Yelagiri – A hill station you must miss

Bangalore to Krishnagiri to Vaniyambadi to Yelagiri to Hogenakkal to Bangalore – 550kms

Temple on Swamimalai Hills

Once Again-This time its Yelagiri
It was more than 2 months now since we went on a trip. I was also trying to search for places near Bangalore where we could camp (mount a tent) and spend a night or two. Though unsuccessful, I found out this place called Yelagiri in Tamil Nadu.

Yelagiri is promoted by Tamil Nadu tourism as hill station however staying at Bangalore at an altitude of 950 meters(approx), 1040 mts ASL Yelagiri did not excite us enough still we decided to give it a visit.

The D-Day
We decided for a day visit on Sunday 14th April. Yelagiri is about 170 kms from Bangalore and the road is mostly smooth. From Bangalore you have to take NH7 or Hosur Road till Krishnagiri where you change towards road to Chennai uptil Vaniyambadi. You have to take a right from Vaniyambadi and then take a small left to the hilly road (signboard at this left turn). 

Transportation was again our Linea. So I spent a busy evening on Saturday cleaning my car in and out.

Take a look at me now

We got up sharp at 4.00AM on Sunday morning. This time Pinky (Anjana’s sister) was able to join us and we were to pick her up at 5.00AM in the morning. Pinks watched IPL match last night followed by extra innings which left her with just 2 hours of sleep and so while she was asleep, she was praying to god that the trip gets cancelled but woke up to declined request.

Our idea was that we will try to reach Yelagiri by 7.00AM and go for trekking at Swamimalai Hills, a 3km long trek route in the hills (more detail later). Post Electronic City, most of the road sections were good, however flyover and repairing works at several places slowed us down intermittently. We were too slow to achieve our set target. The most irritating part happens when you have to pay toll (I paid about 3 tolls – 55+25+70 one way) for the sick road sections.

Our first break at 7.00AM

Anjana took my goggles

Anjana convinced us to take our first break for tea and some breakfast right after Krishnagiri. We had tea, biscuits, omlette and egg dosa. Surprisingly, the bill at this place was hardly 85 bucks after having 5 tea, 2 omlettes and one egg dosa. We felt Ram Rajya (Lord Rama’s rule and time) is back.

Our first and in fact last place we visited – Swamimalai Hills
Moving ahead, we took right turn at Vaniyambadi (please notice 1} the signboard will show Elagiri instead of Yelagiri 2} it will first ask to turn left instead of right. You have to take left first and then turn right under the flyover) towards Yelagiri. After negotiating with 14 hairpin bends, we reached Yelagiri and headed straight to  Swamimalai Hills.


There is a narrow lane going through a small village which leads you to Swamimalai Hills. You have to leave your transportation outside this village and then walk the distance. I fed a dog some biscuit and he

The dog with whom I had a deal. I gave him biscuits in return

agreed to take care of our car while we are away. Trust me he was there when we came back sitting next to the car and I gave him 2 more biscuits in tips. While I shared this dog idea to Pinks, she made a very funny statement – yeah the dog will say to a stranger , ”Iss gaadi tak pahunchne se pehle tumhe meri laash par se gujarna hoga” (you have to kill me before you touch this car)

View from the top of Swamimalai Hills, Frankly worthless. You will have better view from Nandi Hills instead

We started trekking up and after about 500 mts, both the ladies camped next to a fruit vendor. I understood what they were trying to mean and so I continued my journey further up. It was indeed a tough trek as there were countless steps(more than a feet high) made of boulder stones and then some steep climb ups. However, if you compare it with Scandagiri trek, it was easier. I was really fast and reached up in about 30 mins time with one break. Due to excessive sweating, I took a break of about 10 mins to enjoy the breeze at the top. I had to start back quickly as I had two beautiful and hot responsibilities waiting down at the foothill. I took about 20 mins time to reach back. For an average person, it should take about 1.5-2 hours to climb up and about 1.15 hours to climb down at a moderate speed. So you can keep a total of 4-5 hours for this place.

Enjoying watermelon

All of us had juicy watermelon from the fruit vendor. I borrowed slingshot from a kid there to test my shooting skills. Realising that I am still good, I asked Pinks to click some pics of mine as I was posing with the age old humans favorite hunting weapon. We had run out of cash and so I offered (which he readily accepted) a Bingo wafers pack to the kid in return of the favor he extended to me (it was a fair barter).

