Here is Ooty (ஊட்டி), Queen of Hill Stations............

Ever since i joined Engineering, I always loved to travel around places  Me and my friends have done some memorable trekking. After graduating to married life, each of us hardly get any time to meet. I know its quite normal and prone to happen :)

Luckily, my wife is equally passionate about traveling as i am.

Quite often whenever people talk about Ooty, I always get to hear - "OH Ooty!! It's just a commercial place".

But my childhood memories wanted to me to visit this beautiful place. To summarize, Ooty is just an amazing place. If you like chilly weather, hot tea and mist, I bet that is the place you want to visit.

Overview of the place :
As you all know, Ooty is called Queen of Hill Stations. Of course, King of hill stations is none other than KodaiKanal. To start with, our reference guide for all the places of my travel has been Outlook Traveller's Weekend Breaks from Bangalore

Our Journey : We started from Bangalore on Feb 21st (2009) early morning at 5:45 on our santro. It was a  smooth drive on Bangalore-Mysore Road driving at a speed of 100 KPH and not much traffic. Reached Mysore by 7:45AM and stopped at Kamath Hotel which is near Mysore Zoo. Our pit stop was for 30 min and breakfast was good except for the bad coffee. By the way, we are pure vegetarians (yes, not even eggs).

There are 2 paths to reach Ooty :
Bangalore – Ramanagaram – Channapatna – Maddur – Mandya – Srirangapatnam – Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Bandipur – Theppakadu – Masinagudi – Mavanalla – Ooty

Bangalore – Ramanagaram – Channapatna – Maddur – Mandya – Srirangapatnam – Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Gudalur – Ooty


We took first path to reach ooty and came back via second route (Via Gudalur).

First hit the Mysore-ooty road via Nanjangud. Road from Mysore till Bandipur is just average. And later on its just smooth and you'd love to drive.

A small tank before you enter bandipur.

 We paid  20 INR in the checkpost of bandipur (for no reason) and then 10 INR near Madhumalai (Ironically, TN seems to be cheaper than karnataka even in bribe).
Our entry to the Bandipur forest : yes, you got to be silent if you need to spot some wild animals. It was very hot in bandipur and temperature could be around 32 Celsius that day.

The drive inside the bandipur forest is most enjoyable. All you need to do is to drive very slowly. Turn off your car stereo and you could hear the forest. Here is the forest path for you.

Luckily we could spot few animals :

Feels good to spot an elephant :).  Here comes the Madumalai forest, TN.

I love driving at these places.

By the way, there is a restriction about the entry time to the bandipur forest. Please check if you are planning your travel in odd hours. You may not be allowed inside forest before 6 AM and after 5 PM. 
We then took the road towards Masinagudi / Nilgiris.

 Reached the starting point of 36 hair pin bend curves. Before you start from here, stop for a tea break. You'd find a old small tea shop (Kalhatti falls). Don't forget to eat fresh Carrot.

 
Moving on, we reached Ooty in no time and visited the Ooty boat house. Weather is very cool on top though it was sunny.

Our Itinerary for a perfect weekend.
Day 1 : Visit Boat house. Find a good hotel. Rest for a couple of hours. Visit Tea museum and factory. Botanical garden. Shopping in the evening Dinner. Back to hotel.
Day 2 : Getup at 6:00. Morning walk towards Botanical garden. Hot tea :)
Visit Dolphin's nose which is after Coonor. Didnt want to try toy train as we are not so fond of it. Second, it would eat up half a day. Visit Lamb's rock. Head towards Kotagiri to St Catherine's falls (not worth at all). Lunch at Kotagiri. Visit Doddabetta (nothing spl abt this place) Shopping Back to hotel
Day 3 : Headed back to bangalore via Gudalur. Visit 7th Mile / 9th Mile / Pykara lake (not much water as it was summer) Frog hill view point. Lunch at Gudalur.Visit Nanjangud and return back home.

Day 1 : It is the day we reached Ooty
Boat House for you. You find a big crowd of various people here but its worth to go once. Mind you, weather seems to be hot but the water is very cold

We tried toy train. Its been while since we tried (after cubbon park's train)

We searched for a Hotel and were able to find it easily. Reached Ooty by 2 PM and finished lunch.

Tip : You have to see the room and then decide. Don't take help from agents. And bargain for the room rate. You will get a good room with good deal.

After couple of hours rest, we set off to see the Tea factory by 5 PM. It was a good visit and bought some tea for house. 

Tip : Don't buy green tea here. You can try dust tea which is good.

View from the tea factory

Here is the botanical garden for you. Good for a walk in the evening. Don't forget to try fried corn and tea opposite to the main entrance.

Day 2 : Visit to Dolphin's nose.
More than the place, the drive to reach dolphin's nose is most memorable. You cross so many tea estates and pass through the cool breeze with the clouds. Nature is just wonderful. Below are the glimpse of it. The time is around 11:30AM.  See how the climate change.

Viewpoint of Dolphin's nose

We headed towards Kotagiri to St Catherine's falls. Lunch at Kotagiri. Visit Doddabetta (nothing spl abt this place) 

View of St Catherine's falls. Not worth visiting as you can't go nearby water.

Back home and shopping in the evening.

Day 3 : Headed back to bangalore via Gudalur. Visited 7th Mile / 9th Mile / Pykara lake (not much water as it was summer) Frog hill view point Lunch at Gudalur . 

 Frog hill view point.

Nanjanagud temple

This concludes my cool trip to the Ooty. By the way don't forget to see the video below. You will get a fair idea about the place that i was talking about.

 Travel tips :
Plan your places of interests during your planning.
Remember... All visiting places entry time is before 5:30PM. So, you better be in at least by 5:00. Must try strawberry, home made chocolates, Ooty apple and plums. For hotels, go directly to a hotel and check the room. Avoid agents.
Most of the hotels will be closed by 8 - 9 PM. So, be prepared for a early dinner.