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| At Charring Cross |
Route:
Bangalore -> Mysore -> Bandipur -> Ooty(around 300 kms)
There are basically two routes to go from Bandipur to Ooty. One is via Masinagudi which has 36 hairpin bends. It has very sharp hairpin bends and hence on a monsoon trip, we decided to avoid this route and take the other route via Gundlupet. This way it was around additional 30 kms, but safe driving.
Accomodation:
We stayed in "Holiday Inn Cottages", which is around 2 kms from Ooty city center. Its a decent place to stay. They have all the basic amenities like in house restaurant, Children's play area (which is really big and kids would just love it), generator backup(which is really needed due to frequent power cuts), geyser, hot drinking water supply, etc.
We booked a 4 bedroom room, as we were traveling with my in laws. It was around Rs. 3500 per room (breakfast included)
Day 1:
Due to the bad condition of the roads caused by monsoons and the frequent breaks demanded by our little champ, and also a lot of work in progress on roads, it took us almost 9 hours to reach Ooty, which usually takes around 5-6 hours. The last time when we had gone in a lighter shade of monsoon, it took us around 5.5 hours. We left in the morning at around 6 and reached Ooty at around 3 in the afternoon. We had breakfast in a restaurant on Mysore road and lunch in a hotel just before entering Bandipur. My suggestion would be to leave a little early so that you reach on time.
A cup of hot chai with some hot delicious pakodas were ready for us when we entered the home stay. By then monsoon had already showed its presence. So we decided to visit the market area. Did some chocolate shopping with loads of home made chocolates. We had dinner in a Rajasthani hotel in Ooty, my inlaws being very happy with their food. Finally we came back to our hotel and planned for the next day.
Day 2:
After having a great breakfast, we left for Dodabetta, which is the highest peak in the Nilgiris. It is around 8 kms from city center. Once we reached there, it started raining heavily and was windy too. After waiting for around 10 mins for rain to subside, finally we left to see the peak. Also bought a rainbow colored umbrella from there, it was the most essential thing we forgot to carry with us. The valley view was covered with fog and mist. But it is really fun to hang there in the monsoons and the strong winds.
After Dodabetta, we decided to go to Conoor which is around 20 kms from there. It is a different city and the route to Conoor is just breathtaking. Do not miss out to visit Conoor if you plan to visit Ooty. There is a toy train from Ooty to Conoor and back. But it needs advance train reservations and also takes around 5 hours for the travel. More ever, car will take you around 2 hours only.
In Conoor, we visited the sims park. It is like botanical garden and is really vast. In Conoor, monsoons had subsided so we could really enjoy the sims park. It was lunch time and we managed to get a decent hotel just next to the park.
We decided to skip the view point called "Lambs Rock" as it may be cloudy and valley view may not be possible. I remember the last time when we visited this place, the drive was really adventurous with very narrow roads covered with dense fog.
We started back to Ooty. On the way, there is a golf club. We stopped by to see golf, but the guard stopped us as it was military area probably. So we had to move further.
By the time we reached Ooty, it was evening and we went directly to the Ooty lake. It was raining quite heavily there. so no boating services. Horse ride is also available there.
Very near to the lake, there is a dinosaur park. I guess the ticket costs around 400 per head. If you are interested, you can also visit that. Since we were tired, we did not visit that place.
Day 3:
The next day morning also it started raining. After having breakfast, we checkedout from the home stay. On the way, visited the Pykara Lake and Falls. We reached home late evening.
On the way, as we passed through the Bandipur forests, could see many many animals on the way.