Posing with slingshot

Oops !!! No cash
We started back to the main town area of Yelagiri to find an ATM. Please must carry cash with you as there is only one SBI ATM in the town. Luckily for us after 2-3 restarts, SBI ATM worked and we had cash again with us. It was about 12.45 at that time. After having lunch at a small eatery, we headed next for Punganoor Lake which is extremely boring place. It is a small artificial lake created which is even smaller than Bangalore’s smallest lake. We rushed out of the place in about 10 mins time and then headed back towards Bangalore as there was nothing more to do there.

The most boring artificial lake

Yelagiri is not at all a hill station and my advice would be if and only if you have nowhere else to go, you can spend about half a day here. Locals do not understand any other language other than Tamil so you must have a Tamil speaking friend with you. Also, you should not travel to Yelagiri thinking you will feel anything cooler here. It is as hot as Bangalore is.




This is not done, let’s go to Hogenakkal

Crazy rush at Hogenakkal. Imagine how will it be when its peak season

We were extremely dissatisfied with our trip and so by the time we reached Krishnagiri, Pinks and I decided to go left instead of right to Hogenakkal. It was around 2.30PM and yeah there we go again. The road from Krishangiri to Dharmapuri (where you have to take right to Hogenakkal) is extremely good 6 lane highway. After Dharmapuri to Hogenakkal, the road is median less but in amazingly great condition. We reached Hogenakkal by 4.00PM

The best couple

after paying some 60 bucks for entry and parking. Hogenakkal was HOT, really HAAWWWTTTTT and the place reminded me of Delhi. It is much commercialized and people were allowed to take their vehicles almost upto the falls which was extremely irritating when you are walking on the same road. Hogenakkal though considered a great fall, this time of the year, it hardly had any water. People were washing from soiled plates to even their underclothes in the same water and so taking dip was out of question.

Entering Hogenakkal

You can try fried fish from one of the several fish stalls alongside the road. However be careful while buying as they all have fish fried a while ago which would not be anymore hot. So better go for fresh consignment. We ended up having cold fish with cold drink sitting in the car as it was

The Hanging Bridge

unbearably hot outside. Pinks went for sleep in the rear seat and we started driving back to Bangalore. We took one stop after Krishangiri for tea and snacks. It was hardly 7.00 PM so we sat there for one hour just watching vehicles speeding up on the highway and chit chatting. It was good fun. (I checked there was an alternative route to Hosur from Hogenakkal via Muluvanapalli and Denkanikottai which saves more than 50 kms in total but not sure about road condition)

Ohh!!! It came to an end

The Ladies camp after 500 mts

We dropped Pinks at 9.30 PM and retired at our place by about 10.00. Though the destinations were too boring the fun was all in the journey and the companions. It was more of like a long drive than a trip to a hill station. Thanks to Anjana and Pinky for being sport and enjoying the boring destination identified by me. Yelagiri is a definite No No. Hogenakkal a yes only in winters after monsoon. We will come back again very soon to make up for the fun loss in this trip.

Quick revision
Destination – Yelagiri Hills
Distance from Bangalore – 170kms(approx)
Route – Bangalore to Hosur to Krishangiri to Vaniyambadi to Yelagiri
Best time to visit – Winters after monsoon
What to see/do – In fact nothing but to name a few Swamimalai Hills, Punganoor Lake, etc.
Must carry – Cash as only one ATM. Food if you are fussy about it
Yelagiri to Krishangiri  - 80 kms(approx)
Krishnagiri to Hogenakkal – 90 kms approx

Kannur and around – A perfect place to laze and relax

Bangalore to Srirangapatna to Hunsur to Kannur to Calicut to Wayanad to Mysore to Bangalore 1000kms

THE PLAN

Republic Day long weekend was close and we were contemplating on the location and companions for our trip. Pinky (Anjana’s sister) gave a yes along with one or two of her friend. Place decided was Gokarna and transportation was our Fiat Linea.

Due to some urgent office work, Pinky dropped out and so did her friends. So now just two of us were there and we decided on a closer beach location, Kannur in Kerala.

PLANS ARE MEANT TO BE SCRAPED

Anjana at Thottada Beach. Notice the occasional rocks

Kannur is located in the Malabar region of Kerala. It is about 70kms North of the famous town of Kozhiokode alongside the Arabian Sea. Kannur witnessed several changes of power controlling the city. Dutch, Portugese, British, Arakkals to name a few.  Kannur was also called as Cannanore during the British rule.

