Visiting the hills

Well what a difference five years could make..the last time we went to Kodaikanal we rejoiced,we oohhed and aahhed and explored each and every spot leisurely and basked in the cool breeze that was always blowing,roamed and shopped around in our own pace and most importantly there was a manageable size of tourist crowd at that time.This time around everything was just to the contrary thanks to the increasing number of tourists and the government failing to address the crowd control problem.

We could be at fault in selecting a long weekend to visit the hills but after our visit we have heard many others complaining that even weekdays are like this in Kodaikanal these recent years.

While last time there were times when we were the only ones on the road...

this time we had to inch along everywhere with a long line of vehicles in front and back of us

but that did not mean we did not have fun.The traffic gave us an opportunity to get out of the car and have a leisure walk in the hill roads making one of my longtime wishes come true

after mastering the art of walking in the slopes, we started to click the distant buildings that were visible afar from the top

We saw many monkeys bothering the tourists but these two were content to chat with each other

then we saw this pit of plastic wares confiscated from tourist cars on the way to Berijam lake..

there were these new vegetation being planned along hill slopes to compensate for the fallen trees

We did not visit the Berijam lake as it was said to run dry in Summer months.Even the silver falls had only a single thread of water falling on

After a short stop at the guna caves we went straight to the Pillar rocks which we had been eagerly waiting to visit again. After lunch the weather changed and the Sun bid us goodbye to moody clouds setting a good backdrop for viewing the pillar rocks.

if you really zoom well,you can see a cross in one of the pillar rocks

which proves the fact that the top of the rocks were once accessible but now totally closed for obvious safety reasons

Then the next spot we enjoyed(walking) was the Coaker's walk route, from where you can see the distant hills and the faraway plains beyond the hills clearly 

by this time the climate had changed and it started raining but thankfully we had some  shade in nearby to escape ..

(to be continued)...

A foggy morning

Finally our prayers answered and yesterday night it rained. A LOT .Thank God. Today I woke up to a pleasant morning, chilly and misty and breezy - a welcome change to the morning heat we were enduring these days past. 

Today's morning climate brought me the memories of a foggy morning we had in late February.The previous night was just as usual,nothing different but the next morning we woke up to this blanket of fog.

Everything completely covered in a thick layer of fog making it difficult to see past even a couple of meter's distance. Of course I loved it...which will come as no surprise for those who know me.

The coconut trees in the nearby fields

I had come across such a foggy morning only once before in my lifetime when I was in higher secondary. I had an important exam that day and I had to travel in a bus to my school (thats 10 km away) and that morning we had a heavy fog which became so intense as the morning hours unfolded.With all the traffic driving in dead slow speed keeping safety in mind,we had a tough time reaching school on time. We were almost two hours late to school and so did my teachers and finally the exam was cancelled. We were elated and euphoric in class loudly thanking the weather Gods for the exam postponement.I thanked a dose extra as that was one of my loveliest trip to school enjoying the fog all through the bus journey.

The spotted dove kept cooing - maybe she was shivering as well.

Today's morning brought me the memories of both those wonderful mornings from the past. The plants loved the downpour too and all looked afresh. If only the clouds could keep it up and bring us some more rain... Eternal wish.. eh?

Zero shadow bunny

Okay, Nerd time ON.

Since the start of this year, I had been itching to get to zero shadow day. A simple google search would have told me when is the zero shadow day for where I live but I went the old school way and started monitoring my shadow whenever I was out in the sun starting from March and calculating the advent of zero shadow day on my own. This was in March.

And during this experiment,I was astonished to figure out that the Sun's path in the sky is not a straight line as I had imagined all these days but the Sun takes a path rather like this.

Picture from the internet

As April neared, it dawned on me how skilled our ancestors were in astronomy when they chose April 14 to celebrate the Tamil new year day. Yeah, the sun was only a few inches short of being right above us when April started.And on April 18,four days after the Tamil new year, it was zero shadow day in my place.I took this photo when my garden bunny hopped happily to pose for me to show the zero shadow that was cast. 

Now the first zero shadow day is crossed, there is one more that will occur in August. Hope I am able to take a picture on August 24 and share it.I learnt a lot with this little experiment of mine and I am content for this year,astronomy wise,even if I go this year without seeing a meteor shower.