I think one of the great pleasures of driving, apart from enjoying the car itself, is the joy it brings in discovering new roads and seeing new places. So, when Honda sent across the invite for the 13th edition of Drive to Discover, which would take us for a monsoon trail through Kerala and Tamil Nadu, I was prompt to make my case to be sent for this drive. This is not just because the idea of driving through rain-soaked and mountainous regions of Munnar and Kodaikanal was simply too tempting to give away but also because South India was still largely unexplored by me, especially by road.
So, some negotiations and convincing at office done, I arrived at Kochi, along with 40 fellow motoring journalists, on a very wet day for the flag-off of the journey. The weather appropriately announced the mood for the drive, which was going to take us from Kochi to the quaint town of Athirapally, then through the picturesque hill stations of Munnar and Kodaikanal, before culminating in Coimbatore – around 500km across four days. Our rides were not a surprise, though – Honda’s entire fleet including the Amaze, City, Elevate and the City e:HEV were to be our companions for the drive.
Day 1: Kochi to Athirapally
A ceremonious flag off accompanied by beats of the Chenda (a traditional percussion instrument of Kerala) signalled the beginning of our drive, and I found myself behind the wheel of the Honda Elevate. Each of us were sharing a car with another person, and my co-driver happily let me start off our journey. He said he was sleep-deprived, but in hindsight, it may just have been to avoid the traffic in the first leg.
We started off quite late in the afternoon post lunch, but our drive on the first day was rather short, just about 40km from Kochi to Athirapally – a beautiful town nestled on the banks of the Chalakudy river. Navigating out of bustling Kochi, we soon found ourselves surrounded by the lush, rural backdrop of rain-soaked Kerala. As I said before, this was my first time exploring God’s own country, and barely 20km into the drive, we were already snaking through a dense forest with finely laid tarmac. Oh, the joys of driving!
Scenic views from the Vettilappara Bridge persuaded us to stop for photos.The good roads didn’t last very long, though. As we made our way deeper into the forest, small broken patches gave way to large craters, but the Elevate had sufficient ground clearance to keep us sailing through happily. Soon enough, the Chalakudy river appeared in sight, fully swelled up, gushing and roaring downstream thanks to the incessant rains. Now, during the briefing in the morning, we were alerted that our route passed through an active elephant corridor. But you never imagine you’d get lucky with such wildlife spotting, do you? Surprise, surprise, we did! Off the road and a little into the distance was a fully grown elephant munching away the greens while merrily flapping its ears. What a sweet sight!
We clicked a few hurried pictures on the move, then stopped at the Vettilappara Bridge for some photo ops with the Elevate before finally arriving at the Athirapally falls – the largest waterfall in Kerala. But to our disappointment, the viewing deck was too far from the waterfall and we were not the only tourists, of course. Thankfully, my co-driver was just as enthusiastic about exploring, so we went a little further up the road in search of a more secluded place. Eventually, we ended up at Charpa falls where we could get to touching distance from the waterfall. Perfect for some more snaps with the Elevate! By this time, dusk was setting in, so we headed back to our hotel and retired for the night.
Day 2: Athirapally to Munnar
The following day, our destination was Munnar, which was some 130km away from Athirapally. A proper day of driving then! And our ride for the day was the City hybrid, very appropriately so, as I would find out later. Once again, I kicked off driving the first leg for the day, and having exited Athirapally, we arrived at a forest check post. Permissions cleared and into the forest, we found ourselves in the thick of a rubber plantation, and this is where the City e:HEV really got into its element. The roads were narrow and slightly broken, which meant our pace was slow and the City was driving in EV mode very often. There was a sense of satisfaction in not making any noise, just seamlessly coasting through the forest while taking enough time to soak in the beauty.
The forest eventually ended, and once we were out on more open roads, I let my co-driver take the wheel. Incidentally, he was a Keralite, and him knowing the local language was very handy when asking for directions from the locals in the deep forest roads where network was scarce. But that aside, he was keen on making me sample a local drink called Sharjah. The recipe is interesting – it’s a Bournvita, milk and banana shake with some dry fruits thrown in for good measure. Doesn’t sound right, right? But it was really delicious! Must try if you are in Kerala, because it’s a hard find elsewhere, he told me.
