Overview
- Main Attractions: Kodaikanal Lake, Coaker’s Walk, Bryant Park
- Best Time to Visit: September to May
- Local Specialty: Home-made chocolates
- Travelled By: Bus, Foot
- Cost: $$
- Duration of Stay: 2 days
- Location: Tamil Nadu, India
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Summary
Located in the hot and steamy region of South India, Kodaikanal serves as a respite from the heat and sweat of the South. There are few more refreshing Tamil Nadu moments than boarding a bus in the heat-soaked plains and disembarking in the sharp pinch of a Kodaikanal night. To add to the refreshing climate, its scenic beauty will leave any nature lover mesmerised by its mystical charms.
Kodaikanal: Our Experience
8th December 2013 (Day 1)
We caught a very early bus from Madurai to Kodaikanal which took a whopping four hours; most of the time was spent slowly climbing up the mountain. The scenery was really pretty with hills and valleys around. We checked into our hotel, Kodai Inn, perched on top of a hill which provided spectacular views of the valleys in the distance and a blue-and-white church in the foreground.
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It was early in the afternoon so we took a local bus into the city to have lunch at Hotel Astoria Kodaikanal. Located on Anna Salai, this is a busy restaurant popular with locals and tourists for the lunchtime special – ‘all-you-can-eat’ vegetarian thalis. Luckily we were ravenous so we ate to our heart’s delight.
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Following lunch, we headed to the Kodaikanal Lake, the most visited attraction in Kodaikanal for apparent reasons. The views over the lake are stunning especially if it isn’t covered in fog. Having said that the lake takes on a mystical charm when covered in fog which is truly mesmerising. There were a couple of boats sailing slowly through the water in the distance.
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The local market in Kodaikanal is a popular place for locals to buy their fruits, vegetables and fish. As a tourist, foreign markets are a colourful and interesting place to see local varieties of fruits and vegetables not found at home. At the Kodaikanal market, everything was on sale from coconuts and brooms at one stall to dried fish at another and children’s clothes at yet another.
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South of the lake is a place called Bear Shola Falls which has a nice, short walk through a clump of forest that leads to a small waterfall. The walk was relaxing especially being taken off the beaten track through pine trees and ferns. However when we got to the waterfall we were disappointed because there was only a trickle of water pouring down the waterfall. Local people were returning with their washing of clothes they had just washed at the waterfall.
Bear Shola Falls is called so, because in the earlier days bears used to come and drink water from this fall. It is one of the most ideal picnic spots in Kodaikanal. It is ideal to visit the falls during rainy season to enjoy the beauty of the falls in its fullness.
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Back at the town centre, we caught the same bus back the other way to Silver Cascade Falls which is home to the most popular waterfall in Kodaikanal. We love waterfalls so we were keen to see a decent waterfall here. Luckily for us, this waterfall had a decent amount of ‘water fall’ to it. There were a lot of tourists here taking photos in front of the waterfall.
Look out for the cheeky monkeys that roam around the area, especially on the rocks near the waterfall. These Macaque monkeys are constantly on the lookout for tourists laden with food they can steal. They are pretty cute from afar.
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After a much needed rest at our hotel in the evening, we headed into the city in search for a place to have dinner. It was about 8:00 pm and we were surprised to find most of the restaurants closed. The only conclusion we could come to was that given it was December the tourists numbers were low so most restaurants had closed up for the season and gone on vacations. We were fortunate to find Tava Restaurant open and we decided to give them a try. For a vegetarian restaurant, Tava was a really nice find as they had a large selection of vegetarian dishes which were really tasty and affordable.
With a full and satisfied belly, we returned to our hotel for a good sleep. Lights out!
9th December 2013 (Day 2)
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We awoke early in the morning to take in the nature trails around Kodaikanal. First up was Coakers Walk Kodaikanal which is located southeast of Kodaikanal lake near St Peters Church (Church of South India). It was short walk which took all of five to ten minutes. Built on the edge of a hill, Coakers Walk allowed us to see the beautiful vistas of the hills and valleys around Kodaikanal. The best time to do Coakers Walk is in the morning before the fog comes in and clouds the views.
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As we waited for Coakers Walk to open its gates at 7:00 am we found a small food stall at the side of the road making lovely Indian chai. While Graham had a steaming cup I got the lady to make me an omelette sandwich. She was also busy preparing other food items such as idlis and vadas.
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Next door to Coakers Walk is Bryant Park Kodaikanal which is the most popular botanical park in Kodaikanal, especially during the summer months when the roses are in full bloom. Nevertheless, we were able to spot a couple of roses in full bloom and together with the dew drops they were beautiful. Bryant Park is a great photo opp as the flowers are so colourful and abundant here.
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On the way back from visiting Coakers Walk and Bryant Park, we stopped at the Church of South India to see the beautiful stained glass windows in the morning light. It was closed but a lovely man opened the doors just for us to have a look. Inside, the church was fairly small and average but it was the stunning stained glass windows that illuminated the church and made it look magnificent.
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Before we left Kodaikanal, we stopped by a few shops selling home made chocolates. Kodaikanal specialises in home made products including chocolate and lavender products. Manna Chocolate Factory is one of the many store fronts for selling home made chocolates of several different varieties.
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Of course, we couldn’t leave Kodaikanal without trying some of these delicious home-made chocolates for ourselves.
Our verdict – while the quality of the chocolate is nowhere near International standards, it is not bad at all. The dark chocolate was our favourite.
At 11:00 am we caught a government bus from the bus station in town to Dindigul, a bustling industrial town about three hours away. We had a reservation on the 3:10 pm train heading to Kochi (Ernakulum).
We were starving hungry by the time we got on the train. Luckily there are food vendors continuously walking through the Indian train compartments so we were able to get ourselves some vadas for lunch. There are also pantries on Indian trains so later we were able to order an egg curry and chappatis from the pantry.
Located in the hot and steamy region of South India, Kodaikanal serves as a respite from the heat and sweat of the South. There are few more refreshing Tamil Nadu moments than boarding a bus in the heat-soaked plains and disembarking in the sharp pinch of a Kodaikanal night. To add to the refreshing climate, its scenic beauty will leave any nature lover mesmerised by its mystical charms.
