[StarVegabond]

Dear Friends

Just now, one of my friend from Mumbai called me and confirmed that he and his family (wife and 2 kids) have booked their to & fro flight tickets to Bangalore for 24th Dec 2009. He wants me to help him with a trip plan from 25th to 2nd Jan. I just thought of proposing him the following plan

25th : Bangalore Tour
26th : Mysore (Zoo, Palace, Chamundi Hills, KR Sagar)
27th & 28th : Ooty (Nilgiri train ride, regulars, home stay)
29th : Kodai (home stay)
30th : Waynad (Pepper Resort or Home stay)
31th : Coorg (Tibetian temple, Abbi falls, regulars)
1st : Belur, Halebidu and back to Bangalore
2nd : Relax and afternoon departure to Mumbai
I have attached a proposed road map (found on google maps)
This route says total would be 1350KMs

i need help from you about the following

1. Is this trip do-able in these many days
2. Is this route the best possible
3. How will be the road conditions ?, any guesses ?
4. Help with some good Home stay places at Ooty, Kodai, Waynadu, Coorg
5. Any advice, suggetions that should be followed

ofcourse i will forward him the travelogues on these places

thanks in advance for your help

[buvan]

My comments in bold
Hi starvegabond

25th : Bangalore Tour
26th : Mysore (Zoo, Palace, Chamundi Hills, KR Sagar)
27th & 28th : Ooty (Nilgiri train ride, regulars, home stay)
29th : Kodai (home stay)
Ooty to Kodai via Coimbatore will be 300kms.You will reach kodai by evening. And next day you need to start to Wayanad.Am not sure about the route and distance to wayanad from Kodai.Road from ooty to coimbatore is good. Coimbatore to Udumalpet via pollachi is good but traffic will be there.ghat section to kodai is not that good but ok.
30th : Waynad (Pepper Resort or Home stay)
31th : Coorg (Tibetian temple, Abbi falls, regulars)
1st : Belur, Halebidu and back to Bangalore
2nd : Relax and afternoon departure to Mumbai
I have attached a proposed road map (found on google maps)
This route says total would be 1350KMs

What i feel is he can cover Coorg ,Belur, Halebidu first. Then to coorg and wayanad.
wayanad -> ooty->kodai->Coimbatore
Can catch a flight from coimbatore to Mumbai.

[buvan]

what i can suggest further, (Am i making sense here)

Day 1 Blr -> Halebid->Coorg (356 kms)
Day 2: visit some places in Coorg and then proceed to Mysore (around mysore and stay in Mysore) around 130 kms
Day 3:Mysore to wayanad around 135kms
DAY 4:Wayanad to ooty via Bandipur and 140kms(visit some important places in wayand and then enroute to ooty)
Day 5: Ooty
Day 6: Ooty to Kodai 300 kms
Day 7 Kodai
Day 8: Kodai to coimbatore 180 kms. Catch flight from Coimbatore

[StarVegabond]

Thanks Bhuvan for your inputs and suggesion


The constraints are flight ticket has already
been booked MUM-BLR-MUM.

rest of the trip is via the road.

i discussed with my friend, As Kodai is far way, he decided to skip Kodai
the plan is to spend 1 night (26th Dec ) in mysore, 2 nights (27th & 28th) in Ooty, 1 night (29th) in Wayanad, 2 nights (20th & 31st) in Coorg and 3 nights (24th, 25th Dec /1st Jan) in Bangalore

He prefers Home stay at maximum locations, any suggesions on home stay locations ? He is a non vegetarian guy, his wife is a vegetarian, so the place needs to serve good food apart from good stay.

He wants to visit the regular places as well as it is his first trip in south India.

I was also thinking about the reverse path suggested by you.
i will propose it to him, let me get his feedback

[buvan]

Skipping Kodai is a good option because he can spend good time in other places.

Ooty he can try Redhills nature resort( Red Hill Nature Resort, Emerald, Nilgiris, Tamilnadu ).
Its almost in the forest and not visited by many.In this resort Veggies can enjoy(food is cooked with completely organic vegetables and fruits) non veg is also available. I have not been here but heard good reviews about it. But tarrif will be around 3k to 4k.
Not sure about stay at other places

[buvan]

Can try Palaniappa estate in ooty.

Pallaniappa Bungalow

Kurumba village
Ooty & Coonoor Hotels & Resorts | About The Kurumba Village Resort

[DRC]

Originally Posted by buvan

Skipping Kodai is a good option because he can spend good time in other places.

I second this thought.
What is the mode of transport. There does not seem to be much of driving time.
It is better to stay longer in these places than visit too many of them.
One needs atleast
1 day in Halebid, Belur
2-3 days in Coorg + sorrounding
2 days on Wynad
2 days in Ooty
2 days in mysore...

+ for about 1350 kms, one needs about 30 hours on these roads.

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by buvan

Skipping Kodai is a good option because he can spend good time in other places.

