Kodaikanal

A birthday escape into the hills

Sometimes a journey is simply about getting away from the familiar.

For Pragati’s birthday in August 2021, we decided to drive from our home in Chennai to Kodaikanal. Chennai’s humid climate was reason enough to look for some relief in the hills, and Kodaikanal gave us exactly that.

Kodaikanal is one of Tamil Nadu’s best-known hill stations, sitting high in the Palani Hills. Unlike a trip built around a long list of monuments, this was really about the change in atmosphere — leaving the heat of Chennai behind and spending a few days somewhere cooler and slower.

We drove our Hyundai Creta from Chennai and spent the trip at The Carlton Kodaikanal. The hotel is very nicely located right next to Kodaikanal Lake, making it easy to step out for a walk or spend some time boating on the lake. We had booked a deluxe room for two with buffet breakfast and dinner and, apart from the accommodation, kept the trip deliberately simple.

Kodaikanal Lake

Kodaikanal Lake is one of the defining features of the town. The star-shaped lake sits in the middle of Kodaikanal and has long been part of the hill station’s identity.

We visited the lake and spent time around the area, but the most enjoyable experience came from something much simpler than sightseeing.

The Carlton provided complimentary bicycles for its guests, and I decided to cycle around the lake.

The moment that stayed with me most was that ride. It was not something that required planning or a tourist checklist. It was just a beautiful way to experience Kodaikanal — cool air, the lake beside us and the hills around the town.

That became the highlight of Pragati’s birthday trip.

A deliberately slow trip

We also visited a tea factory and the local market. There was no elaborate sightseeing itinerary.

That was intentional.

We had not come to Kodaikanal to see how many attractions we could fit into a weekend. The hills, the cooler weather and the slower pace were really what we had come for.

Kodaikanal has plenty of attractions that could easily fill a sightseeing schedule — viewpoints, waterfalls, forests and other mountain roads — but we were quite happy to let the town itself be the experience.

For Pragati’s birthday, we kept the celebration equally simple — just a cake cutting at the hotel.

Sometimes the best birthday present is simply a change of scenery.

Back through Trichy

On the return journey we came through Trichy.

The route gave me an unexpected opportunity to revisit my engineering college. The college was empty, but I took some time to walk around, visit my old computer lab and simply refresh memories of my college years.

It was a very different kind of stop from the rest of the trip.

A few days earlier I had been cycling around a mountain lake with Pragati. Now I was walking through the place where an earlier version of my life had taken shape, looking at an old computer lab and remembering my engineering years.

The contrast made the return journey more meaningful than a simple drive home.

Looking back

Kodaikanal was therefore a quiet birthday getaway rather than a sightseeing-heavy holiday.

A drive from Chennai, cool mountain weather, a comfortable stay beside the lake, a simple birthday celebration, cycling around the lake and, on the way home, an unexpected visit back to my engineering college.

There was no dramatic adventure and no long list of famous places.

But perhaps that is precisely why I remember it fondly.

Some journeys are about discovering somewhere completely new. Others are about slowing down with someone you love, celebrating a small occasion and enjoying a few days away from the routine.

Kodaikanal was one of those trips.