Take some rest from Kerala's beaches and head a little North

Tripoto
28th Dec 2009
Photo of Take some rest from Kerala's beaches and head a little North by Aarush Tandon

North India has the Himalayas the main tourist feature of India. It has surreal mountains, magnificent hill stations but that is not it to hills in India, South India apart from its marvellous beaches has Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu that personifies beauty and leaves you awestruck. It is the perfect getaway for the people of Chennai from the heat.

The year was 2009 when I made the visit with my family to this masterpiece of nature.

Day 3

A guide was hired by us to give us a tour of this beaut of a hill station. The guide tagged along with us in our cab to show us the major tourist spots.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

The first spot Kodaikanal lake. It had beautiful meadows near it with trees in the hilly background mixed with mist that made it a thrilling experience.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

Pine forest was the next stop of our journey which was filled with monkeys hanging on the pine trees.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

Every point we saw thereafter was a suicide point according to the guide at least I don't know how many people were that frustrated with life. The thing that frustrated and entertained us the most at the same time was the pet dialogue of the guide in his limited English vocabulary - 'Bison very dangerous'

Next in the line was the pillar rocks. They are three vertical granite boulders, standing shoulder to shoulder amidst untouched packets of dense rainforests. Unique and visually stunning, these rocky pillars measure approximately 400 ft in height from the ground level.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

Between the pillars, there is a dark chamber that is called the 'Devil's Kitchen'. The shady woods beneath the rocks serve as perfect picnic spot for locals as well as tourists. Close to Pillar Rocks, there is a beautifully manicured garden where you can find a wide variety of flowers blooming.

On the way to Coaker's walk, the most incredible of all the spots we saw Upper Lake View point which gives a magnificent view of Kodaikanal Lake.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

The last spot was Coaker's Walk and unfortunately the mist now had converted to fog completely tampering our view but it was not all lost cause because we were back the next day to observe this masterful work of man and nature combined.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

We had no plans to go to Munnar but as uncertainty of life exists immediate plans were made to Munnar. We reduced Kodaikanal's trip by a day(originally of three days two nights to two days(half day) one night) and were off to observe the beauty of Munnar.

On the way the marvelous silver Cascade Waterfalls were seen by our wander searching eyes.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

Munnar's tea gardens observed from the top and the bottom gives you two entirely different experiences which are both incredible in their own ways.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

The nightlife at Munnar isn't too bad either you could enjoy Kerala's traditional dance form Kathakali in its truest form.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

Kathakali dancers start practicing from the mere age of 5. You could see the whole human body's complexity in just their eyes. Their subtle movements are just incredible considering the amount of weight they carry on their bodies. You could just see the years of practice they had gone through to achieve this level of expertise.

The next day we made our way to Mattupetty Lake to take a speed boat ride to observe the western ghat range.(Mattupety lake is 13 kilometres from Munnar)

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

We had to board our flight back to Delhi from Madurai the next day but we didn't miss our opportunity to watch one of the most glorious temples in India before heading back.

Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon
Photo of Mattupetty Lake, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Aarush Tandon

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