[viper_711]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Hi diogo, I did a Gundelpet-Chamrajanagar-Kollegal-Malavalli-Kanakpura-Bangalore yesterday.

Apart from the slightly rough patch from Chamrajanagar till Gundelpet, the road is very good.

- Dhanush

Thanks for the update Dhanush. I plan to use this road this weekend to Ooty.
Did you stop at any place for snacks / lunch? if so, can you share your views on the place please?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Thanks for the update Dhanush. I plan to use this road this weekend to Ooty.
Did you stop at any place for snacks / lunch? if so, can you share your views on the place please?

If you start by 4/5 AM, I think then Gokul at Kanakpura would be closed. The other place then is CCD at Gundlupet. But do note that then its 200km away.

[viper_711]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you start by 4/5 AM, I think then Gokul at Kanakpura would be closed. The other place then is CCD at Gundlupet. But do note that then its 200km away.

Thank you Ampere. Where exactly is Gokul? We will be starting from cox town at 6.30 am and am assuming this to be about 1 hour away and hopefully open!

[kala]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Thank you Ampere. Where exactly is Gokul? We will be starting from cox town at 6.30 am and am assuming this to be about 1 hour away and hopefully open!

As far as I know, Gokul doesn't serve breakfast - they open by only 11 O' clock or so.

I've had breakfast once at a small Darshini near Harohalli - was a reasonably neat place. I think they open by about 7AM. Don't remember the name, but it comes about half a km before Harohalli village on the left hand side of the road just after a Petrol bunk. (It's about 21 kms from the NICE road/ Kanakapura Road junction)

Haven't seen any other decent looking restaurants (which are open for breakfast) in Kanakapura or Malavalli. Your best bet after Kanakapura would be Nandini or Annapoorna in Kollegal or Mayura Rajadhani in Chamarajanagar.

[VANdaMAN]

Hi everyone,

Going to Ooty tomorrow from Bangalore and have been through lots of route options on this thread, thanks to everyone for their detailed explanations. Was wondering if anyone has driven to Ooty recently - with the monsoons on, I'm still unsure as to what route to take. I'm a GPS-ki-jai kind of driver, no sense of direction, starting from HAL Airport. Not sure if I should attempt to join NICE road or go the usual route towards Mysore. Can anyone kindly help a directionally-challenged BHPian with some pointers as to the route to take? Many thanks in advance!

[viper_711]

Originally Posted by VANdaMAN

Hi everyone,

Going to Ooty tomorrow from Bangalore and have been through lots of route options on this thread, thanks to everyone for their detailed explanations. Was wondering if anyone has driven to Ooty recently - with the monsoons on, I'm still unsure as to what route to take. I'm a GPS-ki-jai kind of driver, no sense of direction, starting from HAL Airport. Not sure if I should attempt to join NICE road or go the usual route towards Mysore. Can anyone kindly help a directionally-challenged BHPian with some pointers as to the route to take? Many thanks in advance!

Vandaman, The roads are in fairly good shape except for short patches that may be bad. If you're a total newbie to the BLR-Ooty route, I would suggest taking the mysore road out of BLR and then sticking to SH 17 as you can't go wrong with it.
I am going to be taking the SH 209 and you're welcome to tag along if you want to.

[anurag.somani]

Originally Posted by VANdaMAN

Hi everyone,

Going to Ooty tomorrow from Bangalore and have been through lots of route options on this thread, thanks to everyone for their detailed explanations. Was wondering if anyone has driven to Ooty recently - with the monsoons on, I'm still unsure as to what route to take. I'm a GPS-ki-jai kind of driver, no sense of direction, starting from HAL Airport. Not sure if I should attempt to join NICE road or go the usual route towards Mysore. Can anyone kindly help a directionally-challenged BHPian with some pointers as to the route to take? Many thanks in advance!

Took a road-trip to ooty last month, so can give an off hand account. The roads are pretty good; though crowded all the way.
There is a diversion from mudumulai towards masinagudi. If you love wildlife you its an amazing 30 km ride. We could spot 100s of deers on the way, much more than in mudumulai :-)
Plus it cut shorts the distance to ooty by 30 km.
On the.flip side its a narrow road but the condition is okie. Drive safe and within speed limits for the wildlife

[VANdaMAN]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Vandaman, The roads are in fairly good shape except for short patches that may be bad. If you're a total newbie to the BLR-Ooty route, I would suggest taking the mysore road out of BLR and then sticking to SH 17 as you can't go wrong with it.
I am going to be taking the SH 209 and you're welcome to tag along if you want to.

That's very kind of you! It's not my first trip to Ooty but as I said I'm bad with directions and rely on GPS. Can you tell me what the waypoints are for the SH 209 route?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Thank you Ampere. Where exactly is Gokul? We will be starting from cox town at 6.30 am
and am assuming this to be about 1 hour away and hopefully open!

Originally Posted by kala

As far as I know, Gokul doesn't serve breakfast - they open by only 11 O' clock or so.

Thanks. I thought I read Fauji saying that Gokul opens at 7AM.
Maybe I misread his post.

[VANdaMAN]

Had a very pleasant drive to Ooty on the traditional route and was pleased to find that Empire has opened a branch somewhere near Maddur. Will be on the same side when returning, planning to stop there for lunch.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by ampere

I have no idea on jungle safari booking at Ooty. Need to check who is aware about District Forest Office functioning.
Sorry for that.

Amp, All

I did the OOTY trip from Chennai last weekend and it was fun !

The only blip was that there is no safari at Mudumalai citing the Supreme court order. However the Eco Safari at Avalanche was fantastic and the drive was great.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

As far as I know, Gokul doesn't serve breakfast - they open by only 11 O' clock or so.

Yes Gokul does not serve breakfast. They open only by 11:30 or so. I was there last weekend and that's what they had to tell.

[diogo]

Finally took off to Ooty last weekend. Went via Mysore - Kalhatty and came back via Gudalur - Kanakapura.

SH209 is in very good condition with occasional very narrow roads at centre of the villages/towns. Practically there was no traffic on SH209. Had a pleasant drive.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by viper_711

Where exactly is Gokul?

Please see Post #367 - it has details of location in Kanakapura town for Gokul restaurant (it's on NH209 itself on right side when going from Bangalore). However, they open only around 11am so may not be an option for (early) breakfast.

[devrajman]

I did Ooty trip in my '99 Zen starting 19th Aug Sun Morning 6:30, reached Ooty at 2PM with pleasant driving. Took normal route Blore->Mysore Ring Road -> Kalahatty Route -> Ooty. Returned via same route today evening. Started at 11:30AM and reached Rajarajeshwari at 5PM and home at 6PM.

I did Blore<->Mysore after 1.5yrs, I see loads of hotels comeup between Blore and Maddur! Each and every brand has an outlet now! And wonder part is, they are all full! I see no where any effects of Petrol price/inflation/etc!

Spotted many Ertigas and Duster (new ones with plastic covers on!) in ooty.

I also saw a hummer whoes right front tyre was torn-apart just after 3 hair-pin bends! Lucky it has a spare tyre.

I was happy to see very few maniacs on Mysore Highway! +1

Ooty is becoming dirtier and costlier. Also bias against non-TN cars have also increase (at all levels)

However only reason I went back is Emerald/Avalanche Lake and surrounding areas. However this time i saw empty booze bottles everywhere. I visited DFO to enquire about Emerald Dam and Lake permissions, I got to know, they stopped private vehicals to Avalanchee Lake, now its Forest Jeep which takes you around for Rs150/-. Also I understood Upper Bhavani permission is still given.

Wondering what will be my reason to go back to Ooty next time?