It was chilling 12* C when we reached Ooty, drizzling and cloudy and the hotel guys told me that there is nothing to venture out. We had spent the remaining day around hotel watching the Mumbai events.
Before I forget, the funny part or the best thing about Mysore is that all the attractions are within Mysore CBD where as the people live in the outskirts. So, you don’t see much crowd any time of the day. I would any day go to Mysore to stay in Ginger(cheaper) and visit the Zoo, Lake, and Palace all within 5km radius.
Day 2 28th:
Hired a Tavera, went through around Pykara activities like lake, falls and Grassland areas. The grassland is awesome where you need to walk up to a small hill and can do horse rides. We did covered Doddabetta though I couldn’t find anything fancy about it. It’s fast becoming a heritage place. The interesting activity was the shopping we did on the sides where you get lot of Chinese jewellery. That was fun! You get chains and bracelets for less than 10 rupees, which in fact was cheaper than what you get in Shanghai. Amazing supply chain growth in India! We then went to Rose Garden found it empty since it’s out of season. Drove around the Ooty Lake (We liked the Pykara lake better!) Had lunch at Nahar and get dropped at Ooty railway station. The ride to Coonoor was awesome but ensure you get seats on the right side facing the drive that has all the valley views. The first class is always full and be prepared to be in the queue for the unreserved class. The cabbie picked us up in coonoor station and went to SIMS Park and a tea museum nearby. We couldn’t go to lamb’s rock and other viewpoint as the roads got blocked that day. We went to wellington Gymkhana to catch up with an old friend of mine and happened to see all the shooting spots and celebrity houses on the way to Ooty.
Day 3 29th:
We started off early and went to Botanical garden. Every time, it gives a different meaning and freshness even after years. I loved the 30 Rs. instant photo sessions. The senior officials of the horticulture dept. were staying in residences within that garden. Now, that’s a garden villa. All done. Ready for shopping. Bought some Cardamom tea and Eucalyptus oil. Went to Kashmir emporium and bought few things. Chellarams is closed for lunch and went to Mohan’s ooty (Most of the shops are closed between 1:30 to 3 pm on business days and fully closed on Sundays) Mohan is little expensive but they have an interesting collection of Antiques and paintings. Tempted to buy the wooden swing with brass hangings later on settled and happy with a small Krishna/ Radha Idol.
Day 4 30th:
Lazy morning! Wanted to drive through Mettuplayam and Sathi to reach Bangalore and my wife was against it. Started around 1 PM, took the Gudalur route to reach Theppakadu. Road until Gudalur was great except for few development activities nearing Gudalur. Your driving skills would definitely be tested and improved with the narrow downside turns up to Gudalaur. Road is horrible through Mudumalai forest range until Thepakkadu. We stopped at Bandipur Plaza which we thought is not clean and went back to pugmark (Bandipur Jungle lodges) The Jungle lodges are good concept in Karnataka but it’s expensive. A night stay package (Safari ride, Food & accommodation) for 2 persons costs you a cool 6000/- there. Had late lunch?? and headed towards Mysore.
The ride was good. I was tailgating a Innova (I like that all the time) and reached Mysore ORR road. That’s where I took the bad decision of getting to ORR road and its like going on and on and on. Stopped at Indradanush for dinner. Started off to Bangalore. Heavy traffic on the Sunday evening. Driving between 100 to 120 where I get to meet an interesting Santro with kids and family. He was speeding, frequently applying brakes, on a high beam and was definitely irritating. Not to be offensive but imagine in the road full of high-speed cars, and this guy is going at 130 plus, with a feather touch body, without an ABS and with the family. I liked his guts and but somebody didn’t. The Skoda guy who he was following applied sudden brakes for no reason and it took a while for him to bring the car back to control. He moved to lane 2 and disappeared. I guess he was succumbed to family decisions thereafter.
Reached Bangalore around 9:30 pm.
Now, will I ever go back to Ooty? If I’d ever do a trip back to Ooty in future, I’d definitely ignore all these places that have become commodity and unhygienic. Here is my list of places for the matured traveler.
1. Western catchment of Parsons valley - 40 Kms from Ooty
2. Froghill view point/Needle rock - 40 kms
3. Kundha penstock - 50 kms
4. Avalanche Forests - 25 Kms
5. Upper bhavani - 60 Kms
6. Mukkurthi Fishing Hut - 35 kms
Most of them require a prior permission/approval from the forest Dept. and I suggest you to plan accordingly with your hotel guides or through other sources.
That brings us to the end of the story. The bonding between my car and me has increased with this trip and I am thinking of a quick drive to Chennai. Don’t bother; I wont do a write up on that