Rameshwaram-Dhanushkodi-Madurai-Kodaikanal

2nd July: That night we left to Rameshwaram.  The place where Rama prayed to Lord Eshwara. Hence, Rameshwaram.
After a full night journey, we reached the island after crossing the age old Pamban bridge. We freshned ourselves and proceeded to see the longest corridor in the Rameshwaram temple.  After witnessing Lord Shiva, we headed to the most important place of our tour: Dhanushkodi. One of the best places I have ever visited.  We hired an auto from Rameshwaram to Dhanushkodi. We traveled in a straight road where we saw the endless sea and a no man's land.  The Auto dropped us in the beginning of Dhanushkodi.  Further, we got a van which would take us to the tip of the land and also show us the Ghost town of Dhanushkodi.  This was completely destroyed in the cyclones that took place in 1984. This ride was so amazing that, at one point, I just admired the beauty of the sea shore. 

I remembered the Rann of Kutch because of the endless plain land.  I remembered the pangong lake situated in Ladakh because we saw a very similar Lake in the middle. We also saw the place where Rama built the Ramasethu bridge. Then we saw the ruins of a church, railway station. The ruins looked beautiful with the sea and plain white land in the background. Of course, in the entire journey, we were getting roasted in the hot sun.  But this became insignificant in front the beautiful place we were in.  We were also fortunate to see a naval ship which could move in both land and water.  So after returning from Dhanushkodi, we had a delicious lunch in one of the restaurants in Rameshwaram.  In the evening, we again went to Agnitgeertham to see the huge beautiful moon above the Bay of Bengal. 

Next day, we were so fortunate to witness a perfect sunrise from the sea.  One beautiful picturesque scene to witness. An orange ball emerging from the blue sea.

 

Then we got into the Madurai bus. Madurai was very scorching hot. Even then, we were fortunate to retain the energy to visit the very famous Meenakshi temple. A grand temple. 

Then we visited the Thirumalai Nayakkar palace. Another photogenic place with really good architecture. People were so talented and creative back then. I think we should start adopting their methods. 

So, from the very hot Madurai, we proceeded to Kodaikanal.  We took a bus from Madurai to Butlagundu.  From there, we took another bus to Kodiakanal.  The ascend to the hill was just out of the world. 

This is were I met a beautiful lady named Meena. We spoke throughout the journey and she actually invited me to her house. Yes, this happens only in India. It was dark when we reached our resort: United 21. For the first time in my experience, Google maps showed the wrong address. It was actually around 4 km from the main city. Next morning, we were so happy to wake to this breathtaking view.

For the next two days, we opted for day tours to visit the places around Kodaikanal. The weather was so pleasant that it was a pleasure to see all the places with more enthusiasm. We visited a protected forest which was the home for many view points, lakes and waterfalls. We really couldn't see all the views due to the mist. 

 

 

Next day, we visited the Guna Caves. This place is beautiful. But, due to many bad incidents, the cave is closed for visitors. But, it is a home for some extraordinary plants and trees.

 

We went through the Coaker's walk were we could see an areal view of the city. 

Kodaikanal is also a home for the Bryent's Park. This has some amazing collection of  flora. We played in the park for some time and then headed back to the bus stand. Our bus was scheduled at 6:30 PM. We hopped onto it and reached Bangalore around 5:30 AM. 

To sum up, this was a very nice exploration which was very smooth in spite of travel by local means. 

So, here I am,

Traveling, capturing and learning :)