Hyderabad to Kodaikanal road trip

[arifismyname]

Kodaikanal - 'Princess of hill stations'

 

Monsoon has just arrived then and I wanted to escape from the city lights and hide myself between the woods to relax. After an intensive brain storming, I have decided to hit Vattakanal in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu which is known as the 'Princess of hill stations'. Wanting to relax more than moving around to places, I decided to stay at Vattakanal which is comparatively quite far away from the commercial crowd.

 

Where : Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu

Distance : ~1000 kilometres (one-way)

Stay: Edwin's Cottage, Vattakanal

 

Number of days required to do Hyderabad - Kodiakanal - Hyderabad : 6 days (must)

 

Route Taken: NH44

Hyderabad (Gachibowli) - Kurnool - Bangalore - Dharmapuri - Salem - Dindigul - Kodaikanal (Vattakanal).

 

Hyderabad to Kodaikanal Road condition: 

The road condition is fabulous throughout the drive. Bangalore to Dinidigul stretch is similar to Hyderabad-Bangalore highway.

Few kilometers after you cross Dindigul, we need to take a right towards Kodaikanal.

 

The road becomes narrow from there until you reach Kodai, and the ghat was a lot tricky to drive on with blind turns but, scenic views. This ghat is not that steep and the road is good.

Small patches while reaching Kodaikanal town. Downward traffic will be more in this route during evening. Preferred journey time would be before 6 pm.

 

Best places to visit in Kodaikanal:

 

It took some time to create GPS links, but I hope this is very important for road trip enthusiasts like us.
We often miss the places as we drive on our own. All the places are accurate, as I saved the GPS location at each and every point. Hoping that this would help.
 

• Pillar rock
  Maps : https://goo.gl/maps/b4WMVuxG1kv
   
• Mannavanur Lake
  This like is a little away (30kms) from Kodaikanal which is worth a drive. Beauty of this place is that it is away from the regular commercial crowd and hence calm and peaceful.
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/QH3owjFMjCM2
   
• Silent Valley View Point
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/QNcZaEthao62
   
• Berijam Lake
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/yrPQVm6Wz7y
   
• Kodai lake (commercial)
  Avoid this place, If you don't have time, last priority. 
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ez5rn1b34n42
   
• Bear shola falls
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/S5zN2cjkyhD2
   
• Silver cascade falls
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/AQNiSn5YtBH2
   
• Devils kitchen
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/5WYyDkgByWH2
   
•  Perumal peak
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9FVDnesGUPx

 

• Dolphin nose
  Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/4vWywKiKi4n

 

Day :1 (Hyderabad to Bangalore)

Distance : 590 Kilometers 
Route: One and only favourite NH44

 

Day2: (Bangalore to Kodaikanal)
Distance : 500 Kilometers
Route: Bangalore --> Hosur --> Salem --> Dindigul --> Kodaikanal

 

Few pictures of the places that I have checked-in during this trip.

 

En-route 'Dolphin's Nose' view point

 

Dolphin's Nose view point demands a moderate level trek of about 20 to 30 mins.

Beautiful path en-route Dolphin's nose

 

The whole path is surrounded by tall pine trees which added a lot more beauty to my sight

 

Finally reached Dolphin's nose which is a flat rock projecting over a breath-taking chasm of 6,600 feet deep.

 

Dolphin's Nose is usually opened to the tourists between 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM all the week.

 

Dolphin's Nose provides a bird's eye view of the scenic landscape of the surrounding mountainous area.

 

Got back to Edwin's guest house to spend my rest of the day clicking pictures and reading books which have been my favourite pastimes for long.

 

An evening Tea at my stay in Vattakanal which offered the best of views nature was throwing at me.

 

My trials on capturing some flora around the place

 

 

 

An early morning shot, That is no Skyscraper but just a telephone tower

 

No morning can get better than this. I have experienced the best of nature during this hour

 

 

[arifismyname]

 

Overlooking a beautiful landscape in Vattakanal

 

 

Good morning Universe!

 

Mannavanur is a small village whose sole mode of income comes from farming. On the way towards the lake you would find a lot of carrot fields.

 

 

Mannavanur lake, Vattakanal - A sojourn to paradise

 

Few pictures of the Kodai Lake at Sunset - Most commercial place in Kodaikanal

 

 

 

The Market place of Kodai

 

Silent valley village is one of the most beautiful landscapes of Kodaikanal

 

 

 

Bear shola waterfalls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Kodaikanal and closest to Chennai.

 

Well, you cannot go atop the 'Pillar rocks' and shout in earnest joy, but you could stand at a view point adjacent to the Pillar Rocks and drench by the beauty of the nature.

[arifismyname]

Monsoon, Mist and madness are a perfect combo especially with the fog surrounding the rocks will make you rethink if this holds any mystery with nature.

