort; Excellent view of Kanchenjunga.

I stayed in this hotel during October 2014.

This hotel is at the end of a steep and narrow road. So be a little careful when you take your vehicle to the hotel.

Their parking is been shared with a theater (which they own). So at times, you might find difficulty in getting a parking space.

The only dent in my car (the time when I write this blog) is the one that I got it from their parking space. Thanks to the reckless Xylo driver who has done it.

Please don’t expect any hill top view.

PROS:

Within the city Center, and neat rooms.

CONS:

This hotel doesn’t have a restaurant , but they will arrange food as per your order.

If you plan to take your own food from outside, you will have to travel 1 Km or so.

Not recommended for New drivers (road to hotel is little risky).

Can plan for a visit to the following places:

Coonoor
Ooty lake
Rose Garden
Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR)

One Line Summary: Good and Neat Hotel, but with some limitations

I stayed at this hotel for a night, in April 2015.

The hotel is linked with Country Club membership. I would not recommend this hotel for a Family stay. I have visited many other properties of country club like the Bandipur Resort, but this property is not advisable..

PROS:

Very near to Guindy station, Sorry I don’t have anything more to say..

CONS:

1) This hotel has a Bar attached. So ambiance is not good for a Family stay.

2) Lot of mosquitoes around.

3) I have seen many people mentioning this is a good place for Chennai transit Passengers, but its neither near to airport nor near to the Chennai Railway station. You have lot of good options near Chennai airport.

One Line Summary: Please stay Away from this property. Definitely, not Recommended!

We stayed in this hotel during October 2015.

This was my first trip to a Sterling Resort after taking a membership in my name. Overall it was a very nice trip. We had taken 6 rooms for a family get together.

The staff was very helpful.
We had taken a package for food wherein 3 times a day food cost around 1060 rupees (all were buffet type). They have lot of options available in their menu and food was tasty aswell (less spicy though).

Location wise, Yelagiri doesn’t have much attractions but the only 2 points Murugan temple and lake (for boating) are very near to this resort. Lot of options for Trekking, I guess…

There is a swimming pool in the resort but make sure to bring the swimming attire with you, else you will have to shed some money buying new ones (approx. 260 for mens trousers). Swimming Pool is cleaned every day morning..

They arrange a DJ on a couple of days in a week.
There are some games like TT, where in you can spend some time.
Rooms are spacious with a balcony available for most of them.
This is not a Hill view or lake view type of resort. So please don’t set any expectations in that perspective.

In places like Yelagiri , you would be spending a lot of time within the resorts/hotels or home stays where you stay. So selecting a proper place to stay is very important and I would recommend Sterling Marigold Ridge for a wonderful stay. I think the resort guys will arrange a trip to a sunset point at 4: 30 PM in the evening but I have not taken that trip. On request basis, probably they can arrange sun rise point visit aswell.

We stayed here for a day here in March 2015, while we were in Chennai for Transit to an International destination.

Pros:

It’s a budget hotel, mainly targeting the Chennai Airport Passengers.

Very near to Chennai Airport (10-15 Min drive).

Hotel provides free Airport Pickup and Drop.

Hotel has a tie up with an outside Restaurant to serve food for the guests. I was totally satisfied with the food that I had.

Cons:

Don’t have an own restaurant. Rooms are small, but it’s OK considering the daily rent.

One Line Summary : Wouldn’t recommend this resort, as you can get better options nearby.

We had taken 5 rooms here during the Pooja holidays in October 2015.

Had spent around INR 3000+ for each cottage, as the charges were on higher side due to demand.

I believe once upon a time, this would have been one of the best resorts in Yercaud having Independent cottages with 2 big rooms (one with AC) / 2 bathrooms (with geysers), 3+1 Sofa , sofa cum bed , balcony , parking space in front of each cottage and so on. But now this hotel doesn’t have that glory anymore, because of very bad maintenance.

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to any one of you and with such high rates, absolutely NO. You have tones of other options available in Yercaud.

The rooms are not neat and bathrooms are horrible.

This is around 2 Kms from city center.

I would admit that the place is calm and there is a children playing area within the campus.

Restaurant here is not a full-fledged one and they make the food only based on the order. In case, if you are planning a late check-in expecting that you can have the lunch at the resort, please make sure that you order your food at the restaurant well in advance, else you will have to travel back to city center for getting some decent food.

