Kodaikanal

It had been some time since my family had gone out for a vacation, except of course discounting the trips for attending marriages and family functions. So on a spur of a moment we decided to go to kodaikanal on the April 10,11,12 weekend. Kodaikanal is around 500Km from Bangalore and 90% of the journey is on the NH7 which leads out to Hosur from Bangalore. The roads are really good, though in between work is underway on bridges and bypasses, but still it is an enjoyable drive. We left Bangalore at around 5:30 in the morning and we reached Kodaikanal at around 4 in the evening. The route we took was Bangalore-> Hosur-> Dharmapuri-> Salem-> Karur -> Dindugal-> Vathlagundu-> Kodai Road and then Kodaikanal. Diversions from NH7 needs to be taken at Kodai Road which is around 90Kms from Kodaikanal.

We had our lunch in Bathlakundu and it was a decent fare. We had some difficulty in finding rooms as it was a long weekend and people had come to the hills in droves.

Finally after searching for some time we managed to get a double room at a lodge called Rahaat for 1200 bucks but since the room was spacious we were able to easily squeeze in extra beds the lodge owner provided.

After checking in, we went to the famous Kodai lake which is at the center of Kodaikanal. The weather was very chilly with light showers of rain falling now and then, Coming from the summer heat of Bangalore this was a very pleasant experience. The lake was quite beautiful , It is a man made lake modelled in a star shape. We decided to take a walk around it, but finally it turned out to be a very big lake too as the total perimeter came up to around 6Kms. After dinner we retired for the day. There are plenty of restaurants in Kodaikanal and more or less all of them serve decent fare.


Next morning we went for sight seeing, Most of the sight seeing places in Kodaikanal are on one single route, forming a circular loop which again ends in kodaikanal. The route starts from the lake, and is the one that goes on a bridge towards the observatory. The first stop was a pine tree forest, where some film shooting had taken place.

The next sight seeing point was the pillar rocks, a panoramic view point. Three huge boulders rise up straight from the bottom. There are some caves nearby, which it seems runs deep in to the hills, but the entrance to them have been barricaded to prevent any adventures from the tourists.

Green valley view or the suicide point comes next, this again gives a very beautiful view of the valley and the plains below.

On the way down we get to see the Kodaikanal lake from an elevation.

Finally we reached a spot called Coaker's walk which is a half a kilometer walk during which we get beautiful views of the town as well as the valley.

After lunch we visited a park called Byrant's park which is just opposite the Coaker's walk starting point. The park has a beautiful collection of orchid's and other exotic flowers.


The famous Kurunji-Andavar temple is around 2km drive from the lake and after the visit to the park we payed a visit to it.
In the evening we went for the boat ride, which was fun and relaxing.
That night the temperature seemed to have fallen further compared to the previous night. The chill and the cold reminded me of the Sarpass trek that I had done last year.

Next day we started out from Kodaikanal at around 10, and came back on the same route. We had our lunch at Karur at a hotel called Valluvar just opposite to the bus stand, The food here was good.
At around 8 in the night we were back in Bangalore. Kodaikanal was a welcome change in this summer heat, though maybe a touch far from Bangalore.