We were on a long trip in South India, Kodaikanal in the state of Tamil Nadu was our last stop. After touring the length and breadth of beautiful hill station since morning, our tour guide finally took us to one the biggest tourist attractions in the town– the Kodaikanal Lake.
The Kodaikanal Lake is a man-made lake which was constructed in the year 1863. Today the lake houses a boat club, a boathouse and a boat service tourists. The lake is star-shaped, located in the heart of the town of Kodaikanal and is surrounded by lush green hills, which also are the main watershed for the lake.
High up in the mountains, the beautiful lake seems like it was pulled out of a fairytale. We reached the boathouse and had the option of choosing from rowing boats, pedaling boats and a public ferry. We chose the pedal boat after my suggestion, as I have used it before and recalled a fun experience.
We sat in the boat and saw the beautiful calm lake, reflecting the sun’s rays, surrounded by exotic trees on the banks. It was one of the most beautiful places that I visited in my long south Indian trip.It was a bit windy and it was coming from the westward direction, the place we were planning to pedal to. We already were exhausted as we were touring the city since the morning and pedaling against the wind seemed like a herculean task. Soon after we realized it was a bad choice to opt for the pedal boat.Not only did we have a tough time pedaling, but steering it was an arduous task well. There was a moment we decided to stop pedaling and just give into the beautiful surroundings.
Now we were stuck in the somewhat the middle of the lake and we weren’t even able to reach back to the boathouse. After fighting our way and giving it one last try we managed to reach the boathouse – finally!There is a Boat Pageant and a Flower Show that are held in the summer season which attract tourists from far and wide, we visited the place during the monsoon season so we missed out on that.
Although our experience was a bit tarnished by the pedal boat, I must say the beautiful lake made up for it. It was way beyond our expectations, a soothing calm place with the birds chirping, the misty fog blowing across the woods, the beautiful cobalt blue color of the lake made it almost look like something from an impressionist painting.
