Ooty Trip Oct,08

Ooty also known as Udhagamandalam is the "Queen of hill stations". Located in Nilgiri Hills it is one of the best I have seen in India, especially when the cloud comes to the Ground Level. Coonor, another Hill Station located just 21km from Ooty is not far behind in its beauty, and also know for Tea and Spices. Both of them attacts tourist all round the year for its Lofty mountains, dense forest, sprawling grasslands and miles and miles of tea gardens.

But alas in our short trip to these places, our camera stopped working in the middle of the trip, but still our experiences are worth sharing......

Day 1 

We started from Bangalore by KSRTC Rajhamsa (Rs 260) at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning from Shantinagar Bus Station (KH Road BMTC Bus Stand). By the time it actually started it was 11 AM. And the next stop was in Mysore Road Bus Stand.  Though the bus looked very bad from outside, but seats were good enough!!!

 

The weather was cloudy, so it was a nice trip and by 1:30 PM we reached Mysore. There the bus stopped for 10 mins. We got a lunch break for half an hour in Mysore, in a restaurant very near to the Bus Stand. The food was good there, but the service was very slow.

The road after Mysore was extremely bad and was in its worst condition due to rain. The route to Ooty is via Bandipur National Park and Madhumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. And the stretch of few kilometers inside the park was fabulous. We could see Peacock, Spotted Deer, Elephant, Wild pig and Monkeys roaming freely. Even the bus stopped when we came across a those animals, and we could capture some shots from the window. 

As we crossed Bandipur the bus started climbing up the mountain and it was getting darker, the roads were very narrow and lot of Hairpin Turns were there. Light was not enough to take any picture, so we thought we can do the same while coming back.

The bus was running late and also it started drizzling outside. By the time we reached Ooty it was 8:00 PM. We had already done advance booking in hotel “Vinayaga Inn”. From the bus stand we bargained with 4 autos, to our suprise everybody asked the same price Rs. 50 for the 3km. 

It was decent hotel and rooms were quite good, very specious & clean. We booked Front Suit for 2 days (Rs. 1320). It was already late when we checked in so we decided to have dinner in hotel restaurant itself. 

 

After dinner we spoke to the reception in the hotel and booked Ooty-Connor sight seeing package (Rs 125 per person) for the next day.

 

Day 2

Next day morning, it was very misty, and the scenery outside was just wonderful. So we thought of doing some photography. After taking two three pictures, all of a sudden our camera started flickering and the display went off !!!! Some how we tried to console ourselves saying it might start working later. Then we had our breakfast in the same restaurant. 

The bus for sight seeing (20 seater) came to pick us up sharp at 9:30 AM. We were unfortunately the first pick and for the next 1 hr, our the bus was roaming in and around the city to pick other passengers from different hotels. Finally by 11:00 AM they actually started to take us the tourist spots one by one.  

1. Ooty lake. (Entrance fee Rs. 5 & Camera Rs. 10)

Beautiful location. The lake is in a valley surrounded by mountains covered with pine trees. Mild sunlight was falling on the trees and it was giving a wonderful view. This place was very commercialized. We hired a  two seater boat for Rs. 60/person for half an hour ride. The ride was good and luckily our camera worked for few seconds and we could take few pictures in the lake. This was the last time our camera worked. The person who helps in boarding the boat and alighting asked for tip!!!

2. Botanical Garden (Entrance fee Rs. 10 & Camera Rs. 30) 

As we entered  the garden, suddenly the weather became too cloudy and because of altitude we could feel the water particles in the cloud pinching our face. Visibility was not more than 10 feet. One cannot expect a better weather in hill station especially in South India. We spent there about half an hour. Outside the Botanical Garden there are plenty of shops selling home made chocolates, woolen clothes and other stuffs. Idea of having chocolates at this chilled weather was tempting, so we bought some and then proceeded for the next Spot.

 

 3. Doddabetta Peak 

This comes on the way to Connor. From here you can see entire Ooty town and the church where a scene in the film Saajan was picturised. But unfortunately due to clouds, the peak was not visible.

After that we proceeded towards Connor. At around 2 PM we got lunch break and it started raining that time. We finished our lunch in the mean time and again went back to the bus. Meal was good especially when it is freezing outside the taste of hot food is something different.

 

4. Tea Garden 

This 2500 Acre  tea garden is owned by former Bollywood actress Mumtaz’s husband. The bus stopped for sometime there. Amazing place for photography, but our camera had already stopped working!!! The bus then drove inside the Tea Garden, and stopped infront of a Shop where we bought some spices. The Hot Masala Tea we had there was a perfect compliment in that chilling weather.

 

5.  Lambs Rock & Dolphin Nose. 

Then we went further till the end of the Tea Garden. That was a Wonderful view, the nature was at its best. The moving cloud over the valley gave it a picturesque view. It started drizzling there so could not visit our next point(some park).

The guide said if we want to return to Ooty by toy train he will drop us at Connor station and pick us at Ooty station. It leaves at 4 30 PM and reaches Ooty at 5 30 PM (Fare is only Rs 4!!!). As our camera was not working so we decided will not go by toy train. We tried to console ourselves saying we will visit Ooty once again just for photography!!!

 

By 5 PM they dropped us back to our hotel. After having a cup of tea we went out for shopping. Our hotel was just 2 min walk from botanical garden and the Tibetan market.

We bought lot of woolen clothes and home made chocolates from there. We spent next 2 hours walking in and around the city and returned back to the hotel.

 

Day 3

Next morning after breakfast we checked out from the hotel and hired one Auto and reached bus stand. Our bus was at 11 AM and reached Bangalore by 8 PM.

But due to bad weather and camera ditching us at the last moment we decided to revisit the place soon....