SWIFTED - The Nilgiri's


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Pre Plans :

It all started when we received a free coupon to stay for 2 nights and 3 days at The Accord Highland Hotel, Ooty. This coupon was given as an award for winning an event on Dec 31, 2015 (New year eve party) at Chennai – The Accord Metropolitan. The coupon was valid from Jan 2016 to 31st March 2016 and 01st July 2016 – 31st Oct 2016 in between it is a peak season. It was since long time we as a nuclear family drove for an holiday. Since my daughter school was closed and her vacation started around 14th March, I decided to make use of the coupon. I had no choice of destination and Ooty was already in my mind and the coupon given was also be redeemed only for Ooty. Hence we decided to zero in on our location as Ooty – The Nilgiri’s.

As we were heading a long weekend for Good Friday, Saturday & Sunday I thought of making the best use of it. At first week of March called up the Hotel and they replied asking me to write a mail in this regard. I wrote a mail to them telling about the details of the coupon the validity and the dates I required. The mail was promptly replied by the Manager Mr.Sathish Kumar stating that the hotel had already been booked for the said dates. He also gave me an other available dates in the same mail. Now quickly called up wife and we decided to pre-pone our trip by a week. The dates now decided was 17th March – 19th March 2016. Immediately applied for leaves and sent a mail to hotel confirming the dates for which I received a reply confirming my booking for Bed & Breakfast in the Deluxe – Valley view room at the Accord Highland hotel, Dodebetta Junction, Ooty and all that I need to pay only the taxes which came around Rs.2500/- nett [clap]. The amount was payable upon my arrival.

I was very much worried on the route to take and hence drafted the route query in TAI. Thanks to Arun Prasad and DJ Bro for their prompt response.

Please follow the below link.

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/travel-itinerary/25625-chennai-ooty-road-condition-update-needed.html

Initial plan was to stay at Ooty and checkout on 19th March and drive to Kovilpatti to attend my close friend sister’s daughter 1st birthday. I was invited with other friends who had plans to travel to Kovilpatti. Hence checked the route map in google which showed around 340 kms from Ooty to Kovilpatti via Avinashi, Pallapati, Dindugal, Madurai & Virudhunagar. However due to unforeseen circumstances the friends who were about to travel had dropped their plan. I will be an odd man out in a family function hence I also dropped my plan to visit kovilpatti. Now for Plan B I called up the hotel again to know if I can extend for one more day for which I was ready to pay. The team could not organize since they were running full for the weekend. Immediately surfed the net and found an other Hotel. This time it is Astoria Residency via Make my trip and quickly booked a Studio room on a good deal. My ride was already in good condition and was recently serviced. Hence I felt there is no requirement to service it again and only need to check on the alignment part which I did at my usual place BM-LAL (Opp to Sathyam Cinemas parking entrance) and brimmed the tank with diesel at the Cathedral road BP outlet (near Stella Maris College).

The previous night came very late from office and quickly packed all my things and kept ready. By time I hit the bed it was around 1.45 am. Quickly set the alarm to 4.30 am and planned to leave around 5.30 am to avoid the traffic.


The D-Day – 17th March 2016

Got up and quickly packed all the stuff in the car and neatly cleaned the car. Had the quick shower and we were all set to leave my house at Korattur by 6am (late by 30 mins though).

Members Travelling : Me, Wifey and my daughter (6 years)
Ride : My white little bumble bee. (Maruti SWIFT VDI/2013)
Clocked around : 56000kms + in the odo
Camera : Nikkon S9600 digital and my mobile Micromax Nitro 13mp

The route I set finally in my mind was as below

Chennai -> Dindivanam -> Villupuram -> Ulundurpet -> Attur -> Thalaivasal -> Salem -> Perundurai -> Avinashi -> Annur -> Mettupalayem -> Kothagiri -> Ooty

The thursday morning was awesome without much traffic and with no time I reached the ORR via Ambattur. The morning whether was awesome and since my daughter was half sleepy in the back seat the AC was turned on with 90% thermostat. Due to little traffic at the Chengalpattu toll we got delayed and reached the Arya’s for Breakfast around 7.45 am somewhere after Melmaruvatur. After a plate of hot idly and coffee left place and started cruising around 120 km/hr happily. The bumble bee was very soft and the road was butter smooth as well. Post ulundurpet we need to take right to Attur – Salem route which is again a mixture of 2 ways and 4 ways. The road was neat and had a good tarmac so continued the same speed and at around 11.30 am we reached the famous A2B outlet in the outskirts of Salem – Perundurai road. Need not to mention they had very neat toilets and took a break for about 45 mins stretched for some time. Packed some sweets and left the place the sun was already scorching and the bumble bee’s AC was saving us from the heat.

