[PAVAN KADAM]

With Bangalore Temperature scorching up to 35 Degree Centigrade, and a surprisingly found long weekend.

We decided its time we head out......

All it took to reclaim life

1) Our 3L Tata Safari Dicor
2) Brand New Honda City
3) Sx4 - Petrol
4) i20- Petrol
5) Vista-Quadrajet

More to come later......

[PAVAN KADAM]

6th May 2011 - Friday 5 am

Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Madumalai - Ooty - Coonoor = 340 kms

Destination = De Rock, Lambs Rock-Coonoor

Mysore road was as usual with its share of traffic. Enroute Mysore, you should never really miss breakfast at Adiga's. Lip smackingly delicious food.

Mysore to Nanjangud and upto Bandipur, Roads are surprisingly good, but what takes the cake is the Bandipur and Madhumalai forest reserve road. Breathtaking and scenic. We reach Bandipur at 12 pm and continued towards Gundlupet.

Ooty tested us with some sharp and steep hair pin bends - 36 in total and completely action packed moments..

Ooty to conoor is a Headache..... goodness, what crowd, the roads are packed, narrow and chaotic... We reached conoor by 1:45 pm, but to reach conoor which is 22 kms away, it took 2 good hours.

It was a shock to see cars/ bus's / mini tempo's squeezing through roads meant only for 1 car.

9 hours including 3 pit stops - 3:00 pm we reach De-Rock , Lambs rock-coonoor

We were greeted by a fantastic place that would pamper us for the next 48 hours.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Some more from our LAZY Rendezvous

[PAVAN KADAM]

Alrite guys....

48 hours of NON-STOP Fun, Food, Jokes, and to top it all The Laziness

Sunday morning we were ready to GO............

Had our breakfast, some nice coffee and tea, we started packing and loading our bags.

The plan was to descent to Ooty, shop for some Chocolates, have Lunch and leave to Mysore for Dinner.

We thanked the Guys at De-Cafe, they had been Fantastic Hosts

Their Estate consisted 4 spacious rooms, Big sprawling lawns.

Cost per Head = Rs 950/- for a day (Bed , Breakfast , Coffee,tea, Lunch, Snacks and Dinner)

We got more than what we expected.

The return route was

Coonoor - Ooty - Gudlur - Madhumalai forest range - Bandipur Forest Range - Mysore - Bangalore

We reached Ooty by 1:30 pm shopped for some chocolates and had a decent spread of Buffet Lunch (Rs.130/-) at Quality Inn.

Gudlur route is the only route to exit towards Bangalore and is VERY VERY SCENIC but can get irritating due to narrow and winding roads and Traffic, We made it to Bandipur Forest reserve by 7:30 pm.

But not before we had some SPINE CHILLING EXPERIENCES or ENCOUNTERS with wild elephants - It was so damn scary that we did not dare move an inch from our car seats, forget the camera shots ....LOL..

One Wagon-R was pushed into the small gorge, and we were confronted by the elephants, The Safari Beast was intimidating too, so we got away easily... he he he... That was it for some nice Wild encounters, a most memorable one on this trip......

Tried doing a small Forest trial on the Safari, but returned back after a 1 KM forest sojourn, It was really eerieeee and Stupid of me.

We reached "Sandesh The Prince" for Dinner by 10:15 pm, again lazed around till 11:15 pm . Done with some lip smacking dinner and headed out to Namma Bengaluru.

Almost all the cars trailed each other at constant speeds of 80 kmph and we reached home by 2:15 am........

This marks the Fantastic , Short but Sweet trip of ours.

WHAT A GREAT UNWIND......

Some more photos after a while..

[PAVAN KADAM]

Some more pics to end my Tiny Travelogue.

Also a peek into FE of cars we travelled

1) 2006 3L Safari Dicor = 12 kmpl avg.,
2) 2011 All New Honda City = 14 kmpl
3) 2010 Vista Quadrajet = 17.8 kmpl
4) 2008 Sx4 = 14 kmpl
5) 2010 i20 petrol = 13 kmpl

Total Kms Travelled = 635 kms

[PAVAN KADAM]

Some Random pics of Coonoor.

Not able to get over this place.

I would highly recommend this place.

The only thing i missed in this place is a "Swimming Pool"

To end it......

Yessssssss...... We Reclaimed Life...

[PAVAN KADAM]

Actually never knew till today, that the Hairpin bend Roads to Ooty is a 1 way traffic, and the only other way back from Ooty is from Gudlur.

What takes 2 hours to go up hill Ooty, takes easily 4 hours to come back and the most sickening winding roads ever driven through.

