Team-BHP - Swifted : Ooty

Day 03

I started the drive back to Ooty from Manjur. I always loved the Ketty valley and hence the routing was via Ketty and under the railway tracks and narrow winding beautiful roads.

Beautiful roads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL3DDY8znNI

Choices

Ketty to Ooty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxY9KpcGKKQ

I also clicked some hairpin signboards

At the end finally after some 200+ hairpins through out the day reached Ooty by 18:00 hours.

Relaxed for a while and went to Dinner buffet and bonfire to end an exciting day. Family had a relaxing great day at the resort eating, sleeping, reading and for me a great drive :thumbs up

Day 04

After a very nice and comfortable sleep, woke up lazily by 08:00AM. Wifey and kids were already ready and were out for a walk. Took a nice hot shower and felt refreshed.

We had to check out this day and the onward drive to Bangalore was to be planned. Since it was a long weekend, I was expecting a mad scramble on the roads to Bangalore and was thinking about multiple options to beat it.

I got out of the room by 09:00AM.

My friend and family enjoying the sun

It looked like a bright sunny day

These were our three rooms

A note for the memories

Waiting for Wifey and kiddies to come back went in search of some flowers to click.

Beautiful Flowers

continued...

Day 04

Ooty Race Course can be seen from the resort

Resort is nearby :)

Ooty Bus station and Railway station also can be seen

Kiddies getting ready for a click with Ooty houses and Race Course at the backdrop

Mandatory Group Pic :)

Relaxing for a while, while the bills are made

Kiddies :thumbs up

Discussion on which would be an ideal route to take to Bangalore :D

continued...

Day 04

By 11:00 it was time for us to start. We had a plan to visit Doddabetta. But on reaching the turn to Doddabetta, we saw some 100+ cars waiting in queue to climb up:Frustrati. Immediately ditched the plan and moved on. We stopped by a road side outlet selling tea and some "home made chocolates". We picked up some and ended our activities at Ooty for this trip.

"Home made chocolates"

Few more clicks from Ooty

My friend and his steed

Clouds were not promising

The crowd near Doddabetta set me thinking. I need a great escape route, otherwise I would have to crawl behind all these 100+ returning cars and ofcourse I was very afraid of a late night arrival and also of unforced errors, and a boring 10+ hours of stop go traffic!

Looking at our co-ordinates the best routing was to get down to Mettupalayam. Since it is a longer route back to Bangalore, my guess was the crowd won't prefer it.

Thus we started towards Mettupalayam by 12:00

Mettupalayam View point en route

Down there is Mettupalayam. Afternoon haze does not show you anything!

Some more hairpins for the drive

We reached Mettupalayam by 13:15. The route was mostly devoid of traffic. We stopped for some refreshments

We found a tender coconut loving Goatie :D

From here I decided to drive via Dimbam Ghats to join Kollegal and further to Bangalore. It was a Gamble, but superb roads were waiting for us!

Bhavani Sagar Reservoir

continued...

Day 04

From Bhavani Sagar Dam we took the route via Dimbam Ghats. It was fun climbing up the haipins of the ghats.

By 14:30 we exited the ghats, and I decided to take a deviation to further escape the traffic via Germalam to Kollegal :D

At the exit of Dimbam Ghat road towards Germalam

The road looked very nice and green :thumbs up

After some adrenalin rushing drive through these roads we reached Kollegal and drove further on. The Cauvery bridge was barricaded and it was easy to cross since there were no heavy vehicles.

We finally reached Bangalore by 19:30 hours. Considering a return from Ooty to Bangalore on a long weekend, this timing was quite good and we sighed in relief. My friend's fried too started from Ooty by 12:00, but he took Gudalur, Bandipur, Mysore route only to reach Bangalore after midnight!!

Finally after 1134Kms and approximately 400 hairpins the Ooty drive comes to an end.

