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19th February 2010, 21:52
| #31 | |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| DD, seems all Swifts get a photo shoot these days at the Avalanche lake  Quote:
Last edited by laluks : 19th February 2010 at 21:53. | |
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19th February 2010, 22:21
| #32 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | Quote:
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20th February 2010, 21:49
| #33 | |||
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The length of the road around the lake is very decieving. Its keeps on going and going. I realised it only after I drove around the lake once. But its a beautiful place to cycle or walk around. Beautiful palatial bungalows all around the lake. We kept only 1 day for Kodai as we wanted to spend more time at Ooty of the total 5 day road trip. Thanks for the comments CL. Quote:
 Yes no permission to visit these lakes. Just hope it remains clean as its now. Quote:
 .. So DSLR has to wait for some more time.. FZ35 serves my purpose currently. | |||
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20th February 2010, 22:08
| #34 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Kodaikanal/Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri again for the 3rd time in Swift D!!! Day 3 Continued.... By 3:00PM we are back in Ooty and have lunch at the restaurant at Hotel Nahar just before they were closing. After a tasty and heavy lunch, we head back to our Hotel for some rest. About an hour of rest we decide to visit the Botanical Garden at Ooty. A short drive from our hotel and then Park the car, buy tickets and enter Ooty Botanical Garden by 5:00PM. Being a weekend the place is crowded, but we slowly make our way through the Botanical Garden, taking photographs. Relax for sometime on the park benches looking at tourists playing on the lawns of the garden. By 6:30PM we leave the Botanical Garden and with nothing much to do drive towards Ooty Lake. With the Ooty lake close we decide to visit the Thread garden just opposite to the parking place at Ooty Lake.  Ooty Botanical Garden  Ooty Botanical Garden  Burst of colors inside one of the glasshouses at the Botanical Garden  Macro shot with the pin hole frame  Warm evening sunlight on the tree tops  Ooty Botanical Garden  Ooty Botanical Garden  Bright flowers  Ooty Botanical Garden  Ooty Botanical Garden  Ooty Botanical Garden  Macro shot of these beautiful flowers  Another one.. liked this picture a lot!! Its an artificial embroidery garden bearing natural models of plants and flowers fully developed of embroidery threads using technology of hand wound embroidery without machineries, taking 12 years with the effort of 50 lady artists, using more than 6 crore meters of embroidery threads. We take our own sweet time in the Thread garden looking at various flowers and leave the place when they were about to close by 7:30PM. We then had hot Grilled Corn trying to beat the dipping temperature.  Artificial flowers at the Thread Garden  Artificial flowers at the Thread Garden  Artificial flowers at the Thread Garden  Artificial flowers at the Thread Garden  Thread Garden at Ooty We return to the Hotel but before that we had to stop again at Kingstar bakey for some more chocolates and yesterday stock did not last much. By 9:00PM we leave the hotel and decide to walk to Shinkows hotel which is less than a kilometer from our hotel. After a tatsy Chinese meal we walk back to our hotel around 10:30. Shinkows Restaurant closes by 10:30PM and last order taken is around 9:45PM. Back to our hotel, room heater on full blast, watch TV and off to sleep by midnight. Continued.... |
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20th February 2010, 23:49
| #35 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: City of seven islands.
