Sometimes we get caught up in troubles and life gets slip away… I love Ooty… But have I been there? Nope. There are times where one must explore life through our imagination. That’s the best part of writing. In a way art of seeing places and here I am going to dream about this place. We all have a huge collection of books called ‘dreams’ lying in our ‘Crystal Pot’ called heart. Streets were empty and I cruised at a speed of 120 KMS to cover the distance which took me around 15 minutes. Covering 290 kms on a bike could be difficult but then our destination was only those beautiful Nilgiri’s and Conoor where we can admire the beauty of mist and hills.
Explore the hard way:
We started our journey on a Friday morning around 7 a.m and cruising at a speed of 120 kms/hour was just to get rid of the Bangalore traffic and by around 8.30 we stopped in a Mc Donald’s on the way to Mysore. Taking a short break and grabbing the Chicken Maharaja was something which we badly needed at that point of time. So here we go. It was breezy and like we all know Mysore road is always tempted by any riders or drivers however, I had to go slow since I was feeling very cold. So keeping that beautiful nature in mind I rode another 90 kms and took another break. So let me just go into the subject and will edit this riding part.
Bandipur - Mudumalai:
This is one of the most beautiful wildlife sanctuaries I have seen till date. It was so calm and for a moment I thought this was another paradise. We see lot of warning messages saying ‘YOU ARE AT THE DEN OF FOREST’ and it was thrilling I must confide. You see we all live once and the visuals we experienced is a treat for us to cherish later when we think about them. When I saw those warning messages saying TIGER, ELEPHANT and many more, the only thing which was running in my mind was, ‘Where thy art?’ But we happen to see Deers, Bisons and of course didn’t see any Wild Creeps waiting for their prey. Crossing Bandipur and entering Mudumalai, anticipating Wild Beasts and highly disappointed for the same which we experienced in Bandipur, I rode up above the Nilgiri’s hills. She was beautiful and I’ll suggest you all to be there atleast once in your life time.
Ooty:
Reached and thanks to one of the MS’ians who suggested this Hotel for our stay. We stayed in Hotel Nahar and like she said, those Shawarmas opposite to the Hotel was tastier than ever. Ooty was cold and misty. The time was around 2 p.m and yes we took around 7 hours to reach there since I took the by pass road to avoid mysore traffic which was 25 kms more than the usual distance. I have seen in many movies and always wanted to see this lake. Unlike kodaikanal, this lake looked scary. I don’t know I just felt so. So we went to the highest peak of Nilgiri Hills and this is the place most of the film shooting take place. We went there, took our snaps and walked down to see the nature’s art. It was a beautiful sight. Time is precious.
What next?
I feel ooty has been commercialized and lost its midas touch. It was crowded and felt as though I’m in a Town and not in a Tourist place. We got back to our room and thinking where to go next. The very next day we traveled down to Conoor and I was touched by the scenic beauty out there. We rode between that Tea Plantation, reaching Lambs Rock which is supposed to be the original suicide point. Indeed it was. The place looked beautiful and of course scary since the breeze almost welcomed us to go along with her… Sitting on a lonesome rock, spending time and capturing her beauty, we went to the next place which is of course Dolphine Nose. Nature’s art is always pleasing. It takes us to a different life where we forget our pains and tragedies. Those who visit Ooty must see Conoor since this place is untouched and its beauty will stay in your memory forever. We got back to ooty and that took around 1.30 hours. The distance between ooty and conoor is nearly about 18 kms. ‘Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun’ sang my ipod and each scene is pleasing and nature’s art has a different meaning altogether. Since Nahar was a Vegeterian Restaurant, there was little difficulty for us however we managed to get food from outside which was not good. Since we were on a bike and badly wanted to discover places by ourselves, we stayed away from Guides. Walking inside those Pine forests, Golf link, capturing her beauty will all stay close to our hearts.
*There was an ELEPHANT:
*On our way back, I took a long way to Bangalore since I wanted to see Mudumalai forest. Heard a lot about the forest and thanks to my ignorance, this place was more beautiful than any other sights we saw already. Of course, roads were bad and I had to change the gear in every minute but then to gain something we need to loose and I have no regrets over my decision. Yes, we saw an Elephant. They say if Elephants are in a group we need not worry and this was standing alone there and I didn’t take any chance to stop and stare.
*Conclusion:
*Riding at a speed of 125 kms on my Karizma, checking out my digital camera for those still images, I was overwhelmed to save one more trip in my ‘Crystal Pot’. I will suggest you all for a road trip to Ooty… Go the hard way and taste the sweetness of nature…