Post perundurai, the road all of a sudden turned out to a 6 lane and was again awesome to do some good speed. In most of the strech the car was cruzed upto 150km/hr. Concentrating more on the speed and I blindly left the service road leading to Annur and entered Coimbatore with no time. Quickly turned on the map which showed a U-turn and some 30 kms [frustration] with no much choice I drove into the city with bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and reach Gandhipuram.

Why gandhipuram???[thinking].......

..... to be continued..... Meanwhile some feast for your eyes…!!
 

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Thread Starter #2
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….Continued…

Quickly turned on the map which showed a U-turn and some 30 kms [frustration] with no much choice I drove further down to take the Coimbatore – Mettupalayem route. By the time it was already some 1.45 pm and we were really hungry and wanted to have a nice Biryani. After all what are holidays for without some mutton biryani’s? During my earlier trips we always make a point to have biryani at the famous Dindigul Venu hotel. I’m a big fan of their biryani and quickly searched the net and GPS was set to Gandhipuram, Dindigual Venu Biryani Hotel. Now drove into the city with bumper to bumper traffic for an hour and reach Gandhipuram outlet. Had nice biryani with fish fry and relaxed for some time and started our journey to Ooty via Mettupalayem. The traffice at the Coimbatore – Mettupalayem route was horrible. The route buses plying in these roads does not know about the traffic rules. Anytime they might climb your roof!!! Phew… [anger] somehow managed to escape from those rats and reached Mettupalayem and climbed the hills via Kotagiri. I do not want to take the Coonoor route for 3 reasons.
1. For its traffic
2. For its scenic view and finally
3. Reaching the Dodebetta is much easier via Kotagiri than the Coonoor route.

Until Kotagiri the AC was switched on post which the temperature was cooling down and hence switched off the AC and climbed without much push to the engine. The traffic was much less in this route and we all enjoyed the scenic beauty of the tea estates on our way. Close to 5ish we reached the Accord Highland Hotel. We were welcomed with a welcome drink and after finishing all the formalities we were given a valley view room at the 2nd floor. The hotel & the room was neat and clean. Nothing much to say on this 4 star grade hotel. Only issue was there is no elevator and every time you have to climb 2 floors. This hotel is situated right near the Dodabetta telescope peak. This is the highest peak in Ooty hence the climate was awesome with solid cool breeze. Now, after a quick hot shower and some visit inside the hotel premises, we took the car and headed to Ooty for our dinner. Ooty is around 5 kms from here and can be accessed within no time. Reached the famous charring cross signal and parked the car and walked to find a hotel to have a lite dinner. Found a fast food (some tasty and blah.. don't exactly remember the name) and had some rumali roti and Paneer butter masala. Did some light shopping and headed back to the hotel and retired for the day.

18th March 2016

The alarm rang at 6.30 am got up leisurely and had a warm shower and went to the restaurant. The breakfast buffet is awesome spread at the Accord. They had all varieties from Sausages to South Indian. Had a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. Today I wanted to do maximum sight seeing so without wasting any more headed directly to the ooty railway station to catch up the Toy train from Ooty to Coonoor. Bought tickets (unreserved) cost of ticket is only Rs.10/- spoke to the Train Ticket Checker and upgraded my ticket to a 2nd class seater. An additional charge of Rs.15/- for each passenger was charged so total cost is Rs.75/- one way (Rs.30 + Rs.45 = Rs.75/-) for onward journey. The train started exactly at 9.05 am at the Ooty station and reached Coonoor at 10.20 am. There are 4 stations in between Ooty & Coonoor (Lovedale, Ketti, Aravankadu & Wellington). The train passed thru the lovely valleys to the high bridges and dark tunnels. The train was not much crowd (may be because it was a off season and a week day..!!) My daughter thoroughly enjoyed every bit of journey. We got down at the Coonoor station and bought return tickets and boarded the train which came from Mettupaleyam and headed towards Ooty. Since there was some mechanical work in the engine the journey was delayed for some 20 minutes and reached Ooty around 12 noon. Paid the parking charges of Rs.50/- and took my car out of the station and headed towards Pykara lake.