Malabari food is famous and you can try the same in one of the restaurants. Theyyam happens to be the most religious art of this region. Kannur is 6^th largest town of Kerala so we thought we are going to a small place (6^th largest town of one of the smallest states of India). However we were awed by the richness of the town and the level of development they have managed and I really understood what happens when you have a literate population. We saw most luxurious car brands showroom in this town. So by no means you dare to think that you are going to a small place.

ON THE GO

The Grand Plunge

We started our journey on Friday, 24^th Jan morning around 8.00AM after pushing us a lot. This day I realized we are getting old. In college, if we had to go for a trip, I was infamous for goading lazy bums like Jasjiv Paji from 5 in the morning itself. The day before, I had my car’s brake pads changed and so I maintained low speed till we got out of the city. By the time we hit Mysore Road on clean patch, it was already 9.15AM. Anjana had got some Aloo Parantha packed for breakfast. So we stopped by at a chai wallah and sipped tea with Paranthas. This was around 11.00 AM.

We bypassed Mysore around noon. Just after Srirangapatna, you have to take a right towards the famous Mysore Bird Sanctuary on KRS Road. You have to follow this road towards Hunsur. Road is going to be a little rough after this however, the beautiful countryside will definitely make up for the pain. In case you have got packed food, you can enjoy a quick picnic anywhere on this road as there were many isolated corners with green all around. Journey till Hunsur was really easy and good.

WRITE AN ESSAY ON INDIAN ROADS- THERE YOU GO SIR

Satin Sand Beach resort - Good for nothing

Post Hunsur, you have to take road towards Madikeri uptil Periyapatna and then take a left from there. Road uptil Periyapatna was really amazing (I belive coz the road goes to Madikeri). Post Periyaptna, Welcome to Hell. The State Highway 21 from Periyapatna till it hits Virajapet Mysore Road was in the most terrible condition I have ever seen a road. You should be really careful if you are planning to take this road as there were big potholes where even an SUV will bruise its belly, forget a Linea which is infamous for its low ground clearance.  We had terrible time driving and even after taking extra care, I scraped my car’s bottom atleast 5 or 6 times against the road. In some section, road work was going on at Snail’s pace. My estimate says that atleast for next 2-3 years, this road is going to be the same.

Finally we came out of the worst part of our journey. The next worry was lunch and it was already 2.45 PM. Anjana heard an oracle that a few good restaurants were coming up ahead and so we were banned from eating just anywhere. One thing I must say, the road till Gonikoppal after this was very scenic as if we were in Madikeri. Coffee plantations covered the both side of the road and the misty sky made a perfect ambience for a romantic drive. However, hunger was overcoming romance and so I finally stopped at a very small and dingy looking restaurant neglecting Anjana’s oracle. Fish fry, parotha, rice and rasam finally changed the way I was looking at that place. I ate a lot and got 4 pcs of Rs 8 per fish parceled for me for my enroute refueling. Anjana dint touch anything and we moved ahead when we saw a diversion to Virarajendrapet(too long name, I could not pronounce) as the straight road was getting constructed. At this small town, we found a big superstore, where Anjana got cold drink, biscuit, bread, butter, curd, etc.

LAKE PLACID WITH TINY MONSTERS

The Lake just before Kerala Border

We moved further and as we were getting closer to Kerala border, we found one beautiful lake tucked away in green surrounded by mountains from all sides and only one side open to us. We stopped here and enjoyed the food both of us were carrying. We spotted many strange black marks floating in the lake so we got closer to surprise us with shoals (there were many) of small black fish. We threw some bread in the water but we were surprised again by sudden attack of brown fish (don’t know came out of where, maybe from lake bed) on bread while no movement from the black shoals. I smelt racial discrimination.

OH YES, WE ARE THERE
Finally by 6.00PM, we reached Kannur. Level 1 complete.

Our ordeal began with search for stay. We never go with a plan and so we never book anything in advance.

We knew there were beautiful beach resorts near Thottada Beach(about 10 kms from Kannur Town towards South). So we straight away headed for the place. However by the time we reached, it was already dark and so we could not dare to drive in the single lane road leading to beach to explore resorts. We decided to move further down south on the main highway and reached Thalassery (also known as Tellicherry about 25 kms from Kannur Town). Here we got a beautiful place (Hotel Paris Presidency) to stay at a very reasonable price. After dinner, we hit the bed for a tight sleep.

