Swifted : Ooty

laluks · 2nd December 2009, 19:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I suggest following
...
Sorry Laluks: for highjacking your thread.

Hey Star, not at all an issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

Lalu will not mind if there are 2-3 OT post. Right Lalu??

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomzi

well more

My niece used to have motion sickness too. Then my cousin sis did a wierd innovation. Now she places an unfolded newspaper on the backseat and then my niece sits on it.
No more motion sickness however long the journey is. I don't know how it works but you could give it a try.

Infact I am happy that we are discussing how to enjoy the travel with kids, than keeping away because of them to grow. Both the kids and we lose out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Superb photos, Laluks. Nice transition to the DSLR world. I could not visit Avalanche when we were there. Your photos gave me another reason to head back to the hills! Please continue.

CL, plan the offbeat places next time, and get all the permissions required. Nilgiris will open out a lot of possibilities, and your chevy can enjoy its ride

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomzi

Great pics and travelogue Laluks.

I'd been to Ooty a few years ago, but stayed to the main places only. Looking at your pics I feel like visiting again now.

Thanks gomzi.

laluks · 2nd December 2009, 20:14

Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued

Kalhatty Falls - OOTY - Love Dale - Coonor - Sims Park

We left from Kalhatty waterfalls and reached Ooty by 09:30.

Queen of Hills welcomes us

Since we did not visit Coonor in our last visit except for the toy train station we decided to head to Coonor. The Ooty Coonor road is blocked due to the recent landslides and we were diverted through Lovedale, Ketty to Conoor. Some roads are bad, but there are roads to go, and connectivity is established. We reached Conoor by 10:50AM. If the other road was not blocked Conoor could have been reached faster.

By 11:00 We reached Sims Park. We spent an hour in the park. Frankly having seen many parks, Sims park did not inspire much. But the cool shade was a welcome break and we all took some rest from the travel.

Sims Park Entrance

Sims Park - A glance

Sims Park - Orientation

Nice Flower

Gimme RED, More RED any one??

Children play Area

Small bridge to the island

Fish in the pond

Path to gate 2

The oldest tree in the park

My lens is not enough

Finally

By 12:00PM we came out of the park and had some brunch from the near by Dhabha. Purchased some Passion fruits and guavas and drove to wards Lamb's Rock by 12:30PM

Continued...

laluks · 2nd December 2009, 21:39

Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued

Sims Park - Lambs Rock - Kattapattu - Kotagiri

By 12:30 we started from Sims park to Lamb's Rock. It was foggy and not much things were visible. Just took the gamble and went there. Lamb's Rock is named after a British captain who made a path to this spot in the forest.

Direction Boards

The path to the view point covered in fog

As expected nothing could be seen of the valley from the viewpoints due to the thick fog. Spent some time lazing around and returned.

Trying to figure out what lies behind the fog!!

My elder one thinks climbing a tree might help to see more!!

The view point covered in fog

Fog everywhere, time to call it quits.

So we return, another path to the exit

While driving towards Dolphin's Nose, we spotted this waterfall.

We then drove further onwards to Dolphin's Nose. A little further we found Guernsey Tea Factory. You can visit them to see how tea is made. By now the fog got thickened. So we decided to call it quits as going all the way to Dolphin's Nose would then just become a ritual and nothing to see due to the thick fog. Locals told me the best way to avoid mist is to visit early. I also got the information that the roads were getting paved due to less number of visitors(due to the landslide). So we had to walk atleast a kilometer to the viewpoint on that date. Hence it was a wise decision to turn around. May be today the road work is over and you can drive till the end.

6 kilometers to Dolphin's Nose. Red Riding Hood enjoying the roads

See the paved roads.

Tea Estate on the road to Lamb's Rock covered in Mist

Red Riding Hood ready to get back to Kattapattu. See the fog behind

We turned around by 14:00 PM and reached Kattapattu by 14:30PM. We reached Kotagiri by 15:00PM. From Kotagiri, in the Mettupalayam road after 8KMs you get the Catherine Falls location. From the place you park it is a three Kilometer trekk to the foot of the falls. Due to the fog and trekk, we decided to give Catherine falls a miss too this time.

This day seemed to be very cloudy and foggy.

Continued...

laluks · 2nd December 2009, 22:45

Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued

Kotagiri - Kodanadu - Kotagiri - OOTY.

We reached Kotagiri by 15:00PM. We drove further onto Kodanadu viewpoint, dismissing the factor of fog. The views on the route was nice.