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21st February 2010, 06:39
| #36 | |
| Team-BHP Support | Quote:
On a serious note, even I was thinking of DSLR after seeing Lalu's snaps. But that price again is high for me as well. Even I am thinking of the FZ35 ! Great snaps of the botanical garden.Last edited by ampere : 21st February 2010 at 06:43. | |
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21st February 2010, 23:51
| #37 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Kodaikanal/Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri again for the 3rd time in Swift D!!! Day 4 (7th February, 2010) – Coonoor/Kotagiri Sightseeing Trip Meter – 858kms to 1022kms I am up by 8:30AM after a refreshing sleep. The room heater did its job well keeing the room warm, without it I feel would have been impossible to sleep. With Avalance and Emerald Lake done yesterday, today we will be travelling on familiar roads. Out of the hotel by 10:30AM, we have breakfast at Hotel Durga near Charring Cross. After the breakfast, we drive towards Kotagiri around 11:15AM from Ooty through the Doddabetta route. The traffic is only till the Doddabetta junction where most of the vehicles turn towards Doddabetta, after the Doddabetta junction its beautiful roads with amazing sceneries around and very less traffic. Kotagiri town is about 32kms from Ooty. The drive till Kotagiri is on a beautiful 2 lane road with lots of turns and beautiful landscapes all around. It takes about an hour to reach Kotagiri town. From here Kodanad view point is about 18kms and road takes you thorugh beautiful tea estates. We are at the Kodanad view point by 12:45PM. This is my second visit for Kodanad viewpoint and is a must visit for tourists. Even though it’s a weekend, this place is not crowded at all with about 3-4 groups at the viewpoint.  Views around just after Ooty towards Doddabetta  Tea estate on the road towards Doddabetta  View around on the road towards Kotagiri  Smooth winding road towards Kotagiri  View around closer to Kotagiri  Swift D on the road towards Kodanad View point from Kotagiri  Good smooth road from Kotagiri to Kodanad View Point  Kodanad Tea Estate  Kodanad Tea Estate Each viewpoint at Nilgiris is different. This is my favourite as the view point is very unique. The huge valley where the view point is situated dips down below forming a huge valley and then rises again to form smaller hills. River Moyar at the bottom of the valley snakes around. One can also enjoy the view of Rangaswamy peak which is conical shaped peak and is also considered sacred. On a clear day one can see the point where the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats meet. We leave the place after about spending an hour at this place, next destination being Coonoor.  Kodanad View Point  Rangaswamy Peak viewed from Kodanad View Point  Waterfalls at the base of Rangaswamy Peak  Rangaswamy Peak  Kodanad View Point  Kodanad View Point We head back to Kotagiri town and from there to Coonoor which is about 25kms. Reach Coonoor around 2:30PM and we start searching for a place near SIMS park where they sell fruit based jams. I had read about this on one of the TBHP threads which I don’t remember. Ask some people around who have no idea of what we are talking about. We give up and decide to have lunch at Coonoor as the time is close to 3:00PM. We have lunch at Hotel Blue Hills situtated on Mount Road at Upper Coonoor. After a tasty lunch we head towards Dolphins nose Viewpoint which is about 10kms from Coonoor. We are at the viewpoint in 30mins after stopping at a few places for photographs. The Dolphin's nose is a great vantage point that offers a panoramic view of the surrounding areas. Also one can view the magnificient St. Catherine Waterfalls. After spending about 30mins here we decide to head back to Ooty and then Shooting Medu to view the sunset. We leave Dolphins Nose viewpoint by 4:30PM. Enroute we stop at a small temple for sometime. Reach Coonoor town and head back towards Ooty. I know I am running against time. Take the road towards Ooty and put the Swift D through its paces. Reach Ooty by 5:45PM and continue my drive towards Shooting Medu which is about 15kms from Ooty.  View of Upper Coonoor Town from Blue Hills Hotel  Green tea estates around on the way towards Dolphins Nose Viewpoint  Green tea estates  Green tea estates  At Dolphins Nose Viewpoint  Dolphins Nose Viewpoint  Dolphins Nose Viewpoint  Small temple we stopped on our way back from Dolphins Nose Viewpoint The 15kms to Shooting medu is done is 20mins. Quickly park the car and start our walk towards the top of the hill at Shooting Medu only to know that we had missed the sunset by about 5-10mins. But even after the sun had set the view of the orange sky was pretty good. Shooting Medu or the 9th Mile is a small hill with very good views from the top. The climb up can sometimes get tiring but the view is worth all the effort. With most of crow gone after the sunset which we missed the top of the hill was pretty much for ourselves. We spent about 30mins till it started to get completely dark and we walked back down to the parked car. With the mercury dipping I had to switch on the heater inside the car. We leave shooting medu by 7:00PM.  