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India: Kodaikanal

The lake at Kodaikanal
The beautiful lake that forms the centrepiece of Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal is a hill station. This peculiar brand of colonial creation is increasingly popular with tourists, but Kodai is still fairly embryonic as far as tourism goes; sure, there are plenty of wealthy weekenders paddling about on the lake, but there are none of the high rise hotels that have ruined similar places.

The farmhouse in Pampar Puram
The farmhouse in Pampar Puram, where I whiled away many happy days
Pampar Puram
The main drag in Pampar Puram

Images of Kodaikanal

Of course, very little actually happened during my extended stay in Pampar Puram; that's the whole point of taking time out to relax in a quiet haven. But just for the record, here are a few highlights of my stay in the hills:

And all we did all day was explore, taking some wonderful trips into the hilly forests, discovering waterfalls, villages and yet more happy, friendly locals. It was really hard to move on, but with my original schedule in tatters, I had to move at some point. So I eventually hauled myself out of the farmhouse and headed back down to Madurai, after some nine days of living rough in the hills...