SOMETHING'S FISHY IN THALASSERY

Fish market, see those big prawns - just Rs 240/kg

Day 2 – Next morning we got up a little early and walked to Thlassery Fort and the beach. Thalassery Beach is not a great place to be unless you love fish. We saw tons of fish getting unloaded from the innumerous fishing boats. The place had a strong smell which not everyone could stand (Anjana managed though). I checked the price of Big Prawns in the connecting fish market and it was dirt cheap (Rs 240/kg). So in case you are carrying your own stove with you, this is the place to be as atleast I can live on Prawns for 5 days straight.

Thalassery Fort was not as mighty a fort as we have in India. It was built to provide British cover for their safe trade.

The veg restaurant

While walking back to hotel, we stopped by at a vegetarian restaurant which Anjana dint like (we had only coffee there, so don’t go by her like). I must mention something here that Kerala is not a very friendly place for vegetarians as all restaurant serve non-veg here and most of them also serve beef and other red meat products. So jump on any veg restaurant you find if you are fussy about this.

MUZHAPPILANGAD BEACH - THE BEST AND THE LONGEST DRIVE-IN BEACH IN ASIA & INDIA

Next plan was to hit Muzhappilangad Beach(about 14 kms from Kannur Town towards South), the longest and the best drive-in beach in India and Asia. I must confess here that I had never been to drive-in beach and so I was too excited to be here. And I must also admit that the actual experience surpassed the expectation by many points. I was amused to see the long stretch of beach and a wide space alongside the water to drive. There is a small entry fee at Muzhappilangad Beach of Rs 20 valid for a whole day collected by some very nicely behaved smiling security person. This beach does not have any eatery or stalls where you can buy food, so carry as much food, water, beverages, etc with you. We drove through almost 4 km long beach thinking we will come back again here.

THOTTADA BEACH - A PUBLIC BEACH WITH PRIVATE EXPERIENCE

At Sunset

Next, we proceeded to Thottada Beach which was tucked away in curvy single lane road narrowed down further from both side by dense bushes, where hardly my Linea could pass through. We drove through some road but could not find any beach. There were, however, many resorts on our right side which felt like calling us inside. But we still could not understand where the Beach is. Suddenly we saw two foreigners jumping a wall on our left and then we realized the beach was on the other side of the wall. We immediately parked the car and followed them. And WAAAAHHH, this was The Beach. It felt like a private beach with hardly anyone around. We saw 2 foreigner couples lazing under the sun. So we also decided to camp here today. But we had no food so we decided to go to the market, buy lot of food and then come back here. But on the way, we found an attractive homestay (Satin Sand Beach Resort) alongside the beach which looked welcoming. After discussing a lot among us, we booked the place for next day.

Muzhappilangad Beach - The Longest Drive-in Beach in Asia

Now since we had more than half a day left, we thought of exploring the city beach in Kannur which was also very famous. We had some food with us in the car with which we reached Payyambalam Beach. It was too hot as we reached there around 12.30PM. We took mattress and food and went to Beach. Hardly after 30 mins we came back running to car to save ourselves from the scorching sun. Next we headed back to Muzhappilangad Beach, but this time, we bought a lot of food & beverages. I parked the car in a way that it created shade for us on one side. It was around 2.00PM or so. We ate a lot and then I took a brief nap while Anjana honed her deteriorating photography skills.

We spotted lot of small crabs on the beach and many out of them were mating. They used to quickly dig up small holes in the sand and disappear within seconds only to allow waves to bring them up again to surface. It was a beautiful thing to watch. I could not stop myself appreciating their continuous and determined fight to hide under the sand to keep them protected from humans. It was inspiring.

We left the beach when it got dark and exactly when a police jeep came to ensure the beach is emptied as there was no light. It is really scary to be on this beach in night so my advice would be to leave the place before it gets dark. We came back to hotel and retired for a good night sleep.

A PERFECT DAY FOR LEISURE & RELAXATION

Our makeshift arrangement at Thottada Beach - Notice the privacy???

Day 3 – Next day morning, we got up late and after breakfast, went directly to the Satin Sand Beach Resort. After having lunch there, we went to beach and created a makeshift arrangement for us right there on the beach (take a look at the pic). We spent rest of the day and evening just lazing there. On this beach we spotted big crabs (really big & many of them) who did not allow me to get closer to them. The moment you even move a bit, they will dig up a big hole and go inside or run away into the water. Locals said, they never hurt humans but still neither of us could take the risk of diving in the water. Once I went in the water till knee level but after some alien touch to my feet, I rushed out immediately.

