My Tri-State Roadtrip - The highlights.

[nickatnite]

Last Thursday a group of friends and myself decided to take a roadtrip that took us from Chennai to Hogenekkal Falls, Coimbatore, Ooty, Wayanad/Calicut and Mysore, spanning the three states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka covering 1957km in four days. The following are images from this roadtrip. I will try to caption the pics as best as i can remember.

Pic 1: Driving on NH-4 outside Chennai city limits
Pic 2: Driving on NH-7 from Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri in TN
Pic 3: Driving on the country road from Dharmapuri to Hogenekkal Falls
Pic 4: Driving on the country road to Hogenekkal Falls.
Pic 5: Driving to Hogenekkal Falls.
Pics 6 thru 10: The muddy waters of Hogenekkal Falls.

When i enquired the locals as to why the water was so muddy at Hogenekkal Falls they said that once the monsoon season starts, the water level rises dramatically and the flow is clearer too. Other than that , i must say i enjoyed bathing in the very same muddy waters and live to type this tale.. Hope you like the pics.

[nickatnite]

The second set of pics covers the part of the journey from Hogenekkal Falls to Coimbatore and then onward to Ooty.

Pic 1: Driving from Dharmapuri to Salem on NH-7
Pic 2: Driving on the outskirts of Salem in TN on NH-7
Pic 3: Breakfast at 'Annapoorna' in Coimbatore before setting off for Ooty.
Pic 4: In Mettupalayam before heading for the hills.
Pic 5: My first sighting of the 'Blue Mountains'
Pic 6: Heading for the Nilgiris
Pic 7: The scenery changes dramatically
Pic 8: The road to Ooty.I didn't expect such a well paved road!
Pic 9 : Passing small hamlets along the way
Pic10: The Ooty Valley

[nickatnite]

Pic1 : Ooty Valley
Pic 2: The mountain road to Ooty
Pic 3: Ooty Valley
Pic 4: The mountian road to Ooty. I wanted to stay at that spot forever!.
Pic 5: Ooty Valley
Pic 6: Ooty town from my motel grounds
Pic 7: Image of Ooty town
Pic 8: Wild horses grazing.I was suprised to see so many of them.
Pic 9: Wild horse country
Pic10: Close up and scary. What if he had kicked me?.

[nickatnite]

The highlight of my Ooty trip was a visit to Lake Pykara approximately 20km from the city. The folowing are pics of my visit to the lake.

Pic 1: Driving to Lake Pykara from Ooty.
Pic 2: The scenery while walking towards the lake.
Pics 3 thru 10: Images of Lake Pykara.

I cannot describe in words the beauty and serenity of this area. Simply sublime, is all i can say. I will stop my journey now and continue my trip through the Nilgiris to the lush green fields and waterfalls of Wayanad, Kerala tomorrow. Thanx for watching.

[ravi@64bhp]

Very nice trip and pics. The presentation simple and effective. Regarding the muddy waters, at the start of the monsoon it is common everywhere. Last year when I visited, the amout of water is more than the present, but the water is white

[ravibhat]

Good report with excellant photos. Waiting on next part

Regards,

Ravi.

[nickatnite]

Continuing with my roadtrip.This set of photos cover areas on the other side of Ooty, the unspoilt and eco-friendly area and some images of Ooty town.

Pic 1: TN Forest Department Signboard. The Govt. is trying, credit to them.
Pics 2 thru 4: Images of an artificial reservoir next to a small hydro-electric dam.
Pics 5 thru 7: The unspoilt side of the Ooty Valley
Pic 8: The view of Ooty from my motel grounds
Pic 9: Tribal elders holding a pow-wow inthe highlands. They were chanting slogans and it was more of a pep rally than a pow-wow. The dialect they were speaking was one i had never heard before.
Pic 10: Driving to Wayanad, Kerala through the Nilgris highlands and tea estates.

[nickatnite]

Driving in the Nilgiris enroute to Wayanad, Kerala. This region is one of the most beautiful i have come across and mere words and photos cannot describe the natural beauty and serenity here. Atleast, in my opinion.

Pics 1 and 2: Driving out of Ooty through the Nilgiris
Pic 3: The fog did make for some magical mystery moments!
Pic 4: Nilgiris tea estates.Everywhere.
Pic 5,6 and 7: This was a large body of water. One would never know due to the dense fog. The surrounding trees looked magical shrouded in the fog.
Pic 8: More tea estates!
Pic 9: Descending into the lowlands. This stretch of road leading to the Kerala border is one of the most scenic i have encountered in all my travels and in the next set of pics i will showcase this unspoilt and carefully managed stretch of land.
Pic 10: Driving to Wayanad, Kerala. Photos of this scenic road coming up in my next report.

[hellstar]

Hi pal , looks like you are a great time , by any way did you hit the Ooty - Gudalur route ? are some of the pictures from the Gudalur route , when i went to ooty last year the rtoute from ooty to gudalur was horrible , it took me well over 1.5 hours to reach Pykara Lake .

[neoranjit]

Awesome pics Nick. Didnt expect the roads to be this good.
so, did you plan the route well ahead or kept making plans while driving ? Ooty looks very beautiful.

[Mr.Bangalore]

@nickatnite nice detailed Travelouges and love the pictures.. keep them coming.

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by hellstar

Hi pal , looks like you are a great time , by any way did you hit the Ooty - Gudalur route ? are some of the pictures from the Gudalur route , when i went to ooty last year the rtoute from ooty to gudalur was horrible , it took me well over 1.5 hours to reach Pykara Lake .

You're right. The lasts et of pics are from the Ooty to Gudalur stretch. I guess they have paved the roads, because i was pleasantly surprised as to how good the roads were in the entire area.

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by neoranjit

Awesome pics Nick. Didnt expect the roads to be this good.
so, did you plan the route well ahead or kept making plans while driving ? Ooty looks very beautiful.

The entire trip was unplanned and that was the best part of the trip. The stretch from Ooty to Wayanad was the most beautiful. I will post photos soon.

[akroy]

Nice pics nickatnite, but pls put caption under each photo for a better viewing !!

Nice to see the newly laid Ooty - Gudalur stretch. Hope Gudalur - Madhumalai stretch gets laid up soon and become a dream drive.

Abhi

[esteem_lover]

Looks like you had a blast. As usual, great pics. Did you guys go in an Alto ?