Team-BHP - View Single Post - Three-day weekend trip to Ooty and Coonoor

BomBatt · 8th April 2008, 21:22

Route: Bangalore - Mysore - Bandipur - Masinagudi - Kalhatti ghat - Ooty.

Members: Me, my wife, and my parents.

Vehicle: Chevvy Spark.

As April 7, Monday was a holiday, We planned for this weekend trip well in advance. I google for good hotels in Ooty and book 2 cottages at Hotel Lakeview for April 5 to April 7.

Day 1 - April 5, 2008
We start from our home in Vijayanagar exactly at 6:15 am and consistently hitting above 120 kmph speed, we reach Kamath Madhuban, Mysore exactly at 8:15 am for breakfast. We had excellent "Mysore masala dosa" and tea and start again at 9:10 am. Having seen me in good mood, my wifey gives a big shock. She had forgotten to pack jackets and sweaters ! Anyway, we decide that we will buy some local sweaters if it is too cold in Ooty.

We reached Gundlupet at around 10:00 and encountered very bad stretch of road and reached Bandipur at 10:45. The road through Bandipur National Park:

Soon, we step into Tamil Nadu and cross Mudumalai and Masinagudi. I was a bit worried because of ongoing tensions between Karnataka and TN on Hogenakkal issue. But things were perfectly okay throughout.

At around 11:20 am, I see the yellow hairpin bend board from a distance. As soon as we reach HP bend, I shift to 1st gear to be on the safer side. My Sparky climbs this curve easily at 20 kmph speed. I shift to 2nd gear as soon as we pass the curve and 2 - 3 HP bends after that were passed in this fashion. Subsequently, 2-3 bends were done in 2nd and 3rd gear.

Somewhere in the middle of one such HP bend, I forget to honk, and to my horror, I suddenly see one white Indica racing at terrible speed right in front of me ! He brakes hard and I brake hard and stop within inches. He was a cab driver and yells at me thoroughly in Tamil. I apologize to him in hindi saying this is first time I am doing ghat road. It took me some effort to climb this curve from stand-still position. As we passed this curve, my wifey says that I was sweating nervously and my face was red with fear.

Rest of the ghat was done in 1st and 2nd gear with extreme caution and I breathe a sigh of relief when we finally reach Ooty.

It was exactly 12:00 pm when we reach Hotel Lakeview. It was a big dissappointment to me that there was no "lake view". Actual lake is some 3-4 kms away and the name Hotel Lakeview gives a falls impression.

Anyway the cottage was nice and best part was that there is lot of space in front of the cottage and we can park our cars right infront of our rooms.

A view from cottage:

We take some 30 minute rest and decide to have lunch at room itself as we were very tired. We order for rotis, dal fry, paneer butter masala, and vegetable biryani. The food was okay but not worth the price paid.

After taking an hour's rest, we head to the famous Botanical Gardens. I park my Sparky at the parking area. Right there in the parking area, there were many shops selling sweaters and jackets. Hearing that we are speaking in Kannada, a person bumps into us and talks in Kannada saying that he is from Karnataka. We purchase 2 sweaters from him for my dad and my mom. Upon enquiring with him for good restaurants in Ooty, he suggests Hotel Nahar Nilgiris.

Some pics taken in Botonical Gardens:

After spending an hour and half, we head to Dodda Betta. This is said to be the highest peak at about 8600 ft.

Here, we spend some 45 minuts and head back to the Lake. There was nothing much about lake as it was almost closed by the time we reached there. Just 1 pic of the lake:

It was 7 pm now. As our hotel was some distance away we decide that we spend some time such that we will have dinner outside our hotel. Hence he head straight to shopping area of Ooty, i.e. Commercial Road. We purchase some home-made chocolates, tea powder, aromatic oils, and some fancy items.

At this time, all of us felt very hungry and my watch was showing 8:30 pm. We enquire about way to Hotel Nahar Nilgiris and head straight into the restaurant.

We order some rotis, pav bhaji, veg pulav etc. Food here was very very good eventhough bit costly.

We then head straight back to our Hotel, Lakeview. As soon as we entered, we saw a huge crowd dancing around campfire with some loud music. We saw 2 Tempo Traveller vans with banner reading "Infosys BANGALORE"

We were very tired. Dad and mom head straight to their cottage. Me and wifey spend some 30 minutes walking around the hotel enjoying cool weather and then go to bed.

Day #2 and 3 to be continued...

