Ooty in My Renault Duster


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At the outset, would like to mention that this is my first travelogue. Having enjoyed numerous travelogues written by many people, i could really feel the pain of penning down. I admit that it is very difficult to write a travelogue and to write one after a month is all the more difficult. Request you to tolerate the lengthy narration and thanks for your time.
Though i have done Ooty trip in 2011, this was the only hill station left in South India which i have not covered by Car. Further, purchase of Duster 10 days before also makes a good reason to make this trip.

This was a 3 nights- 4 day trip. Though wanted to escape from the last week heat of May in Chennai, the plan to start on 28th May could not be done as i need to accommodate my colleagues leave. Hence it was postponed to 1st week of June starting from 3rd to 7th June. Finally on 2nd June, it was decided that i will be taking leave for 4 days. Hence hotel booking was done at 10pm on 2nd June wherein we need to start next day 5am.

Day 1 - 3rd June - Chennai - Tindivanam - Ulundurpet-Salem Bypass NH68 - Attur - NH47 - Perundurai - Avinashi - Annur - Mettupalayam - Kothagiri - Ooty - Theetukkal

Odo reading at 224 kms at the start of the journey.

It was me, my wife and our 8 year old son were about to leave by 5am however got up only at 5am and left at 6.15am. Got the opportunity to use 5th gear in NH45 between Airport and Chromepet for the first time in 10 days. Though there are couple of chances to apply 6th gear but was not very sure how to apply it as this was the first time am driving a car with 6 forward gears. Did try crossing Paranur Toll Plaza NH45 where the traffic was thin and was elated with the engine response. There was instruction in the user manual not to go beyond 2500 rpm for first 1500 kms and hence my eyes automatically switched to MID as when gears were changed. To my surprise, in 6th gear when it is between 110-120 kph, rpm is around 2400 and could feel smoothness in the engine which i have not experienced in my petrol swift whenever rpm crosses 2200 mark. The engine was smooth however maintained around less than 100 in most of the stretches.
Reached Melmaruvathur Balaji Bhavan around 7.30am and stopped for breakfast. Breakfast was good at Balaji Bhavan and i can rate it as above average. The service was also fast inspite of more people coming in. This is part of the same group which operates Balaji Bhavan in Pondy Bazaar in T.Nagar. Started from Melmaruvathur at 8am after clicking some pictures of the garden maintained by the restaurant management. As it was a working day, the traffic was becoming thin when you drive further southwards in NH45.
Garden at Balaji Bhavan, Melmaruvathur

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NH45 with minimal traffic

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Took a right turn after crossing Ulundurpet Toll plaza on NH45 and the time was 9.30am. Stopped the vehicle to the left and pulled out MapMy India Zx350 navigator. It was pretty hot outside however AC at speed 2 was sufficient to keep it cool inside the cabin. Wurth Sunfilm for windshield was pasted as part of free accessories, hence the difference. NH68 seems to be a mix of 2 lane and 4 lane roads and do watch for sign boards carefully about these changes . One needs to be careful while driving in this stretch. The trafffic was thin in this stretch too.


Few pictures on NH68

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Wanted to have a coffee break and could not find good restaurants for almost 1 hour. There was a board of Hotel Saravana Bhavan (this is not part of the HSB Group in Chennai) appeared suddenly and we stopped. However this one seems to be an average one. Stopped at 11.15am and started at 11.30am within a couple of kms could find other Saravana Bhavan where we could find lot of vehicles outside and the hotel was looking bigger. We told ourselves that next time when we take this route, we would be stopping at this one instead of the earlier one. On nearing outskirts of Salem, extreme left lane to be taken to get on to the flyover to turn into NH47 however i missed that one and had to drive ahead for another 3 kms to take a U turn. Though navigator was providing appropriate information to stay extreme left, it was completely my mistake to ignore. The traffic was comparitively high on the outskirts of Salem in NH68. With the help of navigator was able to take a flyover on the left which took us promptly onto NH47. It was around 11.30am we got into NH47 and it was a breeze driving in this part of NH. Mostly it was 3 lane with minimal traffic. Reached Sankari around 12.30pm and stopped for lunch. Remember stopping at this place while coming from Guruvayoor in Oct 2012 and the food was good. The food plaza having Saravana Bhavan is on to your left on the NH47.

