[Fusspot]

Went on a 6 day trip starting 10th June, 2010 with family from Bangalore to Ooty with stop-overs at Nanjangud and Bandipur during the onward journey and at Brindavan gardens while returning. Drove down in my 1.4 GLX Mahindra Renault Logan (2008). Since there are quite a few photographs, I shall split the travelogue into three parts.

We started from Bangalore early on Thursday, 10th June at 0600 Hrs. Commenced photography with the snap of a Ganesha at Bidadi. Breakfast stop at Mysore. Nanjangud Temple at 1000 Hrs.

The temple is situated on right banks of Kapila (Kabini) River and is one of the oldest temples in India and is dedicated to Lord Shiva also known as Nanjundeshwara or Srikanteshwara, since he swallowed the poison which originated while Churning the Ocean (Mandhan). After darshan, had a taste of the famous Najangud banana (Rasa Bale Hannu).

Onto Bandipur which is about 130 kms from Nanjangud and reached there by 1200 Hrs. cruising at a comfortable 100 kmph. On entering the National Park, we were thrilled to see a pair of deers, a doe and a stag and took their picture. We did not realize that we would see many more of them.

Checked in at Country Club ‘Bush Betta’. A nice resort at the foot of hills and 4 kms from the main road. The lobby is nicely decorated with wood and wall paintings and the rooms are also furnished with raw wood. There is a ‘machan’ or tree house near the cottages and the premises are nicely landscaped. There is also a tall watch tower from which you can have a bird’s eye view of the surroundings.

After lunch, we went for Safari in the bus arranged by the Forest Dept. (Rs. 95/- per head. Two trips at 1600 Hrs. and 1700 Hrs.) We could sight a few wild animals like elephants, bison, sambar, wild boar and mongoose apart from peacocks and multitudes of deers. It was difficult to photograph them from a moving bus and more so about elephants as they are very sensitive to human presence. When I was about to click a group of elephants, the leader of the herd gave a loud trumpet sensing danger and ran away with the herd at high speed through tall bushes. Deers were grazing and resting like sheep in a farm.

Day - 2 : There is the Gopalaswamy temple on top of a hill called Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta near Bandipur. It is about 11 kms from Hangala village on the main road. The name ‘Himavad’ originated from the fact that the hills are often covered with clouds. We left the resort early in the morning and reached the foot of the hills by 0730. Had to pay an entry fee of Rs.50/- and started the steep and a little dangerous climb because the road is narrow and quite badly maintained and visibility was poor and to top it, we were alone. It appears the area is in an elephant corridor and we could see fresh elephant droppings all along the road. The view on top was exhilarating. The clouds were forming and disappearing and the wind was howling. There was fresh elephant dung around the temple as well. The watchman told that elephants visit the temple premises at night looking for food. As per him, one can see elephants below in the valley even during day time. But, we could not spot any. Another unfortunate aspect was that the poojari would come only around 10 AM and we didn’t want to wait that long. So we beat a retreat by 0900 Hrs.

Left Bandipur at 1030 hrs. and chose the Gudalur route since the road is better. Clicked a few pics. on the way.
(To be continued)

[ampere]

Another Ooty trip! But what the heck! One never gets tired of Ooty!
What say you CL?

[pramod]

Nice snaps there!
U are lucky to have quite good weather up there on Gopalaswamy temple, at this time of the year. It gets very windy and wet up there, most of these 3 months of rain.

As for elephants, if u get to the Forest checkpost by 6 AM, and get into the ghats, i am sure u will find the elephants.

There are many who make it a point to visit Goa once every year. For me, its Himavad Gopalaswamy. What a place!

[Fusspot]

Day-2 (contd.)

Reached Ooty by 2 PM and bad weather welcomed us in the form of showers. Had lunch at Tamilnadu Hotel and visited the Botanical Gardens braving the drizzle. The remains of the flower show held on 8th and 9th May was still visible. Took some shots of the flowers and the trees in the park. The parking fee near the Botanical garden was day light robbery - Rs.45/- !

Checked into Hotel Sinclair which is located at a vantage point overlooking the city. In better weather, the view of the valley below would have been really fantastic. But alas, we were not destined to enjoy that. The hotel exterior was good though the rooms and especially the bath were a bit cramped. Retired to bed after a buffet dinner.

DAY 3 :

Rain continues. Started at 1000 Hrs. for Coonoor . Visited Sim’s park. Bad weather prevented us from exploring the park in detail. Still took some pics. Returned to Ooty and after lunch, visited the Rose Garden with innumerable varieties of roses from different parts of the world. But because of the rain, the flowers had withered. In May, it would have looked wonderful. Next, to the boat club, a mandatory item. The water was stinking. This, added to bad weather prevented us from venturing into boating

DAY 4:

No respite from rains. Visited the Tea Museum which was located very close to our hotel. Here, one can see the entire process of tea making. Process charts are displayed and there is a running commentary as well. After that, we can taste tea and make purchases of different varieties of tea and other items like home made chocolates, eucalyptus oil and spices. We, then, proceeded to Doddabetta which is the highest point in Ooty (2326 m). The telescope was not operational due to bad weather. All that could be seen was fog. Returned to the town and went to see the stone house of which I had read in the internet. But it turned out to be out of bounds since the principal of a nearby college stays there now !

