Day 05 – Kodaikanal to Munnar
In Kodaikanal, I stayed at Greenlands Youth Hostel. It’s one of my most expensive accomodations in India at 1200Rp. It has sweeping views of the mountains.
Day 04 – Kumily (Thekkady) to Kodaikanal
This is a shot of Periyar Lake taken from a KTDC boat. To get to this boat was an experience to be told. At 530am, I reached the entrance of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary only to find hordes of vehicles behind the closed gate. I squeezed my Enfield to the front, parked it and joined the human queue for park entry tickets. In front of me was Hiren, an Indian from Australia. He told me that he was here yesterday as well but couldn’t get any boat tickets for him and his wife. Looking at the long queues, I could see how that can happen and I was not too confident about catching the 7am KTDC boat today either. Hiren then asked if I could pillion him on my motorcycle from the park entrance to the KTDC boat office by the lake as his car was way behind the other vehicles. I readily agreed but not before informing him of my incompetency with the bike. We soon bought our park entrance tickets, started our engines and readied ourselves on the motorcycle while giving fierce looks to our competitors. At 610am, the gates of hell opened and the world’s most dangerous rally race flagged off. As vehicles sped and jostled for space, I gradually fell out the top 10 positions. It’s definitely not helped by the dark. There were also humps along the way. Every time we spotted a hump, it’s too late and we went “Wooooooaaaaaaahhh” as we flew through the air, half-expecting ourselves to fall off our bike. Realising that our bike remained on solid ground and our continual survival in the 3km race, we laughed hysterically. It’s really crazy. Near the KTDC boat office, we quickly abandoned the bike and sprinted to the ticket queue. We made it!