Vattakanal — Gorgeous views, blood shot eyes, avocado ice creams and some Israel connection
Me and the Mrs planned a short getaway to Vattakanal over a weekend during August 2016 after hearing stories about Vatta (as the stoners like to call it) being a secluded village with gorgeous views of the valley and even better food. What did we find? Read on…
While Vattakanal is a small village, it is certainly not secluded. Just 5 kms away from Kodaikanal, this village is easy to get to. Everyone wants to take you there, everyone wants to show you their “home stay” and everyone wants to sell you “stuff”. While most of the “home stays” are nothing but cheap rooms meant to provide you a roof over head while you doze off your high, there is one professionally run hotel that is overpriced but worth the money only for the view it offers.
What does one do in Vatta? Basically nothing. Dolphin’s nose is the only popular place close to Vatta that is worth a visit. A 3 kilometer walk from Vatta over plastic strewn pathway, the nose is a natural rock formation that has jutted out overlooking the blue valley. The best time to visit this place is after 4pm due to dwindling “tourists” and the fact that locals try to clean up the pathways at this time. Dolphin’s nose offers majestic views, real seclusion if one is lucky and some more. While the trek back up is not an easy one, the shops selling cold avocado ice creams certainly help the trek up! The locals gather small avocado’s which are naturally cold due to the weather and make a pulpy mixture out of the fruit with some sugar. They call it the butter fruit ice cream and is worth every inflated rupee they charge!
Right at the beginning of the pathway to Dolphin’s nose, there is the world famous Altaf’s cafe. Overlooking the same valley, this is a nice option for lazy stoners to sit sipping on overpriced coffee and tea and try and enjoy the views. But alas, all they do is sit with sunglasses over their blood shot eyes even when there is no sun, sip on overpriced coffee or tea and plan on procuring the next “stuff” from the local dealers. Of all the time we were at this cafe, me and the mrs were the only two people with normal eyes and normal disposition feeling out of place in this apparent free spirited little cafe.For some strange reason, the Israeli language seems to be the second language of Vatta with signboards in Israeli and with some shopkeepers speaking the language.Well if the Israeli stoners contribute more to the booming “stuff” economy of Vatta, more power to them!
Should you go to Vatta, maybe if you are bored. Should you send your kids to Vatta, NEVER. It just pains me to see such a serene place overtaken by stoners and people seeking the meaning of life. Overpriced, over stoned and over run is what has become of Vatta. Perhaps someone can clean up the place and bring it back to the way Vatta has to be, serene, quite, small, charming and not smelling of “stuff”