Pykara is 27kms from Ooty railway station. Went straight to the boat house at Pykara. They had only 2 option for me one was a 16 seater and an 8 seater motor boat. The kid below 10 are not allowed in the speed boat. Neither of us were interested doing a speed boat ride. Hence waited at the counter for few minutes to check for other options. Meanwhile there was a family from Maharastra, and I spoke to him and we both together hired a 8 seater (they were actually 3 of them carrying a 5months old baby) though the 8 seater was little too big for us we still decided to go for it and shared charges of Rs.750/- (Rs.325/- for each family). The boat ride was awesome and we had a good ride for around 30 mins. Just got introduced to the family sharing the ride and got to know that they were actually travelling from Vishakapatnam to ooty in a Swift Desire and stayed at the Ratan Tata guest house. Now post the boat ride... Ok chalu bye byee to the family and now we headed to the Pykara falls. A government guide came running to me and said that we need to walk around 2 kms and climb down 80 steps to visit the Pykara falls. He also opted out saying that at Sholur there is an other British engineer built dam and the water falls from about 80 ft high and that they will take us in Jeep and cost shall be Rs.1000/- for the entire family. He also told that he is a government approved guide and showed me a ID card. Rs.1000/- is ok but I do not want to take a chance by travelling alone with an unknown person and that too with family. Hence rejected the offer. Since he changed my mind saying there is so much of walk involved and it was already late for our lunch too, we thought of skipping the place and proceed towards our next destination the Glenn Morgan.

...to be continued.... (Pics to follow)
 
Thread Starter #4
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Thanks Mathew.

The Accord Highland Hotel is at the Dodabetta Junction (enroute to Ooty via Kotagiri). Ooty is around 5kms from the hotel.
 
Thread Starter #5
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Some pics for you...
 

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Thread Starter #6
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....Continued....

On our way to Glen Morgan we picked up some fresh carrots sold on the road side and proceeded towards the diversion between the Shooting spot and Pykara. The road were recently laid and the journey of 9.6 kms was a easy task. Finally reached Glenn Morgan around 2.45 pm. To get to the dam and EB view point one has to get an prior approval from the DFO (Deputy Forest Office) or the TNEB (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board). Since my cousin is working for EB projects with the government, I had taken required permissions with me to visit the place. Parked my car near the check post and walked down the EB substation supply house. This is the famous place in Glen Morgan. There is a Winch which goes all the way down to the Moyar power station. I remember travelling in the winch the last time when it was functional that was some 15 years back. The Winch is now closed for the general public and only the employees of the EB department can access it for maintenance purpose. There is a beautiful view point from that place. One can actually see the winch route going down and the Moyar EB house. This view point is actually surrounded by lot of green valleys and breeze was awesome. I heard thru a local person that in the night you get to see some bison wandering around the place. Spending some 30 mins enjoying the view point, we were back to car and now headed towards Ooty. On our enroute to ooty we came across the place called Thalakunda. This is the village where the famous 36 hairpin bends starts to climb down Masinagudi and the tiger reserve Mudhumalai. It is a very steep and narrow road. I had actually covered this route more than three/four times in my previous trips. I know there is a water falls called Kalhatty in this route. Enquired about the distance with a local cab driver he said it is right near the the 25th Hairpin bend and need to climb down thru road in 2nd gear. My daughter hearing this wanted to see the water falls and my wifey also nodded her head and here we go…. With a drive of around 25 mins reached the place and there is actually a diversion which leads to the water falls. There was a car which was exiting the route near the diversion. I immediately stopped them and enquired about the road conditions. They said it is not worth watching and that there is absolutely no water and it is not the correct season to visit the place. Oh my…with all that frustration we climbed back the 11 hairpin bends and reached Ooty via Thalakuntha. Headed straight to the boat house and my kid was playing in the park beside the honeymoon boat house. We both sat and enjoyed the weather and by around 6.15 pm started from there and reached the Hotel. Wined & Dined in the hotel.


