Thursday, January 17, 2013

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.