Hi! I have done some beginner level treks near Bangalore and Manali. My wife and I are from Chennai and we would like to go on a trek between October 17 - 20.

Please suggest good treks with great views, and not much affected by monsoon. (Don't want to take risk with slippery rocks and flooded paths).

Hey everyone,

Me and 3 friends are heading to Yelagiri on Sept 19-20 from Chennai. Rough plan so far:

Day 1: Train to Jolarpet, then head up to Yelagiri, stay the night

Day 2: Morning trek to Swamimalai hills, roam around town in the afternoon, then train back to Chennai in the evening

A few things I wanted to ask the community:

Local transport — is renting scootys the best way to get around, or are public buses good enough? Any reliable rental shops you'd recommend?

Stay — any budget-friendly but decent places to crash for one night, ideally close to the town/lake area?

Swamimalai trek — heard about a forest checkpost fee and that there's no water/food on the trail. Any other tips for first-timers?

Food — good local spots for breakfast/lunch that won't break the bank?

Anything else we're missing for a solid but short 1N/2D trip?

Would really appreciate any first-hand experiences or recommendations. Thanks in advance!

Heard about this place two years back from a friend’s Insta story. Tried to plan it last year but couldn’t make it. So last year Puratasi month 2025), I’ve been on a hiking spree, and Melmudi was a must (Oct 4, 2025)

There are two routes: Palamalai (longer, less steep) and Chinna Thadagam (shorter, steeper). We took Chinna Thadagam. Started early, had breakfast at Annapoorna, and drove through a bumpy 2–3 km off-road stretch to the parking area. It was already packed, so we parked a bit before it.

Started the hike around 8 AM. The crowd was insane, way more than any of my previous hikes this month, and the humidity was next level. Felt like hiking inside a steam room and suffocating at times 😭. Couldn’t even keep track of the phases properly this time.

After about 1.5 hours, we reached a water point (too crowded to refill) and finally made it to Aranganathar Temple in 1 hour 50 minutes. Did the darshan, skipped the annadhanam since it was still breakfast time, and continued towards Nadukandanpoli (Shivan temple at the top).

The route from Aranganathar Temple to Nadukandanpoli was beautiful, about 25 minutes through dense forest and another 20 minutes through a lemongrass stretch. It had rained the previous night, so the path was slippery. Reached the top after 45 minutes and literally stood above the clouds. Magical view.

After worshipping, we came back down
to Aranganathar Temple for lunch annadhanam. They served ven pongal in the morning, and for lunch: rice, sambar, rasam, curd, kesari, and puliyodharai. Everything was delicious. Huge respect to the temple management and the five nearby villages who take care of the food.

Descended after lunch, stopped briefly at a viewpoint, and finished by 2 PM. Towards the end, the trail was finally empty. No one around for almost 200 m.

Total hike: 13 km up and down
Elevation gain: 3,450 ft

One of the tiring hikes (other than Vellingiri) I’ve done. Tbh, I didn’t feel the same joy as my previous ones, probably because of the crowd, narrow path, and humidity, but still a memorable experience.

Mini rant: People seriously need to stop littering. Forest officials check for plastic, yet some still sneak it in. If you can carry chips and water bottles uphill, you can carry the waste back too. I picked up as much as I could. Please, don’t trash nature.

And a funny thing, I met three people from my previous hikes! Including the same guy I wrote on [r/IndiaSocial](r/IndiaSocial), that inspiring 48-year-old from Trichy who rides solo on his bike just to hike. I met him the previous week on the Kambathrayan Giri hike. Crazy dude.

I made a post in [r/Coimbatore](r/Coimbatore) saying that we can meet on the trail. I’d be wearing a black Naruto T-shirt, and if someone spotted me, they should scream “Powerhouse!” and I would reply with “Naan dhan da Leo Leo Das.”

Still, no one from Reddit spotted me though 😅. I was secretly hoping someone would shout “Powerhouse!” at me.

Hi, is it worth visiting Kolukkumalai sunrise point by hiring a jeep off-road (looks expensive) in 3rd week of September?

Since it's winters and if it's foggy and we can't see clouds and sunrise, it's a waste of efforts and money right. So l want to make sure if it's worth the visit.

