After rounds of Yes & No, we finally decided to visit Kodaikanal for Independence Day Long Weekend trip. Kodaikanal is about 480 kms from Bangalore and is one the most beautiful hill-stations of India situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. At an altitude of 2133 mts ASL, the place is cool round the year with a lot of greenery and nature around. Not being very close to the two major metros (Bangalore & Chennai), the place still has untouched feeling left unlike its only other sister from Tamil Nadu, Ooty. There is a lot to do in and around the town and even a 5 days/4nights trip is not enough to do all that you can.
On the day of Eid, we met Uttam, Khusbhu(Uttam’s wife), Duggu (Khushbu’s 1.5 years old son) and Sweety (Khushbu & Sweety are Anjana’s cousins) convincing them to join us for the trip. So the D-Day decided was 14th August and we were supposed to leave town by 4.00PM.
The Route –
First day plan decided was Bangalore to Karur(Night Halt) at about 300 kms on NH7. Since the road is flat and smooth, we expected to cover it in about 4-5 hours on our Linea. Day 2 plan was to travel another 180 kms to Kodaikanal via Dindigul and Batlagundu with most part of journey in Ghat section. Return route was same without a stop at Karur
As we start…
Going by Indian tradition, we left at 6.00PM from Khushbu’s house(in JP Nagar) towards Hosur Road. One of the worst time to hit Hosur Road, we got stuck for almost 3 hours in maddening rush uptil Krishnagiri. The Road condition of Bangalore to Krishnagiri is also not very good with occasional diversions and rough patches due to ongoing work on NH7. Having travelled on this road a number of times, my advise would be to either leave early morning or in the afternoon to cover this stretch faster. We crossed Krishangiri by 9.00PM and after about half an hour or so we stopped for Dinner. We had a long menu for dinner courtesy Anjana and Khushbu(Noodles, Paneer Masala, Kachori, etc) but due to rain, we had to take shelter under one line restaurant and thus ordered some food from there as well. After getting refueled, we hit the highway again. All the fairer occupants in the car started asking to break the journey at Salem(199kms from Bangalore) itself but I knew its outcome the next day with stretched journey in Ghats. A 50 km drive in Ghat section can do equal fatigue as 300kms in plains. So a 280 km drive was too much for the next day. After a lot of convincing, we finally reached Karur by 1.00 AM and retired for the day in Hotel Perrys (Non-AC Rooms Rs 600+Taxes and AC Rooms at Rs 1000+taxes).
Day 2 is always most exciting part of a trip…
We left Karur by 10.00AM. The morning was bright and beautiful and moods were high. We stopped at Dhabba(they spelled Dhaba as Dhabba) restaurant for breakfast but the restaurant proved it’s a Dhabba(a black spot) among restaurants as they had nothing to eat or drink. After turning right towards Kodaikanal from Dindigul, we stopped in a coconut plantation to enjoy the food we were carrying with us. While we were savoring on cucumber, watermelon, sweets & namkeen, Sweety was busy stealing some dry coconuts which may have fallen-off from trees. She managed to steal about 5-6 of them. We continued further to Kodaikanal and finally reached our Hotel (Hotel Springs Valley – 750+taxes for deluxe room) at 3.30PM. After leaving our bags at hotel, we left immediately to have lunch. We found Hotel Paradise Inn which served us really delicious Lunch at a reasonable price (about Rs 700 for 5 of us). The restaurant has a separate veg and non-veg section with a big, airy seating area. Duggu was enjoying the place as he was stuck in the car for a long time.
Post Lunch, we went straight to Kodai Lake. Sweety, Uttam and I took bicycle on rent(Rs 20 for half an hour single-seater and Rs 50 for double-seater) and took a round of Lake, a 5km ride with markers on the road to tell you how much you have already covered. It’s a very relaxing walk/ride alongside the lake with lots of eating and shopping joints. Finally we came back to hotel and retired for the day.
Day 3
We (Anjana, Sweety and I) left for Dolphin’s Nose in the morning for some trekking. We actually trekked down about 1.5kms on a way formed by roots of trees. En-route, we found an abandoned house on the way which must be haunted in the night. After clicking some haunting pics, Anjana and Sweety started walking back uphill. I walked further down and found out a small trekking path through deep forest which leads to old Kodaikanal Town. Few locals told me that it was a good trekking route of about 3 hours one way. Having no trekking partner, I had to give up the idea.
We came back to hotel by 9.330 AM and all of us got ready for a day full of sightseeing. We went to Hotel Hilltop Inn for Lunch (or say breakfast which was late). Taste was really good however, quantity was extremely compromised. Still we managed Lunch for 5 adult and one infant for about Rs 800. As per Kodaikanal standards, it was slightly expensive bill.
