Hyderabad - Vellore(Golden temple) – Isha Center(Adiyogi) – Madurai(Meenakshi amma Temple) – Kanyakumari - Rameshwaram – Danushkodi – Arunachalam - Hyderabad

[RoadTripper]

Hyderabad – Vellore(Golden temple) – Isha Center(Adiyogi) – Madurai(Meenakshi amma Temple) – Kanyakumari - Rameshwaram – Danushkodi – Arunachalam -  Hyderabad

 

 

• Total Distance Covered: 3017 KMS
• Vehicle : Nissan Micra 
• Fuel : Petrol
• Mileage: 21+ kmpl with 50% of A/C through journey(2 Adults and 1 kid).
• No. of Days: 7 
• From Dec 23rd to 29th 2022.
• Total Tolls: 3235/- [Fastag]
• Route expedition Via Google Maps

 

 

##This particular trip was on Hold from 2020 due to the COVID restriction 😉

 

Day 1:

Route: Hyderabad(NH 44 and NH 40) - Sri Lakshmi Narayani Golden Temple(Vellore)

Total distance covered on day 1 :  617 KMS

Total Time: 11 hours 27 min with 3 breaks.

 

Breakfast: Home made sandwich's as you wont be able to find any eat outs on NH 40.

Lunch: At temple premises.

 

It’s a holiday season so planned the trip way before and executed well with the support from my spouse and kid.

 

Started at 2:30 Am  on 23nd Dec from Hyderabad via NH44 and NH 40 from Kurnool.

Its a pleasant to drive with fog on the roads and no road traffic at all. Enjoyed the drive through the scenic views.

 

 

 

 

Reached Golden temple around 2:00 PM and checked into the hotel [Temple tower], booked via Goibibo.com

After refreshing, had lunch and visited Golden temple. It took 3 hours for the darshan, very long walk within the temple.

 

Very beautiful temple, maintained by private trust, its very neat and commercial as well 😉

 

Day 2 and 3:

Golden Temple(Vellore) to Isha Center

Total distance: 420+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: NKP Residency/Lodge(near to Isha center 6kms)

 

Checked out from hotel@6AM and drive started Via NH 48,  44 and 544.

Lot of constructions(Flyovers) are going on NH 44 highway at Krishnagiri, Salem areas.. with which our travelling time got increased from 7 to 9 hours.

Finally reached Isha center after crossing Coimbatore traffic at 5.30PM.

Here is the suspense, car was over heated and Heating core was burnt exactly at the isha entrance and needed to park the vehicle just beside the main entrance with security guards permission.

Hrrrrrrrrrrr…………It was evening… fully crowded with the tourists and no help.

Finally found a person inside Isha who is a vechile mechanic for Isha vechiles. With temporary fix car was ready to drive until my hotel. Had a tense evening but was peaceful after having Adiyogi darshan and the Night show(Spectacular show).

Finally reached hotel at 10PM, Next days it was Sunday… and Christmas…. Nissan and other service centers were closed…decided to stay extra day at the same hotel. With some locals help, able to find a workshop  which was open.. fixed the vehicle with in 30min  just the temporary fix.

 

Again visited Adiyoigi statue and had rest with good sleep overnight.

 

 

 

Day 4:

Isha Center – Madurai - Kanyakumari

Total distance: 465+ kms (10+ hours)

Stay: Shiva’s Residency

 

Started towards Madurai via NH 81.. State highway 37.. NH 83 and NH 44.

Beautiful mountain covered with Fog over them.. just mesmerising views until Madurai and the whole journey was very smooth without any issues.

 

 

 

Meenakshi amman darshan took very long.. spent four hours in the queue line. 10:30AM to 2:40 PM.

 

Meenakshi Ammatemple:

 

Had launch on the way to Kanyakumari H 44, Very smooth road, no speed bumps nothing.

Lot of lot of Wind mills at nagarcoil. very scenic.

