Travel! It leaves you Speechless and then turns you into a Story Teller…

So in this Guest Article, a banjara friend Damanjeet is gonna share his adventures in Southern India. Hope you all like it. And would love to hear yours too someday ?

Without much ado, I will let him narrate his story…

Have you ever thought, how difficult it would be to carry water source to a Hill where there is no Natural source of water? Obviously, not all the Hill or mountain ranges have their own water sources like Glaciers or Rivers directly touching them. This is the time when Engineering shows it’s magic and proves a blessing to people living in such places and make those places worth living.

Don’t worry, this is not a Nat Geo Documentary so I’ll end up with the technical discussion here and would like to introduce you to a similar place in Southern Part of India. It has been named Mathur (Read Maatur) Aqueduct (Or thottipalam, as they call it in Tamil). Not many people there know it by its English name.

It is Asia’s highest and Longest Aqueduct built on Pahrali River in 1966. Maximum height reaches more than 110 ft. It falls in Kanyakumari District (Southern Most town in India) but is still 60 km from the main city.

Mathur Thottipalam offers beautiful view when you reach there, lots of Latex trees on the way and a full view of coconut trees if you see it from the height of Aqueduct itself.

It is open throughout the year with an Entry fee of just Rs 2 (True as per Dec 2014). People can actually walk from one hill to another with water flowing through a trough parallel to them. When you are travelling one hill to another, you see large fields of Coconut trees on both the sides and a river just below where you are standing. There are a lot of people who visit this place as a tourist spot.

How to reach Mathur Thottipalam:

So here’s how we reached there. We were on a train trip from Chennai to Kanyakumari and while discussions with our fellow passengers on the way, we got to know about this place. We got off at Nagerkoil Railway station and started asking local residents about this place. I must add, people are so generous and humble there that will make you fall in for this place.

Generally, you get cabs or Car rentals that will directly take you to your destination. They charge you approx. Rs 1000 for a car rental.

But as it was early morning and we didn’t have any bookings already done, we opted for the bus. If you are travelling by bus and you don’t know the local language, it would be a bit challenging. Once you know where to get the bus and your destination names, you should be good to go.

So from Nagerkoil bus stop, we caught a bus for Vittori Bus stop as there is no Direct Bus. From there, we caught another bus to Kolasekaram. There are no buses on this route after 1 PM so plan your visit accordingly. The farthest point that this bus drops you is still approx. 2 km away from our destination and the only mode to go there is walking. As this city has 100% literacy rate, there are many people who understand English and they help you with directions.

Nagerkoil is a small town in Kanyakumari District and you can see large fields of Windmills on the outskirts of this town. What attracted us towards this town was its 100% literacy rate. Its location, it is located in Kerala and Tamil Nadu Border and has lots of waterfalls nearby.

After we reached back to Nagerkoil, we got a direct bus to Kanyakumari which is another experience worth sharing. Stay Tuned..:)

Do share your Travel experiences with us and Happy Travelling! Go Banjare ?

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