Post that, we left for sightseeing tour of Kodaikanal. We took Upper Shola Road to visit places like Guna Caves, Pillar Rock, etc. However that was wrong road. This is a long circular stretch which leads you to multiple sightseeing points like Pine forest, Pillar rocks, Moir Point etc. However, the local administration has create a one way policy to visit these places to keep traffic in a system as it gets really crowded on a weekend on public holiday. Still there are no markers saying one-way and not even locals will tell you that. So always take Observatory road to start your sightseeing. This will take you to all sightseeing point in the right order and without facing crazy traffic. Further ahead on the route, you will reach back to main Kodaikanal town near the Lake.
We really liked Guna Caves which was foggy and misty. We climbed up till the top and spent some time there. You can actually spot those huge rocks from top which you will later see from Pillar Rocks point. While returning back, it started raining and we took shelter under a omlette vendor’s tarpaulin. We also enjoyed hot coffe/tea with tasty omlette to get a little warmer in the cool weather. After visiting all other sightseeing spot, we hit Upper lake view road from where you can click some real beautiful photograph with lake in the background.
Greatest Adventure of the Day
I was exposed to one very interesting side of human instinct. In the morning today, Sweety and Anjana were involved in stealing Pears from several pear plantations which is in abundance in Kodaikanal. It was maybe that time of the year, when every tree was full of hundreds of small and big pear. It tempted Sweety and Anjana to try their hands on a few unprotected plantations. In the afternoon, when we were returning back, Sweety was accompanied by Khushbu also and Anjana played role of watchmen. I declared if anybody is caught, I will refuse to even identify them, leave alone protecting them. Sweety, the master thief, provoked even Uttam to join the gang for high quality steal from a big private plantation and thus, we had about 2-3 kg of pear with us. I was now playing the role of the one partner in crime who awaits the gang with car ignition on. So initially it was Sweety alone who was doing it but towards the end, every single person (leaving Duggu) joined her and enjoyed the loot.
We came back to hotel after Sweety reported pain in her back. Anjana and I left again for a walk uptil lake (around 7.00PM) and later did cycling there. Right at the junction of bridge and Lake, there is a Chicken Kebab point where you can buy some real tasty chicken tandoori and kebab items. I got some chicken packed for me and Sweety (all others were vegetarian). Uttam and Sweety resorted to Hotel paradise again for dinner due to clean and open space where Duggu was comfortable.
Day 4 –
I woke up in the morning and headed straight to Forest Department Office (opposite Al Baiq restaurant) to get permit to visit Berijam Lake. It is a simple process to get the permit. You should have an ID proof with you along with some cash. A form(available there itself) needs to be filled with detail of car and travelers and submitted there with some cash payment(for vehicle pass) as per your mode of transport (We paid about Rs 150 for our car permit). No charges for travelers.
We left the hotel by 9.00 PM and hit Astoria Restaurant for breakfast. The place is really crowded in the morning and so we had to wait. In the meantime, ladies with us found out a wholesale chocolate shop named ‘Lords’. It is right inside the Kodaikanal main Bus stand waiting complex. I remember we bought home-made chocolates from Ooty for about Rs 500/ kg, the same chocolates were available here for only Rs 250/kg. We bought some chocolates later in the evening.
Astoria though a good place again, had the same problem of quantity. The food was tasty but quantity as per the price was really less. We packed some food for lunch also. We paid about Rs 650 for having Masala Dosa and Puri sabji(4 plate packed also) with some coffee. We felt the place really expensive.
We reached the Forest check post which is right next to Moir Point (so take the same road as Day 3). We entered the deep dark forest which was really beautiful. We were a little upset with crazy drivers driving in that forest with one hand continuously on horn. We really felt the need of educating people about not blowing horn. It was mostly the Tamil Nadu numbered yellow plate(Taxi) cars. They were in some kind of hurry and most irritating part is that all of them had got some really loud horns installed in place of original company horns and when I said loud, they were really deafening. This was throughout Kodaikanal. Being in Bangalore, where you don’t get to hear so many horns even on a traffic signal, it was too much for us. To add, it was a single lane road so every time you have a car overtaking you or coming from other side, one of you have to get off the road.
We stopped at Silent valley which at the first look was really confusing as in what is this place. We went where everybody was going and then we found it to be beautiful. However, the story continues. There is way down the slope where nobody dares to go due to its feel like a horror movie set of forest (wrong turn). But when you walk down the slope, you find a small water stream flowing down the valley like a waterfall. The thing is you will be at the top of the waterfall and not under it. And it is actually scary but equally beautiful and a must not miss type place.