8th April 2008, 21:22	#1 (permalink)
BomBatt BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 72	Three-day weekend trip to Ooty and Coonoor Route: Bangalore - Mysore - Bandipur - Masinagudi - Kalhatti ghat - Ooty. Members: Me, my wife, and my parents. Vehicle: Chevvy Spark. As April 7, Monday was a holiday, We planned for this weekend trip well in advance. I google for good hotels in Ooty and book 2 cottages at Hotel Lakeview for April 5 to April 7. Day 1 - April 5, 2008 We start from our home in Vijayanagar exactly at 6:15 am and consistently hitting above 120 kmph speed, we reach Kamath Madhuban, Mysore exactly at 8:15 am for breakfast. We had excellent "Mysore masala dosa" and tea and start again at 9:10 am. Having seen me in good mood, my wifey gives a big shock. She had forgotten to pack jackets and sweaters ! Anyway, we decide that we will buy some local sweaters if it is too cold in Ooty. We reached Gundlupet at around 10:00 and encountered very bad stretch of road and reached Bandipur at 10:45. The road through Bandipur National Park: Soon, we step into Tamil Nadu and cross Mudumalai and Masinagudi. I was a bit worried because of ongoing tensions between Karnataka and TN on Hogenakkal issue. But things were perfectly okay throughout. At around 11:20 am, I see the yellow hairpin bend board from a distance. As soon as we reach HP bend, I shift to 1st gear to be on the safer side. My Sparky climbs this curve easily at 20 kmph speed. I shift to 2nd gear as soon as we pass the curve and 2 - 3 HP bends after that were passed in this fashion. Subsequently, 2-3 bends were done in 2nd and 3rd gear. Somewhere in the middle of one such HP bend, I forget to honk, and to my horror, I suddenly see one white Indica racing at terrible speed right in front of me ! He brakes hard and I brake hard and stop within inches. He was a cab driver and yells at me thoroughly in Tamil. I apologize to him in hindi saying this is first time I am doing ghat road. It took me some effort to climb this curve from stand-still position. As we passed this curve, my wifey says that I was sweating nervously and my face was red with fear. Rest of the ghat was done in 1st and 2nd gear with extreme caution and I breathe a sigh of relief when we finally reach Ooty. It was exactly 12:00 pm when we reach Hotel Lakeview. It was a big dissappointment to me that there was no "lake view". Actual lake is some 3-4 kms away and the name Hotel Lakeview gives a falls impression. Anyway the cottage was nice and best part was that there is lot of space in front of the cottage and we can park our cars right infront of our rooms. A view from cottage: We take some 30 minute rest and decide to have lunch at room itself as we were very tired. We order for rotis, dal fry, paneer butter masala, and vegetable biryani. The food was okay but not worth the price paid. After taking an hour's rest, we head to the famous Botanical Gardens. I park my Sparky at the parking area. Right there in the parking area, there were many shops selling sweaters and jackets. Hearing that we are speaking in Kannada, a person bumps into us and talks in Kannada saying that he is from Karnataka. We purchase 2 sweaters from him for my dad and my mom. Upon enquiring with him for good restaurants in Ooty, he suggests Hotel Nahar Nilgiris. Some pics taken in Botonical Gardens: After spending an hour and half, we head to Dodda Betta. This is said to be the highest peak at about 8600 ft. Here, we spend some 45 minuts and head back to the Lake. There was nothing much about lake as it was almost closed by the time we reached there. Just 1 pic of the lake: It was 7 pm now. As our hotel was some distance away we decide that we spend some time such that we will have dinner outside our hotel. Hence he head straight to shopping area of Ooty, i.e. Commercial Road. We purchase some home-made chocolates, tea powder, aromatic oils, and some fancy items. At this time, all of us felt very hungry and my watch was showing 8:30 pm. We enquire about way to Hotel Nahar Nilgiris and head straight into the restaurant. We order some rotis, pav bhaji, veg pulav etc. Food here was very very good eventhough bit costly. We then head straight back to our Hotel, Lakeview. As soon as we entered, we saw a huge crowd dancing around campfire with some loud music. We saw 2 Tempo Traveller vans with banner reading "Infosys BANGALORE" We were very tired. Dad and mom head straight to their cottage. Me and wifey spend some 30 minutes walking around the hotel enjoying cool weather and then go to bed. Day #2 and 3 to be continued... __________________ Two things menace the world - the order and the disorder.