It was that time of the year. I had to connect with my backend blog team and the meeting point this time was Trivandrum – my team Infynith’s office, a small and moderate affair. I was determined to get a high-quality video out to promote my Travelthon and my team Infynith was determined to complete my dream. We hired an SUV and decided to drive all the way to the hill station Kodaikanal. It was a 450 km drive – More than 13-hour journey into the State of Tamil Nadu. We were booked into an outhouse right up on the hills with a panoramic view of the lush green hills and, of course, the Kodai Lake with a constant mist floating in the sky. We started our morning shoot in a wooden hut outside the outhouse. The balcony of the hut stared into the crevasses of the green-blue mountains. Shiju of Team Infynith got the Canon Mark IV camera ready as I stood in front of the camera to give my delivery like a VJ for a travel show. We also used the GoPro for the first time to shoot the video. The GoPro is a really good invention. One can get crazy angles with this camera.
Next stop to shoot was the Kodai Lake. After a bit of boating, it was time to try the street snacks around the lake. I bit my teeth into a boiled corn nob and then glided away on the footpath nibbling at a candy floss. There were shops selling chocolate and candy. I felt like a child as I tore over the wrapper to suck on the dark chocolate. Pelican Peek is another attraction here. It is two huge peeks covered with mist. The mist moves around the peaks and we can get a look at them from time to time. All the while, my crew was busy filming me as I educated my audience about the philosophy and various features about my travel blog. I also dived into the local cuisine enjoying prawn and fish the most. In the south, it was very irritating to find that my brand of cigarette was missing. Yes, sir! Classics here! So all I had was Gold Flake.
The other highlight of the day was when I was attacked by monkeys at the pinewood forest. I was enjoying my evening snack of boiled corn and the monkeys wanted it. Out of fear and exasperation, I threw the corn nob and let them have it. Kodaikanal is indeed a wonder. Littered with tea plantations, it is described as the queen of the hills, at least, for South India. The entire day was captured by us on the GoPro. We drove back to our base in Thiruvananthapuram at night. Again, it was a very long and arduous journey. I slept all the way only to be woken up by the humdrum of the streets as we arrived back into this ancient city of Thiruvananthapuram. Our last stop will be to capture the Padmanabhaswamy Temple which one of the largest Vishnu Temples in India and also the richest. It is said that the ancient kings and rulers hid their wealth in the storehouses of this temple to protect it from Mongol invaders.