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17th February 2010, 00:10
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| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| Bangalore - Kodaikanal/Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri again for the 3rd time in Swift D!!! Route : Bangalore Hosur Krishnagiri Dharmapuri Salem Namakkal Karur Dindigul Batlagundu Kodaikanal Palani Udumalaipettai Pollachi Coimbatore Mettupalayam Coonoor Ooty Gudalur Gundlupet Nanjangud Mysore Bangalore. Places Visited: Silver Cascade Waterfalls, Bryant Park, Coakers Walk, Kodaikanal Lake, Lutheran Church, Wax Museum, Avalanche Lake, Emerald Lake, Emerald Dam, Botanical Garden, Thread Garden,Kodanadu View Point, Dolphins Nose, Shooting Medu, Deer park, Tribal Museum, Glennmorgan, Drive thorugh Mudumalai/Bandipur National Park. My third travelogue on Ooty/Coonoor/Kotagiri and this time included Kodaikanal as well. To tell you guys frankly this time I was totally inspired to visit Ooty after going through laluks travelogue. Thank you my friend for taking me to scenic places in Ooty I had never been before. Also thanks to Chevy lover for the detailed travelogue on Kodaikanal and Ooty which helped me plot the route for the road trip this New Year. The reason I visit Ooty so often, I really dont know. I and my wife just love Ooty. I really am not concerned about what people say about Ooty getting commercialised. I always feel at home when I am at Ooty. A 10min drive from the center of the town in any of the directions will take you to beautiful places far away from the crowd amidst beautiful countryside. We also decided to include Kodiakanal in this trip so its going to be only hills road trip. Preparation: The car has done about 28000kms and is due for its service once I am back from the road trip. I also had picked up a new Panasonic Lumix FZ-35 Super Zoom during Christmas. My 4 year old 5MP Sony had served me well and it was high time to get a new camera. Bags packed the previous day and lots of wollen clothes too. I filled up regular diesel (Rs.1150/31 lts) from IOC on RV road. We plan to leave Bangalore by 6.30AM so that we are at Kodaikanal around 1:00PM for lunch. Day 1 (4th Februaury, 2010) Bangalore Hosur Krishnagiri Dharmapuri Salem Namakkal Karur Dindigul Batlagundu Kodaikanal Trip Meter 0kms to 500kms I am up by 5:30AM and after a quick shower, load the bags into the car. A quick check of all the tyres and by 6:30AM, Swift D starts rolling from Jayanagar. Quickly make my way through BTM layout and I am pretty eager to drive on the newly opened Elevated Expressway on Hosur road. After Silk Board Junction I quickly make my way up the Elevated Expressway. At this time of the day traffic was less and I was cruising at 90-100kmph. Found the lanes to be narrow for an expressway but it defenitely saves a huge chunk of time. We stopped at the lone lay bye midway for snaps. After about 5mins we continue the drive on NH7 out of Karnataka greeted by the rising sun, only delayed by slow moving trucks at deviations where flyovers are being completed. (I think at 2 different places!!).  Atop the Elevated Expressway on Hosur road  Elevated Expressway on Hosur road  Elevated Expressway on Hosur road  The rising sun greeting us on the busy NH7 After Hosur the Swift D finally strecthes its legs and in no time we are at Krishnagiri Toll Plaza (Rs.25). We continue straight towards Dharmapuri on the super smooth NH7. Cross Dharmapuri, after the Thoppur Toll Plaza (Rs.48) enter Thoppur Ghats with road humps at blind corners. Takes time to get used to sudden braking now as I had the accelerator constanly pressed for sometime now. I actually screeched the tyres on 2 occasions trying to slow the vehicle down to negotiate the road humps. It happens all the time when I go downhill crossing Thoppur Ghats. I had actually planned breakfast around 8:30AM at an A2B near Thoppur which I had noticed on one of my last road trips, but this time the A2B was nowhere to be seen. No, I am not talking about the A2B between the Hosur and Krishnagiri stretch but about the A2B between Dharmapuri and Thoppur. I am not sure how I missed this place. With my tummy complaining of hunger I decide to stop at the first decent restaurant once I enter Salem that another 30kms away. By 9:00AM, I enter Salem town amidst morning rush hour of countless 2 wheelers. Stop at Hotel Sangeetha for an average breakfast. By 9:30AM we continue our drive through the maddening traffic at Salem. Quickly take the flyover towards Namakkal which is another 55kms from Salem. Cross a Toll Plaza after Salem (Rs.34) and cross Namakkal around 10:00AM and all along keeping a constant 100-120kmph. Find a nice long stretch empty stretch after Namakkal Toll Plaza (Rs.29) and as I keep conversing with my wife, take the Swift D past the 160kmph mark on the speedo when wifey notices what I am upto and the speed is immediately back to a relaxing 100-120kmph. This was highest speed I have touched till date on my Swift D. I feel the car is capable of doing more speed as the engine still had some juice left in it with the rpm hovering around 4k. Stop near a long bridge over River Cauvery after Namakkal for about 10minutes and continue the drive towards Karur.  The sunlight on the hills around - after Krishnagiri  Super smooth NH7 - Somewhere after Dharmapuri  Bridge over River Cauvery - After Namakkal  Swift D at NH7 - Before the bridge over River Cauvery Another Toll Plaza at Karur (Rs.54) and take the huge elevated bypass at Dindigul towards Madurai. There is actually a turnoff towards Kodaikanal before this Bypass which takes you towards Batlagundu and further to Kodainakal. Somehow missed seeing the board and continued ahead towards Madurai past another Toll Plaza (Rs.37) and then took the right towards Batlagundu under the BG Railway Line then cross the road level BG Railway line and finally taking the 2 lane SH towards Batlagundu. Nice smooth 2 lane SH all the way till Batlagundu where we stop to pick up some soft drinks and fruits. We then continue our drive and start the climb up the hills towards Kodaikanal by 12:20PM. As we start climbing higher and higher I can now switch off the AC as the temperature outside is much bearable now. Stop at a few places to take some photographs. The road up is very well done and painted but can get narrow at some places. We enter Kodaikanal (Toll of Rs.30) at 1:30PM and stop at the Silver Cascade Waterfalls for some photographs.  We start the climb up Kodaikanal Hills - Smooth road  Scenery around during the climb  Smooth ghat road  Manjalar Dam in the distance  18X zoom of the FZ35 in action of the previous picture of Manjalar Dam  Stopped to look at the views around  Rat Tail waterfalls  Views around during the drive  Kodaikanal ahead  Nearing Kodaikanal  Silver Cascade Waterfalls  Silver Cascade Waterfalls Last time when we were at Kodiakanal we stayed at TTDC owned hotel and were happy with the stay. Make my way towards Fern Hill road and check into Hotel Tamilnadu Double Room Cottage (Rs.1300 + Taxes) by 2:00PM. Continued.... |
