After a lot of cancelled plans, I just wanted to go somewhere for the year end..anywhere.. When the 114 gang mentioned plans of Kodai, I was already on my toes. I knew that even though the agreed time of departure is 22:00 IST , we would invariably be leaving after mid-night as always. Having that in mind, I went a bit early to JP Nagar to spend some quality time with Deepti.
The most historic event that happened during this trip and I doubt that it will ever repeat is the fact that Maggi was on time! It was hardly 22:30 when I got a call that Maggi is already waiting for us at BTM. None of us could belive this till we actually witnessed this Once in a lifetime occurrence. We set out on our journey to Kodai. Our first stop was at a Cafe Coffee day on Hosur road. We celebrated Anoop’s B’day by a Pastry cutting ceremony. We stopped at some place for a quick breakfast by some 8 in the morning. This trip will be memorable for me as one of the best driving experience I ever had. I had not slept the previous night for some reason I don’t recall now, Despite that, I drove for 530KM in a stretch with hardly any breaks and throughout the night. It was raining at parts and the early morning drive on NH7 was blissful as is seen in that above snap. After breakfast, we headed up the mountains of Kodai through the Ghat sections where Rahul took the wheel. We reached by noon and to say the place was cold would be a gross understatement. I just crashed on the bed as soon as I saw one while the rest of the gang went for lunch.
On New year eve, we were sitting together and were just playing cards indoor. It only got colder in the evening, The visibility was hardly few feet and all we could see was dense fog. We had a nice dinner with the resort guy preparing chapathis and Egg bhurgi and some other curry for us. We all headed back to our rooms by 10ish.
At the 11th hour, We set foot outside to eat Pizza! At literally the 11th hour of news years eve, we set out an expedition in search of pizza. On my normal clothes, I was wearing a thick pullover with a hood and on that I was wearing my thick jacket. I even wore gloves as I felt the severe chills. After a long uphill walk, we discovered the location of Dominos Pizza. I had no appetite for a pizza but that didn’t stop me from having a Choco lava cake! This was one of the yummiest thing I have ever had or may be the long trek made me a bit hungry. We all headed back to the resort as it was close to mid night. The first person I wished this new year was Deepti, This year is gonna be a milestone year for both of us. We all were back to the Resort minutes before mid-night and all hugged each other as the clock struck 12!
I had one of the sweetest sleep of my life on this night in the chilled weather of Kodai. On the first day of the new year, I woke up at 6 without any alarm, I had got complete and deep sleep and at 6, I was as fresh as I can get. It was a beautiful morning with the sun was still looking like a ball of fire hiding behind the mountains. While I witnessed the sun rise, I immediately called up Deepti as I wanted her to be the first person I talk to this year. Kodai was hardly visible the previous day but at 7 in the morning, I could see the beautiful landscape of Kodai. The tiny and nicely built houses on the slopes of the hills reminded me of Switzerland. Only now, I noticed that our car parked outside our room was actually parked on the cliff. AT 7 I was hungry after bath and Rahul was awake too and hence We went to the small hotel across the road for a quick breakfast. I love to eat pongal anywhere in TamilNadu and I love the tengai chutney it comes with. I was having the best day and It only got better after we roamed around Kodai, We saw a couple of tourist spots and did a fair amount of shopping.
The journey back was pleasant except for the hiccup for lunch. The first day of the year was a beautiful experience and I am hoping the year only gets better. I have a lot of things lined up for this year with my marriage on the headlines. I am hoping this year 2012 will only bring good things into my life.
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