[Travel_newbie]

This Travelogue is dated Aug 2010.

DAY 1

Start time: 0400 hours

We left Bangalore early at 4 AM as we wanted to take the safari at Bandipur (we were told that the safari ends at around 0830). We raced through to Mysore, took the ring road, saw the cloud covered Chamundi hills and reached Nanjagudu. The road from Mysore and Nanjagudu is not exactly your dream road - it is two lane and potholes were present. We crossed the bridge over Kabini river and saw the erstwhile Mysore tram still stationed on a dilapidated bridge.

Cloud covered Chamundi hill
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Mysore tram
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from nanjagudu we headed towards Gundlupet and the road had become from "not so good" to "good". We crossed Gundlupet by 0745 and were racing towards Bandipur, in the hope of catching the last safari.

However, on reaching Bandipur we were told that the safari has been discontinued due to rains - as Bandipur tracks are not paved. The forest officials told us to proceed to Mudumalai range as the tracks in Mudumalai are laid with gravel and thus they operate during rainy season. We were in a hurry, so we did not stop even when we spotted an elephant herd along the road. We crossed into "Tamil Nadu Territory" and reached Mudumalai by 9 am.

Tamil Nadu Territory
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However, we were disappointed on being told that the requisite minimum number of passengers are not present in order to start the safari. The forest officials told us to try in the evening time as people returning to Bangalore often stop by. Not to be disheartened we decided to proceed towards Ooty taking the famous "hair-pin" bend route. At the Mudumulai forest office, we took the left turn and crossed the narrow iron bridge towards the road to Masinagudi.

Iron bridge towards Masinagudi (hair-pin bend road)
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The stratight road also goes towards Ooty, but via gudalur (this route is taken by the buses as they cannot climb the steep and narrow roads of hair-pin bend route). After zooming through Masinagudi, we were left spell bound by the first sight of the blue hills. We could spot numerous water falls on the hills to our right and the cloud covered blue hills in front of us looked imposing. We stopped to take in the sights and were full of energy as we took on the "36 hairpin bends". We stopped on the way to click photographs of hills, clouds, waterfalls, farms etc.

First sight of blue hills
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Water falls
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We reached ooty by noon and started searching for hotels. We had read
about Hotel Lake view and headed stratight towards that hotel. We checked the cottages and they were clean and had a good view. After resting for a while, we dediced to head towards Avalanchi and Emerald lakes. I had read lots of travelogues (written by laluks and ampere) and had zeroed into these two lakes. You have to reach Fern Hill palace and take the right fork of the road. It is clearly marked. After around 15-20 kms you need to take the road towards your right which goes towards Emerald Dam. You can ask people for Directions, Avalanchi dam is more commonly known as Canada dam. We took the uphill right road and started towards emerald lake/dam. The distance from the turn to the lake is not more than few kms, but due to severe rains, the roads were very bad and more importantly full of water - so it was diffcult to gauge the depth and size of potholes. However, our enthusiasm (fuelled by pics posted by laluks) helped us sail through the potholes. When we reached the bridge separating emerald and Avalanchi lakes, we were just amazed. We parked our car on the side and climbed down. You need to be careful and watchful here, this place is pretty deserted so you need to reach there on time and leave by 4 pm. We left at around 4 pm and headed towards Ooty.

Farm land
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View of the valley
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Avalanchi lake
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Avalanchi lake
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DAY 2 Coonoor trip in next post

[Travel_newbie]

There was some problems with attachments. The pics are displayed below

Chamundi Hills covered in clouds



Mysore Tram



First sight of Nilgiris



Waterfalls



Tamil Nadu Territory!!!!!



Bridge towards Masinagudi



Amazing scenery along the 36 hair pin bend drive









Farm land



Avalanchi lake



Avalanchi lake



Avalanchi lake

[Travel_newbie]

DAY 2 Coonoor visit

We decided to go to Coonoor on Day 2. We left by around 9 AM. The skies had cleared up and there were few patches of clouds on the horizon. You need to reach Charing Cross and take a right turn (if you are coming from Bus Stand) or head straight (if you are coming from DFO, Mysore, Blore). The drive to Coonoor is amazing, on the way you pass through some amazing tea gardens and also cross the famous Wellington train bridge.



Ooty lake


Enroute to Coonoor


A Settlement on a hill


View of the valley


Rainbow


Train bridge at Wellington


We reached Coonor by noon and headed straight towards Lambs rock and Dolphin nose. by this time, the clouds had started to make their presence felt and the weather outside was becoming foggy. We stopped before the Lambs rock from where you can see the "sleeping beauty" view point - we clicked few pics and headed towards Lambs rock. We were treated to some breath taking views and the guide also showed us the erstwhile Veerappan terrain. After spending an hour at Lamb's rock we headed towards Dolphin's nose view point. By this time the weather had started to become foggy due to clouds. We reached Dolphin's nose and were welcomed by a thick fog, which made it impossible to sight the Catherine waterfalls. But this itself was an amazing experience.


@ Lamb's rock


@ Lamb's rock


Monkey @ Lamb's rock


Sleeping beauty view point


@ Lamb's rock


Tea garden





Foggy weather - Ooty Coonoor road


Foggy weather - Ooty Coonoor road


Tea garden




Clouds @ Dolphin's nose



We left Coonoor by 3 pm and headed towards Ooty. Back at Ooty we decided to visit Botanical Gardens though the skies were threatening to open up. But the visit was worthwhile as we saw some great flowers and cacti. We decided to call it a day at around 7 pm






Fog on the road back to Ooty


Clouds


Dhalaia flower on the road side


Tea plant flower


Bunch of sun flowers sold outside Botanical garden

[ampere]

Was it the first long drive of your new car?
The ribbons have not come off!

