Ooty trip: Feb 2009

Trip snaps are available on flickr.

(Updates 25 Feb) Videos: Pykara falls, and Golf lessons

Least planned of our trips so far. The idea was to just get to Ooty, stay put at the guest house there, and then figure out what to do next.

Srirangapatna

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/hush-sss/

Woke up lazily on Saturday, 07 Feb, and after a hearty breakfast at Adiga’s, headed to Mysore. A sunny day, and without too much of the painful traffic – we were in luck, and a good start to the vacation. Drove on without a stop anywhere, and once we neared Srirangapatna, decided to stay at some resort there – spur of the moment decision. Stayed at the Ambalee Resort, opposite the fort. Decent enough rooms, but a tad expensive. Again considering that the rooms there are always in demand, guess that explains the tariff.

Had a simple lunch, and we slept till 4:30pm. Decided to drive through the fort, and have a look at the Ranganathaswamy Temple and the other sites within the fort. The temple is a 9th century temple, with some amount of history attached to it. But then again, like most sites of historical interest within India, there is a total lack of information about the site, at the site. Maybe the Archaeological Survey of India should issue booklets about that historical sites, their importance, history, facts, and sell them at the site. Am sure that will be lapped up, and the visitors to the site will appreciate the site or monument all the more.

Had a look at the ruins of Tipu’s palace, the place where his body was found, a beautiful mosque and then drove from there to the Nimishamba temple. It is situated on the banks of the River Kaveri, but then the environs of the temple are a mess.

Decided to drive to Mysore, have dinner with Nags, meet up with Pavi’s parents, and drove back to the resort for a good night’s sleep. It was an evening well spent.

Heading to Ooty

Woke up early the next morning, still groggy eyed. The morning drive, and the fantastic weather dispelled any lingering sleep. Took the route through Mysore city to reach the Nanjangud/Ooty road, instead of taking the bypass-ring-road to reach the Ooty road. The bypass is circuitous, and long. At Gundlupet, stopped at a CoffeeDay outlet for a refreshing cup of coffee and some stuff to munch. Is a good idea to take a coffee break there, because a few kilometers down the road, the road practically disappears. Horrid stretch of road for a few kilometers, but then it didn’t dampen our spirits.

The drive through Bandipur and Mudhumalai forests were uneventful, though we were constantly scanning the route to spot some animals. The Kalhatti ghat section is always an exhilarating climb, with 36 steep hair-pin bends. Before we knew it, we were at the Ooty guest house. It was 9ish in the morning. Beautiful guest house, with a totally laid-back attitude. A hearty bread-omelet breakfast later, we had a walk around the guest house to explore the place, and also see the various trees, flowering plants in its 7acre compound.

Ooty guest house, panorama shot attempt by Indu

Settling into Ooty

Decided to take it easy after reaching the guest house. Shower, sleep, woken up for lunch. Post lunch, walked around the place, to see what Ooty looks like, while on foot. The bright day, with a cool breeze was just perfect for this sort of a walk-about. The tall majestic trees, eucalyptus trees all over, beautiful spring-time flowers, and blue skies kept a permanent smile on our faces.

Later in the evening, drove around to become a little familiar with the place, and also to figure out spots to visit. Drove past the rather lousy Ooty lake, figured out where the Botanical gardens were located and the main Commercial road. Ended up at the Ooty Golf club finally. Inquired if they allow guests to play at the course, and that we just wanted to use practice at the range, and not play the course. Was possible to do just that, and the rates were rather reasonable. Around 500 bucks a person for a couple of hours, with an instructor, and the works. Decided to return there, for a session, on Tuesday.

Pykara, and shopping

Pykara lake

Drive to Pykara the next day morning. Its around 20kms from the town, and the tree lined roads were a treat to drive through. Once we reached Pykara, we first headed to the lake, but after some difficulties in tracing out the road leading to the lake. Sign boards are minimal, if any. But the destination was truly worth all this effort. A picture of still, blue, sparkling waters was right in front of us. To add to this, there were hardly any tourists there. Wasting no further time, we decided to go on a boat ride along with another couple. The silence, the constant purring of the boat motor in the background, and the blue green waters of the lake turned this into a really nice, relaxing boat ride. Indu was hardly able to contain her joy; she wanted to jump into the lake for a swim. On the other hand, I was trying to sit as still as possible. Oceans, and lakes are all fantastic, as long as I do not have to jump into them, or take a boat ride on them.

