28th October 2009, 02:57
| #211 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
I am happy that the five hours I spend per day, to write and fine tune my travelogue, has paid rich dividends. Your appreciation is the right motivation for me to make the upcoming events more enjoyable and gripping! I hope I can continue to do justice to my travelogue in future too. I hope you will read my travelogue on Bhutan too! I spent more than 560 man hours fine tuning that story and photos! | |
|
| |
|
28th October 2009, 17:25
| #212 |
| Senior - BHPian | Day 12 – Ooty sight seeing! Day 12 – Ooty sight seeing! We woke up very invigorated and in high spirits that day. We had decided to start our exploration from that day. Ooty was quite big, unlike Kodai. So we decided to go everywhere in our Chevy. It was not feasible to walk or to hire local transport in Ooty. After we finished a sumptuous breakfast from our hotel, we left for the lake by 9 am. We reached the lake in ten minutes time. We parked our car and took some snaps.    We were about to take tickets to go inside the boat club, when it started to drizzle. So instead of going inside the boat club, we walked straight to the Thread Garden, which was on the road opposite to the lake. We were wonderstruck when we went inside the garden!   Inside the Thread Garden were a variety of flowers and plants made out of silk thread. The flowers and leaves were hand embroidered and not a single needle was ever used. They informed us that they were awaiting certification from the Guinness Book of World Records and that the Limca Book of Records had already recognized their Garden as the only one of its kind in India!!! The thread Garden was truly a spectacular creation of fifty brilliant lady artists. I was told that it took them twelve years to make all the flowers in the garden!   And they used 6 crore metres of silk thread!!!  I will let my photos do the narration, as no words can really do justice to its beauty!                 There were Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes Kunthiana) flowers in the garden. This flower is very rare and it blooms only once every twelve years! The species name Kunthiana has been derived from the River Kunthi which flows through the rich expanse of the renowned Silent Valley National Park in Kerala. It looks light blue in the earlier stages of blooming. Neela means blue in Malayalam language and Kurinji is the local name of the flower.   |
|
|
|
28th October 2009, 19:46
| #213 |
| Senior - BHPian | Drive in the ghats.... We spent an hour in the Thread Garden. We also bought a souvenir (silk flowers) from their shop. When we got out of the garden, the drizzle had turned to a huge downpour. We got a panoramic view of the lake from our high view point.     We spent half an hour waiting for the shower to end. But it showed no signs of relenting.  So instead of wasting time just staring at the dark skies and the puddles of dirty water forming on the road, we decided to go for a drive. We had not been able to get a good view of the highway, the previous night, as it was quite dark. So we thought of utilising the time. Before long, we were on the highway to Coonoor. The road was wet and slippery. I drove at a leisurely pace of just 50 km/hr. Soon the road and hills were enveloped in mist. There was only sparse traffic on the road.             We went down hill for about ten kilometres or so. By this time the mist had thickened and the rain became heavier, so we turned back and returned to Ooty.   |
|
|
|
28th October 2009, 21:58
| #214 |
| Senior - BHPian | Drive in the city...and an encounter with an Olympic sprinter... We reached Ooty town and drove around the streets. We went to the Commercial Street, took the road to Botanical Garden and then again came back to the city. It was so much fun driving in a small town like Ooty and I took the circuit again and again.                     Finally we decided to have lunch. We drove to Commercial Street again. We were looking for a good parking place, when we saw a gentleman crossing the road, looking at the other side. He was totally oblivious about our approaching car. I honked twice. The gentleman was startled. He looked at Chevy and took to his heels like a rabbit and crossed the road in 1.5 seconds flat!!!  We couldn’t control our laughter when we saw that man gallop like an Olympic sprint champion.  Soon we had tasty Biriyanis for lunch. We had enjoyed our drive tremendously. And the lunch break was a welcome break from the non-stop excitement. |
|
|
|
28th October 2009, 21:59
| #215 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 420
Thanked: 63 Times
| |
|
|
|
28th October 2009, 22:33
| #216 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
I personally like Ooty more. For a first timer, Ooty will appear very crowded. It will take 2-3 days for a person/couple to settle down. Then Ooty is very very enjoyable. On the other hand, Kodai is naturally beautiful, but is quite small and you won't have anything to do in 3 days. Thanks for your good wishes once again! To my dear readers. coming up soon is our surprising NANO encounter.....  Stay glued.... Last edited by Chevy_lover : 28th October 2009 at 22:35. | |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 07:28
| #217 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 4,539
Thanked: 5,562 Times
| |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 09:40
| #218 |
| Team-BHP Support   | Nice snaps. Reminds me when I was there three months back, just before the monsoon. We were able to make it just in time, as the Monsoon had got delayed. Did not go to Connoor on purpose. Saving it for another visit ! |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 14:04
| #219 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 14:48
| #220 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Madras
Posts: 775
Thanked: 1,329 Times
| |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 16:08
| #221 | |
| Team-BHP Support | Quote:
In fact I am also a railway fanatic. When we were in Ooty; after our day's sightseeing, I left my wife and baby at the hotel to take rest. Walked around 2km to the station through a small hillock and took many snaps of the station. It was pity that there were no trains at that hour. I came back empty handed on the train front. But the station was real fun to visit. Last edited by ampere : 29th October 2009 at 16:09. | |
|
|
| |
|
29th October 2009, 16:15
| #222 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 4,539
Thanked: 5,562 Times
| Quote:
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&sou...SYEBhqBZRCGcSg | |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 16:36
| #223 | |
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
| |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 16:42
| #224 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 4,539
Thanked: 5,562 Times
| Quote:
 My post was addressed at ampere as he said he is fond of railways! | |
|
|
|
29th October 2009, 17:35
| #225 |
| Team-BHP Support | I have done New Jalpai guri to Darjeeling and my wife has done the Ooty stretch. So we chose to drive this time. Once the kiddo grows we will do it one more time. Here attached is the station snap.  PS: CL sorry to reveal something out ! Last edited by ampere : 29th October 2009 at 17:38. |
|
|  (1)
Thanks
|
 |
Most Viewed