Travel and Accommodation
Reaching Vagamon
Vagamon is a hill station located in Idukki district of Kerala, 101 Km from Kochi.
Road: Vagamon is well connected by roads with the rest of the state.
Rail: The nearest city railway station is Kottayam, located at a distance of 60 Km from Vagamon. However, no transport will be arranged by the organisers from Kottayam to Vagamon. For runners interested in availing the transport facility provided by the organisers, please ensure that you disembark at Ernakulam Junction or Ernakulam Town railway station(s).
Air: The Kochi International Airport at Nedumbassery has flights from all over the world coming in. You will find no problem in flying in.
Package
Although we don't have the bandwidth and the expertise to provide a travel package, we understand that participants would like to get their travel and accommodation requirements handled by people who know best about the location. The arrangements will be to the best of our ability and might lack the professionalism offered by a premium Tour Operator, but all packages are on cost-basis. So, this year, we wish to give you three options from a travel and accommodation point of view. The Options are:-
- Travel Only Package
This package doesn't include accommodation and only includes:
Transportation from Kochi to Vagamon on 5th January in air-conditioned coach. The pickup is available only from Hotel Sree Abhirami at Koonamthai, Edapally. Lunch will be served there and is included in the package. From Kochi, we go directly to the Briefing location.
The bus reaches the briefing location by 17:30 & after the briefing, the bus will move from the briefing location to Orion County Hotel and people who opted for this package can get down at the following places on the Elappara-Pullikanam route:
Vedikuhi Bus Stop (near Pine Valley)
Pickup from the following locations on the morning of the race (i.e. on 06th January 2024) and drop at the start point of the race.
Vedikuhi Bus Stop (near Pine Valley)
Drop to the following location from the finish point of the race after the race has finished.
Vedikuhi Bus Stop (near Pine Valley)
Return to Kochi from Vagamon on the next day of the race (07th January 2024) in air-conditioned coach. You will be dropped back at Hotel Sree Abhirami at Edapally.
This travel package has to be booked during the registration and is not available for booking outside of the registration, as we have limited hands to handle your E-mail requests. The Package costs ₹1,300/- including 18% GST and payment gateway charges.
Runners, who have opted for the transport facility provided by the organisers, are required to be present at the Hotel Sree Abhirami, Koonamthai, Edapally by 11:30 AM (latest) on 05th January 2024. All buses arranged by the organisers to the event location will leave from Hotel Sree Abhirami at 12:30 PM on 05th January 2024. Do note that Hotel Sree Abhirami is located at approximately 21 Km from the Kochi International Airport at Nedumbassery; at a distance of 9 Km from Ernakulam Junction Railway Station; and at a distance of 8 Km from Ernakulam Town Railway Station.
After the event, the buses plying the runners who have opted for the transport facility provided by the organisers, will leave Vagamon on 07th January 2024 at 07:00 AM to Hotel Sree Abhirami located at Koonamthai, Edapally. We estimate that the buses will reach Edapally in 5 hours. Runners are requested to plan their onward journey from Kochi accordingly. Outstation runners who need accommodation in Kochi are required to arrange their stay accordingly. We recommend The Metro Pod - Backpackers hotel
2. Accommodation Only Package
This Package doesn't include travel between Kochi & Vagamon and only includes:
Accommodation for 2 nights, i.e. the nights of 05th January & 06th January at Orion County Vagamon on a twin sharing basis. Check-in possible after 14:00 on 05th January and latest checkout at 12:00 on 07th January. Accommodations at Orion County is almost full as of 08th November 2023. All bookings received after 15th November 2023 will be accommodated at Lavender Resorts. Both Resorts are nearby.
Only the breakfast for the morning of 07th January is included as the other meals are already taken care during the race. So, for family members or friends who take this package, and are not runners will have to arrange their meals on their own from the hotel.
This accommodation package has to be booked during the registration and is not available for booking outside of the registration as we have limited hands to handle your E-mail requests. The Package costs ₹3,400/- including 18% GST and payment gateway charges.
All rooms offer Double Beds only and will require sharing the bed with another runner.
3. Travel & Accommodation Package
This package is a combination of both the travel and accommodation package as mentioned above. Like all the above packages, the option should also be booked during the registration and is not available for booking outside of the registration as we have limited hands to handle your E-mail requests. The Package costs ₹4,500/- including 18% GST and payment gateway charges.
SCHEDULE
Cancellation Rules
After registration, if you cannot participate in the race for some reason, you should notify us through E-mail before 01-Dec-2023 and get your registration cancelled. Your travel and accommodation package can be swapped with other runners as long as you are bringing in your own replacement atleast a couple of days before the race and must be notified to us on our E-mail address.
But for cancellations received before 01-Dec-2023, we will issue a refund of ₹3,500/- for Travel & Accommodation Package, of ₹2,400/- for the accommodation only Package and of ₹750 for the travel only package. The refund will only be issued in the last week of February 2024.
Other Stay Options
In case, you wish to arrange your own accommodation, we recommend the following hotels in Vagamon. We have curated a list of hotels on the Elappara-Pullikanam road which is the main road connecting the start and the finish.
Open the map below to see our recommendations.