[kutlee]

nice pics. that twisted tree looks excellent!!

[wmanu]

@kutlee: Thanks. The tree was on road side, about a Km from Gundulpet town.

[pramod]

I liked the Angles in some of your photographs.
Thanks for the travelogue

[hillram]

Ooty aka Udagamandalam stirs some grear memories for me as we had our honeymoon there way backin 1999.
Awesome pics.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by harishnair

Nice travelogue wmanu.

Sadly I have some dire memories of my last trip to ooty some 2 years back. So here it goes-

One fine day we friends decided to go on a trip to ooty in our rented Scorpio. Calicut to Ooty shouldn’t take more than 4.5 hrs. So we set out at 10am in the afternoon to ooty via Nilambur as this was the shorter route. We stopped at Nilambur town(2hrs from college) for diesel and there falls the first bomb, we came to know that the road to ooty is closed because of heavy rains. So now the only way was to go back all the way and go up the wayanad hairpins and proceed to ooty from there (this will take 4hrs). Halfway through the drive, our tire got punctured and to our utter luck the Scorpio didn’t have a jacky and the stepney tire was bald (it looked like one giant tube with no threads). So now we had to find a tire repair shop and with the help from some private bus guys who were kind enough to lend us their hydraulic jacky we got moving again after 2 hours. Again during a pit-stop before the hairpins one of my friends went and stamped on some excreta (s***) and the whole car was stinking from there on. So after some 8 hours of driving we reached Kalpetta and then proceeded towards Gudalur. So now it was 9.30pm and the road through the national park was closed and we were asked to take an alternate route which although not being paved was shorter in distance. Now here begins the real adventure, the road was virtually non-existent and the light from our scorpio was not able to light up the entire road. The entire path was a climb with some hairpins too, both sides of the path had some mega forest with huge trees and some trees were uprooted due to the rain and leaning on to the road, moreover the road was very slippery. The experience was really eerie like some horror story. After almost 2 hours we reached ooty and found some accommodation. The guys at the hotel were kind enough to open up their restaurant and provide us with some food. So there ended our 14 hour ordeal and what a fine machine the Scorpio is, a true offroader. The return trip was incident free through the national park.

PS- During our stop at gudalur we bought a beverage (b***) called Kalyani, please never buy this c***, it was like drinking water.

What time of year did you go?

@wmanu, Nice pictures. Some how I am never able to start at 5 from Bangalore. Mostly start by 6. Any way one more reason is that by then the great Kamat is open !

[harishnair]

Originally Posted by ampere

What time of year did you go?

Sorry, I do not remember the exact date as it was 2 years ago, but its some time between july and september.

A valley view taken during our trip.


This will give you an idea of the climate in ooty during that time.( 2nd guy from left is me)



@wmanu- i apologize for hijacking your thread.

[@400Kph]

@ wmanu, i have planned for a trip to ooty on 14th this month.I was about to create a thread for details of ooty and i came across this thread.I have already visited ooty 2 years back and now want to revisit but this time with my wifey.Can you share the details of which hotel you stayed in and room rent and any other details which you think will help me ? I will be leaving from Electronic city and i too have decided the route you have taken.

[anekho]

wmanu, short and sweet travelogue - I really enjoyed it!

Now I really wanna go to Ooty

[wmanu]

Originally Posted by Majic

Hey wmanu, first it was Wyanad and now its Ooty, Like Shankar balan this place is also a favourite of mine. Nice narration and pictures, do keep posting more!

Thanks for your comments, Ajanta and Ellora Caves are on its way

Originally Posted by kannan666

Nice travelogue wmanu ! Although the Bandipur roads were good, the last time I drove on those roads, there were speedbreakers at almost regular intervals on that stretch, have they been removed now ?

Yes, the speed breakers are very much in place but even with those, most of the vehicles where travelling at high speed.

Originally Posted by pramod

I liked the Angles in some of your photographs.
Thanks for the travelogue

Originally Posted by hillram

Ooty aka Udagamandalam stirs some grear memories for me as we had our honeymoon there way backin 1999.
Awesome pics.

Originally Posted by anekho

wmanu, short and sweet travelogue - I really enjoyed it!

Now I really wanna go to Ooty

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you all liked them.

[wmanu]

Originally Posted by @400Kph

@ wmanu, i have planned for a trip to ooty on 14th this month.I was about to create a thread for details of ooty and i came across this thread.I have already visited ooty 2 years back and now want to revisit but this time with my wifey.Can you share the details of which hotel you stayed in and room rent and any other details which you think will help me ? I will be leaving from Electronic city and i too have decided the route you have taken.

You can take the NICE road from Electronic City to Mysore Road and save lots of time and traffic. I think you need to pay around 50INR as toll to use NICE.

We have stayed in Queens Residency at 1,000INR per day for a cottage with two bedrooms with attached toilets, one living room and a dining cum kitchen.

[esteem_lover]

Nice pictures & travelogue wmanu

Originally Posted by @400Kph

@ wmanu, i have planned for a trip to ooty on 14th this month.

I would advice you against visiting ooty now. The rains have cause major landslides there. I love visiting Ooty in Nov/Dec. It is off season & the weather is fantastic.

[wmanu]

Originally Posted by harishnair

@wmanu- i apologize for hijacking your thread.

Not a problem, even more photos are welcome. Nice shots, raining in Ooty, I cannot imagine how cold it would be.

[gadadhar]

Today's TOI says Ooty is being cut off due to land slides, not sure which all roads are badly hit. BTW. did you notice the No Photography signs in Muthumalai national park, not sure why this is in place.

[wmanu]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

BTW. did you notice the No Photography signs in Muthumalai national park, not sure why this is in place.

I guess the no photography sign is for preventing passengers from stopping and stepping out from their vehicle for photography, as this could be dangerous.

[beejay]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Today's TOI says Ooty is being cut off due to land slides, not sure which all roads are badly hit. BTW. did you notice the No Photography signs in Muthumalai national park, not sure why this is in place.

Coonoor-Kotagiri road has been cleared.
Coonoor- Ooty road still not cleared. Road caved in
Coonoor- Mettupalayam road still not cleared. Land slide.

Post pone all trips for a while.
I am having a blast here with the Landslides.