Does anyone know of any other routes, someone mentioned me an alternate route via Coimbatore to Bangalore................!

[TheARUN]

Awesome stuff as always Raghavendra. Glad you enjoyed yourself. Let me guess, in the crowd, most of them wanted to be travelling in the SAFARI during the trip.

The picture of the SAFARI on top of your cottage - invaluable. The whole trip was worth it just for that single picture

On hindsight - guess nobody told you about the toy train that runs between Ooty and Coonoor

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Awesome stuff as always Raghavendra. Glad you enjoyed yourself. Let me guess, in the crowd, most of them wanted to be travelling in the SAFARI during the trip.

The picture of the SAFARI on top of your cottage - invaluable. The whole trip was worth it just for that single picture

On hindsight - guess nobody told you about the toy train that runs between Ooty and Coonoor

Yes.. Mostly the kids in the group wanted the Safari drive, only for the reasons being
1) Sooooper coool A/C
2) "Home Theatre Set-up" i have inside the car, so that they could watch movies
3) Most important of all a comfortable Good Sleep at the 3rd row seat...

But i made sure that i get my quota of 350 kms drive and never budged from the drivers seat, which eventually was stolen by my Younger Bro for his quota of 350 kms.....

I knew about the Toy train from Ooty and Coonoor, but the folks had so much Fun around Coonoor that NO-ONE, including the kids wanted to move out of that place for the 48 hours. LOL......

[jkrishnakj]

Looks like a holiday well spent, and am sure all in the Safari reclaimed life, more so, the person who drove..

Lambsrock bought back memories of my school treks ! i used to study at Stanes at Coonoor and we were taken to the long walks at Lambrocks. Very nice place indeed. I actually wanted to go there during my trip back from Coimbatore two weeks back, but time didnt permit.

I agree - the exit from Ooty is really painful. Given that you were staying closer to Coonoor, you could have taken the longer route via Coimbatore. It will taken you an hour to reach Mettupalyam from Coonoor and you take the route via Annur and hit Avanashi and into the super highways to Bangalore.

I am not aware of anyother route.

[ampere]

I was about to comment on the Safari parking, but then saw Arun's post !
That is one indeed for the album! Classic snap.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Looks like a holiday well spent, and am sure all in the Safari reclaimed life, more so, the person who drove..

Lambsrock bought back memories of my school treks ! i used to study at Stanes at Coonoor and we were taken to the long walks at Lambrocks. Very nice place indeed. I actually wanted to go there during my trip back from Coimbatore two weeks back, but time didnt permit.

I agree - the exit from Ooty is really painful. Given that you were staying closer to Coonoor, you could have taken the longer route via Coimbatore. It will taken you an hour to reach Mettupalyam from Coonoor and you take the route via Annur and hit Avanashi and into the super highways to Bangalore.

I am not aware of anyother route.

True, Its a real pain getting out of Coonoor to Ooty and Ooty out towards Gudlur and Mysore...... The exit roads are dizzying... But the real charm is getting up there and reclaiming life. Worth all that effort

That Madumalai forest range and Bandipur forest range is to die for, anything to travel in that road after 6 pm and before 7 am..... Nothing comes close to that pure BLISS.......

Originally Posted by ampere

I was about to comment on the Safari parking, but then saw Arun's post !
That is one indeed for the album! Classic snap.

That was just an off shot taken by my bro when i was parking the car, everyone liked it too. Thanks....

[nilanjanray]

Pavan,

During weekdays Kalhatti road allows two way traffic. They stop people from coming down during weekends. But with some persuasion e.g. telling them that you have booked some resort in Masinagudi, and can't take the Gudalur Road, the cops allow you to go downhill through Kalhatti even during weekends.

I don't like the Gudalur road, especially the few kms before Gudalur. Too much bus/truck traffic, and too long.

[ranjitp1]

Good picture of the Safari on top of the bungalow.Looks like life did reclaim itself!

As Nilanjan rightly mentions,Kalhatty route is open for two way traffic,it is purely on the whims and fancies of the guard on duty at the gate.If its a heavy rush day in Ooty,then they dont let you pass via Kalhatty,driving the kalhatty ghats is an experience though,you realise that what looks like a plain flat road is actually a steep gradient when even in 1st gear,the vehicle struggles to go at 20kph!

I have always driven down Kalhatty as I hate the Gudalur route and the route inside Gudalur is so very painful.

[raj.barcode]

Loved the pic where safari parked on the cottage; and the Title of the tread too very novel

Looks like a nice place for a weekend; mind sharing the booking details (on pm of course) for the place you guys stayed; Thanks in Advance