19th March 2016

Today got up very late and after a leisure warm shower, got to the restaurant for the breakfast and went surfing the hotel premises and their club house. They had all those indoor and outdoor games starting from Xbox to Valley ball. Enjoyed the games for sometime and headed back to room and packed all the baggage's and checked out around 11.30 pm. Headed to my new destination hotel in the Church hill road, Hotel Astoria. Completing all the formalities we been given a Studio room right at the first floor. The room was neat clean and had all amenities of a 5 star grade. The living room had a recliner with a LCD and a Dolby surround sound. The bedroom had a 32 inch Sony LED TV, Laptop table, room heater and theme changing lights. Next room looked like a kitchen with refrigerator and Oven. The bathroom had Jacuzzi and a shower station with FM radio. Wow all this for just Rs.2900/- amazed… But the only draw back was the hot water. It flows only between 6 am -11 am & 6 pm – 11 pm. In between you can only use the geyser which is a slow flowing. Now quickly changed and headed to the near famous A2B near charring cross signal. Had a nice south India lunch and now took the car and came out of the parking lot without knowing our next destination. My daughter kept on saying that she wanted to visit the falls and that I have not showed her anything till now. My only option for falls was to go to the Pykara falls which we missed to see. Without wasting much time, wifey and me decided to go back and visit the place. Drove all the 27 kms again today to visit the place. Parked the car and started walking. The walk was for around 1.5 kms post which we need to take ticket at the counter and climb down the steps which is around 80. All these pains were really worth the place we visited. You cannot access the water falls but can see it at a very close distance. Anybody visiting Ooty do not forget to visit this awesome place..!!

Without much describing about this place. Let the pics of mine do the talking…

From Pykara returned back to Ooty around 6.30 pm on our way back we visited the 7th Mile shooting spot. Nothing much to describe about this place. Headed to hotel directly and used the Jacuzzi to relax for sometime. Got ready around 8.30 pm and left to charring cross for dinner. Parked my car and walked towards the race course. On our way we saw a Kebab Corner restaurant. Stopped and had some nice Roti’s and Chicken. Drove back to hotel and retired for the day.


20th March 2016

The whole episdode is now come to an end. Its time to pack the bags and leave. Raised very late from bed after a warm shower headed to the breakfast. The breakfast was just ok. They served Idly, Upma and Vada. We paid extra for eggs and toast. Back to room watched TV for sometime and packed all the things. By around 11.30 pm completing all the formalities left Ooty and headed towards Kothagiri and Mettupalayem Road. By the time we touched Kothagir it was warm and after 3 days again the bumble bee’s AC helped us to overcome the heat. Stopped at hotel Marutham at avinashi had nice biryani and Country chicken fry. Relaxed for sometime and left to Chennai via Salem and Ulundurpet. Reached around 9ish at my residence.


Total Kms Covered : 1340 Kms (Inclusive of all Local travel)
Average Mileage : 19.7 kmpl (90% AC except at Ooty)
Toll Cost Onward : Rs.575/- (since touched Coimbatore) [frustration]
Toll Cost return : Return 460/-

Hope you enjoyed the travelogue. Awaiting for your suggestions and feedback.

NB : Since I’m currently held up with some official month end activities I shall post the rest of the pics soon.


Cheers,
Ash…
 
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Thanks Ash for the nostalgic trip, our family used to make this trip when we went south for our summer vacations, in the '70.

My uncle's family used to stay at Kotagiri, so driving to Ooty was a regular affair, for the botanical gardens, boating & homemade chocolates

Regards

Vinod
 
Thread Starter #8
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Thanks Vinod.

Good to know that you traveled during 70's. The place would've been more pleasant than now with lot of greenery.

Cheers - Ash...
 
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Hi,
Nice travelogue.
Now a days Ooty has become a commercial place and we see lot of crowd. In season time, there will be more crowd than we expect.
Parkings are very hectic in those time.
 

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