A Travelling tale of "Queen of hills"-Kodaikanal
Thy yet another desire to see
Mountains hiding behind the mist
Desire to hold all the rain in my fist,
Rolling hills and enchanting landscapes
And my eternal wish to escape,
To behold the beauty hiding amidst virgin hills
Fills thy soul with zeal and thrill,
To another breath-taking paradise of creature
Thee gift to human by mother nature.......
(Rajni Vohra)
| As they say 'sobre gustos,no hay nada escrito' (Different strokes for different folks) |
Planned to catch Pune - Bangalore flight and then an overnight ride on train...(since there is no direct flight to Madurai or Coimbatore(nearest airports,you can access the destination via either route,both routes are equally scenic and enchanting).
Landed in Bangalore airport at dusk and headed to some 40+km away Bangalore city railway station,Took some 1 and half hour steering through densely populated metro. Had some seriously spicy andhra food(could see smoke coming out of ears,no hyperbole :) at Naidu mess,situated near Majestic bus stand and Bangalore Junction.After an hour headed towards rail head at walkable distance, spent another 2 hrs sitting leisurely on stainless steel chairs in waiting room and around 11:30 pm,heard a Kannada announcement about arrival of the Mysore-Tuticorin express.Luckily platform was not jam packed,did not waste a second to board and pulled out tickets to re-check seat numbers.Finally felt relaxed after placing luggage next to fellow traveler's bag who was totally lost and immersed into listening hymn on his mobile......
Next morning got up around 6:00 am as destination arrival time was 7 am i.e Kodai road (had plans to catch taxi from there)Luckily,started conversation with the co-passenger who advised us to get down at Dindigul(a station before)for better connectivity and better services including Tamilnadu corporation buses (local transport).We looked at each other and decided to be a little more adventurous;so 6:30 am arrived at a stranger place.We hurriedly dragged out bags trusting a fellow traveler's advice and got down at Dindigul (90 km from kodaikanal) a tiny station.We proceeded towards an unknown town.Outside the rail head,an auto rickshaw told 100 bucks to reach Dindigul bus stand,was barely 2 km ....but never mind .On reaching bus stand,at a counter inquired about the arrival of next bus,but the answer came in chaste tamil,could not comprehend a single word,finally he pointed his finger towards a board written in English; next bus at 9:30 am.
Our next job was to hunt out for an eatery. And just diagonal to the stand, we spotted a really nice restaurant which was serving lip-smacking breakfast...ordered an idly plate with red tomato chutney and some upma, so yummy it was!!!!!.Now it was time to board the bus,surprisingly all seats were intact and not shabby at all.
And finally our vehicle entered in the heart of Palani hills, a hilly hamlet called Kodaikanal.
Welcome to Kodaikanal
A bright view of the town
A glance at Kodaikanal lake
As soon as we got down,surrounded by dozens of taxi drivers and hotel agents But we knew where we wanted to head(thanks to google: ).Abhirami residency is a new property,having well assorted rooms with free wi-fi,parking, restaurant and reasonably priced rooms:2000-3000/including buffet breakfast.Hotel staff was extremely courteous and went out of the way to make all guests feel happy and comfortable.Food was also decent if not out of the world.You can visit :
www.abiramiresidency.com/
We called up our old acquainted taxi driver ,who surprised us with his impeccable Hindi skills this time(previously he could not understand even) .Being a localite,he has fairly good knowledge of each and every corner of his town and takes tremendous pleasure in showing the same to his customers.
Day1-Began the day with sumptuous breakfast at hotel and decided to see in and around places.First point was coaker's walk,a charming path on the edge of a hill offers a breath- taking view,though the day was quite foggy yet intermittently the veil of fog opened to show a glimpse of panorama....,spent half an hour taking a round and peeping through mist .Next headed towards an old little church "Lutheran". After this, drove for 10 minutes to reach a point called Monkey's point after crossing a flee market around(full of monkeys ,nonetheless must visit for capturing hilly beauty).Next proceeded towards a point called 'Pillar rocks and Guna caves; from here the road bifurcates, one towards the town and the other towards Pombarai and Berijam.Now headed towards the town to see arguably an oldest tree with a unique stem shape(500 years old).Ahh.... wonders of nature!!!!
Having seen that,decided to fill tummies at Meenakshi bhavan that serves authentic tamilian cuisin on banana leaf and called it a day.
On our way back to hotel,saw Kodaikanal International School,heard some star kids and Bollywood biggies studied here.
Coakers Walk
Oldest Tree
Clear sunny day on Monkey's point
Day 2- Day started off with a temple 'Kurunji' (location to die for),though a very small temple,yet good to visit.In fact, in hills every tiny structure looks so important that you do not want to miss...... beside the temple a beautiful park 'Chettiar' is situated; simply amazing for its variety of flora,the biggest attraction is kurunji flower which blossoms once in 12 years, also inside the park kids can enjoy riding on different swings...never miss.Also visited a huge Botanical garden named 'Byrant Park' for its rich,unique and rare trees, plants and absolutely stunning flowers,offers picture perfect views of floral beauty,if you are even a bit of nature lover,can spend hours together at this mesmerizing place .One can also visit couple of water falls like bear shola falls,silver cascade falls,glen falls,fairy falls etc.
In evening planned to take a walk through local vegetable market and general market for shopping.
Also bought kodai special mixture of roasted curled beetle with groundnut from 'Spices corner'(must try), don't forget to take a bite at 'Pastry Corner and 'Freshys'.
Kurunji Temple
A glimpse of Chettiar Park
Cascading water fall
Day3-Dropped plan to visit Berijam lake(24 km) for the simple reason of getting up so early in the morning:)In fact one needs to obtain a prior permission from Forest office by paying fee and reach before 9 am to get entry as forest dept. does not allow more than 25 vehicles in a day.Instead decided to go to a virgin place Mannavanour,some 2 hrs drive from the town ( geographically towards hills of Munnar,though can not reach via this route,as i discussed in Travelling tale-3) so we started to venture out a less traveled road,crossing numerous pines forests stretched out several kilometers and having glimpses of some awesome villages like Pombarai,a hub of vegetable cultivation.After 2 hrs drive, reached an unspoiled place with a grass carpet and a pond of water inside ,with just forest and hills around,exuded immense beauty at every step .....Mannavanour,a place of green meadows, sheep,farms and simply a heaven.Some expedition loving people opt to stay here as well and prefer trekking with prior permission,though nothing much available to eat except some basic local food at few rustic joints.Not many people visit here,so one can always enjoy moments of solitude .The route itself is a treat to sore eyes.....,.Moreover,I was marveled looking at how spick and span the place was!!!!(wished we could have maintained the same level of cleanliness across the country-----no litter at all,also movable public utilities were available here).
In evening had our routine caffeine dose and decided to take a boat ride in Kodai lake which was totally immersed into mist,(appeared so mystic).
Day4
On fourth day,having packed the luggage, checking out at reception, and giving some feedback about the stay on the desk, climbed up on hotel terrace to capture surrounding beauty and spent some time feeling envious of the lucky people staying here:) However,thought of going to yet another hill lock cheered me up and kept my exploring spirit alive....(To be continued)
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