The next day we said bye-bye to Kodaikanal and rode down the mountain to the hot plains of Tamilnadu. The air was very dry and even the A/C of the car was finding it difficult to cool it.

We took a different route while returning as we were going to visit Tarakka’s grandmother, uncle and aunt at Dindigal. They were very happy to see all of us and aunt had prepared a very tasty breakfast for us. we really enjoyed it. After a brief visit of about 1 1/2 hours we continued on our return journey passing the windmill farm, sugarcane fields, corn fields. sunflowers turned towards the sun, the cotton mills, the paper pulp mills etc.

We all were really tired and just wanted to reach home fast. My father drove the car as fast as possible in the heavy traffic and the heavy rain that poured cats and dogs about 1 1/2 hours from home. The thunder boomed and the lightning streaked across the sky. The car still sped along and we reached home at about 6.30 in the evening.What a relief it was to reach Home Sweet Home!

So, that is the end of this travelogue. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Please kindly send your comments.

Bye for now. I will keep on posting.

Rupashri

Dear readers

After lunch we started to the Chettiars Park. It is on the way to the Kurinji temple and is a very beautiful park. As it is not near the center of Kodai city there were not many tourists about. There were many many beautiful flowers and also bushes that had been cut and shaped like different animals. We walked in this park for sometime and then lay on the sloping lawn looking up at the clear sky. The air was full of eucalyptus smell and we could hear just the sound of birds. It was very beautiful and peaceful. We enjoyed the coolness and the freshness of the air and then returned to the heart of the Kodai city. As we had the whole evening to spare and no new spot to visit, we all decided to go to the lake again.

The lake side was full of tourists and busy shop keepers selling all sorts of things. The first thing we did was selecting cycles to ride. This time I got a cycle which was just the right size. There were maybe 500 cycles for rent in different sizes in different cycle shops. My father and brother too rented cycles and I was the happiest of the lot. My mother and cousin sisters decided to walk around the lake and we three set out on our cycles. The road around the lake was about 5.5 kms and I was a bit doubtful whether I could cycle all the way round. There were many many cyclists riding along with the few horse riders.

Unfortunately I was not prepared for cycling as I had on a long skirt. Still I was not going to miss this wonderful chance. Even though my skirt kept getting caught in the chain a few times I kept on pedaling after stopping to pull it out. It was really fun and I enjoyed the ride wonderfully. It took us less than an hour with a few rests in between. We circled the lake and reached the point from where we had started. A few minutes later mom and cousins arrived. All were really exited for having successfully completed going round the lake.

After returning from the lake we had our dinner and started packing. We were returning the next day.We got in bed, but couldn’t sleep due to some weird sounds. Wondering what, my dad went outside the room and came back excited. He told us that there was something interesting going on in the backyard of the hotel. We went to a window looking down to the backyard and to our amazement, saw many college students and accompanying teachers sing and dance merrily around a camp fire. We watched the fun for some time, and then slowly went back to bed.

That night went real fast. About the experience of the next day, I will post sometime later!

Have a good day

Rupashri

I am back

The next day after a hot bath (or cold as some of us did not get hot water that day) we ordered our breakfast. As that day had been declared as a day of strike in Tamilnadu for some reason or other we did not go out until twelve noon. The strikers might start hurling stones at the traffic. So we lazed about for a long time. At twelve, we started on a hired Sumo to visit a few waterfalls and view points.

Our first visit that day was to pillar rocks. These are two huge rocks shaped like pillars which can be seen playing hide and seek with the clouds. At one moment, we can see them and the next moment, they hide behind the passing clouds. We were just in time to see the rocks disappear behind the swift clouds which were also moving amidst all the people watching at the view point. It was a most wonderful sight with the pillars visible at one minute and gone the next. There was a tiny flower garden full of flowers just behind where we were standing. The sky appeared to be like the sea and the valley was not visible at all because of the thick clouds. We enjoyed this beautiful sight for a few minutes and moved ahead to the next point.

Next on our list was fairy falls. This is about 5 kms from the lake and we had to pass near a golf course. The grass at the golf course was a little bit dried up and not very nice to see. Finally we reached the place from where we could see the falls. We had to climb down a slippery slope to reach it. But this waterfall too was almost dry. It was boring. The water flowing down was so thin that it would take a few minutes to fill a bucket! Yawn! From there we went past two other falls- Bear Shola falls and Pambar falls, both almost like the silver cascade i.e. with just a little water. We also passed many view points like the Green valley view also known as suicide point, silent valley view etc which provides lovely views of the mountains and valleys.

Next was a shooting spot for films. It was a pine forest with very tall pines all planted in straight rows. The ground was completely covered with dried up pine leaves which looked like needles and also pine cones. The ground was very slippery and we had to move carefully among the tall pines. There were many fallen trees here and there and we sat on some of the fallen trees and took photos. There were many monkeys in this pine forest and some of their babies were playing in the pine needles. From there we returned for lunch.

Bye for now

Rupashri

Here is the continuation-

From the Coakers walk we went to the Kurinji Andavar temple, situated 3kms from the lake. This temple is the home of Lord Muruga, riding on a peacock. The shrine was built in 1936, by an European lady, who had adopted Hinduism and renamed herself as Lilavati Ramanathan.