 

 

 

Silver cascade falls, Kodaikanal

 

Uprooted trees of Banyan at Devil's Kitchen, Guna caves.

 

 

 

Having spent 2 nights and 3 days in Vattakanal, Kodaikanal, I set my drive back to the base 

 

Hope this helps our fellow travel enthusiasts to a certain extent in making their travel a glorious one. Cheers!

 

[Gowtham]

Beautiful pictures, eye feast and refreshing.
Visited Kodaikanal in 2010, never got a chance to visit again,
 

11 hours ago, arifismyname said:

Number of days required to do Hyderabad - Kodiakanal - Hyderabad : 6 days (must)

 I feel this place is much better compared to Ooty(over crowded), but driving from Hyderabad to Kodaikanal in a single day is going to be hectic.

Agree that 6 day plan is a must for a road trip.

 

11 hours ago, arifismyname said:

Mannavanur lake, Vattakanal - A sojourn to paradise

Nature at its best.

 

Thank you for sharing.

[Saran]

11 hours ago, arifismyname said:

Monsoon, Mist and madness are a perfect combo especially with the fog surrounding the rocks will make you rethink if this holds any mystery with nature.

Amazing capture bro.. kudoss[emoji108]


 

[shiva]

Breath taking pictures.

Truly a wonderful travel story.

 

I can see lot of passion in your pictures.

You made my day.

 

Keep traveling buddy, would love to see more from you.

[prabhum]

Breath taking photographs.
Nice work Arif.

 

[sagar]

Your pictures had left me speechless. Just wow.. Mind blowing stuff @arifismyname. Keep posting brother.. Your log is making us wait for such an eye feast and leaving us in thirst 

[brteja]

Brilliant stuff sir. Respect for the pictures that you have captured and the way you have potrayed your whole holiday. Vattakanal is one place I always wanted to visit. If I mauy ask, I have heard a lot about the magic mushrooms over there. Is it a fantasy or in real

[murthy]

Perfect is the word I can use for this log. Brilliant pictures accompanied by some superbly detailed narration. Every bit of what is needed for a traveler exists in this travelogue. Kudos @arifismyname

[tejub]

Amazing pictures@arifismyname. This post drives me back to my memories as u go ...on my day 1 [emoji41]

Road leading to greenery [emoji41]walk scenes






Jain Temple





Vattakanal falls



On way to dolphin nose ... trust me its really a small amazing trek !!




At the echo point



Chruch point




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[hsudhir]

Awesome pictures @arif and @bteju .. Excellent information too..

[Gowtham]

Nice pictures @teju b

Kodikanal vs Wayanada, which one is your pick?
Considering you have visited both the places in monsoon.

[arifismyname]

 @Ranger @prabhum @murthy@sagar@brteja @teju b Thank you all. It has been a wonderful trip no doubt and I wish there were rains during my visit. Monsoon feel between the hills would be the best.

[mayank]

I absolutely have no words for those pictures. Mind blowing stuff @arifismyname I have been to kodaikanal before but, I haven't felt it this beautiful as i see it here in our pictures. Superb.

[murthy]

Truly breathtaking stuff there.. will this be the right time to visit Kodaikanal? I am planning to visit during the last week of August for 5 days. Please suggest the possible itinerary. TIA

[uday]

Fantastic pictures. Kodiakanal, Ooty and Munnar, which one has best views.

[Gowtham]

Fantastic pictures. Kodiakanal, Ooty and Munnar, which one has best views.

All the three places are unique in their own ways.
In terms of landscapes I personally like Munnar over Ooty and Kodai.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[sagar]

17 hours ago, uday said:

 Kodiakanal, Ooty and Munnar, which one has best views.

@Ranger well said. Only disadvantage is that, all these 3 places are over crowded. Scope to enjoy nature at these places can happen only when you choose to stay at a place which has good views unlike staying in the town area and traveling to the tourist destinations.  

[SK01]

On 7/13/2017 at 5:46 AM, arifismyname said:

Monsoon, Mist and madness are a perfect combo especially with the fog surrounding the rocks will make you rethink if this holds any mystery with nature.

 

 

 

Silver cascade falls, Kodaikanal

 

Uprooted trees of Banyan at Devil's Kitchen, Guna caves.

 

 

 

Having spent 2 nights and 3 days in Vattakanal, Kodaikanal, I set my drive back to the base 

 

Hope this helps our fellow travel enthusiasts to a certain extent in making their travel a glorious one. Cheers!

 

Beautiful pictures @arifismyname

 

Really helpful for enthusiasts to plan. A perfect trip report. Thanks for sharing. 

[Shekar]

Very nice and informative log and Awesome captures. Loved it. 

[karthik]

Perfect timing. Planning to do Kodaikanal coming December. Pictures are breath taking man.