 

Reached  Kanyakumari around 7 PM,

checked into the hotel and went to the triveni sangamam place,

Not allowed to beach during night.

So returned back to hotel had dinner and rested for the day.

 

Woke around 5am for the sunrise point, but due to the heavy rain.. missed it ☹

Sun was out with full swing around 8AM,

went out to the triveni sangamam enjoyed the views, just water water water around You.

Had a very good time around triveni sangamam, spent 3 hours enjoing the views and returned back to hotel.

 

 

 

Missed the boating to budha’s museum due to the heavy rush. Queue line was about 1+ kms..so due to the time crunch had to leave it.

Slowly moved towards Rameshwaram.

 

Day 5

Kanyamumari to Rameshwaram

Total distance: 310+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: Senthil murugan Hotel

 

It was just 300+ kms to travel but it took us around 9 hours due to the single road after deviating from NH 44. Have to cross lot of small villages and lot of speed bumps which drastically reduced the speed and mileage of the car and increased the time to reach Rameshwaram.

Only one hotel was there on the way, which rescued us from the hungry. Very minimal food options via this route.

 

Before Rameshwaram, Pamban Bridge which is the connecting road/rail to rameshwaram.

Two eyes are not enough to view such a beautiful place… wonderful thing happened here is the sunset view on the pamban bridge.. which is next level.

 

 

 

 

Reached rameshwaram around 7 pm and had a very beautiful darshan of lord shiva.

Spend some peaceful time at the beach.. relaxed ourself from all the stress from driving.

 

Rameshwaram temple:

 

 

Rameshwaram beach:

 

Next day morning, around 7am started towards Danushkodi/Ram setu.

 

Day 6:

Rameshwaram – Danushkodi/Ram setu - Arunachalam

Total distance: 440+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: Sarvesh Residency

 

Started towards Danushkodi…

Slowly entering onto the road… you can just see water on both of your sides.. Just water…One side of the sea is very calm and other side of the sea is with full waves. It’s once in a Lifetime experience. WOW…

 

 

Danushkodi beach-Roadway:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending 3+ hours over there, started towards Arunachalam. Roads were excellent with some road closures hear and there.

 

Reached Arunachalam and checked into the hotel around 8pm and went to swamy darshanam after refreshing.

 

Arunachalam:

 

After darshananam.. roamed around the temple .. had dinner and went back to hotel.

 

Day 7:

Arunachalam - Hyderabad

Total distance: 690+ kms (14+ hours)

 

At morning 6am, started towards Hyderabad via Vellore.. NH 40 and NH 44.

 

Very long journey but finally reached home safely.

 

 Many More to go............... 😍

 

 

 

[Gowtham]

That is a fantastic road trip, Temple run.
Thank you for sharing the details.

Looks like you had loads of fun with your family. 

Looking at your fast-tag data, it is costing close to 1/- per kilometer. 
 

[mit1682]

18 hours ago, RoadTripper said:

Hyderabad – Vellore(Golden temple) – Isha Center(Adiyogi) – Madurai(Meenakshi amma Temple) – Kanyakumari - Rameshwaram – Danushkodi – Arunachalam -  Hyderabad

 

 

• Total Distance Covered: 3017 KMS
• Vehicle : Nissan Micra 
• Fuel : Petrol
• Mileage: 21+ kmpl with 50% of A/C through journey(2 Adults and 1 kid).
• No. of Days: 7 
• From Dec 23rd to 29th 2022.
• Total Tolls: 3235/- [Fastag]
• Route expedition Via Google Maps

 

 

##This particular trip was on Hold from 2020 due to the COVID restriction 😉

 

Day 1:

Route: Hyderabad(NH 44 and NH 40) - Sri Lakshmi Narayani Golden Temple(Vellore)

Total distance covered on day 1 :  617 KMS

Total Time: 11 hours 27 min with 3 breaks.

 

Breakfast: Home made sandwich's as you wont be able to find any eat outs on NH 40.

