Day2: Athirapalli falls

"You have just enough time to see the falls and race to Chalakudi station to catch the Venad express", Jijo was saying to me.

We were having our lunch at Hotel Saravana Bhavan near the Kalady shrine. "If you choose not to go to the falls, you have to kill about 2 hours in the station", he continued.

"What if we get caught in a traffic on the way to the station?", I asked him not wanting to take a risk of missing the train. "I would rather spend the remaining time in the station", I thought.

"Why are you hell-bent on catching the train?", my friend asked me. "Should we miss the train, we can catch a bus to Mavelikkara", he suggested. Jijo did a quick calculation in mind and said, "Don't worry. You wont miss the train". Saying this, he asked us to get into the cab in a jiffy and started to drive towards the falls.

He drove us through the shortest possible route, reaching the falls in 40 minutes! "Try to make it quick. I will be waiting near the entrance", he said.

We paid money at the counter near entrance, bought the entry tickets for our camera and ourselves, and excused our way through to the falls.

pathway leading to the falls

We reached one of the view points from the top and had a good view of the water flowing towards the falls.

on its way to the falls

 Athirapally falls

"Move in this direction to get a better view of the falls" a sign board said. Not satisfied with the current view point, we started to walk towards the indicated direction, only to find that the other view point is at the bottom of the falls!

We rushed through the path taking short cuts to reach the bottom in shortest possible time, took a few snaps, ran up again and went back to where Jijo had parked the cab, panting heavily.

a view of the falls

"We saw the falls from both the view points in twenty minutes! I think its a record!", I said to my friend. As soon as we got into the cab, Jijo started to race towards Chalakudi railway station. Sitting on the passenger seat, I checked the running status of Venad express using the Indian rail android application. I could finally catch my breath when the Indian rail said "Venad express is delayed by twenty minutes".