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| Kodaikanal Outskirt |
Have you ever heard about the old Eire's leggend "At the end of the rainbow there is a pot of gold"?
No, we are not in Ireland but sometime legends can be universal.
Kodaikanal, which is in Tamil Nadu (India) is the right place to catch rainbows, pots full of gold, faires and pixies. Its ancient forest, green hills and small lakes which appear out of nowhere, make this land spellbinding and the wheel of life proceed in the same way as ancient days.
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| Kodaikanal Streams |
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| Kodaikanal Streams |
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| Kodaikanal Village |
To reach "the fairy realm", from the flat lands of Tamil Nadu you need to ascend the South face of the Palani Hills, close to Madurai. After 2 hours of climbing a breathtaking road you will reach your destination, at 2000mt of altitude.
Kodaikanal is a sleepy, green, picturesque little town developed around a flat lake, forests that hides exquisite chalets and beautiful gardens. The small cottages and guest houses, offers charming wooden rooms, flowered balconies and delicious home made food. I never got bored of walking barefoot in the yard, sipping milk tea and eating small biscuits at 4 o'clock: English colonialism revival?
The "Hill Station" seems to be surprisingly clean, not so crowded (for Indian standards) and offers typical mountain attractions: hiking, trekking, relaxing, delicious home made cheese and the classic "indian" Suicide Point: a 1500mt slope from where you can see the endless flat valley of Tamil Nadu. There are other attractions too, such as the Silver Cascade, Bear Shola falls and Guna Caves.
For the botanical enthusiast I'm happy to announce that on December 2018 is expected the bloom of the flower Kurunji (Strobilanthus Kunthanus), a twelve years blossom that colors all the hills in different shades of blue.
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| Kodaikanal Villages |
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| Tamil Nadu |
What really makes this destination worth of a visit are definitely the outskirts: endless colorful hills and valley crossed by streams, waterfalls and wild horses. Driving on the small roads is as beautiful as turning pages of a fairy tale book that reveals unexpected scenarios; you find yourself in the middle of a decadent but immortal woodland and the next turn an open valley symbolizing the essence of farming come into view, astonishing you with its geometrical perfection and its layers of color.
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| Kodaikanal Farmers |
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| Kodaikanal Fields |
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| Kodaikanal Lake |
Once more, another bend turn the page and the hill literally fall away into an interminable cascade. Some pages are full of busy villagers, playing children and lethargic dogs; others are deserted, allowing you to spot an hawk hunting its pride or a pack of wild horses running for their freedom.
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| Kodaikanal Waterfall |
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| Kodaikanal Kids |
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| Kodaikanal Roads |
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| Kodaikanal Beauty |
The are books who need to be opened and there are places who need to be explored. Kodaikanal it is one among them.
Are you ready to follow the rainbow?
all the material belongs to @inindiaperamore.blogspot.com
