It was March and Chennai was already beginning to become unbearable. I, along with some other friends planned to escape from the blistering heat to some place cool, but mainly affordable. A survey of all the hill stations near to Chennai left us with Ooty, Kodaikanal, Yelagiri, so on. Our obvious choice was Ooty, as it was well developed and it being off season, was not out of our financial scope. The Nilgiris get their name from the blue colored flower cover on the mountain slopes.
First let me give the itinerary people follow.
People travel to Mettupalayem(ground station for Ooty) either by bus or train
From there, a Toy Train (a narrow gauge train pushed by a steam engine) takes everyone to Udagamandalam (Ooty).
A slew of hotels offer a variety of rates to choose from according to one’s own resources.
People then visit the tourist spots either by hiring an auto, booking a 4 wheeler, or by a local bus (though I doubt the efficacy of the 3rd option).
There are a large number of RTC buses to various destinations in and outside Tamil Nadu from Ooty, or the Toy train which takes them back to Mettupalayem.
Our travel plan was different as we were a bigger group.
We booked a mini bus (it worked out to be cheaper and also enjoyable that way) with the arrangement that it would show us around in Ooty and bring us back to Chennai.
Highlights of Ooty:
Ooty is situated 2Km above sea level
Toy Train ride from Mettupalayem to Ooty (a breath taking experience!)
The horse ? race course (functional during summer)
Doddabetta peak (almost 3Km above sea level), the highest point in South India
The Botanical Garden (colorful mostly during summer)
The Rose Garden (with nearly 150 varieties of roses!)
6th Mile (a film shooting spot)
9th Mile (also a film shooting spot)
Payakara Lake (terrific for boating)
Another boating lake in Ooty town itself.
Ooty is a solid 15-20 degrees below Chennai temperature (when we went to Ooty, Chennai was almost 35-40 whereas Ooty was almost 20 during day and a staggering 5-10 degrees during night.
Musts in Ooty:
A visit to all the places above said.
A visit to any Tea Estate (there are innumerable number of them..)
Visit to Coonoor (between Ooty and Mettupalayem), which in turn has a number of gardens and other scenic places.
Tasting the different varieties of teas available
A Camera, mister!
My experiences:
Firstly, I was surprised to find that most of the hotels didn?t have fans, only to find out later in the night why!
Generally in places like Chennai, it is difficult walking bare feet during afternoon, when it is blistering hot. But it was a unique experience in Ooty to find difficulty walking bare feet after 6PM, due to ice cold ground.
A person lacking in Vitamin A could well be cured by the abundance of raw carrots available everywhere!
Bathing using hot water in the morning was like paradise down to earth!
Horse ride in Doddabetta was a one of its kind adventure.
One could see Coimbatore, almost 60-80 Km away from Doddabetta using a telescope.
A slope of more than 45 degrees downwards dotted with tall eucalyptus trees in the 6th mile was unforgettable.
The vastness of the 9th mile (a small hillock) with really steep valleys was a picturesque spot.
Pykara lake, a huge lake with calm waters and pedal boats gave me a feeling of another world!
The tea estates were more beautiful than shown in any movie.
In all, a trip to Ooty is well worth its cost.