Ooty & Conoor - Day 3 at Conoor & Back

Day 3 (Conoor):

We checked out of the hotel and started to drive towards Conoor. Conoor is around 30 kms from Ooty and the drive is pretty nice with lots of nice view points on the way.

We reached Conoor in half an hour and headed towards Sims park - a botanical park similar to Ooty boanical park, but a bit smaller. Sims park has nice flowers and a beautiful lake and is much less crowded. One can actually spend some nice quiet time in the park.


There is paid parking right outside Sims park for a very nominal charge of two rupee. I was trying to recollect when, if at all, I had paid such a low parking fee for my car.

There is no dearth of view points in Conoor. People create new view points to earn a living. It is sad to actually see people burn portions of the forest to create a view point so that they can attract tourists and set up their tea/medicinal oils shop there. 

A guy with a telescope or binocular and a person claiming to be a guide are also stationed there to grab their share from tourists.

 

One of the better view points is called the "Dolphin's Nose" there. In fact, I have been to Dolphin's Noses at almost all the hill stations I have visited till now. :) Anyway, here the tip of the hill is pointed in the shape of a Dolphin's nose. From there you can see a waterfall far away. There is a telescope point from where you can spy on tribal villages and the waterfalls.
We started back towards Ooty by noon 2 pm. We did not find any decent eating joint at Conoor and so decided to have lunch at Charing Cross. It was 3 pm by the time we had lunch and immediately after that we rushed back towards Bangalore. We took the same 36 hair-pin bends down and stopped mid way for some time to cool the brakes.



We reached Bandipur by evening and stopped there briefly to watch the elephants in the camp. After that we rushed back towards Mysore and Bangalore. We stopped again to enjoy the beautiful sunset for some time.


Had food at a dhaba on Mysore - Bangalore road and reached back Bangalore by 11 in the night. The new NICE corridor roads are really good and we didn't have to enter the dreaded Kanakpura road stretch on our way back. 

Before... Day 1 (Reaching Ooty) | Day 2 (at Ooty)

Ooty & Conoor - Day 2 at Ooty

Day 2 (Ooty):

Next day morning was beautiful and after a hot breakfast of idlis and dosas at Charing Cross, we headed towards the botanical garden. We wanted to be there before the crowd gathered. The garden was beautiful with early morning dew all over the place.


We were out of the park by noon around 1 pm. There were lot of garment and trinket shops lining the parkng lot, all set up by people who looked to be from the North Eastern states. They had put up colorful flags around the parking lot, probably some celebration.

We had our lunch again at some place in Charing Cross and started for Doddabetta peak. The Doddabetta peak is supposed to give beautiful views of the city. After parking our car at the parking lot we had to walk briefly up through a road lined with peanut and toy sellers to reach the top. The peak was crowded beyond our imagination and we hastily retreated after taking a few photographs.

On the way back from the Doddabeta peak we passed through a tea factory that let you visit their factory and see the tea processing plant. A nice strategy for the tea garden to attract customers, earn a nice entry fee, and sell their tea at a higher rate directly to end customers. They also have an adjacent chocolate factory in similar lines. And they are in the process of creating a view point inside their premises. Couple of years later, people would throng that place just like Doddabeta and the tea and chocolate factories would most of their sales directly to the tourists.

Before coming back to Charing Cross we visited the Ooty meadows where scenes of many Indian movies are shot. It was enjoyable and not as crowded as the other places we visited during the day. After spending some nice time there we headed back to Charing Cross. At Charing Cross we bought some chocolates from the famous "King Star" chocolate factory outlet, took some photographs at the Charing Cross fountain, had food at some place there and headed back to the hotel. 

The next day we had planned to start early towards Conoor and then back to Bangalore. We had probably made a mistake of visiting Conoor on the last day. There is a beautiful train journey from Ooty to Conoor and we could have visited Conoor and come back to Ooty on the second day's stay there. On the third day we could have seen around Ooty and left for Bangalore comfortably at noon. Anyway what was done was done and we slept nicely in anticipation of the next day.

Before... Day 1 (Reaching Ooty)

Continued... Day 3 (Conoor & Back to Bangalore)

Ooty & Conoor - Worthwhile though commercialized

It was getting too hot in Bangalore and hiking/trekking looked too strenuous in the heat, so this pure commercial trip to Ooty and Conoor. Inspite of the hatred I have for places swarming with tourists, I tried to enjoy this trip as much as I could. There is nothing much to write, so I'll mostly say it in pictures.

Day 1 (Reaching Ooty):
We started early around 4 in the morning from Bangalore. Crossed Mysore early in the morning, spending time to take some snaps around beautiful green fields adjacent to the roads.

From Mysore the road goes to Masinagudi through Nanjangud, Gundlupet, Bandipur, Mudumalai and Theppakadu. The road after Nanjangud was not that great. Enroute we stopped at the Pug Mark Restaurant to have breakfast. The quality of food there has gone down greatly. I must remember not to go there next time.

On the way through Bandipur - Masinagudi - Mudumalai we saw a legacy of the dot com era - a lodge named after that. :) 

Apart from the usual monkeys and spotted deers, we saw a couple of White Belied Wood Peckers busy pecking away the tree for worms. 

From Masinagudi there are two options to go to Ooty - first the longer (70 kms) route on flatter roads and the second shorter (36 kms) but much steeper route. We chose the shorter route, of 36 kms with 36 hairpin bends. The Swift engine groaned and coughed under the load of three people, dragging itself over the turns, but managed to get us up. 

We did stop midway for a short break at a place that had a coffee shop. The place mentioned some waterfall though none were there, I guess it was dried up in the summer. From there Ooty was another half hour including a refreshing break at the pine forests just before Ooty.

Once we reached Ooty we headed straight to the Boat club. Fooled around there with couple of rides and some photography before starting towards our hotel.

It was already 2pm in the noon and all of us were hungry. There was a hotel claiming to be a Punjabi dhaba and we entered that. The food was terrible but we gobbled it all up, not having the energy to search any further.

The LakeView cottages were nearby. We checked in to the hotel and checked out the rooms. The cottage was cute and clean, nice grass with flower beds all around the cottage, and ample parking by the side of the road.
After freshening up a bit in our rooms we set out for an evening walk at the Ooty rose garden. There are three levels of rose plantations out of which only one had flowers. The other two were getting re-planted. It had been drizling a bit and there was nice cool breeze all around. There were some beautiful flowers in the garden. And it was fun watching the sparrows in the garden.

We had food at a joint at Charing Cross. The night was cold but enjoyable as we tucked into the warm sheets. The plan for the next day was to get up early in time for the sunrise and visit the Ooty botanical garden before the regular crowd arrives.

Continued... Day 2 (at Ooty) | Day 3 (at Conoor & Back)