A Trip to Palani Hills India..Part-I

At the outset let me make it clear that this blog is intended as a help for those who are planning a trip. It takes you over the outline of my trip but doesn’t delve into the details of the trip itself – hope you find it useful.

We had planned to go to India in July 2014 – and during the time there, decided to take a trip to some place for a few days. We were going to Bangalore – so we had to decide a 3-4 day trip from Bangalore during our stay there.

I had two ideas – either go to Kerala or go to Kodaikanal in Tamilnadu. After a bit of deliberation and advice from my friend from Kerala – that it is going to be a rainy period during July/August,  I settled on Tamilnadu.

We decided to go as a group of 9, but two were doubtful. It was completely upto me to plan and direct this trip all sitting in the UK.

On checking the train from Bangalore to Kodai (Kodaikanal) on the booking website https://www.irctc.co.in , I figured out that there was no direct train to Kodai. We had to go to a station called Kodai Road or Madurai and then go on a road trip from there to Kodai.

I read a couple of internet blogs and found that there was lot of negative publicity surrounding the “commercialisation” of tourist places like Ooty and Kodai. However I still decided on going ahead with it – partly because I had stayed in Tamilnadu for ten plus years of my childhood and never been to these places.

I thought if we were going via Madurai we might as well visit the famous Madurai Meenakshi Temple. Also, the temple town of Palani is located just 60 km from Kodai, so we decided it would be a good idea to add it to the itinerary as well.

I had a thought of adding Rameshwaram as well to the list but decided against it because it would extend our trip by an extra day.

So, the rough plan was already formed and ready: Bangalore  –> Madurai –> Kodai –> Palani –> Bangalore.

However there is no train from Palani to Bangalore. The nearest station is Dindigul, so the itenary looked like this:

Bangalore –> Madurai –> Kodai –> Palani –> Dindigul –> Bangalore.

Bangalore to Madurai would be a train journey (Train No./Name: 16236 /  TUTICORIN EXP)

Madurai to Kodai would be Taxi

Kodai to Palani would be Taxi

Palani to Dindigul would be taxi as well.

Didigul to Bangalore (Train No./Name: 16235 /  MYSORE EXP).

Route in Google Map

Map legend

Everything looked good on paper – however I was concerned about the road trips as we needed a reliable taxi service.

When it actually came to taking the journey – starting on the 30th July 2014, we were two people short and down to 7 people. We all got in a Toyota (thankfully it accomodated all 7) and drove to the Bangalore City Junction. I was visiting the Bangalore station after so many years – almost 4 years and it seemed more crowded than what I was expecting. However they now have elevators and lifts in the station for passenger convenience.The train was scheduled at 21:10. The train arrived on time and we got on board in the 3rd AC. The train journey itself was not that bad and before we knew it, we were already on our way to Madurai – The only downside of 3rd AC is that you can’t get a good view from the windows – which are the little pleasures of a train journey. However as it was already late we all went to sleep. When we woke up, the train was already approaching Kodai Road station. Here are a few snaps of the Kodai road station:

Entering the Kodai Road station around 06:30 hrs – first views of the beautiful Palani Hills…

 

Tuticorin Express @ Kodai Road Station

 

We reached Madurai City within half hour after Kodai Road Station. (I had already booked our stay in Kodaikanal at a place called Dalethorpe (4 rooms) and asked the owner to arrange a taxi to take us from Madurai to Kodai.)

So when we arrived at Madurai Station – we were met by the taxi driver. We now needed a place to refresh ourselves before visiting the Temple. I hadn’t planned for the stay or booked any hotel as I thought we can talk to any of the Hotel guys to provide us a room for few hours.

The taxi driver suggested the A/C waiting room within the Madurai station – which is quite ok if you are a single male traveller (esp. the cost was just Rs 10/ hour or something like that). However we were 3 gents and 4 ladies (2 adults and 2 teenagers); So we decided to look for some other place. Some one suggested a place called Madurai residency. We went in search of that – by just before we found that we found something else called Hotel KPS which was at 8&9 West Marret Street Madurai. This place is not fit for staying overnight – however if you plan to just refresh and carry on – it is good enough. We took two rooms for Rs 1700. We refreshed ourselves and came out and realised Madurai Residency was just a couple of buildings down. We decided to keep the keys as we wanted to comeback from the temple and refresh again (that was a good idea – as we had paid for the whole day anyways).

Madurai Residency looked much more decent compared to KPS – but KPS served our purpose – the toilets were clean.

After leaving KPS Hotel we went to have breakfast – we chose to go to ‘Murugan Idly’ shop – it was very close to the temple. However with so many oneway roads and no entry streets around the temple we took a couple of rounds before we got to the Murugan Idly shop. The place was decent and it delivered what was on the tin – good Idly. However do note that there is no coffee served there – at least not when we went.

Murugan Idly for breakfast.

 

Post a hearty breakfast of Idly, Dosa and Uthapam, we went and had coffee at a nearby shop – it was not what I was expecting and was too sweet and milky for my taste – In fact this was a repeated experience wherever we drank coffee/Tea in Tamilnadu – too sweet and milky. Best to ask for sugar seperate and mix it yourself.

Post coffee, we went to the Temple. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photographs at the temple as cameras were not allowed. (Although we saw a number of people taking videos and photos with their mobiles )

The temple itself is really amazing. We spent around 3 hours and took the help of a guide. However 3 hrs. is a bit inadequate to see the temple as the marvelous architecture needs more time to appreciate. Also, avoid the guide as you won’t be able to go around the temple at your own pace. However if you are running short on time then it might be a good option. (The guide charges us Rs 300 for almost 3 hours).

We went into the temple at around 11.30 a.m  and came out by 2 p.m. By the time we came out the sun was blazing and the area around the temple was like a hot plate literally – I guarantee you could have fried an egg there.

After the temple we went back to our hotel and got  refreshed. We were then on our way to Kodai (I  however recommend you to finish your lunch at  Madurai and then leave to Kodai). We had a late lunch at around 3.30 p.m at a place called Saravanas on the highway to Kodai( Not Saravana Bhavan). It is best to avoid this hotel.

On the way to Kodai – weather & view get better from here on.

 

You can see quite a few monkeys and beautiful views  when you are on the Ghat road (the spiralling road leading you to the top of hills).

Avoid feeding the monkeys as they tend to come dangerously close to the road and traffic.

Monkey on the Ghat roads – many can be seen on the roads looking for easy giveaways

 

We stopped at a few places to take in the views. I don’t remember the name of the place below – but it was supposed to be a waterfall, but now lies barren :

No water at this ‘falls’ anymore.

 

We also stopped at a place called Silver Cascade falls  just before entering Kodai:

Siver Cascade waterfalls.

Corn seller near Silver Cascade falls catering to the tourists.

 

We arrived at our place of stay at around 7pm…all tired yet excited.

Rest  in Part II of this blog……please continue reading.