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17th February 2010, 00:17
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17th February 2010, 00:22
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17th February 2010, 00:32
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| Senior - BHPian  | |
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17th February 2010, 00:57
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| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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17th February 2010, 01:39
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| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
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New camera? Great. 18x zoom  | ||
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17th February 2010, 09:57
| #7 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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Infractions: 0/1 (5) | Nice start to the travelogue, nics pics! Quote:
 Some people I know have been caught for overspeeding! | |
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17th February 2010, 09:58
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| Team-BHP Support   | |
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17th February 2010, 10:16
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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| DD nice pictures. That dam is little after rat tail falls in the plains? @Mahesh - I dont mind  |
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17th February 2010, 10:26
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| BHPian  | |
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17th February 2010, 11:44
| #11 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Kottayam
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17th February 2010, 19:18
| #12 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Yes an 18X zoom. Badly wanted a superzoom camera. Still learning to make full use of it. Quote:
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Thanks for the comments ampere. Drive is indeed good. Road conditions have definitely improved when compared to last 4-5 years. Yes that is what might have happened. All the while I was thinking the A2B is on the left side of the road and somehow missed seeing it. I did not notice any signboards too. Thank you for the list of good hotels at Salem. Will be really helpful.. | |||
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17th February 2010, 19:24
| #13 | |||
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore
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Whats with the dinner meet ??Quote:
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Last edited by dreamdiesel : 17th February 2010 at 19:26. | |||
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17th February 2010, 19:28
| #14 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
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17th February 2010, 19:59
| #15 |
| 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 1 Continued... After relaxing in the room for sometime we head out for Lunch. We head towards Tava Vegetarian restaurant opposite to the Kodaikanal International School. When I eat outside, I rarely eat at a pure vegetarian restaurant but this restaurant here at Kodaikanal dishes out some of the tastiest veg stuff. After a filling meal we head out towards Bryant Park on the eastern side of Kodaikanal Lake. The air is pretty chill but the warm sunlight keeps us warm. Bryant Park is a well maintained botanical garden with varies species of trees, shrubs and flowers. There is also a Bodhi Tree which adds a religious significance to the park. After spending a good 60mins at the not so crowded park we head out towards Coakers Walk by 4:00PM.  Flowers at Bryant Park  Some macro photography at Bryant Park  Some macro photography at Bryant Park  Bryant Park  Warm sunlight on the lawns look so inviting in the cold - Bryant Park  At Bryant Park  Bryant Park  One for the album - At Bryant Park  Some info about the Bodhi Tree at Bryant Park Coakers Walk is a 1km paved pedestrian path running along the edge of steep slopes of Kodaikanal. Being a weekday the place is empty. Along the path are some very beautiful bungalows. The lazy strolll along Coakers Walk is ideal for relaxing and unwinding from the stresses of everyday life.  Coaker's Walk  Valley views along paved Coaker's Walk  View from Coaker's Walk  Row of houses on the slopes in the distance - Coaker's Walk  Coaker's Walk By 5:30PM we are out of Coakers Walk and head over to Lutheran Church close to Kodaikanal International School which is a gothic-style stone building with stained glass windows and modern paintings that portray the life of Christ. By 6:30PM we are at the Kodaikanal Lake munching on hot Mirchi Bajjis with hot Masala tea from one of numeruous stalls on the banks of Kodaikanal Lake. After the small snack and hot tea perfect for the cold weather, we spend some time at the Lake and return back to the hotel when its dark.  Lutheran Church  Inside Lutheran Church  Painting portraying life of Christ inside the church  Kodaikanal Lake  Kodaikanal Lake  Road around the lake  Kodaikanal Lake at dusk After watching some TV we head back to the same vegetarian restaurant where we had lunch. By the time we finish another lipsmacking meal its about 9:00PM and we are back to the cozy confines of our cottage as the temperature dips outside. Watch TV for sometime and off to sleep by 11:00PM. Tomorrow we leave Kodaikanal and drive over to Ooty. Continued.... |
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