Trip Report – Kodaikanal

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Trip Report – Kodaikanal

January 30, 2010 by Ashutosh Ojha

Kodaikanal is one of the famous hill stations of south india. The main differentiator of Kodaikanal is quietness of this place. It is still not highly commercialized as Ooty and offers a very nice long weekend gateway.

On the long weekend of 26th Sep 2009, I decided to travel from Bangalore to Kodaikanal by car. The drive between Bangalore and Kodaikanal is mostly awsome. I took Bangalore – Salem – Dindigul – Kodaikanal route and to be honest was amazed by the road between Bangalore and Dindigul (NH7).

I started at 6 am from Bangalore and finally reached Kodaikanal around 3.00 pm with multiple stops.

The road is not only good but also full of photographic opportunities. Driving through the Ghat road was also quite nice as the road has proper side protection. Also you encounter sceneries after every few kilometers on

ghat road, which forces you to stop. In fact the 50 km ghat road drive never felt like it was so long uphill drive.

A waterfall on Ghat Road

Kodaikanal has few attractions to see e.g. Coakers walk, Lake, Pine tree forest, Pillar rock to name a few. Also there is forest trip but you need permission of forest department to enter there. Also if you visit during rainy season then you can see waterfalls everywhere.

A rainy season waterfall

Coakers Walk: It is a walkway through which valley can be seen below. The view is clear and if you reach at right time then can see and experience clouds rising from below and coming to you. The right time to see clouds climbing in my experience was somewhere around 11 am.

Rising clouds seen from Coakers walk:

Kodaikanal Lake: This is a must enjoy place for honeymoon couples and A nice to see and enjoy place for casual holiday seekers. Section of Kodaikanal Lake:

Pine tree forest: It is exciting to walk among long pine trees. Horses are also available for ride to people who don’t wish to walk.

Walking in pine forest while raining:

Pillar Rock (I am still not sure why it’s a tourist attraction):

For accommodation there are plenty of hotels and you can just call them up and do the booking. I had looked for hotels in www.holidayiq.com and did booking in Mountain View hotel. The hotel is cheap but I wouldn’t say the money was worth paying. They charged 800 Rs. but the main problem was room was quite cramp and not well ventilated. There was pungent smell all the time in room (not sure if it was due to phenyl cleaning or something else). The staff was good and courteous. That was the only good point of hotel.

Overall we enjoyed our trip quite a bit although it was second trip for me.

Posted in Photography | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on January 30, 2010 at 7:48 am | Reply P Rajesh

Hi Ashutosh, liked your write-up a lot. What I liked particularly was the travel intelligence you have packed into your write-up. Found it quite useful from a trip planning standpoint.

Of course, the photos are, I guess, the star attractions of your blog. Haven’t seen very many snaps of Kodai that better these. Then, I checked out other sections of your blog. Your eye for visuals and photography skills are top notch.

As someone who loves travelling, writing and photography, glad that I stumbled on your blog. Look forward to your posts.

Best regards,
Rajesh
on January 30, 2010 at 8:26 am | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Thanks Rajesh for stopping by. Glad you liked it.
on February 1, 2010 at 4:42 am | Reply Genga

Amazing pics..and very well potrayed…
keep up the good work..

Cheers
Genga
on February 1, 2010 at 7:14 am | Reply Brassi

WOW! nice writeup
on February 1, 2010 at 9:28 am | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Thanks Genga
on February 1, 2010 at 9:29 am | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Brassi khan dhanyawaad hai…kabhi aa jaao hamaare sath fir tum text likhanaa aur main foto provide karunga
on February 1, 2010 at 1:38 pm | Reply Shivaputra Hosamani

Hi Ashu, It’s very good information for me to travel next time.
on February 1, 2010 at 3:24 pm | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Thanks Shiva for the comment
on February 2, 2010 at 10:09 am | Reply Sri

Hi Ashu,

All the photographs are nice. This blog would be very useful for those who are visting first time to Kodaikanal. Generally when we visit Kodai, most of the time we spent time with liquor and kidding friend overthere but from you i learnt that other than enjoying the visiting place, we can do some useful things like writing blog about the place.

Keep it up..
on February 3, 2010 at 7:35 am | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Thanks Sridhar
on February 10, 2010 at 3:51 pm | Reply Narayana Sharma

Hi Ashutosh,

Nice writeup on the trip. We did have a family trip to Kodai (2 cars -one family each). The photos took us back to Kodai. I have photos shot on my Yashica film camera.

Your writeup, has made me look at another trip to Kodai.

ciao

Narayana Sharma
on February 11, 2010 at 7:49 am | Reply Ashutosh Ojha

Thanks Narayana. Glad you liked it. It was my second trip to Kodaikanal and enjoyed it as much I had enjoyed it first time.
on November 30, 2010 at 5:38 pm | Reply PTZ IP Camera

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on February 8, 2011 at 7:34 am | Reply 2010 in review « ASHUTOSH OJHA

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