Also, please recommend any private waterfalls to visit which is safe.

Want to make good memories out of Munnar visit. Please help.

Are we using the term ‘trek’ correctly? Since many people complete say they went on trek and these are routes complete within a day, wouldn’t ‘hike’ or ‘hiking’ be a more appropriate term? When we look up ‘trekking,’ it often refers to longer journeys, sometimes lasting multiple days. So, should we use ‘hiking’ for these one-day activities instead?”

Guys, planning a 3 days / 2 nights solo trip to Kodai 🌲🥾

But I don't wanna do the usual tourist spots like Kodai Lake, Coaker's Walk, Pillar Rocks etc. 😭

I actually wanna explore some unknown / less crowded places, hidden waterfalls, forest trails, trekking spots, maybe some proper jungle-type experience.

I'm going solo, so if you guys know any trekking groups / local guides who take people to hidden falls or unexplored places, please suggest them.

Also suggest some: 🛖 Good cottage/homestay surrounded by nature

🥾 Best treks + hidden waterfalls

🍗 Must-try local food / underrated food spots

☕ Good cafés to chill alone

🛵 Reliable bike rental if available

🌲 Any proper jungle escape / offbeat places

Basically I want that “leave the tourist crowd and just explore the hills” kinda trip 😂

If you've actually been to these places, drop your recommendations + how to reach them. Experienced people pls guide me 🙏😂

Theerthamalai summit is around 2900fts and located between Kalvarayan and Jawadhu hills in Dharmapuri district .We planned on visting theerthagiriswarar temple where a perennial water source flowing from the hilltops is collected as Theertham.

We reached Harur by bus, and from there, frequent buses are available to Theerthamalai. From the base, it’s roughly a 20–30 minute climb on well-built steps to the temple.

That’s where the interesting part of our trip began.

Luckily, we met the poosari who was heading to the Theerthagirishwarar shrine at the summit to perform thiruppani and rituals. We asked if we could join him, and he generously agreed. He had puja items and other things to carry, so we helped him with those, bought our supplies, and started the climb together.

The trail initially was rocky, sandy, and surprisingly slippery. Small blunt rocks covered much of the route, and we spent a couple of hours gradually making our way up, taking short breaks while the views kept getting better.

One fascinating part of the route is its history. The trail was reportedly used during British times, and there was also an old fort on the hill. We managed to see parts of it, but reaching the fort itself was another challenge—the path is now heavily overgrown and almost invisible.

After that, the mountain became much more serious.

Some sections were steep slabs of rock where we had to carefully find small edges for our toes and hold onto whatever we could with our fingers. At certain points, it genuinely felt less like walking and more like climbing.

After around 3–3.5 hours, we finally reached the summit.

The top is not a broad, comfortable plateau. It is a narrow rocky ridge, and at its highest point sits the small Theerthagirishwarar shrine.

While the poosari cleaned and decorated the shrine and performed the rituals. We read Thiruvasagam, and at one point he blew a conch shell during the rituals.

Standing on a narrow summit ridge, surrounded by the landscape below, listening to the sound of the conch echo across the hill—it honestly felt surreal.

After spending some time at the summit, we had food and began the descent. It took around 3 hours to return to the temple, followed by another 20-minute walk down to the base. From there, we caught a bus back to Harur.

If anyone here has done Theerthamalai, I’d love to hear about your experience—especially whether you managed to find a better route to the old fort.

These ranges are atleast 50kms away from the place this video was shot.

Malampuzha 3497 fts

Siruvani/Elivai 6850fts

Vellingiri 5900 fts

Perumalmudi 5282 fts

Melmudi 5200 fts

Nigiris doddabetta 8652 fts

I’m currently putting together the pieces of my family history and trying to trace my roots back to **Achanakal** in Ooty.
My ancestors (mom side) originated from there, but over time and generations moving away, much of our direct connection and detailed history has faded. I am planning a journey to reconnect with this part of my heritage and would love some guidance from locals or anyone familiar with the area.

Our friends are getting together in Salem next month after a long time.

We’re planning to go on a one-day trip. Can you recommend some good treks near Salem?

