Tranquility and Romance. Nature's love.

These enchantments, these pantomimes, cannot be described or expressed in the language of poets and painters, musicians and mystics, for these are creations of a higher being. A being above all that is tangible and temporal. They must be … taken in without reply, as animals do with their contemplative and entranced gaze…

The open road. Mile after mile of endless ribbon of tarmac knitted together with gravel and asphalt. It’s a mesmerizing indulgence in itself that is hard to contemplate for an average human, to explain the feeling it expresses as it provides an excellent field for living an earthly existence and abandoning every bit of agitation and perturbation. It is as soothing to the mind and body as resting on a cozy pillow, on a cold winter day or as enjoying good company with a hot beverage on a rainy day. Elusive as it sounds, maybe it is because of this distinct magical pleasure to thrill yet calm the senses at the same time, its special.

Day 1: Saturday 13^th August.

My ride to kodaikanal meaning, ‘the Princess of Hill Stations’ as it is called started at 04:40 am on a cold Saturday morning in the middle of the month of August. It was a three day weekend owing to the Independence Day falling on the immediate Monday.  The routes that were in option to take were a) Tambaram – Tindivanam – Ulunthurpet – Salem – Palani – Kodaikanal via Palani hills and b) Tambaram – Tindivanam – Ulunthurpet – Trichy – Dindigul – Batlagundu – Kodaikanal which is a much more straight forward approach and the one that is more popular. The day started out as every other trip, without a hitch and by 08:30am I was near the southern city of Trichinopoly aka Trichy. The ride was a pleasant one with the gorgeous coppery sun skimming the horizon giving a peaceful setting to the land beneath and with a pack of snickers giving me the strength to fight hunger. However, as it was a three day weekend, the road was quite a bit crowded than usual at the tolls which did eat up quite a bit of travel time. Still the roads, everywhere else were wide open and that ensured that I reach the foothills of Kodaikanal by 11:15 am. The climb up the hill slope was sublime and the ghat sections are wide enough to make the ride/drive safe and easy. But, as it was a long weekend, there was heavy traffic going up to the hilltop. Now traffic isn’t a big deal when you’re on a bike, when you can weave about and move on. But it was the ghat section, perilously narrow, dangerously slippery and very wet making it chaotic for everyone on it, and the ‘jam’ stretched for about three kilometers or maybe even longer. At that moment it felt like it stretched in to the far reaches of the globe. It must’ve been an arduous journey for the folks in the cars and the buses. After a while, zipping past the traffic, reached my hotel where I had booked my stay by 13:15. Rested a bit, had lunch and I was out to ‘explore’ ‘the gift of the forests’ as kodaikanal is locally called. Little did I know that I was about to enter in to a world of chaos and get a firsthand lesson on why it is not advised to plan a holiday during the festive season or during a long holiday season. Stepped out of the hotel after my well needed rest, saddled up on the ‘kwacker’ like the Lone Ranger saying “Hi-Yo Silver!” in full spunk and set off. Rejoined the main loop road around the town and I was back to a standstill. Why? Traffic. That’s why. The small petite roads around the town was completely clogged with motor vehicles. It was complete pandemonium even for bikes. The immediate thought that came to mind was a phrase something James May would say. Yeah you get it, don’t you! Anyway, thoughts on kodaikanal were not so good. Frustration and disappointment crept in to my mind and made itself to feel at home. I was able to ride from my hotel near Fern hill road which is near the Kodaikanal Lake only up till the road to Pillar rocks viewpoint past Coakers walk and couldn’t proceed any further. Making my way back to the hotel it had started to rain down hard forcing to take refuge from the cold icy waters under a fruit shop in the middle of the forest. Cold, Wet, shivering and nowhere to go, it was a matter of choices. Its either stay and hope for things to get better which could prove unlikely to happen considering the odds or shorten my two day plan to one day and return home on the next day. With a mind full of confused thoughts and wet clothes covered with dirt, I headed back to the hotel to reconsider everything and the conclusion that I had arrived to was to dabble with lady luck and hope things go from worse to good which seldom happens in reality.  

“And then I realized. Adventures are the best way to learn and not all who wander are lost”

Day 2: Sunday 14^th August:

Well, with everything that had happened yesterday, my heart and soul was braced and ready for further disappointment that could present itself if it decide to make a cameo. However, as we all know and have heard, fate is a fickle mistress. Twilight! Dawn! The day (for me atleast) began at 05:30 am when the sun forced its cosmic rays tearing through the subtle clouds. When everyone were cozying up in their snug toasty linen and tepid mattresses, it was an opportunity to really take in the morning mountain air and ‘live’ the endless stretch of tarmac draped around the hills in all its splendor. It was at this point that I had an epiphany. An epiphany that was, to ditch the popular tourist spots and go deeper into the mystic forest of Palani and Agamalai. And God, was it a revelation.