Ooty he can try Redhills nature resort( Red Hill Nature Resort, Emerald, Nilgiris, Tamilnadu ).
Its almost in the forest and not visited by many.In this resort Veggies can enjoy(food is cooked with completely organic vegetables and fruits) non veg is also available. I have not been here but heard good reviews about it. But tarrif will be around 3k to 4k.
Not sure about stay at other places

I have been there, and I liked it. It indeed is a great place to stay, though a bit on the expensive side. Food was excellent, and I am a veggie.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by DRC

I second this thought.
What is the mode of transport. There does not seem to be much of driving time.
It is better to stay longer in these places than visit too many of them.
One needs atleast
1 day in Halebid, Belur
2-3 days in Coorg + sorrounding
2 days on Wynad
2 days in Ooty
2 days in mysore...

+ for about 1350 kms, one needs about 30 hours on these roads.

Mode of transport would be a hired car with an english speaking driver. I suggested this option as my friend and his family know hindi/marathi and english only. I am planning to organize for one such car+driver.

The tentative plan is as below

Day 1 (26th) : Start Early (5:30 AM) Travel Mysore, visit Zoo, Palace, Chamundi hills, KR Sagar and stay in Mysore. (Total distance 160KM + within mysore distance)

Day 2 (27th) : Start Early (6:30 AM), drive to Ooty, spend the day in visiting regular spots viz. Botonical garden, Lake etc, stay (Total distance 130KM + within Ooth distance)

Day 3 (28th) : Drive to Coonoor, Metupalyam, take 13:15 train (Nilgiri Moutain train) back to Ooty, reach Ooty by 6 PM, relax and stay (Total Distance some 120Kms max)

Day 4 (29th): Start Early (6 AM), Drive to Madhumalai Elephant Camp (90 minutes), drive to Wayanadu (120 minutes), reach by 1 PM, check into the homestay or resort. visit the places of interest, relax and enjoy. (Total distance : 140 KM + within wayanad travel)

Day 5 (30th) : Lazy morning, Morning trek etc, check out before lunch drive to Coorg via Tibetian village @ Kushalnagar, Dam, visit regular places at Madikeri, stay at homestay/resort. (Total Distance : 140KM max)

Day 6 (31th): Visit to Abbi falls, Talakaveri, bhagamandala etc. lazy evening celebrate new year and stay. (Total distance 120KM max)

Day 7 (1st) : Start Early (7:30 AM), Drive to Belur, Halebidu and drive back toward Bangalore, reach Bangalore by 7 PM (total distance : 380KMs)


with this schedule, only last day is bit stretched. if he wants to avoid it, then i can ask him to stay Hassan (Hoysala resort or any cheaper one) on 31st as anyway every one will be awake till mid night. He can also visit Belur temple early morning.

Any suggetions to improve this are welcome

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by buvan

Skipping Kodai is a good option because he can spend good time in other places.

Ooty he can try Redhills nature resort( Red Hill Nature Resort, Emerald, Nilgiris, Tamilnadu ).
Its almost in the forest and not visited by many.In this resort Veggies can enjoy(food is cooked with completely organic vegetables and fruits) non veg is also available. I have not been here but heard good reviews about it. But tarrif will be around 3k to 4k.
Not sure about stay at other places

Originally Posted by buvan

Can try Palaniappa estate in ooty.

Pallaniappa Bungalow

Kurumba village
Ooty & Coonoor Hotels & Resorts | About The Kurumba Village Resort

Originally Posted by deepakhon

I have been there, and I liked it. It indeed is a great place to stay, though a bit on the expensive side. Food was excellent, and I am a veggie.

Thanks guys, i will ask him to try our these.

[cnaganathan]

Ask your friend to check out Wynberg Resorts or Ente Keralam for stay at Wayanad. The former is a Plantation resort run by a Mr. Vanchy. A great place that I enjoyed in Dec 2008. The latter is a homestay run by a lady by name Sita and I heard it is one of the top of the line Homestays. If you need please let me know - I will PM their contact details.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by cnaganathan

Ask your friend to check out Wynberg Resorts or Ente Keralam for stay at Wayanad. The former is a Plantation resort run by a Mr. Vanchy. A great place that I enjoyed in Dec 2008. The latter is a homestay run by a lady by name Sita and I heard it is one of the top of the line Homestays. If you need please let me know - I will PM their contact details.

Thanks very much, Please PM me the details.

[princezahed]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Day 5 (30th) : Lazy morning, Morning trek etc, check out before lunch drive to Coorg via Tibetian village @ Kushalnagar, Dam, visit regular places at Madikeri, stay at homestay/resort. (Total Distance : 140KM max)

Day 6 (31th): Visit to Abbi falls, Talakaveri, bhagamandala etc. lazy evening celebrate new year and stay. (Total distance 120KM max)

Lots of good options for stay in Coorg. Please let me know his budget and I can help put him up in some good place here. Let me know if he needs any help here while in Coorg.

[sushrutha]

@StarVegabond
As your friend is travelling in a holiday season, make sure you book the hotels/homestay much in advance. Else at the end it would be very difficult to get accomodation in the mentioned locations.

[anarchist]

Hi Guys,

What would be distance between Ooty and Coorg by road? and how long will it take approximately?