'There & Back Again' 

6 of us boys and girls started our journey on a Wednesday night from Bangalore via Self Drive Car (Scorpio). We left bangalore at 10pm moving towards Hosur road. We stopped for dinner near shoolagiri around 12am in a typical truckers dhaba where you get to have dinner on the hand sewed wooden cots. After having sumptuous food we resumed our journey with full bellies and blast music. We took the salem-namakal-dindigul route and reached kodaikanal check post by 6am. Do not carry any alchohol or any such items as it is illegal to carry from outer state. Our car was thoroughly checked for alcohol or weed etc from top to bottom (literally). After the police found nothing he let us through the post and then came the wonderful Ghat Section of Kodai 'The Princess of the Hills'. The road was just awesome and the scenery is out of the world. Coming up over the ghat we stopped for breakfast in a Tiffin Cart where we were treated with Hot Idlis and Vadas. The temperature was very low and we were freezing. We then reached kodaikanal bus stand Where Mr.Jenova , our cottage owner had arrived to escort us to Vatta. Vattakanal is around 6 to 7 kms from Kodai. Usually taxi drivers will take you there for 300 or 400 bucks. We entered into an abode of mist and cool breeze lurking through our windows and looked out to see the mystical hills with clouds hovering over them. All of a sudden we reached a dead and that was it ! We were in Vattakanal! We saw more than too many foreigners and later learnt that people travel from israel and italy to stay here for a few months round the year. We parked our car and moved to our cottage which is almost a Trek itself to reach the place. The place was small but cozy enough to fit the six of us. We were 4 boys and 2 girls. It was a 2BHK with beds in hall too. The place is of a Hippie Style. Hippie Culture is one that you would get to see in Vatta. We then slept for a while and then started down towards Dolphins Nose. We stopped in the most 'Hyped' Altaf's Cafe, but didn't find anything amusing with the food served there. The dishes were basically to the taste of forigners and not indians. We then headed down towards Dolphins Nose. It is a 1km trek to dolphins nose. It is a serene walk one can take through the forest into the nature. The View of the hills is just breathtaking. We treated ourselves to some snacks while we were there and headed back to our cottage. We lit a campfire, Barbecued some chicken, ate some grills and Crashed for the night. The next morning we woke up early to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. I got to tell you that watching sun float above the clouds was totally mesmerizing. It was nothing short of wonder for me. It was extremely chilly, but the sunrise gave warmth to our heart (the aww moment). After a home-cooked breakfast we set out to visit other interesting places that this place had to offer. First we visited the kodaikanal lake , where you can find many horses and cycles to take a bout around the lake. We chose the later to catch some exercise. We then went to a waterfall (bear shola) which had no water. Waterfalls around these parts are not much attractive. We had finished seeing all those worth seeing by noon. We later stopped for a traditional TAMILNADU lunch. We also purchased some natural oils and home made chocolates . As we had seen all the places , we still had a another left with us. We then decided to immediately check out and head towards Misty Munnar , which is around 150km from Kodaikanal. The next part of trip will be updated in blogs related to MUNNAR.