From there, we headed to the Pykara falls. A scenic, clean, and a very approachable water fall. We spent sometime with our legs dangling in the cool waters. Noticed that it was approaching 2pm by then. Decided to head back to Ooty.

Post lunch, and a nap, decided to head to downtown – basically Ooty’s commercial road. Dropped by at a jeweler, one we had met sometime before while in Bangalore, bought some pendants, and then planned to return sometime the next day to browse through his antique collections shop.

Golf, and Coonor

Ooty golf club

The next day morning program was to head to the Golf course, and learn to drive the ball. Met the instructor, Ashok, and was promptly informed that I won’t be allowed to step onto the course in my jeans (some archaic golf etiquette). A quick drive to change into shorts, and back, and quickly got engrossed in the practice. Ashok is a really good instructor, and we were learning a whole bunch of things about golf, and also enjoying it. Practiced for an hour, with a 5-iron, and managed to hit the ball atleast 170-200 yards. Felt good. Indu learned quite a few things too during her session. It was an informative, and useful day with golf, and by the end of the session we had a good idea of some of the techniques involved.

Post lunch, we left for Coonor. Its atleast an hour’s drive from Ooty, and the road leading to it is a rather busy one. Sims park, in Coonor, is a must see – well designed park, with lots of beautiful and exotic plants. Spent a relaxed hour in the park, and then headed to spot called “Dolphin’s nose”. The entire route is through tea-plantations, and because of the lack of traffic, we cruised at a relaxed pace to “Dolphin’s nose”.  This spot is at the top of one side of a valley, and “Catherine’s falls” can be spotted on the opposite valley side. Good vistas, and the drive is more fun than the destination.

Once we got back to Ooty, we paid a visit to the antique-items shop – spent half-hour there, and liked a set of furniture pieces. Decided to return the next day and spend some more relaxed time there.

Stopped at Prabha sweets, on Ooty commercial road, and tasted some of the yummy cutlets and samosas there. Highly recommended.

Shopping, and golf

The next day morning we headed to the antique furniture shop, picked up some pieces we liked, and some haggling later, completed the transaction there. Headed back to the guest house for lunch, and then a good golf session. Post session, Ashok  – the instructor – mentioned that he usually goes for a evening walk through the course, and offered to take us along, if we were interested. Started the walk with him late in the evening, around 6pm, and since the course is bordered by a forest area, we spotted quite a few hare, and sambhar deer. Spent a couple of hours on this mini-trek, with Ashok recounting some rather detailed stories.

Golf and tiger reserve

Thursday morning we decided to check out the local Mudumalai Tiger Reserve office, in Ooty, and see if there was an option to book a room, and a jungle safari tour. Rooms (log houses in their parlance) were available at the sanctuary, we booked one, and decided to leave Ooty that afternoon and head to the “log house”. This is located in the Mudumalai Tiger reserve, at Masinagudi. That’s atleast a couple of hours drive, primarily because we have to descend the rather steep Kalhatti ghats.

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianandnisha

Headed back to the guest house, checked-out of there, had lunch at hotel Nahar on commercial road, headed to a round of golf, and left for Masinagudi around 4pm. Reached Masinagudi by 5:30pm, and drove to the Tiger reserve camp – some 7 kms from Masinagudi. The log house is a regular room, with some wood paneling on a wall. Not very accessible, if you don’t have your own transport. We drove to the safari camp, to see if we could get onto a late evening safari. We couldn’t make it to the last safari for the evening, and decided to get onto the early morning, 7am, safari. Since we were at the camp, we spent some time at the elephant feeding routine, that occurs in the elephant camp there every evening. The elephant feeding routine attracts wild boars from the nearby forests, and peacocks and deer assemble in that area in large numbers. It was a really good sight to see so many animals.

Return

The next morning, we left the log-house around 6am, drove through the mist shrouded Mudumalai forest to reach the tiger reserve camp, only to be informed that there weren’t sufficient numbers of tourists to start the safari. There were 6 tourists including us, and they needed atleast a dozen to be around so that they could start the safari. The 6 dwindled to just the two of us, we were sort of disappointed that the safari didn’t work out. Decided not to hang around there any longer, and left to Mysore.

Were in Mysore by 10:30am, and spent a good couple of hours with Mallika. Lunch with her at Dasaprakash paradise, and then we headed to Bangalore. Home by 4pm in the evening.

All the snaps are available on flickr