A Drive to Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal is one of the famous hill stations in Tamil Nadu that needs no introduction. We were planning to visit this place for a long time. Finally, the time had come to visit this place after a gap of 18 years.

 

As we planned this trip, we were in a dilemma till the last night whether to continue or drop this one. The first reason was the weather. It was raining there in Kodaikanal for the past 1 week. But I enquired with my friends near that area who gave me thumbs up for that weekend. I was told that the current weather is enjoyable. Another reason was my Wisdom teeth. One of them was removed 2 weeks before & the other one is due for a surgical extraction because it is still not visible.
 

The morning I woke up with a little discomfort but the desire for a long drive eclipsed the pain. As usual, we left home early by 4:15 AM. It was drizzling & was dark till 6:30 AM. Still we managed to cross Salem in less than 3 hours and halted for breakfast in one of the many restaurants by 7 AM.
Another 250 Kms for our destination. The next 140 Kms till Dindigul was even smoother with the best roads. We crossed Dindigul in 5 hours and then took the single road that lead to Bathlagundu. From there we took the Kodaikanal Main Road.
 

 

 

In another 50+ Kms, the Kodai ghat road started. The ghat road was pretty good & wide with some maintenance work going on at some places. After a few  Kms entering the ghat road, you start to see the Manjalar Dam. There is one particular spot called the Manjalar Dam View point. You get a good view of the dam & the surroundings.
 

 

 

 

The 40 + Kms of ghat road was enjoyable with almost no hair pin bends. This will be a welcome message for all the new drivers who want to drive up the mountains. But there a few blind spots/turns where even the experienced needs to drive carefully.
 

 

When you are about to reach the destination, you reach the Toll booth where they check for any plastic items you are carrying. Immediately after the toll, you get to see the second attraction of the trip, the Silver Cascade Falls. It is beautifully located next to the road at a curve. Without spending much time there we drove to the destination. As soon as we reached the top, we were welcomed by a beautiful lake dotted with boats.
 

We checked into our pre-booked hotel close by before noon. We then planned to visit some places post lunch. After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we went for the boating at the Kodaikanal lake. As there was a lengthy queue, we got our chance after 15-20 mins. He took us for a not so long round and as soon as we were about to finish, it started drizzling. We managed to get down safely before it increased.
 

 

Kid’s Corner: Next to the lake there was a place that had a 7D-Theater, a Horror house and many more events. Insisted by my daughter, we watched the 7D show. Sort of a time pass event.
The evening we visited the Coakers Walk, 1.5 Kms from the lake.
 

We reached in no time, but getting a parking spot was more difficult due to the narrow road & because of lot of vehicles. Somehow got a spot for parking & went inside the place. The Croakers walk is a 650 m path facing the valley which gives a beautiful view of the surroundings. As the weather was playing hide & seek, we were not able to enjoy a clear view of the valley. May be one can have great views in the Summer.
 

 

Walking out of the Coakers Walk, after a sip of tea & Bhajjis in a nearby shop, we visited the Bryant Park, just opposite to Coakers Walk. The park is a nice place to relax with greenery all around. You can see a variety of plants flowers. We also got to see a bunch of the famous Neelakurinji plant, that blooms once in 12 years.
 

 

After a lengthy stroll around the park, we walked around the market area before retiring back to our room.
Later in the night we walked through the lake after a light meal and finished the day with one of the best ginger tea at one of the stall there.
 

 

The next day, we made a wise decision to hire a taxi to visit some of the tourist spots. We didn’t want to waste time in searching for places & most importantly for the parking. We were ready after a heavy breakfast and as usual for the taxi’s, the taxi arrived late. Never mind. They had a list of places in their list and the day trip started by 9:30 AM.
We headed to the farthest point of the trip, the Mannavanur Lake (30+ Kms). On the way we stopped to see the Palani Hill view and then the Mahalaxmi Temple.
 

 

Later we stopped to see the Poombarai Village from the top. It was such a beautiful sight.
 

 

We then finally reached the Mannavanur Lake point, where we need to walk a bit to reach the lake. The lake was such a scenic place and it had the option of boating & zip ride across the lake. We clicked some pictures of the place and left the place after a cup of tea in one of the small shops there.
 

 

 It was drizzling now & then but it didn’t rain heavily. We then visited the Sheep Farm, where you get to see the beautiful view of the lake & surroundings. There was even a board listing some movie names that was shot at this place, of which I have watched a few.
 

 

 

After lunch we were taken to the Scenic view point over cliffs called Moir Point, that was in memory of Sir Thomas Moir who constructed the road joining the Kodaikanal-Berijam Lake.
 

 

Later we visited the famous Pine Tree Forest. A small walk into the woods, you are surrounded by the pine trees all over. We spent a lot of time enjoying and taking some pictures.
 

 

We then went to visit the Guna Caves, also known as Devil’s Kitchen. A small walk will take you to till the entry point of the caves. The places looked like a scene of a horror movie, particularly the trees whose all roots are above the ground. Entry to caves was closed due to some incident in the past.
 

 

We took the long route to see the other side of the Guna Caves, i.e. the Pillar rocks that was half visible due to the fog. 

 

 

 

As this was the last point of the trip, the taxi guy on our request dropped us at the market place. We walked along the market for some time & returned back to our room late in the evening.
 

 

 

The last day was my day. The initial plan was to visit some places in the first half & depart to Bangalore in the second half. As my surgery (wisdom tooth extraction) was scheduled late in the evening, we left Kodaikanal after breakfast. On the way we spent some time at the Silver Cascade Falls that we missed on Day1.  

 

Once again the 40+ Kms ghat road was awesome to drive with some beautiful views, not to mention the repair/construction work going on. Later we halted for lunch at Dindigul Thalappakatti & then zoomed to Bangalore with a tea break in between. Reached home by 6 PM safely.
 

 

Out of Syllabus: At 7:30 pm, the surgical extraction of my wisdom tooth went on well without any complications. When the doctor showed the extracted tooth, we couldn’t believe that such a big one existed hidden inside. The pain existed for almost 2 weeks that was controlled by pain killers.

Let’s see how my future trips will be without my double wisdom (teeth). 😜

Watch our Kodaikanal Trip Video here: A Drive to Kodaikanal

 

For more of my travel stories, do visit My Wanderlust Experiences

Watch my travel videos here: My YouTube Channel and do subscribe for more videos.

Distance: 460 Kms (Bangalore-Salem-Dindigul-Kodaikanal)