It was a truly rejuvenating day as we did nothing but relaxed. Our host seemed like ill equipped with food as well as manpower and so we were served very limited amount of food (it was included in the charges) and my vegetarian wife had almost nothing to eat. We somehow managed and went to sleep.

WHERE IS THE PHOTOGRPAHER

Crab - these were the smaller ones

SNAIL

Day 4 – the moment, I got up, I hit the beach (the reason why we stayed in this place). Anjana joined in a while and we were taking some pic shots. I also clicked a snail and a small crab. After spending about 2 hours here, we came back to resort. We left after having again a very limited breakfast served by the only old man in the entire homestay. Our recommendation would be a NO for Satin Sand Beach Resort.

I love flying

Since we had a terrible experience on Day 1 of the road we came from, we took the road via Kozhikode, Wayanad, Mysore to Bangalore. It was little longer but it was better. On the way, we stopped at Kappad Beach (about 20 kms from Kozhikode) which is again a nice place to be. We bypassed Kozhikode and kept driving straight towards Wayanad. You have to take left from Kozhikode towards North East to reach Wayanad. We reached Wayanad by 2.00PM. We stopped at a Udupi which served a third class lunch and first class price. Never go to this Udupi in Wayanad town which is on main highway only. Since we were very hungry we stopped at this first option. Later, many more good restaurants came but we were already full.

We had our dinner just before Mysore at Kamat Upachar which is really worth. We always stop here as they serve real tasty food.

Finally , we reached Bangalore at about 10.00PM and thus retired to bed.

Quick Facts

Shortest distance to Kannur from Bangalore – 325 kms approx

Total run of our car – 970kms

Best time to go – Nov till March

Best thing to do – Lazing on the beach

What is famous – Theyyam Dance, Malabari food, lungi

Go with lots and lots of food, water, beverages and not to forget sunscreen.

Bangalore to Mysore to Ooty to Bangalore - 800kms

There we go again!!! This post got delayed because of my laziness but finally I have brought it up.

Dad and Shubh (my nephew)

So this was Dussera time when my parents came down to Bangalore to meet us. So our original plan was to go to Goa. Idea was that we will go to Mysore on Dashmi to witness the Royal Parade at Mysore Palace and then we will catch a train at night from Mysore to Dharwad. And from Dharwad, we will take taxi or some other roadway to reach Goa.

It is to be noted that this can be a wonderful itinerary to visit Bangalore, Mysore and Goa in a short span of time. Bangalore to Mysore is approximately 140kms which takes about 3 hours time. If you start early, you would prefer to visit Srirangpatna which has got more historical relevance than Mysore. It is the place where Tipu Sultan died while fighting with British. Mysore to Dharwad train journey is overnight so if you are booked on a 3 AC or even sleeper class on Indian railways, you will reach at 6.00AM in the morning. Good thing is you will always find seat available in this train(dont know if it will be availble after my blog). Dharwad to Goa is about 160kms or a 3-4 hour journey on train. You can board any train in ageneral class and reach the place in no time. To mention, the train journey is extremely scenic as it crosses through the western ghats.

Coming back to our plan, because of leave problem of Anjana (my wife) and Bhaiya (my elder brother), we had to cancel the Goa plan. So the next plan which came up was Ooty. Ooty is also called Queen of all hill stations, is located in north western part of Tamil Nadu. Not very far away from Bangalore, Ooty always see a high rush on weekends and holiday season.

So we started on Mahanavmi for Ooty. The day before, we visited Durga Puja pandal at Koramangala which is maintained by Bengali community. It was truly beautiful and the food arrnagement inside the pandal area was simply superb. Bapu(my father), Bhaiya and I went on for Kosha Maans and Luchi (Mutton Curry and Indian bread). Taste was really good and so we continued till all of us were completely full. The after effects of this eating spree came the day after when I found Bapu a little low. But he took some medicine and he was back on track.

I had hired a Toyota Innova 6 seater. Never knew that 6 seater was actually 5 seater with captain seat in middle row. So Bhaiya(about 90kgs), Anjana (cant share the weight) and I(again about 90kgs) had to go back to last row. I was feeling I am travelling in an auto. Our driver took special care of our SAFETY by driving the car real slow till Mysore. we took almost about 4 hours time to cross Mysore.