“If you’re a copy of another person, the world would not have the pleasure of experiencing your uniqueness”

Berijam Lake, freshwater reservoir at 2,165 m above sea level nestled deep within Palani hill forest and conservation area is a wildlife hideaway that houses diverse plants and wildlife. I had decided it would be a good place to start the day with the ride to the lake at the break of dawn, and thus started off from the hotel. To reach the lake from where I stayed, there were two routes. There was the road to Moir point past pillar rocks that goes to the lake which was about 20 kilometers or take the observatory road and go via the eerie pine forests and the spectacular poomparai view point which was around 42 kilometers, almost twice as long. I chose the latter option as fewer tourists would take the long way round which proved that it is always good to shy away from the commonness that the world presents. With an atmospheric temperature of around 13 degree Celsius it was quite nippy and raw but the excitement and adrenaline surging inside dissolved all sense of chillness and calmed my chattering teeth. Made my way past the Indian institute of Astrophysics, being established in 1899, it bore the architectural aura of the lost colonial era. Rode past the transcendental pine forests clicking a ton of pictures and basking in the mountain air. Having no idea of where the road would take me or how the terrain would be, it was a sublime surprise and an enchanting experience when the mountains revealed the truly magnificent poomparai valley. Unmatched Solitude, Romance, Nirvana, Peace, Bliss are some of the words that come to mind when presented with the pure natural flavor that this gorgeous exotic location offers. A lone tea stall seated on the very curvature of the road gently kissing the edge of the cliff offering a vibrant yet sensual view of the valley with the divine Palani Hill at a distance forming the backdrop for the truly stellar sight was just the cherry on a cake. If points were to be given for ambience or views offered by tea shops/stalls, then this place would be at the absolute top of the list quite simply because of the majestic visual grandeur it offers, coupled with the chill soothing weather and the unmatched solitude of nature. After filling up on ‘chai’ and bananas, set off again towards my destination i.e., Berijam Lake. After meandering about the ghat sections, arrived at a fork in the road around 7:30 am where there was stand still traffic for a couple of hundred metres. I learned that the road to the lake is open for traffic only after 8:30 am. So it was again the time for a decision to be made. The left hand of the fork led to Berijam Lake which was the straight forward route for me to take and the right hand of the fork led to Berijam via Mannavanur and Kodaikanal ecological park. Took the long way again, passing through the outskirts of Mannavanur. This road and the serenity it presents is one of the must do things when in Kodaikanal. The views and the solitude it offers to calm the senses is absolutely divine. Being alone in the middle of nowhere with only a two wheeled machine and a cell phone full of songs to keep company, yet there wasn’t even the slightest sense of fear or distress or negativity. This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best routes to take if you decide to do a long ride on two wheels. After soaking in the views of the striking Western Ghats, reached the road that leads to Berijam Lake only to find that the road was closed off for traffic with a large a barricade and a no entry sign hung on the tree. With that I returned to the comforts of the hotel room, not with a frown but with a wild grin as big as Kodaikanal itself. Because the abrupt end to the ride was not an end but an exclamation point that gave more answers than questions. After returning to the hotel, rested a little and had the entire afternoon for me to use, so I decided to head out by walk and avoid getting stuck in traffic again. The hiker in me was alive, so alive that it was only later that i noticed that I had walked for about two hours and had covered a good 11 kilometers. Achievements unlocked. Walked around the lake, admiring the beauty of it all. The tourists from across the globe, the diversity of the cuisine that was on demand with crowd, and the simple serenity in the atmosphere made everything worth while and memorable. After my legs decided to give up, I headed back to the hotel with a sense of accomplishment and a soul full of life.

Travelled all the way for more than 50 kilometers in total, soaring above mountains and tackling slippery curve of tarmac only to find you couldn’t move any further would put any person in complete dismay or rage. But was I in disquiet? Was I in worry? Was I disappointed? Did I arrive at an exclamation mark that put a question mark on my entire trip? What did I learn from this? It’s very simple to be brutally honest. It’s just that as they say, “it’s not the destination. It’s the journey”. How true did this turn out to be. Anyone travelling several hundred kilometers for their holiday with high hopes of relaxation and self-rejuvenation would be irate and left fuming if it were to be denied. Yet I was not. Why? My first day at Kodaikanal was a very eventful day in a more bland way that raised several pessimistic and obstructive questions in my head. But in the end the question marks have taken a dive and were nowhere to be seen. Simply because of the majesty and the beauty of the land.  It speaks not to any sensory receptors, but directly to the inner heart of the beholder. It doesn’t grab you by the scruff of your neck and force the natural aura on to your eyes, but caresses you like a mother caressing a delicate infant and appeals directly to the depths of the human soul. Comforting. Reassuring. Offering solace and elegance only to the one who seeks.

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves – in finding themselves”