Ooty

Time: Apr 3-5 2009

Place: Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, Ooty (aka Udagamandalam aka Ootacamund) via Bandipur and Mudumalai forest, Coonoor, Srirangapatna

Company: Parents and wife

Album: Click here

Highlights:

Day 0:

Left on Apr 2nd at 6 pm to Mysore in car. After a brief stopover at Mandya, reached Mysore at 9 pm. Maintained a steady 80-100 kmph on the beautiful Bangalore-Mysore road. Driving on this road at night is like playing a night car race video game! Stayed overnight at my aunt’s place in Vijayanagar area. Awesome house and total tranquility – Mysore at its very best!

Day 1:

Left Mysore after breakfast at 8:30 am. Reached Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta at about 11 am via Nanjangud and Gundlupet. Road is not so good for a short duration but otherwise motorable. Ascent is quite steep to the top of the hill. There is a huge legend behind this temple but the gist of it is that, there is always mist (hima in Kannada) on the idol, which is sprayed over the devotees. During winter, there is mist and water droplets on the roofs of the temple and even on trees. During summer, it is extremely windy and has an amazing view all sides of the temple. It is a trekker’s paradise as there are trek paths leading from the temple to many peaks nearby.

After Gopalaswamy Betta, we were back on our way to Ooty. Road goes through Bandipur forest area for quite a while where we are not supposed to stop or honk and maintain a low speed as animals are bound to be in and around the road. Deer, monkey, elephant, etc are common sights on this road.

After Bandipur, we enter Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai forest area. This area is a tiger reserve area but we were able to sight a herd of elephants. After a while, road forks into two. Road to the right goes to Ooty via Gudalur and road to left goes to Ooty via Masinagudi. Former takes 30 kms extra and is a gradual ascent and has Pykara falls on the way. Latter is 30 kms shorter but is extremely steep ascent and only skilled drivers should use this route to either climb or descend. But both roads are in excellent condition and are a joy to drive especially because they have so much scenic beauty.

Had lunch at Gudalur – Theppakkadu area in a wonderful restaurant and proceeded towards Ooty. Reached Pyakara Falls 25 kms before Ooty. It is a beautiful place with wonderful flowing water. One can classify it as Level 3 Rapids. Have to walk about half a kilometer from the road though.

Just a few kms later on road, we reached another view point. It was unnamed though. We had to climb a small hillock to enjoy one of the most magnificent views ever. It seemed just like the Swiss Alps except of course the snow!

There are more and more view points such as Glenmorgan, Needle-rock, etc which are all equally beautiful. Finally, reached Ooty at 4.30 pm. Had reserved online on makemytrip.com a room at Orchid inn on the Ooty-Coonor road. Unfortunately, the hotel was undergoing renovation and was filled with paint smell. Also the service of the hotel staff was not so much talk about and it is not a hotel to be recommended.

At 5 pm, we went to the Boat House and went boating. It takes about 25 mins on the cool Ooty Lake and it was splendid. Boat House is also a park and has some rides for the kids. Spent some time relaxing at the park and had some snacks. The Ooty cold began at 7 pm, and boy, was it chilly! A great respite from the Bangalore summer!

Had dinner at Saravanaas and it was bad! Slept at 10 pm.

Day 2:

At 8:30 am we were at the Railway station to catch the train to Coonoor. Train stretch from Metupalyam to Coonoor is supposed to be the best scenic railway line which is handled by a steam locomotive. However, we took the diesel locomotive’s Ooty-Coonoor stretch which is about 1 hour. This route too is scenic and the train itself is enjoyable with small coaches and a very different experience. If an unreserved coach is taken, this route costs only Rs 3!

Reached Coonoor after Lovedale, Aravankadu, Ketti, Wellington stations. Each station is more than a century old! At Coonoor, we didn’t think much about taking a package tour and just had Sim’s park in our plan. So took an auto to Sim’s park. It is a nice park with terraces and each terrace being a storey higher than the next. At the end, we have a small lake with boating facility and childern’s park.

Then, took an auto with a package of Dolphin’s Nose view point, Pregnant Lady Sleeping view point and Lamb’s rock view point. Dolphin’s Nose is the farthest point and is at about 13 kms from Coonoor. Again, the road is scenic and winding and very narrow. Several times, there were traffic problems as two oncoming vehicles cannot pass on the same stretch and one or the other has to reverse back until such a point where two vehicles can pass.

Each of the scenic view point is good. Because of the clear sky, we could see Metupalyam (which is the base of the Nilgiri mountain range on which we were) and further up was Coimbatore. Lots and lots of tea estates. Took snaps amidst the tea estates.

At the Dolphin’s Nose view point, there is also a view of a waterfalls. Tiny but still see-able. Apparently, from the waterfalls, place where we were standing looks like a Dolphins Nose and hence the name. Lamb’s rock is a view point from a small hillock which can be reached only after a half hour’s trek and hence we couldn’t go on it. Pregnant Lady Sleeping is the name given to a range of hills which looks as if a pregnant lady is sleeping. Reached back the railway station on time at 1:30 pm to catch the same train back to Ooty.

After lunch at Ooty – we started having our breakfast and lunch and dinner at Hotel Paradise which is on the Ooty-Coonoor Road which is pretty decent, after the bad experience at Saravanaas – we then headed towards Dodda Betta which is about 12 kms from Ooty. More winding roads and steepness but manageable. Dodda Betta is the peak amidst the Nilgiris range of hills. Panaromic view of the entire Nilgiris Hills range.

On our way back, we went to tea factory and tea museum. Nothing great about it but it was a nice visit. Then, we headed to Botanical garden. It is a beautiful garden and very wide. Nice place to just relax and walk and spend time amidst lush greenery.

Day 3:

Got up late as nothing was planned for the day. After breakfast, headed on road to Lovedale as it contained Lawrence school where my aunt had studied. But security guard was very strict and did not allow us in nor allowed us to take any photographs. It looked massive and absolutely fortified!

Checked out at 10:45 and headed back towards Bangalore. But this time we took the Masinagudi road which was 30 kms less and is very winding and steep. There is an arguable point of view that climbing up on this road is better than descending as the brake pads get heated up. But the argument against is that on the way up, lots of coolant is exhausted and is an absolute stress testing on the vehicle.

Afterwards, we join the Mudumalai – Bandipur road once again. Had lunch at Gundlupet in a nondescript hotel. Next stop was at Srirangapatna river bathing ghat. Had a wonderful time at the river with the cool breeze and a nice relaxing time after almost 5 hours of journey. Then visited Srirangapatna temple. After that, headed directly back to home. Reached home at 7 pm.

Overall, had driven about 660 kms. Alto gave about 18-20 kms mileage. Initially had planned on going in bus but the drive was the best part in this trip because the road is scenic all the way. In and around mysore, it is filled with lush greenery because of the river Cauvery river basin and then the Nilgiris Hill ranges start. Road is also very good all the way except for a stretch about 6 kms. Ooty was a long sought after trip that finally materialized this Ramanavami long weekend! A very memorable trip indeed!