Some journeys leave you spellbound not just by the beauty of the road, but by how vividly they echo stories you’ve seen and heard before.
This year, Honda’s 13th edition of the Drive to Discover tour was one such expedition for me.
You see, the only time I had ever been to these two states was way back in 2013.
Since then, among many other things, I have discovered a deep love for Malayalam and Tamil cinema.
Having witnessed the fishing villages, the unending rubber plantations, and lush forests on many a Southern movie watch, this atmospheric monsoon trail through Kerala and Tamil Nadu blurred the line between cinema and reality.
It was like stepping into the frame of a movie I’d watched years ago.
Except this time, I was behind the wheels of splendid Honda machines.
Cruising to Athirappilly
The trip kicked off as we landed in Kochi, a city that’s always buzzing with cultural depth.
Our ride for the day was the Honda Elevate, a crossover that’s steadily carving out its own identity.
It didn’t take long before the cityscape gave way to greener pastures.
As we headed towards Angamaly, a quick visual cue transported me straight into the gritty, chaotic universe of the 2017 blockbuster, Angamaly Diaries.
There’s a pulse to that town that no script can write. It can only be felt as you glide through its narrow lanes and noisy junctions.
The road opened up beautifully as we approached Athirappilly.
The rain had just begun to bless the Chalakudy River, swelling its banks and enhancing the drama of the landscape.
At Sterling Athirappilly, our stay for the night, nature had taken the director’s chair.
It was as if Baahubali himself might appear, sword drawn, at any moment.
Standing by the falls where Baahubali’s iconic waterfall sequence was shot, it felt surreal.
The monsoon was the ultimate special effect here, unfiltered and absolutely breathtaking.
The Honda Elevate was impressively planted through the winding roads. Its high ground clearance made it an ideal companion on these slippery, rain-slicked routes.
It doesn’t try too hard to be sporty, and that’s a virtue these days.
It lets you soak in the surroundings while making sure you’re moving ahead comfortably.
Elephants and Echoes of Churuli in Munnar
Day two kicked off with an early drive to Munnar, 130km away.
Our steed for the day was the Honda Amaze, in its manual avatar.
Simple, honest, and surprisingly nimble.
While its no-nonsense nature might not impress a spec-sheet warrior, it did a fine job navigating wet inclines and occasional gravel traps.
Somewhere along the way, just as we were easing into cruise mode, we spotted a glimpse of what we were all excited about for the past two days.
An elephant herd could be seen on the edge of the forest, but alas, it was more interested in heading deeper inside the forest than posing for our cameras.
By late afternoon, we arrived at Scenic by IHCL, nestled near a forest in Munnar.
That first look from the balcony revealed dense woods fading into the fog, the sound of cicadas filling the silence, which was uncannily similar to the eerie, psychedelic world of 2021’s Churuli.
And if you stepped out post-sunset, the jungle’s ambient score could’ve fooled anyone into believing they’d landed on the set of Nayattu, which came out in the same year.
The night that followed was anything but silent. Live music, karaoke sessions, and good old dumb charades unfolded in the dining hall.
Misty Highways
On day three, it was time to climb higher.
We swapped keys for the Honda City CVT as we made our way from Munnar to Kodaikanal, a journey that’s roughly 170km.
The City proved its maturity here with its smooth CVT shifts, comfortable cabin, and that Honda suspension tuning that lets you forget about small imperfections on the road.
The fog en route was so cinematic, it practically wrote its own screenplay.
At one point, while navigating a narrow hairpin, I was reminded of Manjummel Boys, particularly its haunting fog-laden visuals.
Our stay in Kodai was at Sterling Kodai Valley, an elegant resort that sits quietly along the Kodai gorge.
The plan was to squeeze in a visit to Guna Caves, immortalised by 1991’s Gunaa and more recently by Manjummel Boys, but sadly, time had other plans.
That night, like the one before, the spirit of the road carried over into spontaneous room parties and shared stories. The drive may have ended, but the momentum didn’t.
Spotting Frames from Vikram
The final stretch was bittersweet.
A 190km descent from Kodaikanal to Coimbatore, passing through terrains that looked like they were lifted straight out of 2022’s Vikram.
The hills rolled away in hypnotic symmetry, only broken by the occasional windmill.
Mind you, though, the Teni wind farms are majestic, expansive and futuristic in equal measure.
The drive was introspective.
Maybe it was the long hours, maybe the fact that the trip was ending.
But as I eased into Coimbatore’s outskirts, there was a slight grief.
The Southern soujourn that filled my eyes with live visuals of what I had experienced on the screen was about to end.
More than a Drive
More than just another monsoon drive, Honda’s Drive to Discover became a pilgrimage through the geography of my cinematic memories.
It didn’t matter whether I was behind the wheel of the practical Amaze, the comfort-first City, or the confident Elevate.
Each car had its own personality, blending just right with the tone of the day.
And as the credits rolled in Coimbatore, I couldn’t help but feel that the reel would live on in my mind long after the drive was over.