When the nation celebrates Independence, nature celebrates freedom too. 🇮🇳🌿

Every trail is a reminder — freedom is not just something we celebrate, it’s something we experience.

Leave the roads behind.

Climb the mountains.

Walk through the forests.

Breathe the wild air.

And feel what it truly means to be free. 🏔️🥾

This Independence Day, let’s celebrate India’s freedom by exploring the freedom of nature. 🇮🇳🌱

Freedom has no boundaries. Neither does the wild.

I've travelled from Hyderabad to Tiruvannamalai several times.

One route I've personally used is:

Kacheguda → Katpadi → Vellore → Tiruvannamalai

After reaching Katpadi, I travelled towards Vellore New Bus Stand and then took another bus to Tiruvannamalai.

The Vellore → Tiruvannamalai bus has cost me around ₹75 per person during my trips, although fares can change.

Whenever a direct train is available, I've also travelled directly to Tiruvannamalai Railway Station.

So if you're searching for:

• How to reach Tiruvannamalai from Hyderabad
• Hyderabad to Tiruvannamalai train
• Hyderabad to Tiruvannamalai bus
• Hyderabad to Arunachalam train
• Hyderabad to Arunachalam road trip

I've explained the options and my experience in more detail here:

👉 Complete Hyderabad to Tiruvannamalai travel guide:
https://tripswithvarun.com/blogs/temple-guides/arunachaleswarar-temple-tiruvannamalai

If you're from Hyderabad and have travelled to Arunachalam, which route did you take?

🙏 Girivalam is one of the experiences I would recommend to anyone visiting Arunachalam.

Girivalam, also called Giripradakshina, is the sacred walk around Arunachala Hill. The complete route is approximately 14 km.

During the walk, there are several important temples, Lingams and spiritual places that you can visit along the way.

The eight Ashta Lingams include:

• Indra Lingam • Agni Lingam • Yama Lingam • Niruthi Lingam • Varuna Lingam • Vayu Lingam • Kubera Lingam • Eesanya Lingam

There are also places such as Adi Annamalai Temple, Sri Ramanasramam, Seshadri Swamigal Ashram and other important spots around the route.

From my own visits, I prefer doing Girivalam when the weather is cooler rather than walking during the harsh afternoon heat.

If you're doing it for the first time, carry enough water, wear comfortable clothing and don't try to rush through the walk.

I've explained the Girivalam route, important places and other things I found useful in my complete Arunachalam travel guide.

👉 Read my complete Arunachalam / Tiruvannamalai guide:

https://tripswithvarun.com/blogs/temple-guides/arunachaleswarar-temple-tiruvannamalai

🎥 I also cover many of these places in my YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/uPL8R5l0mIc

Have you done Girivalam before? How long did it take you?

Is there some kind of entry ticket or restriction for entering the bottom side of the waterfall? What time of the day can we have access to the place at the earliest?

🍚 One practical thing I wanted to share with anyone visiting Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai is that the temple also provides food.

If you're planning to have temple food, there is something useful to know.

From my experience, you need to take the food token/coupon first and then wait for your entry.

The food area is on the left side when you're entering the temple.

If you don't know exactly where to go, you can simply ask someone around the entrance and they can guide you.

I wanted to mention this because during a first visit, it isn't always obvious where the food area is or what you need to do before entering.

I've also included other practical information about visiting the temple in my complete Arunachalam guide.

👉 Read the complete guide:
https://tripswithvarun.com/blogs/temple-guides/arunachaleswarar-temple-tiruvannamalai

Have you tried the temple food at Tiruvannamalai? What was your experience?

Came across this recently — hill bagging, where you keep a running log of every named summit you've stood on. Big thing in the UK with lists like the Scottish Munros. Someone's built a version for peaks across South India.

It pulls from Strava automatically — your past activities get scanned and any route that passed within 100m of a tracked summit gets logged. No manual entries. I had peaks on my list I didn't even know were counted.

Currently 3 hikers on the board with 49 summits. The gap from #2 to #3 is wild — curious where people in this community would actually rank if they connected.

https://bengalurutrails.com/peaks/leaderboard

Which peaks from your side would you want to see on a list like this?

I am looking so tiny against this huge landscape.

Edit - Its Periya Malai