Team-BHP - Sailor turns landlubber and starts to explore Incredible India

Hello all,

My humble attempt to pen down my first travelogue at T-Bhp:

Sep 2009:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ped-civic.html

So the new car was out but our spirits were high and Hyderabad - Bangalore - Mysore - Ooty and back was good enough for our sturdy Wagon - R. We've had several trips earlier (Lucknow - Delhi, Delhi - Jaipur, Hyderabad - Lucknow) but thought for a travelogue came only during this trip.

Hyderabad - Bangalore was uneventful and straight drive. Our next stop was at Mysore. And that happened to be during the Dussehra festival!

We stopped at the Tipu Sultan's memorial before reaching Mysore. The place was so refreshing after coming from the concrete jungles at Hyd and Bangalore. However the treat was yet to come.

At Mysore, we checked in at the Ginger hotel and found the hotel to be quite clean and very utilitarian.

First visit to the Mysore zoo and we realized why it is so raved about. A memorable display of peacock dance and an hyperactive gorilla at the zoo made our day! Despite our quick peekaboo of the Palace during the day, we didn't knew what we spectacle awaits us when we reach there in the evening!

Cheers!

Mysore Palace did mesmerised us during the day! However we were not ready for its real grandeur when we came back early in the evening for live performance of Balamuralikrishna. He started just at the end of twilight, with a tinge of dark red on one edge of the sky, there was a slight nip in the air and atmosphere just right to soak into the magic of BMK. A few minutes into the performance and suddenly all the lights of the palace were turned on! Almost every one broke into a gasp and the entire experience was just surreal!
First day at Mysore was very memorable. Next day planned for the drive up the the hill, railway museum and the bowling alley!

Thanks Guys!
@Milecruncher: Used Nikon D 90 (1 day old camera, Took photo's in auto / JPG format!)

Meanwhile Next morning we chose to hire a local driver and took off to Chamundi hills. Nice drive up the hill however not so many photo opportunities.

On our return we stopped over at the bowling alley and kids had a whale of time. Juxtaposed between the royal Mysore Palace and holy Chamundi hills, this place is an interesting stop!

We reached the Mysore palace just about an hour before the close. Tour was very very rushed and crowded (due dussera?) however we truly marvelled the beauty our heritage. We stayed till the lights were switched on and then retired for next morning start for Ooty!

We started off at around 10:00 hrs from Mysore. Passing through Bandipur was an experience in itself. We rolled the windows down and music was put to off. The crisp fresh air, smell of vegetation and chirping off birds enthralled us. We took the famous hairpin route up to Ooty.

I've never had travelled uphill and after the initial excitement, I was a bit scared with hairpin bends coming one after the other. It also took some time for me to understand my car's (Wagon - R) capabilities on this steep drive. However after a few bends I was confident that we can make it on this route.

We continued up the hill almost non stop and this tenacity paid off. The moment we reached the top thunderous rain engulfed the town and visibilti came down to zero. We stopped at one of the restaurant and enjoyed our lunch. Meanwhile we had not booked a hotel we finally choose our hotel near Lovedale with a beautiful view of the valley.

After settling down, we straight away went off to the famous Ooty Garden! And what a sight it was. Lush green every where!

Second Day started off with a trip to Doddabetta followed by trip to Tiger hills. Later we went off to a drive from Ooty - Kotagiri Hills - Coonoor and back to Ooty. This drive was one of the most memorable one. We drove through the clouds as we went up the Tiger hills.

Nice to see a great performance by Dr. M Balamuralikrishna going on in Mysore on occasion of Dusshera 2009. I didn't realise this log is of a travel that's a year back till I read what's in Kannada on the stage!
Then a quick look at your opening post showed september 2009.

After two days of hide and seek with Sun, we woke up to glorious blue sky and were greeted by bright red sun.

After a bountiful day 2, we were in two minds about taking the Heritage train trip from Ooty to Coonoor and back, however ultimately we gave in to our temptation of a ride in Heritage train and left the hotel early morning.

We had very high expectations from the train ride, however since we on the previous day, had a glorious drive (ooty - Kotagiri - Coonoor - Ooty) we didn't find much of Ooh - Aah. However the sight of steam engine made my day. I was surprised to find that the water filling pipe (in second last picture) was made in Ipswich, England. Either the stuff was fairly old or we definitely have not done much in indigenous manufacturing!

Route from Ooty - Mysore - Bangalore was fairly uneventful. Next morning we started off from Bangalore and saw the glorious rainbow.
Bangalore - Hyderabad was fairly decent ride, except for the heavy rains which we encountered from Kurnool onwards. We decided to drive through and boy we were lucky just a day later Kurnool became victim of on e of the biggest flood in last 50 yrs.

Nice pictures Sailor!

The heritage train (NMR) is best enjoyed going uphill from Mettupalayam to Coonoor. The views at some places will be breathtaking, especially when you sit in the first row, first coach. The front portion of the coach will be open and with the ancient steam loco pushing you from behind, there will be nothing to obstruct your view. There will be ratchets in the middle of the track at steep sections, and the engine will grip it with a toothed wheel in it's belly - which can be raised or lowered by the driver as necessary - to go up the incline.

IIRC only this section was steam, and from Coonoor to Ooty the train was hauled by diesel loco.