Agasthyarkoodam
Agasthaykoodam is a hill station in kerala where the karala forest department conducts trekking for three days in each season. There is only one month duration for the seas one and it is only once in a year.In addition to this there is some packages to the interested persons, anyhow it is not so interested than the full pack.The trekking starts for the place known as Bonucaud, which is about 40 kilometers from Trivandrum city.Bonucaud is a small village, where only few family of tea workers live. From trivandrum there is direct and linked public transport bus services to Bonacaud. But this transport is not much useful in our trekking programme, due to lack of buses at proper time. It is better to hire a taxi to reach there at proper time.
A prior permission from the forest department is needed for the trekking. The permission is to be taken from the forest office in prescribed time. It is only issued for some days in December.
there were 21 people among us. we started our journey in 19 Th January 2008 from Bonacaud. at first the way is about 3-4 feet wide, later it become 1-2 feet wide and more wild. we saw so many animals like monkey, snakes, different kinds of birds,etc. on the way we can see the foot marks of elephants and wild oxes. the guide, who was with us give information about somany plants and animals. he had also a well versed knowledge in wild medicinal plants of that region.
in the evening of the first day we have reached the first halt, which is called as Athirumala by the forest people. At Athirumala we spend one night. there is a small mansion which is in its skeleton stage. there is a small canteen conducted be the echo development committee, where we can order some food items.
in the next day we started our journey to the uphill, which is the dwelling place of the great Saint Agasthya. around 8 o clock we started our journey. That was much more wilder and colder than the first day. all the way there were whistling wind which noised out our ears. some times the mist will make us blind by surrounding. on the way we saw too many flowering plants and waterfalls produced by the melted mist. in some areas the rocks were highly slippery where we got the assistance of the guide. There is also some religious spots on the way, where some people before us did rituals.
At 12 noon we reached the top of the hill. The panoramic view from here, which include the greens of Kerala and the rivers and plains of Tamilnadu, the nearby state is amazing. we spend about 2 hours in the hilltop. there is a temple of the Great saint Agasthya. at 2 o clock we started our return journey to the halt. On the next day morning we started our return journey.
A prior permission from the forest department is needed for the trekking. The permission is to be taken from the forest office in prescribed time. It is only issued for some days in December.
there were 21 people among us. we started our journey in 19 Th January 2008 from Bonacaud. at first the way is about 3-4 feet wide, later it become 1-2 feet wide and more wild. we saw so many animals like monkey, snakes, different kinds of birds,etc. on the way we can see the foot marks of elephants and wild oxes. the guide, who was with us give information about somany plants and animals. he had also a well versed knowledge in wild medicinal plants of that region.
in the evening of the first day we have reached the first halt, which is called as Athirumala by the forest people. At Athirumala we spend one night. there is a small mansion which is in its skeleton stage. there is a small canteen conducted be the echo development committee, where we can order some food items.
in the next day we started our journey to the uphill, which is the dwelling place of the great Saint Agasthya. around 8 o clock we started our journey. That was much more wilder and colder than the first day. all the way there were whistling wind which noised out our ears. some times the mist will make us blind by surrounding. on the way we saw too many flowering plants and waterfalls produced by the melted mist. in some areas the rocks were highly slippery where we got the assistance of the guide. There is also some religious spots on the way, where some people before us did rituals.
At 12 noon we reached the top of the hill. The panoramic view from here, which include the greens of Kerala and the rivers and plains of Tamilnadu, the nearby state is amazing. we spend about 2 hours in the hilltop. there is a temple of the Great saint Agasthya. at 2 o clock we started our return journey to the halt. On the next day morning we started our return journey.
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