One Line Summary : Wouldn’t recommend this resort.

Stayed here with Family for 3 Nights – 4 Days in January 2018.

Pros:

1) This property is very close to city center. Probably 0.5 Kms to MG Marg / Lal Bazaar and around 1 Km to the Rope way.

2) The restaurant menu was good (not lavish spread, especially Non vegetarian items) but the rates are quite cheaper (for combos) considering other sterling resorts.

3) As it is quite near to city center, you won’t face any challenges in getting taxi’s.

4) We can see the Bus Stand from the balcony of most of the rooms. Accessibility to bus stand is easy.

Cons:

These remarks are exclusively about Room 206. We had another family with us who were staying in the adjacent room and they did not face any similar challenges:

1) On the day 1, we really faced some challenges with the hot water. Some how they rectified the issue the next day. But still the challenge was that the hot water was not continuously coming. We should wait for 30-45 minutes to get (one) bucket of hot water.

2) We had requested the housekeeping to supply hot water to our room, but they did not do so.

3) For a place like Gangtok where the temperatures are quite cool, Sterling should look forward for better heating options (this is a generic case across all rooms).

4) Some rooms are very small.

5) If you are looking for a place close to nature, this is not the right place.

One Line Summary : Budget Hotel with limited rooms (located near to MG Marg/City center)

Updated in September 2019: Seems this property as now been acquired by Sterling group and is now called as Sterling Guruvayur. Website: https://www.sterlingholidays.com/resorts-hotels/guruvayur

Stayed here with family in November 2017.

Pros:

Extremely courteous staff.

Just 4-5 months old as of Nov2017. Very neat and tidy.

Well Furnished Restaurant. Food is very tasty.

Close to Mamiyur junction and temple.

Very good parking facility.

Very good interior wood work throughout the hotel, especially at the reception/restaurant region.

Branded sanitary fittings in the bathroom.

Was offered a complimentary breakfast and the items spread was good.

Cons:

This hotel is slightly far from Guruvayur temple, but good thing is that the hotel provides free cab service to the temple. (things might have changed after Sterling acquisition)

Even if you don’t get the service on time, you will definitely get some public transport options like auto (may be 20-30 rupees), bus and so on.

Remarks:

If you are looking for a very neat and clean hotel to stay during your Guruvayur visit, this is one place that you should definitely look for. Highly recommended.

Try booking via some online sites to get more discounts.

The hotel has around 71 rooms in total.

Its Only Vegetarian and I believe almost 95%+ hotels in Guruvayur serves Vegetarian food only.

This resort is around 21 Kms from Munnar town. We stayed here for 3 nights (in August 2017). Its located in Chinnakanal, near to Suryanelli.

One of the oldest property of sterling with around 130+ rooms.

But it’s still decently maintained considering the year in which it was constructed.

There are some outdoor games arranged within the resort but with some nominal charges.

Theni- Munnar route would be a better option to reach this resort.

If you are not comfortable driving in hill station, I would suggest you to take up a taxi (Taxi stand is right in front of main gate) for sight-seeing.

Kolukkumalai jeep safari is one of the most important attraction in this part of Munnar . There are jeeps available outside the resort (near to the main gate). Any person visiting this resort should not miss that Jeep Safari. Also, ensure to visit the 100-year-old tea factory, as a part of that safari.

The top attractions in Munnar is in and around the city Center and this resort is in Chinnakanal which is around 21 Kms. So keep a buffer of an hour or so for one side travel. There is a road widening work going on in this route.

Pros:

1) The staff is very polite and supportive, especially the house keeping staff.

2) Complains are properly solved. We had some issues with the Bathroom outlet flow and it was rectified as soon as the complaint was registered.

3) There are some good attractions nearby this resort.

Cons:

1) The restaurant food is extremely costly, not experienced this with any other Sterling resorts. There are decent restaurants outside the resort where you can have food (Kerala delicacies as well as North Indian/Tandoori type aswell)

2) Many of the rooms are in a steep area. So you will have to climb a lot of steps. If you have some senior citizens in your group, try getting rooms in the main reception building area.

3) No Bar (may be as per the government rules prevailing in Kerala that time)

4) Doesn’t have that old charm.

5) All rooms doesn’t have a great view.