Thalassery-Mahe-Muzhappilangad


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August 6th 2012
Published: August 6th 2012
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Inside Thalassery Fort
‘Mail, Express, Passenger’, all these word were familiar to me, but I was surprised to see them in Mananthavady, a small hamlet, close to Karnataka – Kerala border. I never knew that Mananthavady had a railway station. However, I asked the fellow who uttered these words to me. I was supposed to travel from Mananthavady to Thalassery.



‘Where is the railway station’, I asked him



‘No station here, get a ‘mail’ or ‘express’ to Thalassery’, he replied



This was when the mystery popped up. Finally, I went past him and got an ‘auto’ to go to the railway station.



‘Railway Station?’ I asked



‘What? New here?’ The auto guy replied



‘I need to catch an express to Thalassery’, was my counter reply.



‘Oh, get in’, he asked



After 10 minutes he dropped me at the bus station. I was more surprised but nevertheless, walked in to the bus station.



‘Bus to Thalassery?’ I asked the guy sitting inside the ‘pigeon hole’ called ticket counter.



‘Express at 10am, Mail at 2pm, Passengers
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Inside Thalassery Fort
are plenty, get any from platform no. 3’, the ticket guy replied.



‘Thanks’ was my response.



I cracked it now, the mystery of ‘mail, express and passenger’. All these were not trains but buses ply to different parts of Kerala. Whatever, I walked to platform no.3 and found one ‘very colorful’ bus was waiting and when asked, I was told this bus would go to Kannur not Thalassery. However, I knew that I could board that bus still and get down at Kuttuparamba from where Thalassery was merely 17km away. I got the ticket and in 5 minutes the bus hit the road. I asked the ‘ticket guy’, whether it was a ‘Mail, Express or Passenger’. He replied that it was a ‘Mail’. I barely could see the difference as the bus was stopping at almost every stop. However, I decided to focus on the sceneries which were pretty inspiring. As we started from Mananthavady, The bus started gazing through the lush green valleys and hills. I could easily suggest my readers here to go for a drive on this route. Road condition was excellent and moreover the beauty of ‘Hilly Kerala’ could be
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Watchtower at Thalassery Fort
experienced when it rains and it did. I was enjoying every moment of my ride. Such fascinating views I had longed for. The bus was half filled, and slowly the ‘driver’ made us all realized that it was ‘a mail’. I tied myself ‘virtually’ with something as the bus was throttling at a very high speed. I was thinking that if something wrong would have happened, I would have gone straight ‘up to’ heaven to meet my almighty than visiting a Hospital. For a few moments, I was switched aback to think all rot, but stunning ‘drivescape’ made me feel heavenly as the bus was cruising down the hills. Marvelous! Enchanting! I was murmuring all these adjectives to myself. The long winding tar laid roads were just marvelous. I was all drowned into the beauty of the hills and meadows. After a couple of hours ride through the same ‘Green Hills’, the bus dropped me at Kutuparamba and immediately I got another bus to Thalassery. In next 30 minutes I was standing at the Thalassery bus stand.



As I expected Thalassery was a big town with all the amenities one could expect. High rises, Shopping Malls and
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Secret chamber inside Thalassery Fort
Gorgeous Fashion Boutiques were present everywhere. I had shortlisted a couple of hotels from my guidebook and I started calling them without wasting time any further.I found one guesthouse pretty close to the bus stand and it was good what a traveler could expect. Then, I realized that I didn’t get any chance to have breakfast and it was around 2pm. I decided to walk in to a nearby restaurant which was small but clean. Usually when I make a trip to Kerala, The first thing I enquire whether the food is prepared with coconut oil and having known the fact it is very essential for me before dining in to any restaurant. I found in most of the restaurants had the ‘banner’ hanging that the food was prepared with ‘Sunflower Oil’ only. I decided to taste something authentic in Malabar style so I placed an order for ‘Ceylon Paratha’ with ‘Kozhi Kuttan’ which was actually chicken curry prepared with desigated coconut and coconut milk. I fee paranoid to see food prepared with coconut oil but not reluctant to have dishes prepared with coconut milk. After waiting for another 10 minutes I got to see four ‘Ceylon Parathas’ and hot
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Presence of Britons everywhere inside Thalassery Fort
and fuming ‘Kozhi Kuttan’ in front of me.’ Let the world got to hell’, I said myself and dipped myself into the ‘Best of the Bests’ Chicken Curry in the world. Ah! It was too heavy for me and I decided to go back into my room and take some rest as I didn’t have much to explore in Thalassery hence could afford to take a nap.



