[StarVegabond]

Hi Laluks

Photos of Green lake makes me go green (with envy).
your red hood is seen very clearly. amazing clarity of snaps.


I have one request, may be at the end, if you put in a list of the places you visited in sequence with the distances and time needed to travel, it would be a great guide for Ooty newbie like me.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Hi Laluks

Photos of Green lake makes me go green (with envy).
your red hood is seen very clearly. amazing clarity of snaps.


I have one request, may be at the end, if you put in a list of the places you visited in sequence with the distances and time needed to travel, it would be a great guide for Ooty newbie like me.

Will do that Star.

[laluks]

Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued

Pykara


We did some bird watching. Name of this guy, anybody?








We saw some monkey business too




This fellow wanted a ride!!




We finished with Pykara lake by 13:45PM and it was time to say bye bye to Ooty for this time. Though sad the holiday was coming to an end, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of Ooty. Ooty indeed is the queen of the Hills.


We then drove towards Gudalur.


A small gompa on the way.



Another lake on the way to Gudalur.



Red Riding Hood on the beautiful roads to Gudalur. In 2006, this road was in shambles and everybody dreaded to take this route.





continued...

[laluks]

Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued

Needle Hill View Point

Around 20KM, 30 minutes later we reached the Needle Hill View Point by 14:30PM. This place is around 40Km from Ooty and 9Km to Gudalur.


There is a little bit of trekking to reach the view point. We spent around 45minutes here. It was lots of greenery around and a bit foggy.




We had a lot of company






Seems we can only visit with permission






Power Puff Girls ready for the trek.



The greenery around.















Power Puff Girls in action






We continued further to Gudalur by 15:15PM.





continued...

[laluks]

Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued



We reached Gudalur by 15:30PM.

From here Calicut is 134KM and Sultan battery is 42KM to the left.
Mysore is 108KM and Mudumalai is 17KM further on.



We entered the Tiger Reserve 6KM after Gudalur



The beautiful road from Gudalur to Mudumalai



Interesting Trees



We reached Mudumalai by 16:15PM



The Scenic road from Mudumalai till Theppekadu



We reached Theppekkadu by 16:25PM.


From here right turn will take you to Ooty through Masinagudi, 36 hairpin curves. This was the way we went to Ooty. So we have by now completed the full circle.

From now we simply take the road ahead, and is the same as we had taken from Bangalore till here.

From here Bandipur is 13KM, Gundulpet is 31KM, Mysore is 91Km and Bangalore is 241KM.


There are timing restrictions through the forest, best would be to exit Bandipur before 18:30PM if you want to avoid a night drive through the forest, and also you can see some wild life on the roads in the evening.

You can also plan some safaris at Theppekadu and Bandipur if you reach here by 16:00PM. We did not do any safaris though we reached here on time.



This rule I broke, I could not resist


The after effects of that is coming up soon



continued...

[hvkumar]

At last, the Gudalur-Mudumalai road is in good condition after several years of disrepair. Surprised you did not see any wildlife on this stretch - it is very common here, I have seen it all the times I have gone on this road.

[arun.sidhes]

How helped your swift car experience? Because i having swift. Did u got any vehicle trouble other than any issues?

[laluks]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

At last, the Gudalur-Mudumalai road is in good condition after several years of disrepair.

Yes HVK, compared to my visit in 2006, The roads from Ooty till Mudumalai was too good. 2006, it was a dare drive then.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Surprised you did not see any wildlife on this stretch - it is very common here, I have seen it all the times I have gone on this road.

Originally Posted by laluks

This rule I broke, I could not resist
The after effects of that is coming up soon

More of that coming up soon

Originally Posted by arun.sidhes

How helped your swift car experience? Because i having swift. Did u got any vehicle trouble other than any issues?

None so far.

[pramod]

Laluks,

As usual, a very thorough trip and a thorough Log!
Very nice pictures. A leap from ur other trips, as you have started using D90 (i know its not just the Equipment..)

I did Ooty-Coonoor in 2008 Dec. I had stayed at Sagar Holiday Resort, Ketty Valley

1 Suggestion : Some of the snaps are slighly over saturated. You may want to take care of that.

And i feel, you cover a lot of distance in a single day in most trips.. How does your family react to it?

-- Pramod

[laluks]

Originally Posted by pramod

Laluks,

As usual, a very thorough trip and a thorough Log!
Very nice pictures. A leap from ur other trips, as you have started using D90 (i know its not just the Equipment..)

I did Ooty-Coonoor in 2008 Dec. I had stayed at Sagar Holiday Resort, Ketty Valley

1 Suggestion : Some of the snaps are slighly over saturated. You may want to take care of that.

And i feel, you cover a lot of distance in a single day in most trips.. How does your family react to it?

-- Pramod

Thanks Pramod.
You know I am still learning
Mostly the places are in the same direction.

[hotstuff]

Laluks, thanks for the arm chair trip to Ooty. Though I passed through Ooty recently (while going to Mukurthi), we did not stop due to paucity of time.

But I am headed that way again in early Jan and will be using your log as a ready reckoner to decide on what to see and what not... Thanks!

This rule I broke, I could not resist... The after effects of that is coming up soon

- Interesting !

[laluks]

Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued

Theppekkadu

We saw a lot of wild life at Theppekkadu intersection, and I broke the rule and clicked away to glory. All these fellows were right on the junction





Crossing the street. Right at the junction.





Mother and Child



Hey I've got an apple !!



Some Peacocks!!










LANGURS!! A lots of them

























Varied Expressions!!
















It was time to say bye to Tamil Nadu and Mudumalai reserve for this trip.





continued...

[laluks]

Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued

Bandipur

We continued on from Theppekadu and reached Bandipur by 17:00PM.


The beautiful road from Theppekkadu to Bandipur



We saw a tusker in the bushes. Could be probably the same one we saw on our onward journey.




Wild Boar - Obelix are you listening




Customary shot of the ever present Spotted Deer



Seems like the forest is commercialized. Look at the number of resorts in Bandipur




continued...

[laluks]

Originally Posted by hotstuff

Laluks, thanks for the arm chair trip to Ooty. Though I passed through Ooty recently (while going to Mukurthi), we did not stop due to paucity of time.

But I am headed that way again in early Jan and will be using your log as a ready reckoner to decide on what to see and what not... Thanks!

- Interesting !

Thanks hotstuff.
I saw your Chenni thread recently. Keep Xinging around

[ramsnavy]

[quote=laluks;1635374]Day 4, November 30th 2009 continued

LANGURS!! A lots of them


These langurs by nature are very destructive. While I was in Delhi and also in Pune, I have seen them damage property (cars, shops, etc.) and it was very difficult to shoo them away too probably because they were used to the easy food available around human establishments. Some of folks used to have air guns to scare them away.

Here they seem very peaceful and in their elements. Seems like a totally different breed out there in Mudumalai