Some Views from Kotagiri

Tea Estates enroute Kodanadu view point

Red Riding Hood among the clouds!!

We reached Kodanadu View point by 15:40. Fog was playing spoil sport, but was not as thick as in Dolphin's nose.

Kodanadu View Point

Views around from the view point

You can see a waterfall

Panaorama

A peak

Important peaks in Nilgiris

We left the viewpoint by 16:00PM, reached Kotagiri by 16:30PM. You can visit Elk falls and Catherine falls from here.

Since the traffic was lean, we were allowed to take the normal Kotagiri Ooty Road, instead of the diversion. This road also suffered due to landslides, but they have brought the situation to control.

We finally reached Ooty 17:00PM.

Continued...

laluks · 2nd December 2009, 23:10

Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued

Ooty - Zest Danish Villa resort

We finally reached the resort by 17:15PM. This was a resort by Zest, Zest Danish Villa. Club Mahindra members can access this property. But the property was a very small one, but enough for us for this trip.

We were welcome

The entrance to the restaurant

Our Room for the night

Kids area

The corridor

Cottages

Garden

Flower like plant

Another one

Adventure Zone

Restaurant

Nice Flower

An X6. Never saw it started though it was religiously washed every morning like a ritual.

After checking in we discussed about the next day, and decided to stay back at the resort and catch up some rest and sleep. So the plan was a lazy day. Kids as usual found the fun zone and play ground and were in their world.

By 20:00 we had dinner from the resort. Menu was limited, food left a lot to be desired, but nevertheless Ok for us. We retired early dreaming of a lazy day ahead.

gomzi · 3rd December 2009, 00:21

Wonderful pics again, great to see so many natural colours.

The blue in your pics of Kotagiri is striking! We miss that in Mumbai where the sky is more of a murky dull blue at best.

laluks · 3rd December 2009, 07:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomzi

Wonderful pics again, great to see so many natural colours.

The blue in your pics of Kotagiri is striking! We miss that in Mumbai where the sky is more of a murky dull blue at best.

Thanks gomzi.
We start missing the blue from Bangalore as well these days

MuraliR · 3rd December 2009, 09:37

Wonderful Lalu.

Interesting to note that the kids reserved their sleeping places using their Bags !

shishir_bn · 3rd December 2009, 09:52

"lalu" You have done it agai. Amazingly superb and fantastic snaps. you are a professional i feel in taking photos and it is a privilage to watch these snaps with so much clarity and attention to details and thanks for allowing a small drift in the topic( on kids)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomzi

Great pics and travelogue Laluks.

I'd been to Ooty a few years ago, but stayed to the main places only. Looking at your pics I feel like visiting again now.
well more

My niece used to have motion sickness too. Then my cousin sis did a wierd innovation. Now she places an unfolded newspaper on the backseat and then my niece sits on it.
No more motion sickness however long the journey is. I don't know how it works but you could give it a try.

This is cool. i don't know how it helps but for me i tried that also. So best what i am doing is every now and then taking my kid outside so that he gets adjusted to the drive and now even he is adjusted to some extent. Last month when we came from bandipur he was sitting in the front(my brother in law wasd driving) and i was with him in the front wearing seatbelt and to my surprise until we reached bangalore not even a single time he vomitted. So i think he is getting adjusted to it.(but we had lots of breaks in between.we stopped in mysore,maddur and many other places also)

Majic · 3rd December 2009, 09:55

Good Morning Lalu, i see the the post for the day has been done, wonderful is just an adgective, your travelogue speaks more than that. Looking forward to the rest of the posts. Pictures- beautiful.

laluks · 3rd December 2009, 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuraliR

Wonderful Lalu.

Interesting to note that the kids reserved their sleeping places using their Bags !

Thanks Murali.
They are so much used to travelling, that they have their own processes

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

"lalu" You have done it agai. Amazingly superb and fantastic snaps. you are a professional i feel in taking photos and it is a privilage to watch these snaps with so much clarity and attention to details and thanks for allowing a small drift in the topic( on kids)

Thanks Shishir

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

This is cool. i don't know how it helps but for me i tried that also. So best what i am doing is every now and then taking my kid outside so that he gets adjusted to the drive and now even he is adjusted to some extent. Last month when we came from bandipur he was sitting in the front(my brother in law wasd driving) and i was with him in the front wearing seatbelt and to my surprise until we reached bangalore not even a single time he vomitted. So i think he is getting adjusted to it.(but we had lots of breaks in between.we stopped in mysore,maddur and many other places also)

You can try getting a child seat and restrain him in that in the front passenger seat (if your car is without airbags, or you drive a expensive vehicle with occupant sensing) though I'd not advice to seat a child in the front.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Majic

Good Morning Lalu, i see the the post for the day has been done, wonderful is just an adgective, your travelogue speaks more than that. Looking forward to the rest of the posts. Pictures- beautiful.

