Exploring Ooty

Best place for me to go in this summer was Ooty. The maximum temperature was 19C there. Me & a friend started in two bikes on Thursday morning by 7PM and reached Ooty by around 1.30PM. We took the Kanapura road instead of the busy (& boring) Mysoore road. Reached Gudalpet by noon and it was very hot by then. From there we crossed Bandipur forest, which is always one my favorite place to drive. This is the fifth time I am going through this forest. Thrice in car and twice in Bike. Twice to Ooty and thrice to Wayanad. Read about them here:

1. Wayanad in 2011
2. Ooty in 2012
3. Wayanad in 2014
4. Wayanad again in 2014

Bandipur Forest

To Ooty there are two routes from Gudalpetu, one is the famous 36 hair-pin road and the other one is via Gudalur. We went uphill to Ooty via the 36 hair pin road and came back via Gudalur. Its really a pleasurable ride if you have a powerful bike and can really bend it to negotiate the hair pin corners.

Masinagudi Ooty road

Evening we went to Doddabetta. The usual mistake people going to Ooty make is they roam around within Ooty town - with the boating or the garden. Actually you have go outside town to places like Coonnor, Kotagiri etc. to discover wonderful places. Doddabetta is on Kotagiri road, 8KM from Ooty town and it is the highest peak in South India. You have to walk about 3km to reach the view point but there are some local bikes also available to carry you if you are lazy to walk. From the view point we can see Coimbatore town, Ooty town etc.

way to doddapetta

View from Doddapetta

Another must visit place is the Tea facorty which is also on the Doddabetta road. Here you will get to taste fresh chocolate and five different varieties of tea.

View from Ooty Tea factory

Next day, Friday morning we drove towards Kotagiri and then further to Kodanadu. On the way we saw the famous Kodanadu Estate which belong to Tamil Nadu CM. We were fortunate enough  (don't ask me how) to go inside and have a glimpse of the beautiful estate and bungalows. From there we proceeded till the road ends. The view from there was awesome. Click here for the Google map location. You could see a river in the map, same river can be seen in the picture below. Next to the river is the famous Sathyamangalam forest and then Karnataka border. This is where the notorious Veerappan was living or rather ruling. As you can see in the map there are no roads, its just the river and forest.

Kotagiri and Kodanad

View to Sathyamangalam & the river

Same day evening we went to Emerald Lake and Avalanche Lake. Unfortunately Avalanche lake closes by 3.30 PM and we were late. Emerald lake is also a must visit and a great place for camping with a tent. It was not very crowded and you could drive your car/bike close to the lake. This is a common film shooting location so chances are there you must have seen this place in many films.

Emerald Lake

On Ooty Emerald lake road

Saturday morning we started back from Ooty via Gudalur.  The road was good & traffic was less. On the way back we made occasional stops at the Barren hills and Pykara waterfalls etc. Reached back in Bangalore by evening 5pm only.

Barren hills on Ooty Mysore road

Pykara Lake & Gudalur Mysore road

Click here for the complete route map.

Coorg Again

Visited Coorg (Kodagu) again, (previous visit) this time with friends. Had a wonderful stay at Heritage Resort. Here are some photos.

Nandi Hills

Another early morning bike trip to Nandi Hills. We started from around 4.30 AM and reached there by 6.30. Weather was clear, not much mist this time compared to last trip. But it was very windy and cold though. Uphill driving in Bullet is always a pleasurable experience, you never feel under powered.

Reaching Nandi hills I was surprised to see a long queue at the ticket counter. It has become a very common weekend destination for Bangaloreans now.

on the way to Nandi Hills

An old room made carving a big rock (left). We went inside it and it felt like a jail room. I liked this picture very much especially with reduced saturation.

Another similar one. The colourful flowers covering this old left behind also hides the mystery feeling.

Walking around the hills

View from top of the hills (left). New arrangements for visitors (right)

Nandi hills is getting maintained better now.

Wayanad again

This time to attend one of my close friend's marriage. So it was a get-together of our friends and a wonderful trip as well. We started by around 7.00 AM on Friday morning and reached there by 3.00 PM with occasional pit stops in between. This time the weather, especially the sky, was clear unlike last time. So the photos came out good and colorful.

Our stay was in Coffee County resort, which was a pretty good one. However our taxi driver wasn't happy at all as the road to the resort wasn't in a good condition. There are 4 cottages and we were the only visitors that time, occupying two of them. The owner of the resort was a close friend of my friend who was with us, so we have got a very good reception there and the stay was really enjoyably.

Next day went for an exciting trekking to Chembra peak, which helped in burning out the calories we gained from the resort. The climb was very steep but we managed to complete the full 2.5km. The view from the top of peak was breathtaking. We had a guide and they were very strict about tourists throwing garages and plastic bottles. Overall that was a really nice experience. But again the road was very bad & taxi driver wasn't happy.

Attended the wedding (sort of) on Sunday and returned to Bangalore.

Chekkadi, the rice bowl of Wayanad

Sun set view from paddy fields in Chekkadi,Wayanad

Coffee County Resort

Top of Chembra Peak, Wayanad

Tea estate in Chembra , Wayanad

See the trip video, completely made (shot + edit) using an iPhone 4s.

Yercaud

Yercaud is a hill station at about 220km away from Bangalore. Since it was a long weekend this time I have decided to drive toYercaud. From Bangalore to Salem we can reach in less than 3Hrs and from there uphill starts. There are 20 clearly marked hair pins to negotiate before we reach Yercaud. The road was very good and traffic was less. We will be at about 5000 feet high from sea level at Yercaud. But the weather wasn't very cool, can't compare it with Ooty or Munnar.

The sky wasn't very clear, as can be seen from the pictures - the colour reproduction didn't come out good. Main attraction is the view of Salem city from the top of the hills.

Hair pin bends towards Yercaud

View from top of the hills in Yercaud

 

A village as seen from pagoda point and pepper trees all over in Yercaud.

 View of Salem city at night and the same view in the morning

 Riding back to Bangalore