We drove further and reached Berijam Lake which was truly awesome. Set amidst mountains from three sides or say all sides, the lake was playing hide and seek with us and foggy cloud. We were carrying all camping stuff with us but tents and that day we really felt the need. It was raining in parts, which was good and bad both. You have to leave the car a little ahead and then walk down about 500 mts to reach the lake. By the time we reached the Lake front, rain stopped. We enjoyed food (we carried with us) and clicked several photographs in different angles possible. Please carry your own food and water as you will get here nothing. After about 2 hours, we said good bye to the place and drove back to Kodaikanal. Please note that the permit given to you will be collected by the forest department at the time of exit. So please don’t throw it after you get entry.
We reached our hotel by 4.30PM and all of us preferred some rest. We left again for last ritual of any trip which is shopping. We bought some chocolates, some oils and spices. Our last dinner was again at Hotel Paradise only as everybody voted for the place. Back at hotel, this night, we played some cards also we had bought on day 2.
Day 5 – Oh the pain begins
We left hotel and started our return journey by 9.30 AM. Plan was to visit Madurai before heading for Bangalore. We stopped in twice before reaching Maudrai by 1.00PM. A big disappointment was waiting for us in the face of closed doors of temple. The temple is closed between 12.30 and 4.30 PM. No choice left, we headed for lunch in Madurai only and then started return journey. Bangalore was about 433 kms at 2.45 PM when my Linea touched NH7. The road is completely free till Salem so you can really drive fast till then. But after Salem, suddenly there is a rush of vehicles on the road so your average speed comes down drastically.
Finally we reached back Bangalore by 9.30PM. We reached home by 11.00 PM after dropping Uttam and Sweety in JP Nagar and Banashankari.
Facts to share –
Bangalore to Kodaikanal – 480kms approx
Time – 9-10 hours
Road – Smooth throughout
Ideal number of days to spend – atleast 3 nights and 4 days
Best places to see – Berijam Lake(must see), Guna Caves, Silent Valley, Byrant Park, Kodai Lake and cycling at Kodai Lake
Best time to go - Almost round the year
Hotel budget – Keep about 500-5000 per night as per your taste
Food to try – Try Tamil Nadu delicacies like Chicken Chettinadu
Adventure – Try stealing some pears
Must carry – Warm clothes and ear covers during cycling
Turn off – Terrible road condition inside Kodai town and blaring horns of Tamil Nadu registered Taxis.
All for now, I shall come back again soon with my next experience
On the day of Eid, we met Uttam, Khusbhu(Uttam’s wife), Duggu (Khushbu’s 1.5 years old son) and Sweety (Khushbu & Sweety are Anjana’s cousins) convincing them to join us for the trip. So the D-Day decided was 14th August and we were supposed to leave town by 4.00PM.
The Route –
First day plan decided was Bangalore to Karur(Night Halt) at about 300 kms on NH7. Since the road is flat and smooth, we expected to cover it in about 4-5 hours on our Linea. Day 2 plan was to travel another 180 kms to Kodaikanal via Dindigul and Batlagundu with most part of journey in Ghat section. Return route was same without a stop at Karur
As we start…
Going by Indian tradition, we left at 6.00PM from Khushbu’s house(in JP Nagar) towards Hosur Road. One of the worst time to hit Hosur Road, we got stuck for almost 3 hours in maddening rush uptil Krishnagiri. The Road condition of Bangalore to Krishnagiri is also not very good with occasional diversions and rough patches due to ongoing work on NH7. Having travelled on this road a number of times, my advise would be to either leave early morning or in the afternoon to cover this stretch faster. We crossed Krishangiri by 9.00PM and after about half an hour or so we stopped for Dinner. We had a long menu for dinner courtesy Anjana and Khushbu(Noodles, Paneer Masala, Kachori, etc) but due to rain, we had to take shelter under one line restaurant and thus ordered some food from there as well. After getting refueled, we hit the highway again. All the fairer occupants in the car started asking to break the journey at Salem(199kms from Bangalore) itself but I knew its outcome the next day with stretched journey in Ghats. A 50 km drive in Ghat section can do equal fatigue as 300kms in plains. So a 280 km drive was too much for the next day. After a lot of convincing, we finally reached Karur by 1.00 AM and retired for the day in Hotel Perrys (Non-AC Rooms Rs 600+Taxes and AC Rooms at Rs 1000+taxes).
