for 24yearold ponnani man fawas being on the lap of nature has always meant pure bliss so when he decided to undertake a journey crisscrossing the state he wanted to incorporate as many green destinations as possible into his itinerary clubbing together 60 scenic spots on the kerala region of the mighty western ghats he planned a 12day trip and whats more he covered them all on his humble scooteras part of my job its on my scooter that i commute regularly as i planned the trip i didnt feel like using any other vehicle says fawas who undertook the trip in december i have been part of certain online travel forums for long and have been taking part in various treks during one such trek i could see that most of the participants have undertaken amazing outofthebox trips across the country and thats what motivated me too to do something on those lines he saysprocuring details from multiple sources all by himself and after extensively planning for about two months he started off on his dream tour from ponnani i started early morning and after covering pollachi and palakkad i headed to munnar amid the thick morning fog never have i ever experienced it at such intensity and beauty says fawas trying a variety of things on the way like the renowned ramassery idli the soontobe gitagged jaggery from marayoor and locally grown carrot from iravikulam it was an amazing start he recalls from there he headed south covering many pretty destinations chathurangappara ilaveezhapponjira illikkalkallu kattikkayam waterfalls wagamon punaloor rose hills his scooter did not fail him despite the tricky roads and terrains as he savoured the fresh air in ponmudy in thiruvananthapuram there were strong winds on the day i reached and at one point my vehicle was almost blown away though i was scared i managed to save myself and the scooter somehow and garnered enough courage to resume the jounrney he says throughout the trip he mostly stayed with traveller friends whom he had been in touch with before starting the trip that was an experience in itself for they would have their own stories to tell you about the places saving money and feeling secure are added bonuses he says fawas then took a uturn to travel upwards through a whole lot of lesserknown spots after that the trip was via kollam crossing points like chadayamangalam ambalappuzha pathiramanal mararikkulam beach fort kochi and more including many forest areas a sad thing i noted on the way especially in our national parks like bandipur and nilambur is that people still dont understand we shouldnt feed wild animals at one of the stretches in nilambur i could see many monkey groups with bread crumbs in their hands as i drove ahead i could see people in a car distributing it they hardly realise how it affects the life pattern of these animals and lead them to even snatch anything and everything from the hands of tourists i