TIME CHECK  - We started at 2.30PM from Bangalore. We took our first tea break almost 10 kms after Mysore which was at 6.30PM. I gave personal counselling to Driver and made him understand the thin line between driving fast and driving rough. He was now fully charged and we felt that in the next stretch of journey. We crossed the Tamil Nadu border at Masinagudi at around 9.30 PM. Now from masinagudi, there are two ways to reach Ooty. The shorter one saves you almost about an hour/35 kms by climbing up the mountain through hairpin bends. However, since it was too late in the night, this road was closed. Kindly note that road is not closed exactly at this crossroad. So if you are driving in the night, please dont take this road as you may find this road closed much ahead of this point and you may have to drive back all the way.

So we took this road via Gundlupet. The road is little rough till the Tamil Nadu check post. Smoother roads welcomed us ahead with a few wildlife spotting as well (we spotted an elephant, a sambar deer and some monkeys). Finally we reached Ooty by 11.00PM. Me and my brother searched for a hotel and we got a decent one after some effort.

Lemon Tea and Bhajji

Day 2 - We started for Ooty local sightseeing. Our first point was Doddabetta Peak. The place is definitely a must see. It was drizzling when we went there. We tried salted, boiled peanuts with Indian spices. It was extremely good. We also tried some more local stuff followed by lemon tea which was awesome. Anjana got some bhajjis which added to the taste.

chocolate factory

While returning, we stopped at a tea manufacturing unit of Tata Tea. It was defunct I believe, but experience was good. My mom, dad and bro got busy in buying some local tea here while rest of us moved ahead to the chocolate factory.

Next stop was The Botanical Garden. This place is huge and you really need some stamina to take a complete round after so much exploration before. Some funny thing happened here which I would want you to watch yourselves in the video.

After having lunch at a South Indian joint (Durga Restaurant), we proceeded to the famous Ooty Lake. We went for pedal boats(2) Mom chose to stay back. Dad took a quick nap on boat itself. We also enjoyed a small toy train ride which cost just 10 bucks per person. Boat ride was about 250 per hour per boat.

Finally we came back to hotel and we found Mom not so well. She got fever due to tiredness(too much for her in one day). We got her some medicines.

On the way to Dolphin's Nose

Day 3 - Next day was planned for Connor. Connor is about 18 kms downhill of Ooty towards Mettupalyam. You can go by Toy train also which runs from Ooty to Mettupalyam. You can check the schedule and timings here . This journey is extremely scenic and it takes you through deep Nilgiri forest and you may spot some wildlife also. Overall it is great fun.

However, we chose to go by road. We had breakfast at a South Indian joint at the very begining of Connor. The coffee and their Puri Bhaji was just amazing.

Afterwards, we headed for Dolphin's Park & Lamb's Nose. This place is definitely worth a visit. When we reached, fog was playing hide and seek with us. Visibility used to come down to hardly 5 meters all of a sudden and the next moment, you have sunlight. We could not see either of the two points as it was totally covered under cloud and fog.

Next we headed for Sims Park. One thing which I noticed about Ooty is it's huge parks. Sims Park was no disappointment to this fact.

The Nice Kerala family who offered Dad tasty food

One interesting thing happened this day. While we were coming down from Dolphin's Park, we stopped by at a small waterfall. My Dad saw some tourists having tasty fish and rice there. He thought someone is selling food and he went ahead and asked the guy. It turned out that they were tourists from Kerala who brought their own food and was enjoying it near the waterfall. My Dad got embarassed and apologised for the confusion. However, now, the family insisted him to try their food. They offered him a plateful of rice, tasty fish curry and some dish based on fish eggs. I also tried the food and must admit, it was amazingly good. They came down to us with a second plate of food. We were amazed to see the humbleness and hospitality of this family. That day I realised the reason why Kerala stands number 1 on tourism map.

We came back to Ooty town and took a walk in the main market area in the evening where we also had our dinner. After coming back to hotel, Anjana and I went our for a late evening walk to the nearby Cafe coffee day. Ooty is a very safe place and you can think of walking even in the darkest street without the fear of getting stalked. People here are very helpful and they come to guide you for anything you need. Be a little careful with reveler tourists who can at time create some nuisance.

Day 4 - We started back for Bangalore and took the same route back. Midway, we stopped at the shooting point (many bollywood movies were shot here), Pykara falls and one more small lake. All three were worth visiting. We further continued to Bangalore and stopped at Udupi right after Gundlupet for lunch.

We reached back to Bangalore around 9.30 PM.

Ooty could be a great place for a weekend chill or even for a longer stay to just relax in the lap of nature. Avoid during August and September as there could be some landslides due to rain.

Over and out for now.