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I'm planning travel through South India

I'm planning travel through South India

Bangalore.

I'm planning my travel through South India. Bangalore is centrally located. In South India there are temples, ruins, hill stations, colonial coastal towns, and beaches to see. But they are scattered around and there is no obvious traveller's route to see them.

So I sat down and made a list of possible places to see. I looked through the highlights listed in Lonely Planet India for the chapters for the states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. I also have a list of places I've written down from talking to friends and acquaintances.

The Lonely Planet list looks like this:

KARNATAKA:
Mysore - Maharja's palace, Mysore festival, silks
Kodagu region (near Madikeri) - elephants
Bangalore
Belu and Halebid - Hoysala temple, with sculptures
Hampi - temple ruins
Badami - caves and temples, red cliff
Gokarna - beach, holy temple

KERALA:
backwaters
Wayanad or Periyar Wildlife Sanctuaries - elephant spotting
Fort Cochin - colonial architecture, restaurants
Munnar - tea and spice plantations, mountain air, lush hills
Kannur - theyyam, spiritual culture
Varkala - other travellers, seafood
Ayurvedic massage

TAMIL NADU:
Mamallapuram - rock carvings, seafood, laid-back
Ooty - toy train, Maharaja's palace, trekking, hills
Pondicherry - French, yoga
Madurai - Sri Meenakshi Temple
Mudumalai National Park - jungle tree house, wildlife viewing
Chennai (Madras) - Marina Beach, film extra
Kanyakumari - tip of India

Obviously there are too many places to see. Plus I know I like to stay in a place for a few days, and I can only handle nine hour bus rides every few days at the most frequent. So I've taken a look at the maps to try to trace a route to have a sample of some of these places.

I also was able to run GoogleEarth at the internet cafe last night and do some flyovers and capture some images. GoogleEarth is a great way to get an idea of the terrain, even though I still will not know what the place is really like until I get there.

South India

The terrain of South India can be thought of in this way: Along the west coast by the Arabian Sea in the states of Karnataka and Kerala are low-lying areas with beaches and headlands that provided harbors for colonizing powers. It is also suitable terrain for the existence of the backwaters of Kerala, a network of canals, streams, and lakes that are navigable by the famous houseboats.

Kodagu region

Just inland rise the Western Ghats, a line of apparently rugged hills that run parallel to the coast. The Ghats bear the brunt of the monsoons and as a result are lush with vegetation and wildlife, and home to former colonial summer residences - the hill stations - and to tea and spice plantations. The Ghats are not at a consistent altitude from north to south, and breaks in the hills make a couple of locations in the south look more like islands rising from the plateau.

West coast of South India, looking south

East of the Ghats in the center of the peninsula is the Deccan plateau. Bangalore lies in the middle of this plateau. The terrain here is not as rugged as the Ghats and is downright flat in places.

Along the coast to the south and east are more lowlands, forming harbors and beaches.

How should I navigate a route through this geography? Hmmm. I could make radial trips out from Bangalore to visit places of interest. I could try to guide myself along the line of the Western Ghats to visit different Wildlife parks and hill stations. Or I could cut a transect across the Deccan Plateau, through the Western Ghats, to the beaches of Kerala.

I probably won't do any of these.

I'm planning travel through South India

Namaskar Mark Ji

if you stay in Mysore (which besides is one of the more pleasant cities in the south), don't miss to make a trip to Somnathpur. I'm not sure if it's mentioned in the LP, in the rough guide its in a side note. Nowadays it's only a small village, but it has a hoysala temple left from more glorious days. The temple is, I belief, much better preserved than the ones in Belur and Halebid. The villagers are friendly and the kids just lovely. Somnathpur is just a short bus trip from Mysore, might be doable in half a day if you are lucky with the bus schedule.

I didn't like Ooty at all, not a place to stay longer (except maybe if you want to do some trecking in the region), but the toy train is a nice experience, especially because the steam locomotoves have been manufactured in my hometown Winterthur, Switzerland :)

A place I could recommend for a longer stay is Cochin, the Fort area is very nice. When I was there there was every night a cultural happening like a classical concert or a dance performance. I could have stayd there for weeks.

Ah you forgot on your list a place in Karnataka: Sravanabelagola, a main Jain pilgrimage place with its huge free-standing statue.
Yeah I know, a lifetime would be hardly sufficient to see all of India ;)

cheers, Daniel

Thanks for the tips. I'll put these places on my list; it's especially useful that you said where to stay long, where not to, and added two places. Obviously seeing all of South India is an impossible task!

Mark

DEFINITELY go to Madurai. Perhaps I liked it so much because a friend who grew up there showed me around (I was traveling alone), but I did alot of sightseeing on my own and enjoyed that too. The temple compound is amazing; some parts cannot be entered by non-Hindus but that is OK, just be respectful and move on. People were friendly, hospitable, and genuinely curious about my being there. It was my first exposure to south Indian food (definitely not the last), and maybe the best I've ever encountered --- vegetarian's paradise. Easy to get to by train, plus the train ride south from there to Kerala is really lovely. I second Daniel's recommendation of Sravanabelagola (he forgot to mention that the statue is anatomically correct and nude ;^>), but really liked Belur and Halebid. I wasn't so thrilled with what i saw of Kerala; the only place in India I saw alot of drunks and was cursed at (despite the fact that I dress VERY conservatively there and am not particularly attractive), so I felt uneasy much of the time. However I liked Trivandrum alot, for some reason. Mysore was well worth seeing too. I stayed in a former Palace a ways out of town but the experience was great; a Bollywood film was being filmed there at the time, and I chatted a bit with the main actress (whose mom was chaperoning her). Hope this is useful -- have a great trip!

Hi Judy:

Thanks for your detailed note and your feeling! Madurai is on my list. What do you mean by the statue at Sravanabelagola is anatomically correct? ;-) I've seen a poster, so I think I know, but maybe you can clear it up for me!

Mark

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