2025 Vacation Diaries - 3
Day 3 – Kodaikanal
Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t have slept in. The
birds were making such a beautiful racket that it was difficult to sleep in. I
woke up at 5.30 and went out for a walk. To say that it was challenging would
be an understatement. To start with, it was cold. Secondly, the steep incline
of the path made it really difficult to walk leisurely. Still, feeling quite
adventurous, I decided to climb up the slope and head towards the entrance with
the intention of capturing some snaps of the rising sun.
With a palpitating heart and shivering frame, I
climbed the serpentine slope only to see that the entrance had a locked gate.
The shortness of breath and daftly beating heartbeats made it impossible for me
to cry, otherwise I would have. Cursing every slope on the earth I walked down
the steep path.
The plus side – I got to see many different varieties of birds and could hear their intriguing songs.
There was one bird with a black body and peach-colored beak. Either it was quite brave, or it thought that I was no threat, for it sat perfectly still while I ventured near it to take a photo. Google lens told me that the bird is Glossy Black Thrush.
Gradually the rest of the group woke up and joined
me for the ‘walk’. After lingering for a while, we all went to our respective
rooms to get ready for the day’s sightseeing program.
Kodaikanal gave me the second shocker of my life
when I went to bath and found that the geyser was not working. I cursed all the
geysers in the world and braved myself for bathing in cold water at 16 degrees.
I did. I suffered. I won’t write more about it. The
whole experience was traumatic. I might need therapy. I came to know that most
of the rooms did not get hot water. That made my suffering slightly lesser.
After a heavy breakfast, we left for sightseeing.
We gave an itinerary to the driver.
He laughed.
We stared.
He explained. “It is a one-way path to all the
tourist places. We need to go accordingly.”
Seeing as there wasn’t any other choice, we decided
to go as per the driver’s itinerary.
The problematic part? Every driver available on
Kodaikanal that day followed the same itinerary as ours.
The very first place our driver took us was named
Suicide Point. First question – why would anyone name a place so? Second
question – why would this become the first place to visit in any tour?
Some questions cannot have one right answer. Best to
leave them as mysteries.
The driver parked at a place and guided us towards
the point, which we came to know to our immense relief, had a new name – Green
Valley View Point. The entrance to this point was through a heavily crowded
narrow market brimming with shops on either side. As if the tourist crowd
wasn’t enough, the shopkeepers kept coming out of their shops all of sudden,
asking us to buy from them. Then there were the shoppers standing outside the
shop and obstructing the already narrow path.
After walking for about five minutes, we finally
came to a clearing where many people had assembled. Green Valley View Point
stood there in all its glory – a stunning vista of hills offering a panoramic
view of the region. There was a barricade and we could view the point only from
its safety. The tourists weren’t enough, there were many monkeys too. Perhaps
they are used to people, for they made no effort to hide or to stay away. In
fact they targeted those people who were eating something and sat in front of
them. A baby monkey actually pleaded with folded hands. It was pitiful to
watch. Someone threw a half-eaten cone of ice-cream and the baby monkey lapped
it up in seconds.
The return walk through the crowded market was as
harrowing as the onward one. We managed somehow and once outside, we had tea at
one of the numerous stalls.
Then we went to Pillar Rocks, a natural and enormous formation of rocks in the shape of pillars. Here we could see the mist rising gently and passing in front of the timeless rocky structures.
It was challenging to take our photos without any strangers photobombing it. The place was full of people trying to take a photo against the backdrop of the rocks. What to say of strangers, most of us got photobombed by our own family members in the quest for a photo!
The next one on the itinerary was Guna Caves, a
landmark that has become famous after a movie named Manjummel Boys was shot
there. The movie itself is based on a real life incident and became a huge
blockbuster hit. Guna Caves attained such popularity after the movie that
people flock here in numbers on a daily basis.
We only had to look at the heavily crowded entrance
to rethink our entire plan about visiting the caves. We decided to have lunch
first and then, if time permitted, we planned to visit the caves.
Lunch was as usual a gala affair. Peas Butter Masala
is a popular dish in most of the restaurants in Kodaikanal and tastes really good.
The service is slow in the restaurants due to the huge crowds that gather here
for lunch but we found the food to be delicious in almost all of the hotels we
went to.
By the time we finished our lunch, ominous clouds
had started gathering. Here's a tip - the weather in Kodaikanal changes in the
afternoon, with either rains incoming or mist covering the entire region. It is
best to finish all your sightseeing in the first half of the day.
We decided to forgo Guna Caves and head over to the
lake for boating. Here's another tip - when in Kodaikanal, do not commit
anything to your children. The weather will see to it that all your plans flop
spectacularly. Just as we reached the lake, it started raining heavily. It also
started raining inside the bus as the kids started crying and threw a tantrum
worthy of teenagers.
The plus side - We reached the hotel and got a splendid experience of rains in Kodaikanal. We ordered piping hot Maggi from the restaurant for the kids and delicious coffee for ourselves. The best part was a beautiful curved rainbow that graced the skies with its presence and reminded us to look not just for the silver lining but for VIBGYOR in the dark clouds.
We couldn't do much sightseeing that day and the
weather sort of played a spoilsport. But as I stood at the door of the room and
gazed at the rains beautifying the entire region, and the brilliant rainbow up,
I couldn't help feel blessed to witness such a grandeur of nature.
We made plans to continue with our sight-seeing
activities the next day before retiring to our cozy beds.
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