Started at 1pm and was driving ahead in NH47 with the help of navigator. Further down, could find sign boards about speed brakers on 6 lane NH47. Could vaguely remember my return trip from Guruvayoor where i took numerous diversions due to road widening work on this part of NH47. Though the widenig work has been completed unable to understand the reason for placing speed brakers on this clean stretch. Suddenly after 2pm near Avinashi, i was getting repeated message to take a U turn on the next left from MMI navigator. Took a left turn on the Service Road, drove for around 2kms and checked with someone wherein i was told to drive back on NH47 and to take 2nd exit on the service road which was almost 5kms away, could not remember the location where i missed the route. This was due to navigator losing signal in that location. Experienced the same in that stretch while coming back too. Checked with a sweet stall on the Service Road on NH47 near Avinashi and took the Service Lane on the left and went under NH47 to take Annur - Mettupalayam Road. This is a two lane Road and was pleasant to drive due to trees on both the sides. Just before Annur, filled diesel to the brim (26.78) litres. Reached Mettupalayam at 3.30pm. Checked with the tempo drivers on which route to be taken, either via Coonoor or Kothagiri. Heard stories about Coonor route that there were frequent traffic jams. The tempo driver informed that the difference between two roads would be just 1 hour. The distance to reach Ooty via Coonoor is 50 kms whereas via Kothagiri it would take additional 20kms. Suddenly decided to take Kothagiri route as it is a longer route and the vehicular traffic would be minimal to avoid jams.


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As we were having an earlier experience of meeting with an accident in Sawantwadi- Nipani Ghat road route in December 2013, was driving cautiously and was using horn at every turn. Initially, the Kothagiri road was narrow for first 10 kms and was getting wider further ahead. The tarmac was smooth and was looking freshly laid. You need to be careful about the trucks / lorries which are coming in the opposite direction as they squeeze space in the turns / curves. Reached Ooty around 5.30pm. It took almost 2 hours to reach Ooty. Took a detour towards Fernhill Theetukkal where Deccan Park resort was located however signal of the navigator was lost once again. To be precise, we did not get signal in most parts of our drive on the kothagiri route. Took me almost 30 mins to reach the resort due to this detour which was just a straight 5kms road adjacent to Udhagamandalam Railway station. Finally reached Deccan Park resort, Fernhill, Theetukkal. There was a steep climb and a turn again a steep climb was awaiting to get into the resort. The resort was very spacious to walk around and the parking lot was also large.
The room was excellent and very spacious, with a sit out and hot water was available though it was around 6pm in the evening. Ordered dinner from the room and my head started spinning looking at the bill as the rates were similar to the rates of a 5 star hotel. As the night progressed, temperatues were going down and it was becoming chill. There was a heater available in the room however could not use it for more than 30 mins as we all were feeling suffocated due to limited ventilation in the room. Drove for 570 kms on Day 1 with a mileage of 15.4 kms per litre.

To be continued....
 
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Excellent start dear[clap]

waiting for the continuation.

Pictures links are not getting opened. Probably you can compress and re-post them
 
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Apologies for the delay, got tied up due to work.

Day 2 - 4th June - Local sight seeing in Ooty
Got up leisurely around 7am in the morning. The breakfast was complimentary but was a limited buffet. Menu was the same for next two days. We were told that if room occupancy is around 75% (at least 40 rooms) they would be able to arrange for a proper buffet else it will be limited to made to order buffet. Another reason they told us was due to chillness the food would become cold and it requires frequent heating, this seems an acceptable reason.

Around 10.30am we left to Botanical Garden and there was a car park diagonally opposite to the park. The entry fee was Rs.15 per adult and Rs.5 per child. Did not have much to see in the Botanical Garden as it was sunny. Came out within 20 mins and went to the car park. While coming out got shock of my life, as they charged Rs.75/- for Car Park whereas it was less than half for what we paid as entry fee. Absolutely ridiculous.

From there, we were exploring Ooty town for another 1 hour. Then we decided to go to Doddabetta which is the highest peak in that region. It was 8 kms and the roads were wider and good till we reached the approach road to Doddabetta. The entire stretch is pathetic for the next 2-3 kms. There were no signs of a road and imagine the body roll felt in a Duster in a first gear, absolutely pathetic. For the first time, vehicle did not move ahead in a bigger pot hole and repeatedly getting struck for 2-3 times. Applied reverse gear and went little behind to move towards the right to proceed further. The climate suddenly changed with full of mist. Unable to believe that it was a working day and general perception of season getting over when i could see sea of vehicles in the parking lot in Doddabetta. Went to Telescopic tower however it was closed as the place was full of mist. Took some snaps and came back. Could not recollect how much i paid for parking.

