Kodaikanal – Best Tour Package for 5$
Well, I kept the second half of my second day for this article. As I wanted to share with you guys the best and cheapest way to visit everything that Kodaikanal is famous for.
The Tour Guide Came Over to My Room
Yeah, this is quite funny that the Tour Guy with his office inside the Kodaikanal Bus Stop. Goes to the rooms of the hotel we were staying to give his awesome tour offer. Like not an offer, but his service where they take you around tours from morning till evening in these minibuses. You will be accompanied by many people, but they charge you just 300 INR for visiting 7 spots. Isn’t that great with the taxi drivers charging you a fortune and most hill stations don’t have any proper transport to reach a place. And also no rental bikes you get on the beaches.
There are different types of packages you can select at the same rate and depending on the distance and time they have selected places you can go to. I took the package where they take you around the city first and later towards the round circle of places like Moir Point, Pine Tree Forest and many more. I will be putting the places I visited in the same pattern I visited so let’s begin.
1. Coaker’s Walk
With seats for everyone, we started from the Kodaikanal Bus Station for the first spot the Coaker’s Walk. Which was about ⅕ km from the bus station. So you have to pay the entry fees to this place and the others you visit as it’s included in the package. It was just 10 INR fee for entering the area and it is an evening walking area for people.
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With the beautiful view of the mountains, valley and the surroundings of Kodaikanal. It is a 1km pedestrian walk constructed on the steep slope of the mountain. Constructed in 1872 by Lt. Coaker this place is among the best places you can visit in Kodaikanal. The place is at 2133 metres above sea level, giving it an awesome weather to walk in. Even you can bring in bicycles at this place, cycling is also an activity you can do around Kodaikanal and they charge you 20 INR/cycle for an hour. Also, they have 2 telescope houses with charges at 20 INR to get a closer look at the valley. You are not allowed to move it around except the spot its fixed at. There are 2 telescopes in either of the telescope houses. We were there for 30 mins after which we headed towards our second spot.
2. La Saleth Church
We were back on our bus for the next spot on our way the La Saleth Church. It is one of the oldest churches in Tamil Nadu, built in 1866 by Father Louis Santsceer. Dedicated to the memory of Lady of La Saleth it is one of the two churches built in her memory, And the other is located in France.
Every year in August they celebrate this festival of nine days which attracts lakhs of devotees to the place. And at the end of the festival, they organise a grand and colourful carnival. We spent some time in the peaceful surroundings with my co-tourists and returned to the bus
3. Upper Lake View
Our next and last stop in the city was the Upper Lake View, after which we were going to the main tourist spots of Kodai. It is the best spot to see the Kodaikanal Lake and the surroundings. As everything looked like a miniature from here, including the 6 km long lake. We didn’t waste much time here as it had nothing except the spectacular view.
And also as I took the last tour of the day so it was not confirmed if I will be able to visit all the places as they close by 5:30 PM.
4. Moir Point
Moir Point the next place we were heading to was about 7 km from there. We were getting traffic now with the other tour buses and tourist vehicles. Making it not possible to cover the shorter distances the spots were located at. We were now deep into the forests of Kodaikanal, with monkeys around on almost all the trees.
Moir Point is located at the entrance of the forest. Named after Sir Thomas Moir who started the construction of the Goschen Road in 1929. They have made a memorial with mention of this event. It is the most visited places by the tourists and with the memorial, it also offers a marvellous bird’s viewpoint of the hills and villages surrounding the area. They also have a playground built for the kids with seesaws, swings and slides.
5. Pine Tree Forest
The Pine Tree Forest is also one of the famous spots for the number of movies shot here. Like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and many other Tamil movies. This forest is an effort of Mr Bryant where he started planting the pine trees in 1906 to increase the availability of timber. The forest is surrounded by mushroom vegetations often referred as magic mushrooms, which are considered hallucinogenic.
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It is a wonderful spot to click pictures as you don’t see anything except the trees till a distance. The total spread of the forest is around 3000 acres. You will definitely admire the beauty of the place as you walk around the forest.
6. Guna Caves
One of the places I was excited about, but we were stuck badly in the traffic and the place was closed till we reached there. But I had already planned to visit this place the next morning. So we started the ride to our last spot the Pillar Rocks.
7. Pillar Rocks
This was the last spot on our tour, but the gates were closed as we were late to reach here as well. As the place was getting dark, so we had to start our trip back to Kodaikanal. But I was all set to visit these two spots on the next day.
I mentioned both of these places even though I was not able to visit them because if I would have taken the early morning tour. I would have reached on time, so will suggest you guys take the tour, but the earlier one as you wouldn’t want to miss these spots on your visit. The day ended after my dinner at The Royal Tibet restaurant in Kodaikanal. The Thukpa was awesome and if you are looking for a place to eat. Definitely head over here, it’s tough to get a seat, but the food is worth the wait.
You would not want to miss the next article where I visit the other two places so see you guys then. Subscribe to the newsletter to never miss an article.