After the quick pitstop for the drink, we started our ascend up to Munnar, and the heavens broke loose. Visibility was quite poor, and it was one of the heaviest downpours I had witnessed while on the road. The City hybrid went about its business without breaking a sweat, though, and after a lunch stop in between, we finally reached Munnar. The last leg took us through some lovely, twisty roads covered in mist, so we slowed our pace, rolled down the windows, and just soaked it all in with a leisurely drive to the hotel before calling it a day.
Day 3: Munnar to Kodaikanal
The destination for the third day was Kodaikanal – a distance of about 180km from Munnar – for what was to be the longest day on the road. I woke up early because both my co-driver and I wanted to see a little more of Munnar before heading out. He recommended we visit the Tea Museum. Munnar is, of course, most popular for its verdant tea plantations laid out on the rolling hills. I learnt a little bit about Munnar’s colonial history, saw how tea leaves are processed before it makes it into your cup and also picked up some special varieties to enjoy back home.
Oh, I’ve missed introducing our car for the third day – it was the Honda Amaze with a manual gearbox. A compact manual sedan on twisty mountain roads sounds like the right recipe for fun, right? Well, I’ll come to that later. I must first introduce the road we would be driving on. Exiting out of Munnar and on your way to Kodaikanal, you’ll have to take the National Highway 85, or what is better known as the GAP road. Now, before I came for this trip, one of my colleagues had told me that the drive from Munnar to Kodaikanal is absolutely breathtaking. I believed him, of course, but nothing really prepares you for the sheer beauty the GAP road is until you experience it yourself.
Wide, with fast-flowing corners and changing elevation, it has to be one of the best driving roads in the country; it certainly was the best stretch of tarmac I have ever driven on. Good thing I was on the driver’s seat for a majority of the GAP road, much to the chagrin of my co-driver. Despite having travelled this route before, he too was awestruck. Turns out that the road was recently redone and how! But while I was grinning from ear to ear, the Amaze wasn’t really in a happy place. It needed to be worked hard to traverse these roads. Climbing up the hills, perhaps, wasn’t one of the Amaze’s amazing bits, but frankly, I didn’t care. The views of the lush green tea plantations with clouds rolling through the valleys were enough to make this a memorable drive.
Driving duties exchanged for the second leg, I took the passenger seat whiling away my time photographing the beautiful landscape. Crossing into Tamil Nadu, we climbed down the hills, stopped for a lunch break once we reached the plains, and then started our ascend up to Kodaikanal. I took over driving duties again, and having understood the Amaze a bit by now, I worked the gears a lot more to always keep it in the power band. This, finally, made climbing the hills easier. By the time we reached our hotel in Kodaikanal, it was almost dark, so I wrapped up the day with a hearty meal and with the satisfaction of a great day spent on the road.
Day 4: Kodaikanal to Coimbatore
The last day was all about making a straight dash to Coimbatore to catch our flights back home. We started really early, at 6:30am, because we had to cover a distance of 180km to make it on time for a 3pm flight. We were back behind the wheel of the City, this time in petrol-CVT guise. Luggage loaded in the boot and breakfast packed, we set off just as the sun was beginning to come up over the horizon. Even though we were on a tight schedule, the golden morning light and the picturesque hills compelled us to stop a couple of times for some photo ops, and soak in the last of what the place had to offer.
It took us a little over two hours for the downhill journey, and once back in the plains, I took over driving duties for the last leg to the airport. What followed were smooth, open highways and the City’s CVT gearbox was up to the job of making it a smooth and relaxing cruise. That also gave me enough time to ponder upon this entire trip.
Frankly, this counts as one of the perks of being an automotive journalist, more like a workation, if you will. But that’s not why I was here in the first place. For me, it was really about seeing places I hadn't seen before and driving cars I hadn't driven before. To that end, for me, Honda’s Drive to Discover is really appropriately named. As we drove into the airport, I couldn’t help revel in the joys of the journey, but like all good things, this too had come to an end. I think discovering the world through the windscreen is one of best ways of exploring, and I am glad I am in a profession that does exactly that.
