Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Weekend getaway - to Kodai

We had an approved leave on Monday and decided to get set n go to Kodai. The journey kicked off on Friday evening from Bangalore by our fav 'Rajahamsa' and I soon drifted off to sleep (no surprises there, I can hear you say!). I woke up to my loving hubby gently calling me and pointing to the huge mountains covered in mist, and I felt our bus spiraling up through the many hairpin bends to this paradise which is 2300 meters above sea level. There were trees on both sides of the road bearing beautiful wild flowers, and there was absolutely no traffic along the way giving us the intuition that this was going to be the relaxing weekend we were looking forward to.



As we reached the bus stand, our cab for the next few days was waiting to pick us up to the resort. Villa Retreat resort was all that they promised in their website - few beautiful rooms, with a valley view and opening up to a even more beautiful lawn from where we could see Cocker's walk.


After refreshing ourselves, we decided to do some exploration on our own. A walk along Cocker's walk(ofcourse eating Cotton candy n boiled peanuts) was the very first thing we did. And the chilling cold weather enhanced our spirits for sure. And then we walked along Kodai town least bothered about anything else in the world. I was really feeling happy that I chose to carry the over-sized sweatshirt which Amazon gifted me. At last, that was put to good use. After lunch and more time at the resort, we walked to the lake (popularly known as Kodai lake), n walked by the lake before renting out a pedal boat. At the end of this, we decided to call it a day and retired to our room.

On Sunday, we decided to visit Berijam Lake - the road less travelled by many who visit Kodai. This needs special permission from the Forest department but most hotels there can take care of the procedural stuff required. As we drove off to Berijam, our driver gave us a tip - carry water n snacks - for there are no shops there. Afterall, who expects shops in the middle of a forest where there are no electricity lines and not even the most feeble of the network coverage from the numerous mobile towers cast their range? However, it turned out to be a trip much more wonderful than we had anticipated. We stopped at various places on our way in the forest which gives a great valley view. We lingered around each point for some time for the mist to clear for a better view. Trust me - walks along those mountains were toooooo good to be true and is definitely a memory worth a lifetime.At the end of our jouney, we saw this beautiful lake sprawling across quite some area with unpolluted water, carefree birds singing, mist rising from a side and mountains guarding it. As we walked towards Berijam lake, we were totally speechless. It had an uncanny scenic beauty and was very peaceful -the best location where one can get in harmony with oneself. And to all my friends who are 'photographoholics', guess this is a place you should add to your 'must-visit' list.


We decided to spend the rest of the day strolling aimlessly across the streets of Kodai and drinking tea from the many tea shops along the road.

Monday evening being when we were bound on our journey back to Bangalore, we decided to spend the day doing some local sight-seeing. Meaning not straying too very far. We visited the usual tourist places like the Guna Caves, Green Valley view point(Suicide point of olden days - not open for suicides anymore with barricades all around ;) , pine forests, a temple, Byrant Park, Moyer point and Fairy falls. Horse riding along the pine forest and a long long walk along it was quite filmy but romantic and we thoroughly enjoyed it :)

As our cabbie dropped us at Kodai lake and said a bye, we decided to cycle around the lake. That's something almost everyone who visits the lake does but I had never had a chance to do in my last trips to the place.I was excited about it and after riding for sometime even raced with hubby dear (if you are interested in the results, I was not bad - I came second :P ) And Oh yeah, and we bought Home made chocolates and marsh mellows like any other chocolate-freaks to carry back with us!

Soon it was time for us to say 'bye' to the land which offered us a relief from the hectic work schedules for 3 days. As we packed our bags, sipped another cup of coffee and boarded the bus (Airavat, this time) - we knew from our hearts that we will come back!