Day 2 - Journey on Clouds - Steps Together

Date: 12-Apr-15

Beautiful Sunrise

This was the most amazing and the busiest day of our trip. We had covered around 10 places in a single day. Thanks to the beautiful city which had all the main tourist attractions nearby. The day started off with a beautiful sunrise. We quickly got ready and left the cottage at 7.30 AM, had a tasty breakfast at a hotel called Hilltop Woodlands and started our journey.

Coaker’s Walk Revisited

Timings – 7 AM to 7 PM
Entrance fee – 10 Rs/person and 20 Rs for camera

Coaker’s Walk

I wanted to revisit Coaker’s walk because I wanted to see if we can get a different view of the mountains in the morning. My wish came true. When we entered Coaker’s walk in the morning, we could see that the mountains slowly getting covered with the clouds. As we started walking along the Coaker’s walk, the clouds started to buildup, hiding all the mountains. It was the most beautiful scene I have ever seen. Both of us felt worth revisiting this place. After spending around half an hour, we decided to leave from the place.

Pine Forest

Entrance fee: None

Pine Forest

When we started from Coaker’s walk, we could see that the crowd in the city has drastically increased. Many tourists have arrived at the place. We proceeded towards Pine forest which is around 5 km from the city. The pine forest was completely filled with people. But, the place was beautiful. This has been shown in many movies. As the time passed, the crowd started to increase. The place where we parked our car was filled with vehicles. We understood that the same crowd will follow in all the places that we are going to go since all upcoming places fall under a big circular route. After spending some time at the Pine forest, we proceeded towards Moir Point.

Moir Point

Entrance fee: 10 Rs/person

Moir Point

The road to Moir point was amazing and the weather was at its best. It was completely cloudy. Thilak stopped seeing google maps and just followed the huge number of vehicles. It was easy to find the view points as the crowd in those points were more. We stopped at Moir Point (at around 3 km from pine forest). The place was completely filled with clouds and we could not see anything from the view point. I always wanted to travel in a place filled with fog. Today my wish had come true. Wherever I went, clouds followed me. I was too damn happy.

Guna Caves (Devil’s Kitchen)

Entrance fee – 10 Rs/person

Guna Caves

We continued following the vehicles. I did not know what exactly would be the place next. In around 2 kms distance, we could see the crowd of tourists. That was Guna caves. The Guna caves is beneath the pillar rocks. The entry to Guna caves is restricted as we had read in the blogs. The place was too crowded and was too foggy. From the view point, we could see one side of the pillar rocks only for some time. Soon, it got covered with clouds.

Pillar Rocks

Entrance fee – 2 Rs/person

Pillar Rocks

Before going to the Pillar Rocks view point, we had a tasty vada outside. This place was also filled with clouds. When we went to the view point, we could not see the pillar rocks. We waited for some time for the clouds to pass and after few minutes we could get the glimpse of pillar rocks. It was mesmerizing and soon it got disappeared in clouds. We felt thankful to at least getting the glimpse of it.

Green Valley View Point (Suicide Point)

Entrance fee – none

Green Valley View Point

After pillar rocks, we crossed a beautiful Kodaikanal Golf ground and reached Green valley view point. We had to go through a narrow passage to go to the view point. On both sides of the passage people were selling popular items of Kodaikanal like home made chocolates, oils, etc. The crowd was at its peak at the passage. We some how managed to see the view point. There was a big grill (which was constructed for people’s safety) through which we had to see the view. The view from the point was breathtaking.

Upper Lake View Point

Upper Lake View Point

After green valley view point, we decided to return to the city. When we entered the city, we could see a board that pointed to Upper lake view point. We just went in that direction and got a beautiful view of Kodai Lake and the hills behind it. After upper lake view point, we simply wandered around the city. The roads were extraordinarily awesome. On both sides of the road, there were huge green trees. The clouds added extra beauty to the scene.
We finished lunch again at the Astoria veg restaurant and returned to our room.
Thilak wanted to go to Dolphin’s nose, but we were not sure of the route to that place. He did lot of research on that and found that, we could park the car near La Saleth church and from there start walking till Dolphin’s nose. Since this route was taking longer time, we decided not to go to this place today.

Kurinji Andavar Temple

Kurinji Andavar Temple

It started to rain when we were at the room. We took half an hour rest and by the time we got up, the rain had stopped. Since Dolphin’s nose was out of our list for today, we decided to go to Kurinji Andavar Temple which was very near to our cottage (just around 2 km). The road to the temple was narrow and was very steep. On both sides of the road, there were beautiful houses and cottages. Chettiar park was on the way to the temple and that was our next point of visit. Kurinji Andavar temple was very less crowded. It was a very small Muruga temple. The view from both sides of the temple was great. After spending some time near the temple and in the craft shops in the car street of the temple, we proceeded towards Chettiar park.

Chettiar Park

Chettiar Park

The Chettiar park was also very less crowded and very well maintained. We felt that this park was more beautiful than the Bryant park.

After Chettiar park, we did not have any place to go in specific. Thilak got an idea to spend time. He wanted to go till La Saleth church and see if there is parking space near the church to go to Dolphin’s nose tomorrow. So, we went towards La Saleth church. This church is around 2 km from the city.

La Saleth Church

La Saleth Church

La Saleth church is a beautiful small church in St Mary’s road. Very less crowd was there at the church. Since we did not know what to do inside the church, we did not go inside and immediately returned from there. (I guess this church is also called as St Mary’s church because in Google maps, if we give St Mary’s church, the route redirects to this church and if we give La Saleth church, no route is shown). Thilak wanted to explore near the place and we went in that road for some distance and found a walking trail leading to Dolphin’s nose. I was getting scared because the place was deserted and it was becoming dark. So, we decided to return from there.
It was around 6.30 PM, we reached the city. Thilak parked the car near the lake. There were lot of bicycles available for rent to go around the lake. But, since I was having severe back pain, we could not go for cycling. So, we went near the boating counters to check if we can go for boating. Unfortunately, boating counter was closed for the day. We simply sat on the bench near the lake munching churmuri. When it started to become dark, again the clouds started floating through the city just like the previous day. The amazing thing we saw was the clouds were touching the Kodai lake water.

Sunset near Kodai lake

Once it became dark, at around 7.30 PM, we decided to do some shopping for our home. The street was completely covered with clouds and there was very less visibility. We went to a craft shop called Danish display in Bazaar road. The craft items in the shop were amazing. We bought some gift items from the same shop, finished dinner once again at Astoria veg, and returned to our cottage.
Journey with the love of your life through the dense forests, touching and feeling the clouds, is the best moment one can get. I am thankful to experience such a great moment today.

Route travelled: Spring Valley Residency > Coaker’s walk > Pine forest > Moir Point > Guna caves > Pillar rocks > Green valley view point > Upper lake view point > Spring Valley Residency > Kurinji Andavar temple > Chettiar park > La Saleth church > Kodai Lake > Spring Valley Residency
Photos: Day 2 at Kodaikanal Photos