Day 2 is always most exciting part of a trip…
We left Karur by 10.00AM. The morning was bright and beautiful and moods were high. We stopped at Dhabba(they spelled Dhaba as Dhabba) restaurant for breakfast but the restaurant proved it’s a Dhabba(a black spot) among restaurants as they had nothing to eat or drink. After turning right towards Kodaikanal from Dindigul, we stopped in a coconut plantation to enjoy the food we were carrying with us. While we were savoring on cucumber, watermelon, sweets & namkeen, Sweety was busy stealing some dry coconuts which may have fallen-off from trees. She managed to steal about 5-6 of them. We continued further to Kodaikanal and finally reached our Hotel (Hotel Springs Valley – 750+taxes for deluxe room) at 3.30PM. After leaving our bags at hotel, we left immediately to have lunch. We found Hotel Paradise Inn which served us really delicious Lunch at a reasonable price (about Rs 700 for 5 of us). The restaurant has a separate veg and non-veg section with a big, airy seating area. Duggu was enjoying the place as he was stuck in the car for a long time.
Post Lunch, we went straight to Kodai Lake. Sweety, Uttam and I took bicycle on rent(Rs 20 for half an hour single-seater and Rs 50 for double-seater) and took a round of Lake, a 5km ride with markers on the road to tell you how much you have already covered. It’s a very relaxing walk/ride alongside the lake with lots of eating and shopping joints. Finally we came back to hotel and retired for the day.
Day 3
We (Anjana, Sweety and I) left for Dolphin’s Nose in the morning for some trekking. We actually trekked down about 1.5kms on a way formed by roots of trees. En-route, we found an abandoned house on the way which must be haunted in the night. After clicking some haunting pics, Anjana and Sweety started walking back uphill. I walked further down and found out a small trekking path through deep forest which leads to old Kodaikanal Town. Few locals told me that it was a good trekking route of about 3 hours one way. Having no trekking partner, I had to give up the idea.
We came back to hotel by 9.330 AM and all of us got ready for a day full of sightseeing. We went to Hotel Hilltop Inn for Lunch (or say breakfast which was late). Taste was really good however, quantity was extremely compromised. Still we managed Lunch for 5 adult and one infant for about Rs 800. As per Kodaikanal standards, it was slightly expensive bill.
Post that, we left for sightseeing tour of Kodaikanal. We took Upper Shola Road to visit places like Guna Caves, Pillar Rock, etc. However that was wrong road. This is a long circular stretch which leads you to multiple sightseeing points like Pine forest, Pillar rocks, Moir Point etc. However, the local administration has create a one way policy to visit these places to keep traffic in a system as it gets really crowded on a weekend on public holiday. Still there are no markers saying one-way and not even locals will tell you that. So always take Observatory road to start your sightseeing. This will take you to all sightseeing point in the right order and without facing crazy traffic. Further ahead on the route, you will reach back to main Kodaikanal town near the Lake.
We really liked Guna Caves which was foggy and misty. We climbed up till the top and spent some time there. You can actually spot those huge rocks from top which you will later see from Pillar Rocks point. While returning back, it started raining and we took shelter under a omlette vendor’s tarpaulin. We also enjoyed hot coffe/tea with tasty omlette to get a little warmer in the cool weather. After visiting all other sightseeing spot, we hit Upper lake view road from where you can click some real beautiful photograph with lake in the background.
Greatest Adventure of the Day
I was exposed to one very interesting side of human instinct. In the morning today, Sweety and Anjana were involved in stealing Pears from several pear plantations which is in abundance in Kodaikanal. It was maybe that time of the year, when every tree was full of hundreds of small and big pear. It tempted Sweety and Anjana to try their hands on a few unprotected plantations. In the afternoon, when we were returning back, Sweety was accompanied by Khushbu also and Anjana played role of watchmen. I declared if anybody is caught, I will refuse to even identify them, leave alone protecting them. Sweety, the master thief, provoked even Uttam to join the gang for high quality steal from a big private plantation and thus, we had about 2-3 kg of pear with us. I was now playing the role of the one partner in crime who awaits the gang with car ignition on. So initially it was Sweety alone who was doing it but towards the end, every single person (leaving Duggu) joined her and enjoyed the loot.
We came back to hotel after Sweety reported pain in her back. Anjana and I left again for a walk uptil lake (around 7.00PM) and later did cycling there. Right at the junction of bridge and Lake, there is a Chicken Kebab point where you can buy some real tasty chicken tandoori and kebab items. I got some chicken packed for me and Sweety (all others were vegetarian). Uttam and Sweety resorted to Hotel paradise again for dinner due to clean and open space where Duggu was comfortable.
