[Mr.Boss]

Nothing gives much pleasure than riding a 2 wheeler on ghats section, especially when the roads are well paved and climate is chilling.

Ooty again, on 2 wheels

[Mr.Boss]

Background

After completing the Athirapally - Valparai trip, we went to in-laws home and this is how the conversation went with BIL (on 29th Dec) before dinner

BIL : How was the travel?
Me : As usual, enjoyed
BIL : Covered as planned?
Me : Yes, but not as expected
BIL : Why?
Me : Almost all water bodies were dry
BIL : Monsoon failed this year
Me : and climate wasn't chilling as expected
BIL : Even at Valparai?
Me : Valparai was better, but not at it's best
BIL : (disappointed)
Me : So, what's your plan for New Year?
BIL : Riding to Kodaikanal with friends
Me : Going by?
BIL : 1 car and 1 bike
Me : When?
BIL : Leaving by 31st early morning and return by 1st evening, are you joining?
Me : Nope, I have other commitments fixed already. Do you have any plans tomorrow (30th Dec)?
BIL : No
Me : How about a drive to Ooty?
BIL : Ok, 1 car or 2 cars (thinking I'm asking for a family trip)
Me : 1 bike
BIL :
Me : Yes, only we both or you may call your friends for company but strictly no car this time. I prepared my mind for a 2 wheeler ride.
BIL : (calls couple of his friends and confirmed both were joining)

After dinner we sat again to plan our trip.

BIL : So, where are we going?
Me : Ooty is fixed, rest is upto you
BIL : We covered almost all usual places, this time we must see something new
Me : New? Are you OK with 'just a scenic ride' rather than sight seeing?
BIL : Why not? Lets take Anaikatti route to reach Avalanche and return
Me : That's a good one, but let's take our regular route (coonoor and kothagiri) to see how the roads are now and let's plan for another drive with family in couple of months.
BIL : Ok, so what's the final plan
Me : Reach avalanche via Coonoor, return via Kothagiri
BIL :

This was our plan


And we decided this is going to be a trip to enjoy the scenic ride and understand the current road condition in and around Ooty, nothing more.

[Mr.Boss]

Companion

BIL's RE-TB and his buddy's Honda CB-Twister



Photographic Gears

Couple of Nikon D5100 and few mobile cameras

[Mr.Boss]

Drive to Ooty

We started by 08:00 Hrs after breakfast at home and BIL's friends joined on the way. Till Mettupalayam there is nothing much to comment about the ride except for the scary private buses, they rule the roads.

We took out the camera after crossing Mettupalayam


Road widening in progress @ Kallar bridge. This is the only bad stretch we encountered in the entire trip (but few hundred meters only)


Dusty


Entering the ghat section


We stopped for a short break


And these 3 idiots were busy on the opposite side of the road, when I was on a phone call


Went near them, they were staring at this little fellow










There is a small water stream


Water was very clear and chill. BIL and his friend started climbing to to discover what's on the top


Return after a small trek, but discovered nothing


Spent sometimes here and started our journey again

[Mr.Boss]

Drive to THE TUNNEL

Ever since I saw the snaps of Ooty train journey in internet, I wanted to travel by train to enjoy the scenic view, but never got a chance. So this time we planned even if we were not travelling by train, we should explore some of it's routes, especially the tunnels. Taken guidance from some local people at Glendale area.

Rails close to the roads


We stopped by and entered the rails




Kids enjoying their day


After couple of snaps we started again to Glendale.
Marked area is the Tunnel location


Google earth view

1. Junction, where the road divides to Manjur / Kuntha
2. Tunnel Location
3. Bridge After the tunnel
Lines marked in YELLOW are the options to reach the tunnel area from road

Nilgiri Mountain Train map (for reference)


Sign board at the junction. We parked our bikes at the junctions. There were few tea shops and a bakery.


Way to tunnel area




Too many steps, nice workout though




Goes inside the residential area and we enquired about the train timings and confirmed there are no more trains for next couple of hours.


Loved the color


And finally we reached


The Tunnel


Took some snaps




I wish I know Photoshop to enhance these snaps


Inside the Tunnel


Side walls are covered with the black smoke from diesel engine


Boys are always Boys, we don't grow


Other end of the tunnel. Your's truly, posing for the 1st time
Constructed during 1904


blahblahblah Contractor. Not sure what it is


Walk few more meters to reach the bridge


Didn't spend much time here, took few snaps and started moving back




Bidding adieu and leaving for our next destination


After reaching back the junction, had a cup of tea and snacks and started towards Coonoor for Lunch.