I slept for a couple of hours and when woke up, found that it was 4:30 already. I knew that I had two spots to cover today. First, the famous ‘Thalassery Fort’ and Second, ‘The Overbury’s Folly’. My gears were ready and so was I. Within 5 minutes, I got a vehicle to Thalassery Fort. The place was not so popular and except a few locals I didn’t find much of a people. This was a very small fort when compared to the other forts in Kerala. You won’t find a Bekal or Palakkad here. The entrance was normal just like another fort. There was no ticket required to visit this place.The British East India Company built the fort in 1708 to establish a stronghold on the Malabar Coast.
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Main Entrance, Thalassery Fort
In 1781 Hyder Ali, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, was unsuccessful in capturing the Fort in his campaign to control Malabar. His successor, Tipu Sultan, was forced to cede Malabar District to the British in 1792, at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Maratha War. The presence of British was everywhere. I slowly made a stroll from the left to the right wing and found a beautiful watchtower which was standing as the witness of time. I had to rush in as I knew that I had to pick up my sunset shots from Overbury’s Folly, another major attraction of Thalassery. It was hard to believe that this fort was the nucleus of The Malabar Coast once but now standing tall motionless with time. History was cruel at times. However, time was running out, I walked back to the busy streets of Thalassery.



The walk from Thalassery Fort to Overbury’s Folly hardly took 15 minutes. I had to cross the Thalassery Cricket Stadium and walking further 100m, I reached Overburry’s Folly. At first glance, this place seemed like a small park overhanging from The Arabian Sea on the west and the cricket stadium on the eastern side
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View from Overbury's Folly
respectively. I bought a ticket and walked inside the park. As I knew this place actually was an unfinished construction. A Briton named E.N.Overbury who served as a judge in Thalassery in 1870s, wanted to construct a picnic spot at cliff however he couldn’t finish it and later the local authorities finished the remaining construction and had it named as Overbury’s Folly. The place did proper justification to its name. I took a cup of coffee and was waiting for the magical sky to turn orange. I could clearly see Dharmadam Island on the right and sweeping waves of The Arabian Sea on my left. I saw a few local couples were enjoying each other’s company. Perhaps they were planning for one romantic journey called life or to bestow their dreams to reality. The place was well maintained. Perhaps, Kerala may be edging other states when it comes to neatness. I was enjoying every bit of it. When man proposes, our good god had to strive in. The cloud never went off and my wait to witness the best sunset of the Western Coast finally seemed distant. I was chatting with a few more local lads who came all the
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Saint Theresa Church, Mahe
way from Bangalore to witness the same and perhaps tried for past three days but the ‘Sun didn’t set’. Once I got the message from The Mother Nature that the chance to watch the Sunset wasn’t possible, I decided to return to my Hotel Room. I walked back to the cricket stadium and then got an auto rickshaw to return to my hotel. I knew that I had to come back to Thalassery as the purpose of coming here wasn’t fulfilled. I won’t say my trip to visit this place was completely in vain but it was rather a beckoner that indulged me to come back again.



It was quite an uneventful night. I slept like a baby. When I woke up it was 7am already. Today, as per my plans I had to make a quick trip to Mahe and then to Muzhapillangad and finally had to proceed towards Kannur. So I decided to pick up Mahe first. I took an auto from my hotel and finally settled for Rs.200 for a to and fro trip to Mahe. Mahé is a small town (9 km²) surrounded on all sides by Kerala, is officially a part of
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Tagore Park,Mahe
the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The Kannur District surrounds Mahé on three sides and Calicut District from one side. Mahe was a French Colony once but however has its own municipality now. The ride from Thalassery to Mahe took about 20 minutes and after crossing The Mahe River (also known as Mayyazhipuzha) we entered Mahe town officially. I was watching that the moment we entered Mahe, the building architecture, streets everything had a French Influence like I noticed in Pondicherry. The town has a few beautifully decorated Wine Shops and they have the best of the best liquors you can think of. However, it was early around 9am and perhaps too early to taste a bottle of wine. I decided to walk in to a restaurant and help myself with a traditional Kerala breakfast.I found one close to St.Theresa Church. I placed an order for ‘Idiyappams and Medu Vadai’. They were delicious and like other Kerala cuisines I found the presence of Coconut was heavy. I wanted to visit inside St.Theresa Church since some wedding ceremony was on, I was not allowed to intervene. I took a few photos from outside. The architecture was different than the churches in the
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View from Tagore Park,Mahe
other parts of India. I had to rush in, so decided to move on to Tagore Park. This place was beautiful, just like Overbury’s Folly. While this park was built on the confluence of Mahe river and The Arabian Sea. I wanted to spend umpteen hours and watch colorful fishing boats of mahe fishing harbor which was exactly on the other side of the river. As usual, I took a few shots and wandering how this place would be after the sunset. I was deadly in short of time and my auto guy was eager to go out of this city so I rather decided to cut it short. Next stop was on Mahe beach. Ahhh ! There was some construction work going on for Mahe Harbor and that’s why the beach was filled with ‘pile of junks’. All I could see giant earth movers and cranes moving around. As this area was highly restricted, I rather made a quick move without opening my camera bag instead. While driving back to Thallassery, I was bit drenched with the French influences around and helped myself with a glass of French Wine. It was beautiful!