In the evening was driving towards Gudalur route to explore Pine Tree forest, 5th, 6th and 7th miles. Though we did not climb up and see these places, took some snaps enroute. The tarmac was ok but was bad in few patches in that route. Came back to resort around 5pm.

The resort area was quite large and the basket ball court was big covered with nets on all the four sides. Was playing basket ball with my son for sometime. We did carry our bat and got a tennis ball from the resort and were playing cricket the next day. There was a sudden thought of taking the heritage train to Coonoor and it takes just above 1 hour to reach Coonoor. Checked with reception and was told that tickets could be easy available across the counter as the season was over. However booked the tickets in return direction from Coonoor to Ooty in first class which was Rs.120 per head. However did not get tickets for onward journey. Decided to buy tickets across the counter next day.

Day 3 - 5th June 2014 - Ooty to Coonoor and back in heritage Nilgiri Mountain Railways (NMR).

Checked with the reception about car parking availability at station and was told enough space is available and can park without any issues. However not ready to leave the car alone in a public parking lot for close to 6 hours. Hence checked with a cab facility for drop at station, i was told they will charge Rs.300/- just to drop at station which was just 5 kms away. Alternate, provided was an auto which was arranged by the resort and paid Rs.175/- to drop us at station. Took the mobile no. of auto driver and told him to come back to station around 5.30pm. Was standing in unreserved queue for the tickets from Ooty to Coonoor at 11am. Can you imagine fares for an unreserved ticket? it was just Rs.5/- per head, the counter opened at 11.30am and got 3 tickets. It was worth coming early as people who came around 11.45 am got the tickets however they could not get seats and they were travelling in standing. RPF manages unreserved queue and could see people stand in queue to move in an orderly manner to get into the train, it was a rare sight to see something in India. Hats off to Railway management otherwise this would have created chaos.

We were in the 7th heaven when train started moving and the valley views which the route providing was awesome. For the first time in 3 days, we could see tea plantations en route in Ooty. Reached Coonoor around 1.15pm. Came out of the station, walked a little ahead and had lunch in a Rajasthani restaurant. Sorry, forgot the name of the restaurant. The food was good. Took an auto and reached SIMS park in Coonoor, this took us almost 20 mins to reach the place. The park design was amazing and one need to walk down to explore it. Felt difficult while walking back as in some places, the climb was steep to return to the entrance. Took an auto back and reached station around 3.30pm. The train was waiting at the station and this time it was a first class compartment.

There was no need for us to wait in the queue and we walked straight towards our compartment which was the first one next to the guard. Please note engine for this train was attached at the back. Got an excellent view enroute if you could stand up. It was drizzling, raining and suddenly sun was coming out, we could experience all sorts of weather changes during our journey back. Reached Udhagamandalam station at 5.30pm. Called the auto driver and he came in another 10 mins, reached hotel around 6pm. Realised the mistake of not taking the car to station as I could find large space available to park vehicles. To avoid this expensive food at Resort, took the car out and drove towards Ooty town for a dinner at Nahar hotel. One thing i could feel after looking at the Menu Card was that rates were at par with that of a 5 star hotel irrespective of the decent restaurants you are going to dine in Ooty.

To be continued....

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Fantastic update[clap].

Not able to see the pictures, I think the posting was not done properly, you can try again by re posting them.

Probably you might have parked your vehicle inside the shopping complex near botanical garden; they charge very exorbitantly for parking, instead you could have parked on the road itself little ahead.

Thanks for sharing and waiting for the continuation.
 
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Probably you might have parked your vehicle inside the shopping complex near botanical garden; they charge very exorbitantly for parking, instead you could have parked on the road itself little ahead.
We too parked inside and had to shell out a lot. We were scared to park on the road as there were lots of traffic policemen around and did not want any hassle. Next time we will try parking on the road.
 