[Mr.Boss]

Valley View

Reached Coonoor


Stopped at Hyderabad Biryani House for lunch (take out)


Train from Coonoor, towards Mettupalayam


Coonoor Railway Station, the same old building


After a 20 min drive (after Ketti I suppose)


Rotary Club welcomes


Valley View Road


Huge Siva Lingam and a small temple




Advertisements keep changing, during my earlier trips I saw Idea and Vodafone


Some random snaps around the temple




Shooting the blacky


I wish we should have removed the fuel tank cover, at least for this snap


Shiva riding the TB


Japanese workhorse


This fellow was posing for a long time


Outcome from 50mm prime lens


Only snap (except selfies) with all 4 together.
From left, your's truly, couple of BIL's friends, BIL


Burst shot. No option for burst shot with timer mode

[Mr.Boss]

Drive to Avalanche

Earlier plan was to reach Avalanche by 14:00 Hrs and have lunch before enter, but we were running out of time. So skipped the lunch and started driving towards Avalanche via Lovedale


Greenish roads


We wish the roads don't end


Crossing Lovedale


Well paved roads


Some rare straight stretches


Green green and green every where




Enjoying the curves


Wide aperture outcome


Some random clicks




Punny twister doing good at these roads


Roads were never ending






At last, we were few kms before our destination.

When we reached, it was already too late (15:30 hrs) and entry was restricted only till 15:00 hrs (and exit by 17:50 Hrs)
Though we were little disappointed, the drive was awesome and the Biriyani was waiting for us. We had our lunch at Avalanche.

[Mr.Boss]

Return Drive

By the time we completed our lunch, we could feel the climate is changing rapidly. Mist started covering up and the temperature reducing drastically. Covered our self with gloves, face mask, etc and started our journey towards Coimbatore.


Clicked few snaps before the sunset


Parting snap a little before Ooty.


No snaps after this location as we almost froze. On the way we checked the temperature, it was 12 deg. Had a cup of tea and snacks before Kothagiri and reached home by 21:30 Hrs.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing

[RAINMAKER]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

blahblahblah Contractor. Not sure what it is
Attachment 1592240

HJ Bellie Gowder (who belongs to the Badaga community of the Nilgiris) was the engineer contractor who constructed the Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Deserves the respect.

My native is Ooty and I am a Badaga.

[Rajeevraj]

Nice report and snaps. Any report on Ooty and its surroundings triggers nostalgia and a wish to make a trip soon. Thanks for sharing.

What made you to not chose the Manjoor-Mulli-Karamadai route on the return? Would have been a nice choice for a group of guys on bikes and would have met your plan to explore road conditions too.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by RAINMAKER

HJ Bellie Gowder (who belongs to the Badaga community of the Nilgiris) was the engineer contractor who constructed the Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Deserves the respect.

Thanks for the information.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Nice report and snaps. Any report on Ooty and its surroundings triggers nostalgia and a wish to make a trip soon. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words. Ooty is something close to my heart as well.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

What made you to not chose the Manjoor-Mulli-Karamadai route on the return? Would have been a nice choice for a group of guys on bikes and would have met your plan to explore road conditions too.

We were not aware about such a route existence. Let me give a try for the next time.

[i20ian]

Thanks for the thread. Nice snaps. How's the climate in ooty? I'm planning an ooty trip next week. Booked stay at ooty. Going from Coimbatore to ooty via coonoor. Spend one day sight seeing in ooty. Planning to return via Gudalur nilambur to palakkad. May be even take a detour via masinagudi mudumalai to Gudalur just to explore the area. Any suggestions to plan my trip? Would like to cover the lesser popular places in ooty.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by i20ian

Thanks for the thread. Nice snaps.

Thank you

Originally Posted by i20ian

How's the climate in ooty?

Awesome, compared with other hill stations around.

Originally Posted by i20ian

Planning to return via Gudalur nilambur to palakkad. May be even take a detour via masinagudi mudumalai to Gudalur just to explore the area. Any suggestions to plan my trip? Would like to cover the lesser popular places in ooty.

Never traveled on both the routes you mentioned. Have a look at other travelogues.

[Sivasankar]

Thanks for posting such a good article. liked your photographs too.

The British era built Kallar bridge fell a couple of years back. I saw the ruins when we were there last year.