Thanks Majic. More coming up.

akas_chauhan · 3rd December 2009, 10:59

Nice pictures and nice detailed travelogue.

shishir_bn · 3rd December 2009, 11:26

"Lalu" still pics are in que. Wow that is amazing. Eagerly waiting for somemore clarity and detailed snaps

neeraj_125 · 3rd December 2009, 12:16

Super post by a travel guru. I have done the same stretch 2 times. We also start at 4 AM always from banaglore. I have always taken about 5.5 hrs.
My daughter is also on your kids footsteps she is 5 yr old and gets up as soon as the alarm rings at 3:40. she is ready before me. She cannt help me with odometer though, but she has to ask if we are looking for directions to a particular hotel etc. So we have to let her ask from the window "which way is hotel X". I am sure she's gonna grow up with same passion.

laluks · 3rd December 2009, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

Nice pictures and nice detailed travelogue.

Thank you akas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shishir_bn

"Lalu" still pics are in que. Wow that is amazing. Eagerly waiting for somemore clarity and detailed snaps

Shishir, only Day 1 pictures are done, now we have three more days to go

Quote:

Originally Posted by neeraj_125

Super post by a travel guru. I have done the same stretch 2 times. We also start at 4 AM always from banaglore. I have always taken about 5.5 hrs.

Thank you neeraj.
A lot of factors influence, even the day - like a Saturday early morning will have traffic towards Mysore, etc. On 27th, the roads were mostly empty till Nanjangud

, a rare thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neeraj_125

My daughter is also on your kids footsteps she is 5 yr old and gets up as soon as the alarm rings at 3:40. she is ready before me. She cannt help me with odometer though, but she has to ask if we are looking for directions to a particular hotel etc. So we have to let her ask from the window "which way is hotel X". I am sure she's gonna grow up with same passion.

That's cool.
My Elder one is 10+, and the smaller one is 6+ years old. They both enjoy the serious stuff they do for their travel freak Daddy!!

2nd December 2009, 20:14	#62
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued Kalhatty Falls - OOTY - Love Dale - Coonor - Sims Park We left from Kalhatty waterfalls and reached Ooty by 09:30. Queen of Hills welcomes us Since we did not visit Coonor in our last visit except for the toy train station we decided to head to Coonor. The Ooty Coonor road is blocked due to the recent landslides and we were diverted through Lovedale, Ketty to Conoor. Some roads are bad, but there are roads to go, and connectivity is established. We reached Conoor by 10:50AM. If the other road was not blocked Conoor could have been reached faster. By 11:00 We reached Sims Park. We spent an hour in the park. Frankly having seen many parks, Sims park did not inspire much. But the cool shade was a welcome break and we all took some rest from the travel. Sims Park Entrance Sims Park - A glance Sims Park - Orientation Nice Flower Gimme RED, More RED any one?? Children play Area Small bridge to the island Fish in the pond Path to gate 2 The oldest tree in the park My lens is not enough Finally By 12:00PM we came out of the park and had some brunch from the near by Dhabha. Purchased some Passion fruits and guavas and drove to wards Lamb's Rock by 12:30PM Continued...
	() Thanks

