Honda Drive to Discover 13: Traversing new routes

One of the greatest pleasures of driving, apart from enjoying the car itself, I think is the joy it brings in discovering new roads and seeing new places. So, when news came about in office regarding Honda’s 13th edition of Drive to Discover, and I found out the drive was taking us for a monsoon trail through Kerela and Tamil Nadu, I was prompt to make my case to be sent for this drive, not only 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.

Honda’s entire lineup – Amaze, City and Elevate – were to be our companions for the drive.

So, some negotiations and convincing at office done, I arrived at Kochi on a very wet day for the flag-off of the journey, and so did about 40 other fellow motoring journalists. 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 finally culminating in Coimbatore – a 500-odd-km journey 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 asserted by beats of the Chenda (a traditional percussion instrument of Kerela) signalled the beginning of our drive, and I found myself behind the wheel of the Honda Elevate for Day 1. Each of us were sharing a car with another person, and my co-driver happily obliged for me to 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.

Barely 20km out of Kochi city, and we were already in dense forests.

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 Chalakkudy river. Navigating out of the bustling township of Kochi, we soon found ourselves surrounded in the lush, rural backdrop of a rain-soaked Kerela. As I said before, this was my first time exploring the roads in God’s own country, and barely 20km into the drive, we were 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 some photo ops.

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 happily sailing through. Soon enough, the Chalakkudy river appeared in sight, fully swelled up, gushing and roaring downstream thanks to the incessant rains. Now, during the briefing earlier 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!

Elevate strikes a pose with the Chapra falls in the background.

We clicked a few hurried pictures on the move, and later stopped at the Vettilappara Bridge for some photo ops with the Elevate before finally arriving at the Athirapally falls, the largest waterfall in Kerela. But to our disappointed, 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 as me, so we went a little further up the road in search of a more secluded place. Eventually, we ended up at Chapra falls where we could get to touching distance of 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 2 was the City hybrid, very appropriately so, as I would find out later. Once again, I kicked off the drive 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 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 as well.

The City e:HEV felt like the most appropriate car to drive through the dense forests.

The deep forest roads eventually ended, and once we were out on more open roads, I let my co-driver take the wheel. Incidentally, he was a Keralite. The obvious advantage was that he knew the local language which was 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 Kerela, because it’s a hard find elsewhere, he told me.

Mist-covered twisties up to Munnar made for a very pleasurable drive.

After the quick pitstop for the drink, as we started our ascend up to Munnar, the heavens broke loose and it came pouring down upon us. Visibility was quite poor and it has to be one of the heaviest downpours I have witnessed while on the road. The City hybrid went about its business without breaking a sweat, 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, and so we did. 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 your cup and also picked up some special varieties of tea for myself to enjoy later at home.

Tea museum in Munnar is a must visit if you are a tea aficionado.

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 just the right recipe for some fun, right? Well, I’ll come to that later. I must first introduce the road that was coming right up. 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 at office had told me that the drive from Munnar to Kodaikanal is absolutely breathtaking. I did believe him of course, but nothing really prepares you for the sheer beauty the GAP road is until you experience it yourself.

Munnar is aptly called the ‘Queen of hills’ with its verdant, rolling tea plantations. 

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 even driven on. Good thing is that I was on the driver’s seat for the majority of the GAP road, not to the pleasure of my co-driver, of course. Despite having travelled this route on a couple of occasions before, he too was awestruck. Turns out the road was very 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.

GAP road is not only a lovely stretch of tarmac, but also very scenic. 

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 was back at the driver’s seat, and having understood the Amaze a bit by now, I worked the gears a lot more to always keep it in the power band, and it finally did a better job at climbing the hills. 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 for our departing flights in the afternoon. 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. On the last day, we were back at the wheel of the City, this time in petrol-CVT guise. Luggage loaded in the boot and our breakfasts packed, we set off just as the sun was beginning to come up at 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 to soak in the last of what the place had to offer.

Last day’s drive kicked off at the golden hour allowed for some picturesque snaps with the City.

It took us a little over two hours for the downhill journey, and ones 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.

The drive wouldn’t have been complete without a proper South Indian meal on the last day.

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 new places I had not seen before and driving new cars which I had not 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. Discovering the world through the windscreen I think is one of best ways of exploring, and I am glad I am in a profession that thrives on exactly that. 

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