In the temple compound, we saw a Kurinji plant, which was all dried up. There was a board nearby, on which it was announced that the flower had last bloomed in 2006 and the next blooming will be in year 2018, after 12 years. I wondered whether the dried up plant will really bloom again. There were not many tourists at this temple but much more shopkeepers around. The temple affords a fine view of Palani, the famous pilgrim center and Vaigai Dam.

Well after Kurinji temple, we went back to the hotel.. Before going to our rooms we decided to look around the hotel garden. There was a lawn with many flowers at the border and the space around the cottages. we enjoyed the beauty and the coolness lying on the lawn for a long time. Later we had our supper. We ended our day happily and returned to our rooms.

Coming up tomorrow- Pillar Rocks

B-bye

Rupashri

Here’s all about Coaker’s Walk.We found out that the Coaker’s Walk was next to the lake, and so we decided to go there after we had our lunch. Later, after a rest, we went to the lake and climbed a steep road, leading to the Coaker’s Walk. This is a tiled path along the steep slope of a mountain giving one a magnificent view of the mountains, valleys and Kodai. It is named after Lt. Coaker, an engineer, who prepared the map of Kodai and is said to have identified this pathway in 1872.

We walked along this path enjoying the breathtaking views. We took many Photos and walked on and on and on looking down into the foggy valleys, up at the vast sky, hearing the sweet cooing of the birds, watching them flying about and sitting on trees. Finally we reached the end of the walk and saw the telescope house there.

I went up to the balcony of the telescope house to see if it was open, but it wasn’t. So I came down dissapointed and told everybody the news. So we thought we could atleast see the view from the balcony and went up again. But then we suddenly heard music from inside the telescope house. Oooh! it was haunted by a man dosing on the floor.

My father knocked on the glass door and the man got up startled. He opened the door and let us in. The radio was blaring out tamil music so loudly that we could not hear ourselves speak. There were three telescopes, a small one and 2 bigger one. We looked through then and saw distant settlements, a church, and a board stating “Kodai Hill View”. Then we walked back to the entrance along the path.

There many stalls on one side selling wares and also near and around the lake. We purchased some peanuts to munch, some purses and bags to give as presents to friends, a few key chains for my collection and many more interesting stuff! The air was getting cooler minute by minute and filled with the soothing scent of eucalyptus.

I will write about the next half of the day, tomorrow.

Bye,Rupashri

From the Kodai lake, we went to the park just next to it called Bryant Park. It was built by a British man named Bryant, and is actually a small botanical park. t was beautiful with lots and lots of fascinating flowers. There were roses, Dahlias, Tulips and many many more varieties. The Bryant park looked breathtaking with many types of tall and grand trees like the eucalyptus and pine. There were many old trees like the Indian Oak and we lay down in the shade of it. There were name boards on all of the trees. It was very cool in the brilliant shade, and we rolled about on the lawn underneath.

A flower show is conducted every year during May and we found the plants getting ready for that. There is a green house in Bryant park, which has a fine variety of flowers inside. We went in there and found out that it was warm and loaded with cactus’, begonias, ferns, and also those types which are also found at our place. The temperature was pleasant and we found it difficult to leave. but we had to coz there was still more places like Coakers walk to visit.I will tell you about it in the next post.

b-bye

-Rupashri

The next day, 30th March, early in the morning, we went to the Kodai lake. The lake is star shaped, and has deep blueish-green water. It was created in 1863 by Sir Vere Henry Levinge, collector of Madurai district, who settled in Kodai after his retirement.

The area of the lake is  24 hectres and its is rimmed by a 5 km long road. Tourists can enjoy boating in the lake. I was very much looking forward to go to the Kodai lake because, I read on the guide book that we could ride a cycle or a horse around the lake. I was a beginner at cycling and wanted to cycle on a road. At home, I was forbidden to go out. So I was very much looking forward to ride a cycle at Kodai. But oh no! A bad stroke of luck struck me when I went to select the cycle from the large number of cycles kept ready for the tourists. There were many small cycles and much more bigger cycles, but not even a single right sized cycle. Awww! I was very disappointed and could not even enjoy the beautiful lilly-filled lake. I thought Kodai will be boring with no cycling. A

ll the rest of our group selected cycles and rode them. My father and brother, rode on a double cycle. From the lake, our next destination was the Bryant Park. You can read about it on the next post.

- Rupashri

After watching the mischievous customers, off we went towards the city. We could feel the coolness in the air. There were only a few hours left for bed time and so we decided to take the day off. Oh! It was tough to find the place we were to stay at. We were going up and down on the roads, when suddenly my brother spotted the lodge. The ground floor of the lodge was “underground”. And our rooms were on the 2nd floor.

The temperature was pleasant in the room, but the floor was very very cold! I couldn’t touch the floor without my shoes. We took two rooms – Dad, mom and me in one room and brother and 2 cousins in the other. Both rooms had attached bathrooms and balconies. The beds were very cozy and we took a rest for sometime. There was a beautiful garden in the compound, with many tulips, dahlias, and other flowers of which I didn’t know the names. There was also a tiny lawn.