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Ooty is a now a nice place to visit, but not so great like some years back, many houses are constructed and its more becoming a city rather than greenery

next try "Munnar" its cheaper (accomadation and other expences) and more green place
 
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Ooty is a now a nice place to visit, but not so great like some years back, many houses are constructed and its more becoming a city rather than greenery

next try "Munnar" its cheaper (accomadation and other expences) and more green place
so much has changed in ooty. but still there are natural and grennery is there. but it needs a lot of effort to visit this place. one such example is parson's valley. only a suv with good tyres can reach this place

somee more places are mukuruthi park, kundha,mulli,biketti,glenmorgan,porthimund,.

cous wheels did you visit mudumalai and masinagudi? if how is the chance of sighting wild life?
 
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somee more places are mukuruthi park, kundha,mulli,biketti,glenmorgan,porthimund,.

cous wheels did you visit mudumalai and masinagudi? if how is the chance of sighting wild life?
We will go going again to theppakadu on the 16th. Not sure about the weather though. We have already booked with the forest guest house for 2 days. Hope to cover places that we missed last time.

any suggestion regarding places nearby is welcome.
 
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we are planning to make a trip to ooty in bike with few of my freinds. haven't planned the dates.

again visit moyar in earling morning and past 6.
sincara- go to the sincara tunnel. the forest guard may stop you. pay him some bribe.
mavanalla and bokapuram- located on the road to masingagudi to mudumalai-2 kms on the way to ooty- a dirt road on the left will lead to this place. awesome place. you can find thoda people and lot of wild life.

glenmorgan: a serene and beautiful place. located on the way to gudalur to ooty- 2 kms from pykara boat house.

porthimund dam, avalanche,bikeeti- these are places where you need a vehicle with ample ground clearence. these are beautiful places.

heard from my freind that it's easy to spot wild life nowdays. go for the elephant ride into the forest at mudumalai. guess elephant ride starts at 4pm evening.
 
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we are planning to make a trip to ooty in bike with few of my freinds. haven't planned the dates.

again visit moyar in earling morning and past 6.
sincara- go to the sincara tunnel. the forest guard may stop you. pay him some bribe.
mavanalla and bokapuram- located on the road to masingagudi to mudumalai-2 kms on the way to ooty- a dirt road on the left will lead to this place. awesome place. you can find thoda people and lot of wild life.

glenmorgan: a serene and beautiful place. located on the way to gudalur to ooty- 2 kms from pykara boat house.

porthimund dam, avalanche,bikeeti- these are places where you need a vehicle with ample ground clearence. these are beautiful places.

heard from my freind that it's easy to spot wild life nowdays. go for the elephant ride into the forest at mudumalai. guess elephant ride starts at 4pm evening.
Thanks for the info.

Moyar is on our list. Last time we just drove up to the EB colony and turned back. But I remember you said something about a dam and a temple where we can see more wildlife. Can you point out the locations if you don't mind.

sincara - we did not visit last time and are planning to do it this time. Any particular place other than the tunnel? I will be traveling in my Honda City, so I am also particular about the road condition.

mavanalla and bokapuram - you mean if I am traveling from Theppakadu I have to go past masinagudi towards ooty and take a left?

The rest of the places you mentioned, we will not be going this time as we are concentration only on areas near Theppakadu.
 
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the temple in moyar can be reached by a taking a right deviation just before the EB colony. temple is 2 kms from the moyar road. It's just a dirt road. i recommeded you to go on foot rather than going by honda city. again this is a deep forest. watch for animals. not recommended if you go as a family.

i rememeber going to this temple 4 years back. we came close to group of forest dogs(dhole) and a lone tusker. thankfully both the animals avoided us.

the dam can be accessed only after getting persmission from Ooty DFO.

Manvanalla, bokkapuram are tribal village situated on the inside the forest. it's located from masingaudi to ooty road( 36 hair pen bend route). if you go from masinagudi to ooty, you can find a deviation on the right hand side( pardon me not left). it's a normal road. tharred at few places and untharred at few places.

regarding sincara, there is a tunnel which can be accessed by foot. apart from that, if you are lucky, you can spot tuskers.
 
