I stay at Bangalore and last weekend of 12th August I decided to visit Ooty [for the second time] with my wife and son. I drove the 300-odd kilometers from Bangalore to Ooty in about six and a half hours having started at 4am when Bangalore roads are empty. I reached Mysore in two and a half hours and took the diversion on the bypass road instead of entering the town. The stretch between Nanjangud and Gundlupet is good for fast driving. One can have breakfast at Gundlupet before entering the Bandipur forest area. There are two approach roads after this for Ooty. The very steep 20 km long ascent is what I chose as the road is better and shorter instead of the longer road through Gudalur. There are 36 hairpin bends so make sure your car is in good shape.
I stayed at Ooty Dasaprakash now revamped and called Villa Park. It is situated in the heart of town near the bus stand, but despite this it is very peaceful, as it is located on a small hill. There are more than 100 rooms and 2 restaurants serving south and north Indian food, all vegetarian. Its neat and the service too is good. I stayed in a standard room for Rs 990. Although the room was comfortable, it was very small. I would say about 8x12 feet in area. Hence there is hardly any space to walk around the bed! The bathroom was big though and well done. The view was also good and one could see most of the hills and market area. I would suggest a bigger room or suite for a more comfortable stay. Due to the holidays, all the rooms were booked and it was quite difficult to get seating space or fast service in the restaurants during breakfast or dinner. We made sure to order room service one hour in advance to be sure. Check-in was smooth but the check-out on 15th took half an hour and the staff was unable to handle the crowd and were not organized with the bills.
Lunch was mostly at other hotels. One day we drove to Coonoor and had lunch at the Taj Garden Retreat – buffet for Rs 350 and it was good. It was a lucky coincidence that a movie was also being shot there and we actually had lunch at a table next to Esha Deol, Fardeen Khan and his wife and mom. Other TV stars like Zutshi and Sadia were outside in the lawn area getting ready for their shots. Another day we had lunch at Fortune Sullivan Court in Ooty [near the rose garden] and the buffet at Rs 250 was excellent.
The weather was cold and it drizzled most of the time, so make sure to carry woollens. Or else the shops at Charing Cross sell a variety of jackets and I picked up a couple of them for Rs 570. The NCC super market is a good place to buy stuff ranging from cardamom to earrings. It offered me 10% discount too on all that I bought.
Sadly, most of the roads in Ooty were full of potholes and driving was a pain. And the crowds…. a sea of humanity!