January is a month with mixed emotions for me. Usually September onwards there are festivals in India, then you have Christmas, New Year and all of a sudden you have a Halt on Full week Travel plans for almost next 6 months. In order to capitalize the Republic Day holiday (Jan 26 2021) we planned a Trip from Bangalore to Kodaikanal on the Tiago with our pets - Voxy (Golden Retriever), Pixy (Labrador/Doberman) and Puchki (Our monster cat) and us (me and my Wife Rimjhim).
(Puchki passed away on April 2021 which left us deeply in shock and affected by the loss. After all this time, she still holds a dear place in our hearts and with her leaving it left a deep void in both of us. Now we are all but left with happy memories of her and hence the upcoming 2 blogs will be a remembrance to her!)
Location Details and Contact
Kodaikanal is a Hill station in Tamil Nadu which is predominantly a favored destination in Summers gets scarce number of tourists in Winters. Utilizing this Opportunity, we booked a Airbnb with a Lady called Sanjeevani Ghorpade (+91 7768856655) who runs this beautiful resport called Kookal Paradise (Link ). Unfortunately or Fortunately, she informed that the place was completely booked and she was going to accomodate us at a Farm House by the lake all to ourselves! All Excited, we began our trip
Bangalore - Coimbatore - Kodaikanal
555 Kms - 15 hrs
We started on a Foggy morning from Bangalore. I had bike related work in Coimbatore so took the Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore - Pollachi - Palani - Kodaikanal. It was a detour from Salem off the highway and the roads were average till Palani, after which it was a beautiful ghat road till Kodai.
We reached Kodai only by the night. To out surprise, we were heading into deep forests and Kodaikanal was true to its name - "The gift of forest". It was a narrow road with dense overgrowth from both sides. I was expecting an elephant to pop up from any direction any time. Thankfully we reached the farm house by 9pm which was almost midnight for the caretakers there. Half asleep, they helped us get the luggage and ourselves checked in. It was a bit spooky since there was literally no one around the farm and it was pitch dark with a cold eerie breeze with an uncanny silence all around.
The next day morning was a complete shock to us. we discovered that our stay was right next to the Lake with a cute little farm around. All the 3 kids absolutely loved the place. Puchki, tired from the trip, was basking in all the Sun she could while Voxy and Pixy started their exploration around the farm. Since there were stray dogs looming around, we had to keep puchki leashed.
Some photos of Morning dew on flowers we found
Our plan for the day was to Explore the Princess of Hills. Having trekked and Cycled here multiple times, I always love the rich flora and fauna here, the grass lands, meadows, mushrooms, big and huge trees, pine and shola forests, some majestic waterfalls, hidden lakes and beautiful man made step farms.
Kodaikanal in a Nutshell
Kodaikanal is basically a big block rising upto 2000+m and having a fence like Cliff on its West and South. There are 2 ghat roads, one from Palani side (North) and one from Dindigul (East). Once you reach Kodai, you are treated with the beautiful star shaped Kodai Lake. The traditional Escape road starts from here and takes the route near southern cliff towards Munnar passing some hidden lakes like Berijam, Konalar and Poondi. I was lucky enough to trek this entire Escape Route few years back till the Bandar Radio tower and Vattavadu peak far west. This route is completely banned for public now. There is also the famous Kumbakarai to Dolphin Nose trekking trail in the southern cliff which we have done multiple times in past. YHAI have one of these treks still in their offering. Towards the west end of the hills, there is a 500m cliff which seperates it from Munnar. Here you will find Kilvarai which is the last town till which you can drive to. Post this, you have a north-west trekking trail which the local traders use to cross between Kodai and Munnar. I have crossed this trail once on my Bicycle few years back. Towards the north, you can travel via Poombarai to Pazhamputhoor which is another scenic route with plenty waterfalls and views of Palani
So we head out till Kilvarai on the west for day 1 and Kodaikanal on the east for day 2 exploring around, discovering new meadows, waterfalls, lakes, grasslands, pine forests, and eating some yummy fresh mushrooms.
Kodaikanal - Dindigul - Salem - Krishnagiri - Bangalore
493 Kms - 9 hours
After exploring to our contempt, it was finally time to head back home. Often on the last day, the homesickness gets to the better of us and we rush to get home as soon as possible. Since we started early, we even found some SNOW across the grasslands.
While descending down the Kodaikanal ghat road, we got the view of majestic Thalaiyar falls which makes the whole world look small in front of it.
Once we finally descended the ghats, It was really getting hot down in the plains and on our way to Dindigul, we found this amazing clean lake. Our dogs quickly took a dip to cool down and we had some yummy south Indian Tamil Nadu style breakfast.
Once we reached Dindigul, it was NH44 till Krishnagiri. Having travelled so many times on this highway, it was like home to me. We could cover the distance till Krishnagiri very fast and soon reached home before sunset around 4pm
Kodaikanal is one of the most underrated places in Tamil Nadu. Often it undershadowed by Ooty or Munnar, but I feel that is what makes it even more beautiful. All the lakes, view points here have comparitively lesser clouds which can make you enjoy Nature to its fullest. I would definitely suggest one and all to look at Kodaikanal as the option if heading towards Munnar or Ooty or Waynad and you are sure to have an experience of a lifetime.
Wow ❤️