Ooty :) - Blogathon - Post 8

9th August 2013

The day started at 4:45am for us and the kids woke with a jump-start at 5:15 am. We were out by 5:40am (the exact time by our car’s clock). On the way, we stopped at Kamath (Chennapatna) for breakfast.  Lovely breakfast, hygienic loo and smiling waiters welcomed us.

The best route to Ooty from Bangalore is Bangalore – Mysore – Gundlupet – Bandipur - Ooty. The roads are good. You will get beautiful views of valleys, natural water bodies, rustic villages and cool breeze. The speed will become considerably low after Bandipur, as the ascent starts from here on.


(Around Gundlupet, you will see a whole lot of sunflower farms. While clicking the pic, this guy came forward saying he is the owner of the farm and that he wants money for allowing taking pictures of his beloved sunflowers. Of course, we gave our warmest smile, asked him to smile for the picture and drove away.)

A drive through a village is something I love to do. People stopping and talking in the middle of the roads. Bullock carts striding away to no hurry. Smoke bellowing out of the chimneys’ of the houses. Children playing with tyres and sticks. A life which relaxes you just by watching them.  
The children loved the drive. We let them roll the windows down, feel the fresh air. After all, they were also on a holiday. Literally they had wind in the hair.  

The most memorable part of the journey for me was when we passed through the Bandipur National Park. Honestly, I felt we could have planned a little better and stayed in Bandipur resort, gone for the jungle safari for a day and then resumed towards Ooty. Nevertheless, the jungle route was beautiful. I was awed by the mere silence, greenery, the gushing noises of the natural streams of water and occasional treat of beautiful deers, langurs and of course good old wild monkeys. But we better behaved, after all we were guests in their home! It humbled us completely.

The last 2 hours of the drive did stretch a little bit. The kids began to get restless. The roads were ok, apart from a small stretch between Bandipur and Ooty. The mountain ascent could get a little clumsy on the stomach for the sensitive ones. We were fine, but N got queasy and threw up twice. But it was no worries at all.  The beautiful views on the way made it all worth the discomfort.





The thing about a drive to any destination is that you get to see another kind of life as close as it gets. It humbles, enthralls and you feel what a different life we lead from many other people.

We did not stop for another of those tummy breaks but we did stop at couple of places for clicking pics and generally stretching ourselves. We reached the resort at 1:45 pm, just in time for lunch. 

Ooty gets chilly during this time of the season. Especially it starts raining in the evening. It is more of a mist fall. It makes a lot of sense to stay indoors after 6pm. Do carry warm clothes. You may also experience a lot of internet and mobile signal issues. A nice duration stay would be 3 nights and 4 days.

Over all, a lovely place to visit with family and friends, to sit back, relax and sit cosy under a blanket, catching up movies with your loved ones with a cuppa hot coffee or chocolate. Ummmm J


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