Day 4 –
I woke up in the morning and headed straight to Forest Department Office (opposite Al Baiq restaurant) to get permit to visit Berijam Lake. It is a simple process to get the permit. You should have an ID proof with you along with some cash. A form(available there itself) needs to be filled with detail of car and travelers and submitted there with some cash payment(for vehicle pass) as per your mode of transport (We paid about Rs 150 for our car permit). No charges for travelers.
We left the hotel by 9.00 PM and hit Astoria Restaurant for breakfast. The place is really crowded in the morning and so we had to wait. In the meantime, ladies with us found out a wholesale chocolate shop named ‘Lords’. It is right inside the Kodaikanal main Bus stand waiting complex. I remember we bought home-made chocolates from Ooty for about Rs 500/ kg, the same chocolates were available here for only Rs 250/kg. We bought some chocolates later in the evening.
Astoria though a good place again, had the same problem of quantity. The food was tasty but quantity as per the price was really less. We packed some food for lunch also. We paid about Rs 650 for having Masala Dosa and Puri sabji(4 plate packed also) with some coffee. We felt the place really expensive.
We reached the Forest check post which is right next to Moir Point (so take the same road as Day 3). We entered the deep dark forest which was really beautiful. We were a little upset with crazy drivers driving in that forest with one hand continuously on horn. We really felt the need of educating people about not blowing horn. It was mostly the Tamil Nadu numbered yellow plate(Taxi) cars. They were in some kind of hurry and most irritating part is that all of them had got some really loud horns installed in place of original company horns and when I said loud, they were really deafening. This was throughout Kodaikanal. Being in Bangalore, where you don’t get to hear so many horns even on a traffic signal, it was too much for us. To add, it was a single lane road so every time you have a car overtaking you or coming from other side, one of you have to get off the road.
We stopped at Silent valley which at the first look was really confusing as in what is this place. We went where everybody was going and then we found it to be beautiful. However, the story continues. There is way down the slope where nobody dares to go due to its feel like a horror movie set of forest (wrong turn). But when you walk down the slope, you find a small water stream flowing down the valley like a waterfall. The thing is you will be at the top of the waterfall and not under it. And it is actually scary but equally beautiful and a must not miss type place.
We drove further and reached Berijam Lake which was truly awesome. Set amidst mountains from three sides or say all sides, the lake was playing hide and seek with us and foggy cloud. We were carrying all camping stuff with us but tents and that day we really felt the need. It was raining in parts, which was good and bad both. You have to leave the car a little ahead and then walk down about 500 mts to reach the lake. By the time we reached the Lake front, rain stopped. We enjoyed food (we carried with us) and clicked several photographs in different angles possible. Please carry your own food and water as you will get here nothing. After about 2 hours, we said good bye to the place and drove back to Kodaikanal. Please note that the permit given to you will be collected by the forest department at the time of exit. So please don’t throw it after you get entry.
We reached our hotel by 4.30PM and all of us preferred some rest. We left again for last ritual of any trip which is shopping. We bought some chocolates, some oils and spices. Our last dinner was again at Hotel Paradise only as everybody voted for the place. Back at hotel, this night, we played some cards also we had bought on day 2.
Day 5 – Oh the pain begins
We left hotel and started our return journey by 9.30 AM. Plan was to visit Madurai before heading for Bangalore. We stopped in twice before reaching Maudrai by 1.00PM. A big disappointment was waiting for us in the face of closed doors of temple. The temple is closed between 12.30 and 4.30 PM. No choice left, we headed for lunch in Madurai only and then started return journey. Bangalore was about 433 kms at 2.45 PM when my Linea touched NH7. The road is completely free till Salem so you can really drive fast till then. But after Salem, suddenly there is a rush of vehicles on the road so your average speed comes down drastically.
Finally we reached back Bangalore by 9.30PM. We reached home by 11.00 PM after dropping Uttam and Sweety in JP Nagar and Banashankari.
Facts to share –
Bangalore to Kodaikanal – 480kms approx
Time – 9-10 hours
Road – Smooth throughout
Ideal number of days to spend – atleast 3 nights and 4 days
Best places to see – Berijam Lake(must see), Guna Caves, Silent Valley, Byrant Park, Kodai Lake and cycling at Kodai Lake
Best time to go - Almost round the year
Hotel budget – Keep about 500-5000 per night as per your taste
Food to try – Try Tamil Nadu delicacies like Chicken Chettinadu
Adventure – Try stealing some pears
Must carry – Warm clothes and ear covers during cycling
Turn off – Terrible road condition inside Kodai town and blaring horns of Tamil Nadu registered Taxis.
All for now, I shall come back again soon with my next experience