Walking towards the top of Shooting Medu  We missed the sunset..  View around at Shooting Medu  At Shooting Medu  At Shooting Medu I drive back slowly to Ooty and head to Charring Cross for some chocolate shopping. We visit the new Kingstar Bakery whereactually picked up more than 2kgs of chocolates back home for friends. After the shopping for chocolates done we walk for sometime on Commercial Street window shopping and head back to the Hotel by 8:30PM. After resting for sometime in the room we walk to Shinkows Restaurant for some good Chinese food. Return back to the hotel and crash early on the bed. Continued.... |
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21st February 2010, 23:55
| #38 | ||
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22nd February 2010, 13:15
| #39 |
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22nd February 2010, 15:36
| #40 |
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22nd February 2010, 21:41
| #41 | ||
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23rd February 2010, 04:45
| #42 |
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| Bangalore - Kodaikanal/Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri again for the 3rd time in Swift D!!! Day 5 (8th February, 2010) – Ooty – Gudalur – Gundlupet – Nanjangud – Mysore – Bangalore Trip Meter – 1022kms to 1372kms It’s the last of our 5 day roadtrip. We plan to leave Ooty late in the afternoon after visiting some places, unlike other trips where the last day is only kept for driving back home. We are up by 8:30AM and after getting ready lazily we leave the hotel by 10:30AM. Back to the usual place for breakfast at Charring Cross and start our drive towards Ooty Lake. No we are not visiting Ooty Lake, we are just driving around it to visit the Deer Park and then drive towards Tribal Museum at M Palada on Avalanche Road. After seeing Pykara, Emerald and Avalanche Lakes, Ooty Lake seems very badly maintained. We slowly drive around Ooty Lake, stop at the Honeymoon Boat house situated at the corner of the Ooty Lake. Stop for some photographs and make our way towards the Deer Park by taking the road behind Good Shepard International School. About a kilometer further on the banks of Ooty Lake is Deer Park. Find the gates closed. But also see a board which mentions that the park is open after 10:30AM and its a little past 11:20AM now. Park the car and make some noises to see if anyone is inside as I see a couple of cycles parked. Then find that the gate is just bolted from inside and not locked; I open the gate and get into the Deer Park.  Honeymoon Boat House  Ooty Lake We find about 6 -7 lazy Sambars sitting in the shade munching grass. We spend about 10mins at the Deer Park taking photographs of these Sambars and all this while we didn’t see a single person around. After the visit to the Deer Park we make our way towards Avalanche Lake.  Sambars at the Deer Park  Deer Park  Staring right into the camera  Deer Park  Swift D parked at the Deer Park The Tribal Museum is located inside the campus of Tribal Research Center at M Palada. It’s about 10kms from Ooty. It’s about 100m after the village of M Palada situated on a small hill. We reach the Tribal Museum to find it locked. We make our way to the Tribal Research Center Office situated at the same campus. Spoke to the director of Tribal Research Center there who had a curator escort us back to the Museum and opened it for us. The museum has artefacts from the area's original inhabitants. Various photographs and weapons collected. We were only the second visitors for the day. After about an hour at the museum we left the place by 1:00PM.  Swift D at the Tribal Musuem  One of the artefacts at the museum  Various items on display at the museum  Photographs at the museum  At Tribal Museum  Collection of Jewellery and other stuff at the museum  Another picture of the jewellery..  Photographs at the museum  Paintings and Pictures at the museum  Paintings and Pictures at the museum  At the Tribal Museum  Paintings at the museum  Paintings at the museum  Paintings at the museum  Model Toda Huts outside the Tribal Museum On the way back to Ooty we stop at the Ooty Municipal Market before which I had to drive round the market twice trying to find a place to park the car. We walked inside the market without carrying any bags. As plastic is banned in Ooty we had to carry vegetables balancing the big paper bags on our arms. With wifey on a shopping spree, I managed to hold on to 3 paper bags filled to the brim with different vegetables. After the shopping done we get back to the hotel, pack all the bags and check out by 2:30PM. We decide to have lunch at Ooty before the long drive back to Bangalore. Over to Dhaba Express on Ooty – Coonoor road for tatsy Punjabi food. Felt good sitting in the open restaurant on a sunny afternoon unlike the cold night where we had dinner here. After the lunch, filled up diesel (Rs.500 / 13.94 lts) at the IOC outlet nearby, got the air checked and leave Ooty town around 3:30PM. Continued.... Last edited by dreamdiesel : 23rd February 2010 at 04:51. |