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Day 4 - 6th June 2014 - Ooty - Mudumalai - Masinagudi - Ooty.
Was enquiring with the reception of driving towards Mudumalai and on taking Masinagudi route. Staff told me that heavy vehicles like lorry, trucks and bus would not be allowed due to steep hair pin bends and the necessity to apply brakes frequently resulting in wear and tear of the brakes while climbing down. One of the tempo traveller driver cautioned taking that route as it was very steep and not advisable from a new vehicle perspective. Hence left the hotel around 10am and was driving towards Mudumalai in Gudalur route. After driving for almost 1 hour, we encountered thick fog and the visibility was reduced to just 50 metres.
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To add to the misery, the roads were broken in patches and finding a good tarmac even for a continuous 500m was becoming difficult. The navigator also lost signal in between and we thought that we have reached Mudumalai however we were told by locals to drive another 20 kms to ahead to reach Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. At last, we could find some good roads after entering the reserve however we could find lot of speed breakers at every couple of kms. Did spot some deers in that route. Reached the entrace gate at 1pm, it was 3 hour drive for a distance of 75 kms due to fog and bad roads. Some agent was ready to arrange for a wild safari which i was not interested. I was told that Safari would start around 3.30pm and will last for 1 hour. We were skeptical of taking the safari due to mist and driving time required to get back to resort. Had our lunch in a TTDC Canteen opposite to the entrance. The food was just ok and there was no choice for any other restaurants nearby. We did check with some officials in the area who informed that there was no assurance for you to sight tigers and elephants as this side of the forest is hot and animals might have moved to Kerala / Karnataka side due to rains. We decided against waiting for another 2 hours and this time we wanted to take Masinagudi route.
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Started at 2pm and within a couple of kms we could sight a wild elephant which was just 100 metres to our right. The tourist cab in the opposite direction stopped and people inside were taking photos. It was one lane and luckily i did not honk otherwise it would have proved dangerous. Waved hands at the opposite vehicle to give way for me to move forward. For few kms, the road was mostly single laned and the tarmac was excellent. It was going down steep in some areas and the climb was also steep. However could not find any hair pin bends though i have driven for almost 15 kms. After crossing Masinagudi town and driving few kms, we could see the first hairpin bend of 36. On looking at the hairpin bend, i could hear the voices which i heard in the morning. Yes it was steep and at the same time i need to maintain the rpm within 2500 which i was finding difficult. Though large mirrors have been placed in the corner to have a view of the on coming vehicle, the hairpin bends were consecutive and steep too. After few hair pin bends, could not maintain the rpm at 2500 and it did touch close to 3000 in the first gear. Though the instruction in sign boards tell us to use 2nd gear, i did not due to turbo lag in 2nd gear. One thing i noticed was many of the smaller vehicles went past me and i did not bother as my foremost aim was to climb safely and not to damage the new vehicle. Also i am not a person who drives regularly in hilly roads. The hair pin bends were only for 8-10km distance though total distance from Mudumalai to Ooty town was 36kms. The total time time taken was 1.5 hours to reach Ooty town. Did some shopping in the town and reached resort around 5pm.
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As this was being a Friday, the occupancy rates in the resorts have increased considerably and a buffet dinner was arranged. They charged Rs.375/- per head and the tariff for child was around Rs.200 plus. I forgot to mention that restaurtant in Deccan Park resort is a Vegetarian restaurant and do not offer any non veg dishes. One of the guest in the resort was demanding for a room with a fan which you would not find anywhere in Ooty even in restaurants due to climatic conditions of that location.
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Day 5 - 7th June - Ooty - Coonoor - Mettuppalayam - Annur - NH47 - Salem by pass (NH68) - Ulundurpet - Chennai.

Left at 8.15am and this time we took Coonoor route. This was more scenic and stopped at around 9.30am for a small break. Left at 9.45am and reached mettupalayam around 10 am. There are reasons to have traffic jam in this route due to high number of vehicles plying in this route and few stretches are single lane where the vehicle from opposite direction has to wait. Took another 15 mins break near Avinashi for coffee.
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Reached Sankari around 1pm and had our lunch at the same place where we had while coming. Being a Saturday, the restaurant was full and we were waiting for 10-15 mins to get the table. Finished our lunch and left at 2pm, reached Ulundupret A2B at 4pm, left A2B at 4.30pm and reached Guduvanchery A2B around 6.30pm. Finished our dinner and left at 7.15pm and reached home around 8pm. The traffic was progressively increasing while nearing Chennai and got stuck in few places due to Saturday traffic after crossing Tambaram.
Total distance covered 1370 kms in the entire trip and the odo metre reading was 1594 when i reached home. Overall mileage for the entire trip was 15.5 kmpl.

Once again thanks for your time and apologies for testing your patience.

Next Travelogue on Yelagiri is coming shortly
 

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