[Travel_newbie]

Nah, the car was more than an year old, but didn't remove the ribbons just for the sake of superstitions associated with it

[Jaggu]

Thats a new one ^^ Remove em or you will soon nice fine scratches where the ribbons are touching!

[Travel_newbie]

DAY 3 Pykara, Mudumalai and Bandipur

We had decided to return to Bangalore on this day and visit Pykara and Glenmorgan lakes enroute to Bangalore. We checked out of the hotel and left for Glenmorgan at around 9 AM. You need to take the Gudalur road if you want to go towards Glenmorgan and Pykara. We reached the point where the road turns towards left and a small potholed road goes towards Glenmorgan (as the signs indicated). We decided to try our luck and started on the the road towards Glenmorgan, but we were detered by the condition of the road and the fact that we were not sure if we were on the right road. There was nobody to ask and we promptly turned and headed towards Pykara falls and lake. Pykara falls were a disappointment and there is nothing to write about.

After around 10 kms from the Glenmorgan turn, we came to a board that indicated a small road that goes towards Pykara lake. We reached the lake and were amazed by the sights there. The lake itself is huge and you can not locate the end of the lake, it is covered by hills on all sides. We decided to take a boat ride and was an amazing experience.

Giant Tree on the road side


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


Pykara Lake


We left Pykara by 12 pm and decided to go back and take the hair pin bend route for the sheer beauty offered by that route. We were not disappointed and witnessed nature at work.

cloud covering a hill top


cloud covering a hill top


cloud covering a hill top




Water falls along 36-hairpin bend road


Foal on the road side




Water falls along 36-hairpin bend road


Bye blue hills



Then we remembered that we were getting late for Masinagudi safari. We reached Masinagudi by 3 pm and booked ourselves on the first bus safari.

to be continued...

[Fordmanchau]

Hi Travel Newbie,
Nice trip you had there. I also drove to Ooty , Coonor and Devashola in Aug 2010 from Hyderabad. What dates you were in Ooty?
Weather in August was really awesome and low lying clouds like in your photos were a sight to behold.
Looking forward for more pics and trip update from your side.

[Travel_newbie]

Hi Ford,

I was in Ooty during the 2nd last weekend of August.... it was the best time of the year... You drove nearly 1000 kms !!!!! - that is amazing

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by Travel_newbie

Hi Ford,
I was in Ooty during the 2nd last weekend of August.... it was the best time of the year... You drove nearly 1000 kms !!!!! - that is amazing

okay, I went in the 2nd week of August and you in 3rd week. Mine was a week long trip. Total trip distance end-to-end was around 2000 kms.
Post more updates mate. Looking forward to them.

[Travel_newbie]

Continued

The Mudumalai safari was an amazing experience, though the bus was rickety and made lot of noise (frightening away animals) we saw elephants, deer, peacock and few other animals. We did spot a leapord devouring its kill, but the sound made by out "stealthy" bus drove away the leapord and it did not return back to the kill .

We were so thrilled by this safari that we decided to enquire again at Bandipur, whether they were operating the safari today. We were told that they are going to operate a bus safari and we had to wait for required number of people before we embarked on the safari. Bandipur safari was unevenful as we saw few Gaurs, Deer, wild boar, pea fowls and mongoose (which we could not click). It was pretty late (5 pm) and we still had to cover ~240 kms to Bangalore. We left with a promise to visit Ooty again and again (and we have already visited Ooty twice in a span of 8 months)

Pics

elephant along roadside @ Bandipur




The male elephant who ran after the bus




Elephant herd @ Bandipur


Elephant herd @ Bandipur


Indian Bison (Gaur)






Peacock






Wild boar, though it doesn't look like one

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by Travel_newbie

We left with a promise to visit Ooty again and again (and we have already visited Ooty twice in a span of 8 months)

hehe!! twice in 8 months!! talk about it, I visited Ooty twice within 6months. Thrice overall.
Nice pics there of the Elephant herd, looks like the same herd we spotted in January this year.
We didn't go for any safari. What are the prices for the safari at Bandipur and Masinagudi ?

[Travel_newbie]

The safari arranged by Bandipur Forest dept costs somewhere ~Rs 200 per person. I think they have increased the rates.

Mudumalai is cheaper @ Rs 95 per person. I liked Mudumalai better than Bandipur. It has more animals and the route taken by safari is better. Secondly, Bandipur has lots of shrubs and they hinder your view, whereas Mudumalai is free of shrubs

Another option is to contact the resorts like Tusker Trails etc. They usually have some vacant spots in their vehicle. They charge Rs 1000 per person. But the problem is that it is a van safari, the guys usually don't stop and look for animals... they just drive on and stop at pre-designated stops...

[vidyabhushan]

Guys,
I am planning a trip to Bandipur and Madumalai from Bangalore (July - Aug period) - my first trip to this area. Although I am not too keen to go till Ooty, probably would want to stay in Wellington another time.

Could you suggest some nice jungle resorts in Madumalai or Bandipur jungles? I would be travelling with kids, so wondering if I should be worried about things like Mosquito / insect bites, choice of food etc while staying in these resorts.

An indicative rate for room types and photographs would also help!!

Cheers,
Vidyabhushan

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vidyabhushan

Could you suggest some nice jungle resorts in Madumalai or Bandipur jungles? I would be travelling with kids, so wondering if I should be worried about things like Mosquito / insect bites, choice of food etc while staying in these resorts.

This is one decent place which I am aware off.


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