We set off at our own pace, on one Friday evening of Nov 2006 towards the hills of the beautiful Kodaikanal.....little did we expect the cold to be such punishing! After fuelling our dear new Baleno we left Bangalore at around 18.oo hrs, to cover the close to 600 km drive, picking our energizers & appetizers to drive throughout the night! Our first stop, as usual the first temple that we come across on the immidiate outskirts of Bangalore & this time it was at Dharmapuri - The Murugan Temple.
From there, we started & stopped at Salem for dinner....the famous must have local delicacy....idly-dosa with coconut chutney & sambar along with tea at 22.00 hrs.....yeah I know, a breakfast food for dinner - but who can risist this yummy authentic flavour!! We finally managed to touch the foothills of the Palani hill at around 3 in the morning, from here was the best part of the drive........the almost 100 km Ghats accompanied by heavy lashing rain hitting the windshield & we were at times ducking inside the car to avoid the-i really donno wht!!! Honestly, this was the most challenging part, our completely tinted car with all the windows rolled up, driving through the Ghats with no lamp posts etc & just our 12 watts 90/100 car head lights. Judging the edges & making our way up to Kodaikanal in the cold night with heavy rain & moisture on the glass so using the heater & AC....ufff what a combination, unable to see the road......phew...It was awesome & one hell of a drive! We managed to wade through it all & made our way to one of the hotels at around 7 am, where we got one small bucket of hot water each for bath.......well atleast something hot after a clod wet night!!
The bitter winter cold did not stop our quest to explore the place....we did the usual, navigating through the hills, with our lips chapping & bleeding in the cold winds, eating carrots & chocolates, along with frequent tea’s & making friends with the locals – one of Pavan’s traits, our stay turned out to be more fun! We managed to get a local tour guide who along with showing us places, also invited us to his home where he stayed with his beautiful & darling son!
There were horses, & of course one of our favourites – cycles....& how could we not make use of them! Again we set out, parking our car & cycling for the next 20kms around a lake & reaching the place where we started from with new rejuvenated energy!
The rich aroma of the tea plantation, along with the eucalyptus.......making a perfect combination!
Then suddenly it was Sunday late afternoon.....& this time we set out early as we did not want to miss the beautiful breathtaking view downhill......& trust me it was worth giving up our otherwise preferred night drive! We were awe struck! Winter in Kodaikanal came to the end!
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