An account of an incredible journey - Trek to Kodaikanal

I have been trekking with CTC (Chennai Trekking Club) for some time. As soon as I got an email regarding this Kodaikanal trek, I registered for it. I asked Shishir and Pranshu to register for the same. Rajesh got ready at the last moment but got stuck with some work. So we three, along with other CTCians, departed from Chennai on 17^th Feb 2012, Friday evening. The agenda was to reach Kumbakarai (nearly 70km from Dindigul) early in the morning on Saturday. Then to start trekking from Kumbakarai and hit Vellagavi by the evening. There we would play volleyball, cook food and sleep tight. Next morning we were supposed to start for Dolphin's Nose and from there to Kodaikanal.

The trail which we were going to follow was a historical one. This was used earlier to reach Kodaikanal before the tar roads came into existence. It is a pretty straightforward trail and used mostly by people of Vellagavi village (a small village in the valley) to commute to Kodaikanal.

Our incredible journey started from Kumbakarai at about 9am, Saturday. Kumbakarai is a famous tourist spot with a small waterfall. There’s a forest dept. check post too, where one has to pay a nominal fees for entry. Here we first had idli and vada as our breakfast which we got it packed from Dindigul. Quickly we distributed common gears amongst us like cooking pots, rice, vegetables etc. to carry along. We then crossed the stream and started advancing. A little further we could see the trail breaking into two paths. Those along with us, who had already come here earlier, asked us to take the ‘other path’ than the actual trail. Moving a little further on the ‘other path’, we could see the stream making a natural slide and a small pool at the end of it. Who could resist that (except for Shishir, whom Pranshu and I had to force to come)? We threw our bags immediately and started sliding along the natural slide and landed into the pool ahead. Later Shishir thanked for dragging him along with us. That was an amazing experience. Nobody wanted to stop. But reluctantly, we had to proceed further.

After this refreshing slide and dip in the pool, we started for the tough hike ahead to Vellagavi. We traced back our way to the junction and started moving on the actual trail. The sun was harsh and the climb from here was pretty steep. The trees with their shadows protected us a lot. There were tamarind trees along the way and of course I did not miss the opportunity to grab a few. The hike tested us as we kept on moving. All sweaty and breathing faster. But the weather got better as we moved up. So did the view. Beautiful mountains and amazing viewpoints in between kept us encouraged to move.

Around 1 pm we stopped for lunch. We ate the packed Veg-biryani and raita and rested for some time. We then kept hiking and reached Vellagavi around 5 pm. This was our staying point for the night. Vellagavi is a small tranquil hamlet located in the valley. The villagers are very cordial. They helped in food arrangements and our stay in a school village. You’ll be astonished to see that almost every home here has a TV and a satellite connection. Water runs from taps almost for the entire day. Almost everyone has a dog in their home and that too of various breeds including foreign. Also they have a strange culture of not wearing footwear inside the village and we avoided wearing them too. Later I found out that they consider their village sacred and so they don’t wear footwear. But the thing that surprised me the most was the existence of a volleyball court in the village. There’s valley along all sides of the court. But the shrubs along the slope stop the ball from going down. The Vellagavians are very good volleyball players. You’ll be surprised to see small kids playing amazing volleyball.

As we freshened ourselves with cold water, the first thing we did was to rush towards the volley court. We had match with the Vellagavians and of course we lost 3 straight sets. But the experience of playing volleyball amidst the beautiful valley and magnificent views all around in chill wind was awesome. I wished I could just play there endlessly. It started getting cold with time. With the help of villagers, we cooked food and ate till our tummies were full. I didn’t have a sleeping bag at that time, so I kept shivering through later half of the night.

Next morning was the photoshoot time. People with cameras woke up early in the morning and went to volleyball court to capture the beautiful sunrise through the valleys. It was like sun bestowing its mystical power throughout the valley. The scene was captivating. After this we came back for breakfast and again reached volley court to have our last session of volleyball. Again, I did not want it to end ever.

People from the village had spread their coffee beans in front of their house to dry them. Few of us bought those coffee beans. We then proceeded from there towards Dolphin's Nose. The hike from here is pretty steep and it takes around 3 hours of hardcore trekking to reach Dolphin's nose. We met some villagers on the way who were coming downhill and probably were Vellagavians. The views along this trail are breathtaking. I felt like being blessed to have seen these beautiful valleys. Irrespective of how much tired you are, you’ll find peace and calmness in this serene valley. So alluring, so beautiful, so pure. They say nature heals you. I practically felt it here. Just sit for 2 minutes and enjoy the view and you’ll be charged up again. With the altitude, the vegetation changed and so did the weather.

We could see many people descending down the hill, trekking in the reverse direction. We kept on moving till we reached Dolphin's nose. Dolphin's nose is another view point with a cliff in the shape of Dolphin’s nose. This is a famous tourist spot. Most people who come to Kodaikanal also come here. We had a photo session here and waited for the rest of the group to come. After which we proceeded for Vattakanal. From Vattakanal, there is a tar road that leads to Kodaikanal. We went on our foot and found Pambar waterfalls on our way. Few of us took bath in the chilled water. From there we proceeded towards the main road where our bus was parked. Bus took us to Kodaikanal.

After reaching Kodaikanal, we had our lunch and spent some good time around the ravishing lake in the heart of the city. In the evening, we started for Chennai with lots of pleasant memories to cherish. Like after every other trek I had done, I was just thinking. There’s fun in sweating, there’s fun in exploring, there’s fun in being with nature and there’s fun in sleeping under the stars.

Go out and see places!!!