Lunch: At temple premises.

 

It’s a holiday season so planned the trip way before and executed well with the support from my spouse and kid.

 

Started at 2:30 Am  on 23nd Dec from Hyderabad via NH44 and NH 40 from Kurnool.

Its a pleasant to drive with fog on the roads and no road traffic at all. Enjoyed the drive through the scenic views.

 

 

 

 

Reached Golden temple around 2:00 PM and checked into the hotel [Temple tower], booked via Goibibo.com

After refreshing, had lunch and visited Golden temple. It took 3 hours for the darshan, very long walk within the temple.

 

Very beautiful temple, maintained by private trust, its very neat and commercial as well 😉

 

Day 2 and 3:

Golden Temple(Vellore) to Isha Center

Total distance: 420+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: NKP Residency/Lodge(near to Isha center 6kms)

 

Checked out from hotel@6AM and drive started Via NH 48,  44 and 544.

Lot of constructions(Flyovers) are going on NH 44 highway at Krishnagiri, Salem areas.. with which our travelling time got increased from 7 to 9 hours.

Finally reached Isha center after crossing Coimbatore traffic at 5.30PM.

Here is the suspense, car was over heated and Heating core was burnt exactly at the isha entrance and needed to park the vehicle just beside the main entrance with security guards permission.

Hrrrrrrrrrrr…………It was evening… fully crowded with the tourists and no help.

Finally found a person inside Isha who is a vechile mechanic for Isha vechiles. With temporary fix car was ready to drive until my hotel. Had a tense evening but was peaceful after having Adiyogi darshan and the Night show(Spectacular show).

Finally reached hotel at 10PM, Next days it was Sunday… and Christmas…. Nissan and other service centers were closed…decided to stay extra day at the same hotel. With some locals help, able to find a workshop  which was open.. fixed the vehicle with in 30min  just the temporary fix.

 

Again visited Adiyoigi statue and had rest with good sleep overnight.

 

 

 

Day 4:

Isha Center – Madurai - Kanyakumari

Total distance: 465+ kms (10+ hours)

Stay: Shiva’s Residency

 

Started towards Madurai via NH 81.. State highway 37.. NH 83 and NH 44.

Beautiful mountain covered with Fog over them.. just mesmerising views until Madurai and the whole journey was very smooth without any issues.

 

 

 

Meenakshi amman darshan took very long.. spent four hours in the queue line. 10:30AM to 2:40 PM.

 

Meenakshi Ammatemple:

 

Had launch on the way to Kanyakumari H 44, Very smooth road, no speed bumps nothing.

Lot of lot of Wind mills at nagarcoil. very scenic.

 

Reached  Kanyakumari around 7 PM,

checked into the hotel and went to the triveni sangamam place,

Not allowed to beach during night.

So returned back to hotel had dinner and rested for the day.

 

Woke around 5am for the sunrise point, but due to the heavy rain.. missed it ☹

Sun was out with full swing around 8AM,

went out to the triveni sangamam enjoyed the views, just water water water around You.

Had a very good time around triveni sangamam, spent 3 hours enjoing the views and returned back to hotel.

 

 

 

Missed the boating to budha’s museum due to the heavy rush. Queue line was about 1+ kms..so due to the time crunch had to leave it.

Slowly moved towards Rameshwaram.

 

Day 5

Kanyamumari to Rameshwaram

Total distance: 310+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: Senthil murugan Hotel

 

It was just 300+ kms to travel but it took us around 9 hours due to the single road after deviating from NH 44. Have to cross lot of small villages and lot of speed bumps which drastically reduced the speed and mileage of the car and increased the time to reach Rameshwaram.

Only one hotel was there on the way, which rescued us from the hungry. Very minimal food options via this route.

 

Before Rameshwaram, Pamban Bridge which is the connecting road/rail to rameshwaram.

