Some of the best things in Kodaikanal are free — the cool breeze skimming the lake, dewdrops on rose petals, the scent of pine mingling with eucalyptus and the cormorant stretching its black wings in the morning sun.
The walk around the lake is on easy flat ground, and the full circle is five kilometres. It’s a good idea to get there around seven in the morning to avoid crowds. Pick up a cycle if you prefer a lazy ride.
The masala chai shop by the road leading to Sterling often sells bunches of fresh baby carrots. Tapps Corner, near the restored building, Rynmere, opposite the ferry stop, abuts the CSI compound. From here, take Tapps Road to Lower Shola Road if you fancy a walk, and check out some of the oldest Kodai settlements. The walk lets you experience the mystique of the Palanis with the crescendo of chirping cicadas.
Take Tapps Road up and the left fork to Lower Shola as you pass both old and newer homes and the old cemetery; next to this, the Palani Hills Council nurtures and sells shola saplings. On the right side, you can meander into the thick of the shola forest.
Kodai has always been a Nature lover’s paradise, but it is also an anomaly with forest gaur as also monkeys now pushed into town, looking for water and food. You will find a wide range of birds, including pond herons, bulbuls, doves, mynahs, and hoopoes galore.
You enter Kodaikanal through Moonjikal, literally, the “face of the rock”. Up the road, Mount Perumal, with its familiar toupee, is visible from different vantage points.
Markets and more
If you like rummaging about, walk up to the old post office or traipse into the vegetable and meat market. Further up, the Seven Roads junction is the heart of the Kodaikanal Township, where markets, shopping and traffic converge.
Down Poet Thyagaraja Road, commonly called PT Road, the first mall on the right houses many interesting little shops. Walk up to the Kiki Book Shop run by the Paulrajs for an assortment of Kodai-based goods, including greeting cards, gifts, cookies and cakes. They carry George Penner’s rustic Bitter Marmalade and an array of his other preserves, such as mustard and picnic relish. Above the book shop, Prowess, a women’s self-help group, makes baby quilts, stuffed toys, bags and more for local and international clientèle.
Eat your way
Down PT Road, try Ten Degrees for lunch or dinner, and settle into the cosy wooden interior that transports you to a Swiss Chalet. Then, there is The Royal Tibet with Tibetan delicacies and momos down the lane, and Cloud Street, a wood-fired pizza and pasta place with divine cakes for dessert. Cloud Street hosts orthopaedist Arun Kolhatkar, who moonlights on weekends with his guitar and irresistible baritone. Simple pleasures are at the heart of the hills, as warm crunchy toast with butter and jam — you get pear, plum and mango jam from Daily Bread on Anna Road. If you are lucky, you’ll also get a batch of lemon marmalade.
Books and historic buildings
If you are looking for a quiet corner to sink your literary legs in, try the KMU (Kodaikanal Missionary Union) Library located right next to Kodaikanal International School opposite the well-known Hilltop Inn. The Library is open to visitors and locals, but only on Wednesdays. For a small reading fee, you can borrow books if you are staying longer. On Club Road, after Hilltop, visit Lochend, now called Mount Zion Lutheran Church, another walk into vintage Kodai.
Take Anna Road and turn on Woodville Road past the bus depot towards Pillar Rocks Road to reach CSI’s Christ The King Church, opposite the rear entrance to Bryant Park, which is also worth a visit. Further uphill, take the left fork past St Peter’s Church and the left bend to St Mary’s Road.
The walk up St Mary’s hill is charming, and pine trees still proliferate at Roseneath, the Church of South India compound. At the end is a stunning view of La Salette, built in 1863 and renovated in 2010. The church is set on a rocky cliff overhang and the once-impressive view is masked by a canopy of trees. From the top, you can hear the ripple of water through the gorge below.
A visit that brings history and Nature together starts out from the Lake via the Observatory Road. Go left on Levinge Road, named after Henry Levinge, then Collector of Madura, who created the Kodai Lake by damming flowing streams into the grassland down-dip. Take the walking path past the old Swedish compound; further down, a road curves right to the German Church, a wonderful piece of architecture. From Upper Lake View, a tourist viewpoint, you get a perfect view of the star-spangled lake.
