[shishir_bn]

Initially the plan was to do a right most part of South India like madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Kodai and then come back to B'lore.

But due to non availability of leaves the plan was changed to Palani-Kodai-Madurai and then come back to B'lore

But came to know that Palani to Kodai road was under construction and we had to come back to Dindigul and then goto Kodai which would have taken half day and we would lose one day just in driving up and down.

So decided to do just Kodai and Madurai and the rest of the places next time

We knew the roads upto Dindigul was fantastic. This Salem road has become my dream road for all the reasons I have.

So on Friday morning at 5am we started from Bangalore. The road leading to Kodai

[laluks]

Long time. Good to see a travel note from you.

I am keen on knowing about Madurai, since like you i also have an inclination to do a similar madurai Rameshwaram trip some day.

How did Xylo do on the ghats? My kids have seen a friend's Xylo and they both loved the rear independant seats.

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by laluks

Long time. Good to see a travel note from you.

I am keen on knowing about Madurai, since like you i also have an inclination to do a similar madurai Rameshwaram trip some day.

How did Xylo do on the ghats? My kids have seen a friend's Xylo and they both loved the rear independant seats.

Thanks Lalu. Was busy with the travels. You are the travel king man. I know you can do that stretch anytime.

Xylo did wonderfully well on the ghats. It was nicely pulling in 3rd gear itself. As you said the space is too good. Nice to know that atleast some people like it.

[shishir_bn]

So we knew the road upto Dindigul and after we passed the dindigul we got confused since the flyover was taking us to Madurai and there is no board which mentions the route to Kodai.

We had to reverse from the flyover to join the service road and when asked the route they told, we need to take the road below the flyover and then immediate right so that we will be on the right side of the highway driving on the service road.

So we took the same road and to my shock the NH7 is running parallel to us and in the next flyover it shows the mark to kodai. We could have easily gone on NH7 rather than the service road.

After you pass this flyover it is 92kms to Kodai. Single lane and full of traffic. There are no petrol bunks on this road. You get one shoddily maintained BP bunk at Sampatty(AFAIK the name). Almost 13kms from the main Madurai NH7. The next bunk is almost at the middle of the ghat section.

When we finished half way, there was a toll to enter the Kodai. I was shocked to see a DEPORT team welcoming us.



The fog started from the point where we entered the Kodai. First up was the silver cascade falls.

We didn't stop here as the place was fully crowded and no place to park also. So it was just a glimpse of the falls. Some views of the falls





After we finished the silver cascade falls, we started our climb again. But then the fog was building up and it was the time for 90/100 to work overtime.

Some pics of the fog along with some vehicles, surroundings and the road.

[shishir_bn]

Some more fog snaps.

[shishir_bn]

It was raining very heavily and added to it cars flying from the opposite direction. All the temp travelers, cabs, lorries, private buses were coming so fast that it is very difficult for people going up the ghat.

Some more pics of the fog and road.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing. I realized during my recent climb from Masinagudi to Ooty people seem to ignore the basic rule of leaving way to the vehicles climbing up. There is a lot of "Chalta Hai" attitude among drivers coming down if the vehicle climbing up loses momentum because of their poor road sense.

The fun is no more there when you visit Ooty or Kodai during weekends. You end up joining a traffic jam at every other Jn.

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing. I realized during my recent climb from Masinagudi to Ooty people seem to ignore the basic rule of leaving way to the vehicles climbing up. There is a lot of "Chalta Hai" attitude among drivers coming down if the vehicle climbing up loses momentum because of their poor road sense.

The fun is no more there when you visit Ooty or Kodai during weekends. You end up joining a traffic jam at every other Jn.

Exactly. Nowadays these temp travelers, lorries and buses don't care for any vehicles which are climbing up. The same case when they are climbing up., They will take the whole road and will not leave any space if they see the vehicle in front is a private vehicle.

Both Ooty and Kodai are full commercialized place now. It is no less that a city traffic at peak hours.

[ampere]

I was pleasantly surprised to see a KSRTC bus approaching Kodai in the snaps. I checked their website and realized that there is a night KSRTC Volvo starting at 9:45 to Kodai.

[brraj]

As usual nice travalogue. What was the cost involved for the whole trip.

[Travel_newbie]

What time did you reach kodai? i guess it is around 500 kms, so it must have taken around 9-10 hours, considering ghat roads and traffic

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by ampere

I was pleasantly surprised to see a KSRTC bus approaching Kodai in the snaps. I checked their website and realized that there is a night KSRTC Volvo starting at 9:45 to Kodai.

Yes there is a KSRTC Volvo and I was following the same so that the oncoming vehicles will give space for us too.

Originally Posted by brraj

As usual nice travalogue. What was the cost involved for the whole trip.

Thanks Raj. I don't know about the cost. I covered total of 1200kms and I got an FE of almost 16kmpl. I think it was almost 2.6/- per km.

[shishir_bn]

So finally we made upto the centre of the Kodai which is the Kodai Lake.

We went to a place called "Pillar Rocks"-->Three boulders stand here, shoulder to shoulder, vertically measuring 122 meters. This place is around 7kms from the Kodai lake.

Everyone says it gives a majestic sight, but we couldn't see it as the area was full of fog.

After this we went to "Solar Physical Observatory". It is situated 32 kms from the lake. AFAI remember it was founded in 1989. This observatory is the highest point in Kodai.

Some pic of the Pillar rock area and en-route to this place. But they didn't allow us to take pics in the Solar observatory.

[Fordmanchau]

Hey Shishir,
Nice travelogue and good pics.
The road to Kodai looks mighty crowded. Looks like you went during the peak season.
Why do the pics look washed out? doesn't look like proper camera pics ?
Awaiting more updates.

[shishir_bn]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Hey Shishir,
Nice travelogue and good pics.
The road to Kodai looks mighty crowded. Looks like you went during the peak season.
Why do the pics look washed out? doesn't look like proper camera pics ?
Awaiting more updates.

Thanks man.
Ya it was fully crowded and I think I went during the peak season itself. Too many vehicles and too many people.
Luckily I could get these pic when the fog was less. Otherwise there was no point in taking out the camera itself. Due to fog covered all over the pics might be looking as washed out pics.