Two eyes are not enough to view such a beautiful place… wonderful thing happened here is the sunset view on the pamban bridge.. which is next level.

 

 

 

 

Reached rameshwaram around 7 pm and had a very beautiful darshan of lord shiva.

Spend some peaceful time at the beach.. relaxed ourself from all the stress from driving.

 

Rameshwaram temple:

 

 

Rameshwaram beach:

 

Next day morning, around 7am started towards Danushkodi/Ram setu.

 

Day 6:

Rameshwaram – Danushkodi/Ram setu - Arunachalam

Total distance: 440+ kms (9+ hours)

Stay: Sarvesh Residency

 

Started towards Danushkodi…

Slowly entering onto the road… you can just see water on both of your sides.. Just water…One side of the sea is very calm and other side of the sea is with full waves. It’s once in a Lifetime experience. WOW…

 

 

Danushkodi beach-Roadway:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending 3+ hours over there, started towards Arunachalam. Roads were excellent with some road closures hear and there.

 

Reached Arunachalam and checked into the hotel around 8pm and went to swamy darshanam after refreshing.

 

Arunachalam:

 

After darshananam.. roamed around the temple .. had dinner and went back to hotel.

 

Day 7:

Arunachalam - Hyderabad

Total distance: 690+ kms (14+ hours)

 

At morning 6am, started towards Hyderabad via Vellore.. NH 40 and NH 44.

 

Very long journey but finally reached home safely.

 

 Many More to go............... 😍

 

 

 

Wow what a drive. It is like life on wheel 🛞. Will plan such similar kind of drives in future. Dhanushkodi is in my bucket list from long time. Few questions how you managed kid during such long drive? Are you not feeling exhausted during such drives? Hyderabad to Dhanushkodi with one stop is possible?

[RoadTripper]

8 hours ago, Gowtham said:

That is a fantastic road trip, Temple run.
Thank you for sharing the details.

Looks like you had loads of fun with your family. 

Looking at your fast-tag data, it is costing close to 1/- per kilometer. 
 

Yeah @Gowtham... its a much awaited roadtrip for me.... Full on fun...

More than  half of the Fastag amount went to NH 44(costly lane) 😉

Edited January 7 by RoadTripper

[RoadTripper]

1 hour ago, mit1682 said:

Wow what a drive. It is like life on wheel 🛞. Will plan such similar kind of drives in future. Dhanushkodi is in my bucket list from long time. Few questions how you managed kid during such long drive? Are you not feeling exhausted during such drives? Hyderabad to Dhanushkodi with one stop is possible?

@mit1682  Danushkodi was the best place to visit...water under the sky around you is the best feeling...Make sure to spend atleast half a day over there.. beaches are in very good shape for the kids/adults to have some peaceful time.

 

Yeah.. Big challenge is Roadtrip with kids...

On first day started the drive from HYD around 2am...and on other days after 5am... The main reason.. kid will sleep for sure atleast half of the drive that day if we start early mornings... And the other half drive managed by taking breaks at regular intervals making him feel good..... all the kid Snacks were carried from hyd itself.. so No hassle of searching for the snacks... this is what i am following and its working very well  since 2017 😍

One more thing.. No luggage in the back seat so that kid can easily sleep ..eat.. move around... so minimal luggage or all the luggage stuff in the boot space. 

 

Yes...Single hand drivings are exhausting.. but manageable...

Decided to travel in the early mornings on every drive day...

Should reach the destinations before 7pm with all the breaks..

No night drives at all......

Tried my best to have a sound sleep for 6 to 7 hours at night so that I can drive safely during the day time...

Regular breaks for every 2 to 3 hours and streching out urself. 

 

And with the support person(wifey) beside me during the drive... makes every roadtrip possible... You can also do it bro ☺️Good Luck for your future drives.

 

Edited January 7 by RoadTripper

[Sam]

Very nice...we have covered same places except Coimabtore last November. Amazing and memorable trip it was...