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23rd February 2010, 05:19
| #43 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Kodaikanal/Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri again for the 3rd time in Swift D!!! Day 6 Continued.... Out of Ooty we take the road towards Gudalur. The road is a beauty all the way till Gudalur. It’s a very smooth road with some superb turns and very scenic too. On the way out of Ooty, stop near Kamrajasagar Dam for some photographs. Then continue ahead with the drive towards Gudalur not before turning towards Glennmorgan.  Kamrajasagar Dam  Kamrajasagar Dam  Kamrajasagar Dam  Swift D near the Kamrajasagar Dam  Shooting Medu on our way out of Ooty I was curious as to what lay at Glennmorgan every time I visited Ooty. Last time I attempted to explore this place in the evening with low fuel, drove for about 3-4 kilometers but had to turn back, as it was getting dark and road felt spooky. This time around it was bright and sunny and I was confident about what lay ahead after hellstar and Lalu posted pics of whats at Glennmorgan. We drove through the narrow single lane road from the Highway. At some places the roads get bad but manageable. After about 10kms we come across a lake. We stop at this lake and take some pictures. Further ahead on this road is a winch to carry EB staff from Glenmorgan point to the power house at Singara. With the time about 4:20PM now we leave Glennmorgan and head back to the highway.  The narrow single lane road into Glennmorgan  Lake at Glennmorgan  Lake at Glennmorgan  Lake at Glennmorgan Once back on the highway we continue the drive towards Gudalur, stopping at a few places for photographs. Cross Gudalur around 5:20PM and continue the drive towards Mudumalai National Park. Smooth drive inside the forest.  A beautiful spot on the way towards Gudalur  Winding road through tall Eucalyptus trees  Winding roads through tall Eucalyptus trees We encounter some elephants, the usual deers and Langurs. I also spotted a Sambar and some Mongooses on the road but could not capture them on my camera as they fled into the forests. Enter Bandipur forest around 6:15PM and continue the drive. Out of the forest after a slow relaxed drive looking for wildlife. Exit Bandipur and surprised to see the smooth road all the way to Gundlupet. There was a 10km stretch before Gundlupet which sually would be a bone rattling drive on it. With beautiful roads and also painted, we enter Gundlupet around 7:00PM.  Strange trees inside Mudumalai  Spotted an elephant inside Mudumalai  Another picture of the elephant  Oh look!! there is a baby elephant too behind it..  Langurs at Bandipur  Deers at Bandipur  Deers at Bandipur  At this place next to small water body, we spotted some deers and also a couple of elephants. Can anyone spot a peacock too??  People in this vehicle were trying to feed something to the deers around.. So very stupid!!!  Road inside Bandipur.. We stop at a Café Coffee Day after Gundlupet town. Get out stretch my legs and also use the rest room. With only us at the CCD, we relax for about 30mins sipping a cold coffee. We start the drive towards Mysore on a good 2 lane road. Keeping a steady 80-100kmph on this smooth road, we encounter bad roads after Nanjangud and also the traffic density increases. With bad roads all the way till the outskirts of Mysore we enter Mysore around 8:00PM. We stop at the Mysore Palace for some photographs and head inside Mysore City towards Gandhi Square for dinner. Dinner is at Hotel RRR, one of my personal favorites serving Andhra Food. Whenever I am at Mysore I make sure I eat at Hotel RRR once. I ams omehow addicted to the Spicy Andhra Chicken Biryani this restaurant dishes out. Being a weekday the restaurant was empty, unlike Weekends where you will have to atleast wait for 30mins for a table. After a good Andhra Style dinner we leave Mysore City by 9:00PM.  Pitstop at Cafe Coffee Day, Gundlupet  Mysore Palace at night  Closeup of Mysore Palace at night  Hotel RRR, Mysore An uneventful drive back home on a deserted Banaglore – Mysore highway we enter Bangalore City by 11:00PM and back at home in Jayanagar by 11:20PM. A very enjoyable road trip just like any other road trips of mine, the Swift D performed brilliantly munching up miles in style. Due for the 30000KM service I want to make sure my baby is pampered. Also a 3M detailing session planned after the service. Ooty again never disappoints me, with all the new places we visited, Ooty has become even more special to us. I am sure I will be back for more. The End. |
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23rd February 2010, 07:20
| #44 |
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23rd February 2010, 09:41
| #45 |
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