[Fusspot]

Originally Posted by pramod

Nice snaps there!
U are lucky to have quite good weather up there on Gopalaswamy temple, at this time of the year. It gets very windy and wet up there, most of these 3 months of rain.

As for elephants, if u get to the Forest checkpost by 6 AM, and get into the ghats, i am sure u will find the elephants.

There are many who make it a point to visit Goa once every year. For me, its Himavad Gopalaswamy. What a place!

You are right. But then, entry to the hills is permitted only after 0730 Hrs.

[Fusspot]

DAY 5

The journey back. Bid farewell to Ooty with reluctance at 0900 Hrs. though it was still raining. About 15 kms from Ooty, there is a spot where many film sequences, especially songs are picturised. The weather was at its worst with drizzle, fog and strong winds. Some of the visitors were slipping and falling while climbing the slope. Took some pics for record’s sake and proceeded to the next destination which was Pycaura dam and water falls. There was not much water in the falls. Decided not to visit the Pycaura boat club.

Mudumalai Wild Life Park on the Tamilnadu side is 37 kms from Ooty. We drove a bit along the main road of the sanctuary in car itself. We could spot some bisons at a distance (hence could not get good pictures) and some langurs. Had lunch at one ‘Pugmark’ Jungle Lodge after Bandipur. A bit expensive place for the stuff they serve.

Reached KRS at 5 PM and checked into Hotel Royal Orchid Brindavan, a beautiful hotel located just above the gardens. Earlier, this hotel was owned by KSTDC but has been taken over by the Royal Orchid group, thank god for that. They have maintained it in an excellent manner. We got room on the third floor and it was really a ‘room with a view’. Visited the garden in the evening and saw the illumination and Musical fountain

DAY 6

After breakfast and a morning stroll, started for Bangalore at 10.30 AM. Reached Kengeri in 21/2 hrs. but then it took another 1 hour to reach home ! Back to the crowded roads, pollution etc.

Throughout the trip, the car behaved excellently, not a whimper. Did a total of 868 kms. Mileage was not so encouraging, a mere 13.5 kmpl.

[gadadhar]

Didn't knew Ooty has a tea museum, have seen the same in Munnar by Tata. What is the tariff at Bush Betta? Do they have any discount for Country Club members?

[Fusspot]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Didn't knew Ooty has a tea museum, have seen the same in Munnar by Tata. What is the tariff at Bush Betta? Do they have any discount for Country Club members?

It's really a Tea Factory and a museum, 4 kms from the town on the Kothagiri Road.
The tariff for Country Club members is Rs. 1500/- per head per day including Lunch, Coffee, Dinner and the breakfast next morning. Check in/check out at 1200 Hrs.

[devrajman]

Amazing pics! Good capture of true beauty of Ooty and places around. Few pics are wallpaper eligible. Will watch this thread for more details on the trip like, kms covered, food, hotel rents, etc.

Some more pics you think are great and upload it later

[unoczar]

very good pics, ye toh album ban gaya!

[Chevy_lover]

Superb pics, Fusspot. Loved them. Which camera are you using?

As our buddy Ampere said, Ooty is so brilliant that one cannot resist the temptation to visit the Queen again and again.

I specially liked the pics you took of the tea estates after Gudalur(1st post). I too have taken very similar snaps of the garden and the stone mountain and they are in my Ooty travelogue. Your pics definitely brought back a flood of sweet memories!!!

[ampere]

Royal Orchid Metropole is very nice place. Though very costly but has an amazing presence as a heritage hotel. Once we just impromptu drove to Mysore to Laze around and enjoy the weekend and stayed there!

Another good part of the face value of this place is its proximity to the railway station! Early walk to the station (which looks very different from a regular station) and having a cup of coffee there is very nice.

Not to mention the lights in the evening at Brindavan!

Though I blew away lot of money, it was an amazing weekend.

By the way CL, not good on your part to lay silent for so long without taking your Chevy out!

[Fusspot]

Originally Posted by devrajman

Amazing pics! Good capture of true beauty of Ooty and places around. Few pics are wallpaper eligible. Will watch this thread for more details on the trip like, kms covered, food, hotel rents, etc.

Some more pics you think are great and upload it later

Thanks Chevy-lover, unoczar and devrajman for ur positive comments. I use a lowly Canon A 540 compact. Some of the pictures I have uploaded are reasonable with full resolution but I didn't want to hog too much of the forum space and hence the contact sheets.

[Fusspot]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Superb pics, Fusspot. Loved them. Which camera are you using?

As our buddy Ampere said, Ooty is so brilliant that one cannot resist the temptation to visit the Queen again and again.

I specially liked the pics you took of the tea estates after Gudalur(1st post). I too have taken very similar snaps of the garden and the stone mountain and they are in my Ooty travelogue. Your pics definitely brought back a flood of sweet memories!!!

Yeah, saw your pics. Good ones. Looks like you also visited Ooty during the monsoon.

[Fusspot]

Thought I will add a few higher resolution pics.
I especially cherish the picture of two grand old tree stubs with fresh offshoots against a curtain of fog and posts of yet to be put (or is it removed?) barbed wire fence - a symbol of never-say-die spirit, hope !