After returning rom Mahe,
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Muzhappilangad
I had to face the Indian reality once again. As my plan was to proceed towards Kannur. I decided to take a bus from Thalassery that I could get down at Muzhapplilangad on the way. Accordingly, when reached the Thalassery bus stand, I was surprised not to see one single bus which was plying to Kannur. After checking with a couple of folks, I found that the buses plying towards Kannur usually don’t stop here and to get them I had to walk and wait outside the bus stand. This was another struggle as all the ‘colorful’ buses had their ‘head’ framed with the name of the destination but in Malayalam language. Eventually, I had to ask everyone waiting in that bus stand and the reply was even. However, finally one lady turned up as an angel and helped me to get my bus. Thalassaery to Muzhappilangad, distance was just 8-9 kilometer. And in 20 minutes the bus dropped at the Muzhappilangad bus stop. It was a small roadside stop, I didn’t see any other way to reach the Muzhappilangad beach. From my research this beach supposed to be India’s only ‘drive in beach’ that was due to the hard
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Muzhappilangad
sand formed. I knew that I had to walk another 2 miles from the main road to reach the beach. Nevertheless, I started walking. It was through the silent and serene villages in Kerala with coconut trees, small huts and winding narrow tar roads. After walking for about 45 minutes I got a glance of the shore. I felt excited and speeded up my walk. In another 10 minutes, I reached the place what I have longed for years to visit. At first impression Muzhappilangad won my heart. Beautiful coconut shades on the right and rough submerged rocks on the left. I was walking and walking for miles. I was so mesmerized with the beauty of this place that I forgot to take my camera out of my backpack. I noticed a bunch of Ruddy Turnstones and Lesser Sand Plovers were playing with waves. I took few pictures and it seemed that they didn’t mind at all. I moved a bit, colorful boats were waiting for a call from their owners. I sat at one place and was just thinking about my sweetheart. Missed you again ! I was checking if any shacks or resorts available to find a place
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Ruddy Turnstones at Muzhappilangad
and spend the night here. I didn’t see any other human being at this place. For a moment I was feeling like Robinson Crusoe in an isolated island. Plovers were busy picking up crabs and It was sightful. The place did justice to its explorers. Arabian sea wasn’t rough and I found bathing would be safer for the interested ones. I found a small shop at the shore and spent some time sipping a ‘soft drink’ and exchanged some friendly gestures. I was offered to stay there and that was my dream hospitality I could ask for, but I had to reach Kannur as I was pretty tight on my schedule. Bidding adieu to the Plovers, I walked the same way back to the main road and boarded a bus to Kannur. I had planned my next visit to this place for sure. Obviously,I would love to walk with you on a moonlit night with words unspoken and love unfathomed. Bye Muzhappilangad ! you won my heart.


Additional photos below
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Sand Plovers at Muzhappilangad
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Muzhappilangad Beach


6th August 2012

Lovely Presentation.
Lovely presentation with a touch of history. Some more information of travel details with a route map would have been more better but nevertheless over all a good one.
6th August 2012

Your write ups really good. Enjoyed from first to last line.
26th September 2014

Thalassery food
Thalassery food is realy great....very delicious and tasty. There are lot of good places to visit in and around thalassery.....I love Thalassery

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