Why haven't you visited Kodaikanal?

Do not answer the rhetorical question in the tile with your homemade joke. The only thing you will get is a big ‘HUH’. Keep calm and read on!

Some of the boring ‘building-the-background’ details of the trip:

I visited Kodaikanal in Nov 2015. I started on Friday night at 10pm from Madiwala, Bangalore and reached Kodaikanal at 7am in the morning. Due to last minute booking plans, I had no option but to book SRS travels but trust me Greenline travels or KPN travels provide better and professional service compared to SRS. Well, no gain cribbing now. So, Kodaikanal is at an elevation of 2133 m from sea level and the journey on the mountain roads from the plains’ roads takes approx. 2 hours. Why I am telling this is because those of you who get nauseated in winding roads will feel like swearing never to come back but take my word for it – all of this is worth! Keep calm… just keep calm!

Almost all the buses reaching Kodai will drop you at a location near the shopping arcade where you can see Dominos and CCD outlets. The area is called Golden Park Inn Complex, Anna Salai, Seven Road Junctions, Kodaikanal. When you get down from the bus and discover the taxi rates to go to your hotel you will start assuming that either they are going to drop you in a limousine with complimentary wine and Beatles playing the background or that you are still light years away from your hotel. Yes, rates are awfully high for tourists. So what I did was call up the hotel desk and asked for directions. It gives me a sense of confidence and satisfaction from the achievement of my own actions when I can walk on the streets and figure out ways myself in a city which I am visiting for the first time.

Let us go to the interesting stories and token moments.

My first token moment happened while getting down from the bus. I saw a small girl of 8-9 years and a boy of 6-7 years carefully collecting their baggage from their seats, wrapping mufflers around their neck and confidently getting down from the bus to wait for their mother to also get down. It was an Irish family. No, I didn’t ask the lady or the kids but accidentally spotted the flag of Ireland keychain on the lady’s bag. The point of amazement is that a single lady was travelling to another country with her small kids! How many Indians ever think of travelling after having kids?! Let alone take kids with them. (No, taking your kids to a resort and spending the weekend there doesn’t count). On this note, writing these letters a lot ahead of time:

Dear mom,

 When I get married and have kids, you cannot expect your grandchildren to come and stay with you the whole time of their summer vacation; they would be travelling with me. J

Dear future husband,

 You can either join us or choose not to interrupt while we ignore you for a few days on our trip to some distant land. *sigh*

Dear dadi of my kids,

 It would make my life a little easier if you could record some bedtime stories for my kids which they can listen to while we are travelling. And, no your grandchildren will not be starved :p

Back to my trip details! After freshening up I headed out for breakfast and voila! Like any normal south Indian city, I found idli-vada-coffee being prepared on the roadside stalls. I had a good breakfast and then headed for a shop that I had spotted while walking from the bus stop to my hotel.

It is a handicrafts shop near to the post office and goes by the name –‘Danish Display’. This is probably one of the few handicraft shops that are run by the owner himself. Otherwise, most of the exotic shops here are owned by people staying abroad but managed by some locally employed person. It has a good collection of wooden items, masks, wooden wind chimes and interesting dream catcher designs.

This made me explore the whole market and I discovered and an Irish linen shop. ( yes, Irish again. This time it was clearly written on the shop). This shop had all the interesting linen I ever dreamed of – cartoon themed, floral-themed, available in all fabric, cheap and lots of variety. I bought an interesting Christmas themed tablecloth for just rs.50!

One advantage of visiting some local shop and buying something from there before you start to explore the city is that you can ask the shop people about how to get around and where to go. So, people at the Danish Display told me about the group tours being organized by Raja Travels and their office was near Dominos outlet. I went there and booked myself a seat for the city tour for rs.300! Later I got to know that you can book the seat from the hotel where you are staying. They have a connection with all the hotels in Kodaikanal.

In a small bus of 15-18 people, we went around watching majestic mountains, tall trees, waterfalls taking their last breaths and some still struggling to survive. Here are some of the pictures:

Remembering Old Pine (Ben Howard)
We stood
Steady as the stars in the woods
So happy-hearted
And the warmth rang true inside these bones
As the old pine fell we sang

Spooky Guna Caves

A waterfall near Pillar rocks

Love for wind chimes

Recent obsession with masks

The weather was cold and I had mushroom soup from a roadside stall and it seemed to evoke all my senses with its aroma of spices and herbs and authentic mushroom taste. Must have when you visit to Kodai!

After the tour was over at around 4pm in the evening, I went to the Kodai Lake and rented a bicycle for rs.20 for half an hour. While cycling around the lake I found another interesting place- ‘Tredis Tea Room’ and thought of coming back after one round of cycling around the lake to have dinner here. The interesting part of cycling around the lake was that there is no traffic in that area as people park their vehicles away from the lake and secondly, the perimeter of the lake is large enough that it takes 20-25 min of cycling at a normal speed. The genuine calmness from the leisure of cycling around the lake was fantastic.

Kodaikanal Lake

Surprisingly, when I returned my bicycle and went on to find Tredis Tea Room, I could not find it where I thought it would be. Every junction on the road around the lake looked similar. Without thinking much, I started looking for a dinner plan- B. While researching I had read somewhere that a café by the name-‘Potluck’ is worth a visit. I had their address so I headed straight up but again got disappointed after knowing that the owner had gone for vacation! Still, determined to have a good dinner, I started walking on the same street as Potluck and found- ‘Aby’s café ’. They have amazing falafel and ginger lemon tea! It’s a small place but filled with enthusiastic people serving fresh food. Some pictures of the place:

Aby's Cafe... praise for the cafe on the sideboard.

Food, doodling, Gulzar poems at Aby's Cafe

*snap snap… I wish I could keep the post short but this trip has so many stories. Yes, day two is still left*

Day two started with the sunrays playing peek-a-boo and teasing me to get up and talk a walk along the Coaker’s walk. I had only heard that it is some kind of a path from you can see the city. I checked out of the hotel, kept my luggage at the counter and headed for Coaker’s walk. When I reached there, I was overwhelmed by the graceful beauty of the city as witnessed from the top. The context of your mind and experiences by being at the right time and place will tickle your inner state and stimulate your soul. You will feel gratitude and get nourishment for your hopes. While travelling through the Swiss countryside Jason Silva once said that our cells are the means of turning experiences into biology. So, put yourself in the right place at the right time. These words made sense at that moment and place.

Coaker's Walk

After the ecstatic impact, I headed for the group tour again. Today, I planned for a forest walk group tour. And here the things got more interesting when I met another solo traveler- Vivien Gift. And as she put it, the day later was dedicated to -Calvin's demand for euphoria, love for seats up front, trying to lose the noisy travellers, a charm that found me magic, shoukeen log, the umpteen topics we spoke about. She inspired me to never lose the urge to travel and to write a blog. And here I am thanking her, and my stars for the amazing trip. We shared jokes, our inhibitions, our life comedies and tragedies. I have never made such a good friend in such a short time.

Some pictures from the forest walk:

White Demators are entering the valley :D

No roads diverge here

Valley and clouds

Solo lotus blooming in Berijam Lake

                                   

After the forest walk, we went on to hunt for Tredis Tea Room. When we found it we were both in the awe of the place for being on the lakeside, well maintained, having open space sitting and good food. The evening and our trip ended there and it was time to catch the bus for both of us! 

Tredis Tea Room