Kodaikanal ... Continued

My wife and I stayed at a very famous and not to mention the half-a-century old 'Holiday Home'. Though the place has seen better days, it still is a very good place to stay when you're in Kodai. Holiday Home is nestled amidst lush vegetation, filled with fruit-laden pear trees growing wild all around you ! It is located a good 8 kms off the main Kodai town, which in itself made my trip worth the while. However there is one aspect of Holiday Home that I must mention - to be fair to myself, and more importantly, to be fair to those of you who might want to stay there ... the water in Holiday Home is awful. Its muddy, dark and smells of rust. Thats how the water was during my entire stay there. Even the coffee that I had there smelled of rust. Perhaps that how the water is there always. I'm not sure. Or perhaps during my sojourn, on account of many external factors, the water had turned muddy and almost unusable (I hope this is true!!).

Though the roads that connect Holiday Home to Kodai town aren't always good, they were some good stretches. The hotel has daily morning and evening pick-up and drop facility (to Kodai town) which is indeed welcome ! Else, you'd have to shell out Rs. 80 one-way.

The food served at Holiday Home was nothing to write home about. But nothing to complain either. The fare is very simple. Very basic. And very, very south-Indian. You could ask for chicken, which would then be bought (from the market in Kodai town), prepared and served exclusively (at a partitioned portion of the very large dining hall !!).

Holiday Home is at walkable distance from Suicide Point (now re-christened as 'Green Valley View' and a little ahead, the 'Pillar Rocks' ! A comfortable and leisurely 1 hour's walk is all it takes to reach these spots, for even one who's not in ship-shape like me !!

Oh, the evenings truned out to be much worse that what I had expected. The temperature truly dipped to teeth-chattering and shivering levels ! Blankets and quilts could not hold the cold at bay ! The room too (without a heater) was like a freezer ! In a way, the chillness was a plesant experience, no doubt !

To be continued.

My recent Kodaikanal trip

I returned to Kodai after over a decade during the last, long weekend (Puja Holidays).

Should say that the place is more or less what I had in my mind. No dramatic changes. No new skylines. No better roads. Or even better facilities. Or any major improvements ... barring a few more restaurants (mostly the vege kinds). And quite a few more hotels. Mostly the down-market variety for the budget travellers.

Kodai should be complimented on the way it has maintained itself over these past many years. It hasn't lost its shape ... unlike let's say a Ooty !! The key attarctions still remain the same. That they have not got any better in terms of the facilities to the flocking visitors is a far better proposition than they becoming worse !!

I shall in due course get into the specifics and the details. But they have to wait awhile !

Adieu !

Sumitran