After our rest, we decided to wander in the Kodai city before our dinner. Oh! and then, this funny incident took place. After going up and down on the roads, my dad parked the car on a steep climb. We all got down to see the night time view of the Kodai city. We could see twinkling light all along the slopes of the hill. It was a very beautiful sight. And then we got into the car again. But the car refused to go up! Instead it went down backwards. Dad put on the handbrake and asked us to get down and walk up whilst he tried to get the car up. Oooh! Awww! It was really tiring to go uphill on the steep road. Dad did manage to drive the car up and he went up and up the road, leaving us far behind, panting uphill.

Finally, he stopped the car on a flat part of the road and we all got in, heaving a sigh of relief. Then we went to have dinner. After a tasty meal, we returned to the lodge. The air was cool and the floor was cooler than ever. Our hair oil had frozen!! and the water in the bottles were as if kept in the fridge.

We got ready for night’s sleep, but I couldn’t sleep well as there was no fan. I was so used to sleeping listening to the murmur of the fan at home. I cuddled up under the thick rug, but I was still cold. Before you knew it, I was fast asleep. The night went very fast and I woke up at half past six in the morning.

We got ready for the visits to the famous tourist spots of Kodaikanal. I found out from the tourist guidebook that Kodaikanal is referred as the only hill station in India, which was set up by the Americans. It is also known as the Switzerland of the east, due to its natural beauty. It is at an altitude of 2100 meters on the Western Ghats. The gentle sloping woods around Kodai with many waterfalls, are considered to be a paradise for picnickers and trekkers.

Coming up next: Our visit to Kodaikanal lake

- Rupashri

Here is the continuation from Part II.

We had travelled for about 10 minutes from Palani before dad realized that he had forgotten to fill the petrol tank. So we turned and went back to a Reliance petrol pump in Palani which we had noticed earlier. On the way, we saw a caution board on which was written “Be careful, ELEPHANT Crossing”!!! Ha ha ha… It was a silly board, coz on both sides, there were splendid mango and coconut orchards and a few settlements. The orchards had a barbeded wire fence and along with it, there was an electrified fence for double protection. Then how can the elephants come and cross the road like chickens do? We also saw huge termite hills which were worshipped by the superstitious people of the villages.

After filling petrol, we continued again. Once we started on the ghat road, it slowly got cooler. THere were 14 hairpin bends and we stopped at various view points on the way. The sight was splendid !! After a couple of hours, we entered the Kodai city. The first tourist spot, a waterfall called Silver Cascade, was about 8 km from the city. It is supposed to be a great waterfall, but because it was off season, the waterfall thought that “Let me save energy for the tourist season. I will go on a holiday to the sea.” Only a thin stream of water was coming down the rocks.

There were many road side stalls over there, selling carrot, plums, ornges, mangoes, corn and much more stuff. After parking our car, and while going for a close up view of the “Miserly” Cascade, we saw a monkey stealing a whole bunch of carrots from a lady shopkeeper. The monkey took about 15 delicious carrots to a place higer up on a the hill. While leaving, we saw a naughty cow, also snatching a few carrots from the same stall. Poor lady! She had to give two bunches of carrots free to two of her mischevious customers.

Keep waiting for the next part (Coming really soon )

Bye,
Rupashri

We sat enjoying the greenery of Kerala, and the road was a very smooth four laned one. On the way, we could see may types of trees and houses on both sides of the road. After about 2 hours we crossed a check post and oh! the advertisements on the road suddenly changed from malayalam to tamil. We had entered Tamil Nadu. Now there were very less number of houses and only in settlements here and there. We could also see cool and shady trees like tamarind, cherry, neem etc on both sides of the road.

Then we saw something that looked like a huge fan going round and round behind a tree. As we got closer, we could see more and more of those. The tips of these weird things were red in color and as we drew closer we could easily make up what it was. Oooh! They were windmills! Gigantic windmills!! and then we saw many many of them all around. Wherever you look, you could see these fans going round and round and round.

Leaving behind this wind farm, we continued on the hot boring road. Then suddenly we saw a green farm. Oh no! t’was yellow. We saw golden heads looking towards the sun. Can you guess what it was? Of course, they were beautiful sunflowers!We passed the sunflower farm, and then we saw something delicious. Yum, yum, yum! Sugarcane fields!! We also saw trucks heading towards the sugar mills filled with sugarcanes. Hmmm… The farmers work so hard, and yet from those huge sugarcanes, we get only just a cup full of sugar! After driving for a long time, we at last reached Palani in Tamil Nadu. Palani is famous for its Sri Muruga Temple atop a hill. I was the first one to spot the sacred hill. It had a winch to go up, or we can climb the steps. But the most interesting way to go up the hill is the ropeway.

We didn’t climb up to the temple as we didn’t have time. It was scorching hot over there and I could feel drops of sweat trickling down my back. We had our lunch at Palani, and continued our journey to Kodai.

To be continued in Part III…

Cheers,
Rupashri