2nd December 2009, 21:39	#63
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued Sims Park - Lambs Rock - Kattapattu - Kotagiri By 12:30 we started from Sims park to Lamb's Rock. It was foggy and not much things were visible. Just took the gamble and went there. Lamb's Rock is named after a British captain who made a path to this spot in the forest. Direction Boards The path to the view point covered in fog As expected nothing could be seen of the valley from the viewpoints due to the thick fog. Spent some time lazing around and returned. Trying to figure out what lies behind the fog!! My elder one thinks climbing a tree might help to see more!! The view point covered in fog Fog everywhere, time to call it quits. So we return, another path to the exit While driving towards Dolphin's Nose, we spotted this waterfall. We then drove further onwards to Dolphin's Nose. A little further we found Guernsey Tea Factory. You can visit them to see how tea is made. By now the fog got thickened. So we decided to call it quits as going all the way to Dolphin's Nose would then just become a ritual and nothing to see due to the thick fog. Locals told me the best way to avoid mist is to visit early. I also got the information that the roads were getting paved due to less number of visitors(due to the landslide). So we had to walk atleast a kilometer to the viewpoint on that date. Hence it was a wise decision to turn around. May be today the road work is over and you can drive till the end. 6 kilometers to Dolphin's Nose. Red Riding Hood enjoying the roads See the paved roads. Tea Estate on the road to Lamb's Rock covered in Mist Red Riding Hood ready to get back to Kattapattu. See the fog behind We turned around by 14:00 PM and reached Kattapattu by 14:30PM. We reached Kotagiri by 15:00PM. From Kotagiri, in the Mettupalayam road after 8KMs you get the Catherine Falls location. From the place you park it is a three Kilometer trekk to the foot of the falls. Due to the fog and trekk, we decided to give Catherine falls a miss too this time. This day seemed to be very cloudy and foggy. Continued...
	() Thanks

2nd December 2009, 22:45	#64
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued Kotagiri - Kodanadu - Kotagiri - OOTY. We reached Kotagiri by 15:00PM. We drove further onto Kodanadu viewpoint, dismissing the factor of fog. The views on the route was nice. Some Views from Kotagiri Tea Estates enroute Kodanadu view point Red Riding Hood among the clouds!! We reached Kodanadu View point by 15:40. Fog was playing spoil sport, but was not as thick as in Dolphin's nose. Kodanadu View Point Views around from the view point You can see a waterfall Panaorama A peak Important peaks in Nilgiris We left the viewpoint by 16:00PM, reached Kotagiri by 16:30PM. You can visit Elk falls and Catherine falls from here. Since the traffic was lean, we were allowed to take the normal Kotagiri Ooty Road, instead of the diversion. This road also suffered due to landslides, but they have brought the situation to control. We finally reached Ooty 17:00PM. Continued...
	() Thanks

2nd December 2009, 23:10	#65
laluks Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 6,552 Thanked: 16,397 Times	Day 1, November 27th 2009 Continued Ooty - Zest Danish Villa resort We finally reached the resort by 17:15PM. This was a resort by Zest, Zest Danish Villa. Club Mahindra members can access this property. But the property was a very small one, but enough for us for this trip. We were welcome The entrance to the restaurant Our Room for the night Kids area The corridor Cottages Garden Flower like plant Another one Adventure Zone Restaurant Nice Flower An X6. Never saw it started though it was religiously washed every morning like a ritual. After checking in we discussed about the next day, and decided to stay back at the resort and catch up some rest and sleep. So the plan was a lazy day. Kids as usual found the fun zone and play ground and were in their world. By 20:00 we had dinner from the resort. Menu was limited, food left a lot to be desired, but nevertheless Ok for us. We retired early dreaming of a lazy day ahead. Last edited by laluks : 2nd December 2009 at 23:17.
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 00:21	#66
gomzi BHPian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 798 Thanked: 236 Times	Wonderful pics again, great to see so many natural colours. The blue in your pics of Kotagiri is striking! We miss that in Mumbai where the sky is more of a murky dull blue at best.
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 09:37	#68
MuraliR BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 361 Thanked: 35 Times	Wonderful Lalu. Interesting to note that the kids reserved their sleeping places using their Bags !
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 09:55	#70
Majic BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kottayam Posts: 588 Thanked: 8 Times	Good Morning Lalu, i see the the post for the day has been done, wonderful is just an adgective, your travelogue speaks more than that. Looking forward to the rest of the posts. Pictures- beautiful.
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 10:59	#72
akas_chauhan BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Antonio Posts: 596 Thanked: 25 Times	Nice pictures and nice detailed travelogue.
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 11:26	#73
shishir_bn Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,195 Thanked: 120 Times	"Lalu" still pics are in que. Wow that is amazing. Eagerly waiting for somemore clarity and detailed snaps
	() Thanks

3rd December 2009, 12:16	#74
neeraj_125 Newbie Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17 Thanked: 0 Times	Super post by a travel guru. I have done the same stretch 2 times. We also start at 4 AM always from banaglore. I have always taken about 5.5 hrs. My daughter is also on your kids footsteps she is 5 yr old and gets up as soon as the alarm rings at 3:40. she is ready before me. She cannt help me with odometer though, but she has to ask if we are looking for directions to a particular hotel etc. So we have to let her ask from the window "which way is hotel X". I am sure she's gonna grow up with same passion.
	() Thanks