Day 04

The next scheme of events, Bhavani Sagar Dam to Kollegal via Dhimbam Ghats and Germalam

Beautiful ghat roads and arrow straight roads at Germalam sector. Quite an exhilarating drive, but narrow roads.

Over all a fun filled 4 days with lots of discoveries and uncrowded parts of Ooty.

I know its my umpteenth trip to Ooty, but still she has a lot left to be discovered. Waiting for the next opportunity to get back :thumbs up

Until then Ooty, take a bow for your charming beauty and Oodles of surprisesclap:

The End.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laluks (Post 3656756)

Day 03

To have an overview of the drive, you can refer this screen grab of my GPS trail for the drive :)

Route orientation for the day

Laluji : coming from Mulli, do you remember where exactly you hit the Mannarkad-Attappady highway? Was it Thavalam or Kottathara? (Or alternately, was it exactly as per your map?).

Also, how far was the non-tarred section?

How much time do you think it will take to come down from Coonoor to the Palakkad-Calicut highway with sedate driving and no stops?

Thanks in advance

Quote:

Originally Posted by mallumowgli (Post 4042234)

The map is just the plot of the GPS trail I logged from the trip. So you can safely assume I joined at Thavalam. Kottathara would have been easier.

GPS trail
Dasaprakash Rd, Fern Hill.kmz

Non tarred section was about 3 kms.

Via Manjur Mulli some 3 to 4 hours should be a peaceful drive. probably lesser

Don't know the situation of the roads now. Mukkali Mannarkkad ghat section was not so good then, patchy wet surface.

Quote:

Originally Posted by satran (Post 4044852)

This weekend we are planning to visit Ooty. Can any one suggest best places to visit at Ooty. We have 2 days at Ooty.

When will you arrive in Ooty, via which route and when will you exit Ooty and how is the exit route. This info would help in identifying the best locations to optimise time

Quote:

Originally Posted by satran (Post 4044985)

Our plan is from 3rd to 5th Sep. I got the accommodation at Fern Hill Sterling Resort. We are planning to leave Bangalore at 4 AM on 3rd Sep and back on 5th .

If you are taking the below route:
Bangalore- Mysore- Gundulpet- Bandipur- Mudumalai- Gudalur- Ooty

You can have a look at the Bandipur and Mudumalai tiger reserve and for a proper stay and jungle safari you might have to get the bookings done in advance.

In and around Ooty you can visit:

Pykara falls
Pykara lake
Doddabetta peak
Shooting point
Glennmorgan
Avalanche Lake
Botanical garden
Rose garden
Boat house

If you have plans visiting Coonoor then below listed are the spots for you

Sim's Park
Dolphin's Nose
Lamb's Rock
Catherine Falls
Hidden Valley

Apologies if I have missed out on something to the list.

I was in Ooty yesterday and the weather was awesome I should say. Hope you enjoy the trip. Have fun.

Short trip, but we can make it sweet too :thumbs up

Considering you start at 4AM from Bangalore and targeting a breakfast only in Ooty, we take this route BLR- Bandipur - Masinagudi - Ooty. Considering that you drive well and experienced on road trips, you should be able to do this under 6 hours with breaks for photography etc at Bandipur, Masinagudi ghats etc. I have done this in 4.5 hours once. Masinagudi has 26 hairpins and would be nice to climb up.

Once you are in Ooty by let us say 10AM. You have so many choices. If you need some shade and rest - then botanical garden. You want boating, preferably evening - Pykara Lake and Ooty lake are there. I would prefer Pykara - a little drive, and if rains have been kind there is a waterfall also. GlennMorgan is nearby Pykara, roads are not that good, probably for paucity of time you can give it a miss.

You can drive up Doddabet the highest peak there early in the morning, probably the next day. You can then go towards Avalanche and Emerald Lakes

On the return day, you can come via coonor, then come down to Mettupalayam, take Dimbam route to Kollegal and then to Bangalore. Some fun drive.