Ooty is my wife home town, so I spend most of my off time in Ooty, roaming around. Most of the reviews written on Ooty are based on the usual places like Botanical garden, Pykara, conoor etc. But there are lot of fascinating and interesting places that are rarely visited by tourists. I would like suggest some of the beautiful places I visited.
THE NEEDLE ROCK VIEW POINT:
This breath taking view point is located at a distance of 7 Km from Gudalur towards Ooty. It’s a hidden spot in midst of eucalyptus forest, where u can get complete view of Gudalur valley, Mudumalai sanctuary and Mysore plateau. U can’t see this kind of sight anywhere in Ooty. From there 2km towards Ooty, lies huge gigantic hill typically looks like a frog. It is frog hill view point.
GLENMORGAN VIEW POINT:
Glenmorgan is a dense forest area located 18 kms from ooty towards Gudalur. Prior permission from electricity Board Authority is required to visit this view point or pay few hundreds to the EB guys and Police guards, they will allow u. There is a winch or mechanical rope way to carry EB workers down the hill to Singara power house using a trolley. The singara power house is situated 3km down from Glenmorgan view point and the trolley moves almost perpendicular down. From here u can get a panoramic view of Singara power house, Moyar valley and Mudumalai forest. Rajinikanth’s 1980 famous movie MULLUM MALARUM” climax was shot in this place. Even some scenes of recent RAAVAN Movie were filmed around this area. A beautiful dam is located 1km away the police check post at Glenmorgan, don’t miss it.
TRIBAL MUSEUM:
This interesting tribal museum and research centre is located at PALADA, 11 km from Ooty towards Emerald dam. The museum holds lot of rare artifacts of primitive tribal group of Ooty.They have huge collection of weapons, utensils, ornaments used by the tribal groups like Todas, Panniyas, Kurumbas etc. Apart from that, they have model houses and statues of the tribal people. I am sure u will like this museum.
RADIO ASTRONOMY CENTRE:
The radio astronomy centre is located at MUTHORAI village, 7km from Ooty towards Emerald Dam. The big Radio telescope is located on the hill to study solar system and celestial objects. The large antenna is installed on the slopes and is visible from the road side. One has to walk uphill to reach the astronomy centre. Buses are there from Ooty to RAC.
DAMS & POWER HOUSES.
There are number of dams constructed to divert water to the power houses in Ooty. The water from Devarbatta, Karaikada, Koulingabetta and Porthimund peaks drains into the two streams, Avalanche and Emerald. These two dams along with Upper Bhavani form the major source of water for Kundah hydro-electric projects 1-5 located at kunda, Geddai, Pillur, Paralli and avalanche. The water from Avalanche and Emerald dam is pumped to Kundah power plant 1 through big tunnels which is visible on the roadside near kundah dam and avalanche check post. Water from Western catchments dam 1& 2, Parson valley dam, Porthymund damr diverted to Kunda power house 5-6 located at Avalanche and kattukuppam. Water from Mukurthi peak drains to Pykara dam, Glenmorgan dam, Maravakandy dam, sandynallah dam and Moyar dam. From here water is taken to Singara, Pykara and Moyar power houses to generate electricity. All these dams and power houses are located in awesome locations, that never seen anywhere else. U will spend hours an hour’s by watching it. To visit some of these places need to get permission from District forest officer or Electric Board officials.
TROUT FISH FARM:
It is located near Avalanche check post, the only trout fish farm in India. The forest guard in the check post will guide u to the fish farm.
MANJUR PENSTOCK VIEW POINT:
This view point is located 8km from Manjur towards Coimbatore. It’s around 65 kms from Ooty. It gives a scenery view of Mulli valley. This area is completely calm and covered by thick forest. There is a winch station nearby to carry engineers and workers to check the pipes through which water is pumped. The 3 km winch trip will be an adventure, but need to get permission from EB. From here lot of trekking routes are there to Kunda, Avalanche, Parsons Valley, Yedakadu etc.
*TRIBAL VILLAGES:
*A visit to Ooty is incomplete without visiting the local tribal villages. There are more than 400 tribal villages in Nilgiris with unique customs and traditions. Badaga is largest community who welcome us with lot of warmth though we are total strangers. Nanjanad is the largest Badaga village located at 12 kilometers from Ooty towards Emerald. Kinakorai is another beautiful tribal village, close to kerala border, located 30 km from Manjur via Thaisolai estate. Todas another group of people with different customs, their living places is called as ‘MANTH’ .I visited one in Thaisolai near upper Bhavani, it’s a memorable experience.
If u really want to escape from the crowdy Ooty city and get lost in the wild, do visit these places. The places around Manjur, Upper Bhavani, Emerald, Avalanche, Parsons Valley are simply breath taking. U will see crystal clear waters, greenish tea plantations on sides, deep gorges and valleys, bluish mountains, undisturbed forests, waterfalls and cascades, tribal settlements, colourful birds and drive through dense forest for hours where sunlight cannot penetrate. You can see elephants, Bison and deer on the roads in the day time. Travelling in bike in this area is like flying in heaven. I often love to travel in bike especially from Thaisolai to Upper Bhavani areas.
Road are good and national highways sign boards are there everywhere. U can reach Manjur from Coimbatore via karaimadai-Mulli-Gedai or from Connor via kattery. From ooty it can reached via Mullikorai-Palda-Ithalar-Emerald-Kunda or Lovedale-kathadimanthany-yedakadu-manjur.