A drive through misty Kodaikanal

We set out on a trip to Kodaikanal in the first week of May. I was accompanied by my parents and uncle. We had breakfast in Salem and then headed to Kodai Hills. We relied on an SUV for a trip to this hilly region because Sedan drivers might have a problem. We stayed at the ‘Le Poshe Kodaikanal’ hotel.
On the first day, our plan was to relax and enjoy the unpredictable but chilly weather. At around 4.30 pm, we went for a spin around Kodaikanal city, famous for its essential oils, homemade chocolates, herbal beauty products and Kashmiri shawls.

After some shopping, we went to a small church in the city. Later that evening, we went to ‘Coaker’s Walk’, a man-made pedestrian walk that lets one have a quick look at the scenic spots of Kodai. However, it was all misty when we went there, and though it felt like we were touching the clouds, we couldn’t do any sightseeing. I would recommend morning hours to visit this place.

As a downpour started, we got into our car and headed for dinner to Astoria Veg, one of best vegetarian restaurants in Kodaikanal, and then called it a day. The next day was, even more, colder than the previous one; it drizzled almost throughout the day. We had our breakfast in ‘Astoria Veg’ and went on a 8 km-drive to cover the five main tourist spots of the place.

The first stop was ‘Devil’s Kitchen’, locally known as the ‘Guna Caves’. It is a 3000 ft deep natural cave with pillar rocks. A word of caution though — please carry your shoes with you, these hills are not the right place for heels or even slippers. Then we moved to ‘Moire Point’, which was pretty much boring. The third stop was ‘Pillar Rock’, which were huge pillar-shaped rocks.

The fourth spot is my favourite — ‘Suicide Point’, also called as ‘Green Valley View’. They don’t let anyone near the cliff for security reasons, so you can see the actual point from far. There were a few shops which sold souvenirs and homemade chocolates and the corn there is the best that I have ever tasted. The last spot was the ‘Pine Forest’. After that, we went for lunch to a nearby restaurant.

At around 5 pm, we went to the ‘Kodaikanal Lake’. There were lot of entertainment options there like balloon shooting, cycling, horse riding and so on. I went for a horse ride, and then we took a stroll around the lake, which later turned into a 5 km walk because we got lost. We should have opted for cycles instead of walking. The tiring walk made us head to a nearby cafe called ‘Lakeside Cafe’ for snacks. The cafe also sold soaps, oils and chocolates. We left for our hotel, had dinner there and packed our bags as we had to leave the next morning.

We were almost sad to leave on the last day. We saw ‘Thalaiyar Falls’ on our way back and had passion fruit, which is my favourite. We also took home plums and red cabbage which is found only in the hills. We had breakfast at around 11 am in Salem and lunch in a restaurant on the highway and after the 465 km journey, we reached home by around 8 pm.