The Trip to Ooty...
Ooty Trip Snaps
This was one of those “Shall we go, are we going, when are we going…ok lets go” kind of trip. Finally I had long yarned break I was looking for. Even after deciding the destination, timing, after googling for all the information required and all set to go…There were some initial “shall we drop it…ok... Some how we will adjust…no matter what we will make it”.
Initially we were planning to make an early start at around 2:30 PM, so that we can reach Ooty by just before dinner, got delayed till 6:00 PM. In the mean time we collected some snacks for the journey, filled up the tank started for the trip. We were four of us, Knew Amit for quite sometime, had met Sa-Neha pretty recently and Su-Cherry on the same day. But there were no ice breakers necessary (which are very much required for some one like me) thanks to the sense of humor of Amit and the sweet nature of both Sa-Neha and Su-Cherry.
Had a lot of fun right from the 1st km of the journey. After taking a break at a small restaurant on Mysore highway for tea and coffee, we continued the journey towards Ooty. With a nice collection of songs and a good humorous company, the distance was just vanishing in the time spent. Reached Mysore around 10:00 PM and stopped in front of Mysore palace to have a look. We started taking the first round of snaps in front of the palace. Spent some time there and started to look around for accommodation, found a decent hotel just near to the palace. Stayed in there overnight completely exhausted.
The next day…Sa-Neha told her it was her birthday that day. So it called for some celebrations…Started for Ooty early next day so that we can cover as much as possible in and around Ooty. Reached Bandipur national park around 9 AM. Took a safari ride which lasted about 40 minutes with some wild life visible, which were just waking up in that early morning. Took an elephant ride thru the forest, which was the best part of the Bandipur visit, though some missed it ;) Started from there in that early morning beautiful climate and landscapes. Could not help but stop at many placed to take some snaps which did come out real good in that lush greenery. The time just flew by with Sa-Neha keeping us all entertained by those amazing interoperations of the songs played throughout the journey :)
Reached Ooty at around 1:00 PM. Had a heavy lunch at Taj Savoy in the company of some cute looking kids, Su-Cherry liked one of them so much, but which did respond pretty well when approached :). After the heavy lunch visited a tea factory, where we saw the age old method of preparing tea powder from tea leaves. Took plenty of snaps there. Sa-Neha and Su-Cherry tried their luck to pluck some tea leaves. There was a stall selling fresh tea, where Sa-Neha took her first sip of Tea. She did not quite like it I guess.
Started for Dolphin's Nose which had a nice view of St. Catherine Water falls…it was indeed a magnificent view. It was getting dark and started back to Ooty looking for a cottage to stay over night. Roomed around Ooty and finally settled for Hotel Lakeview resort which was along side of the booting lake. It had a fire place, which was much needed in that chilling temperature. Ordered the dinner in the cottage and as it had to be…the power went off. We had a “fire place-lit” dinner. One of the best dinners I ever had :) watched the Football world cup and cricket for some time. Then Su-Cherry wanted to have some tea. We went on a drive in the almost deserted Ooty city looking for tea. Finally ended in Taj Savoy where we had lunch in the afternoon. Amit took the risk of waking of sleeping Sa-Neha :) Had a hot cup of tea. Returned to our cottage, Sa-Neha made us play “Raja Rani Wazir and Choor” as a punishment for waking her up :) Finally went to bed, with plans to go on a trekking trip early in the morning.
Early in the morning made a deal with a local guy to take us around for some trekking spot. Ordered breakfast, had a rather heavy one and then came to know that due to bad weather the trekking spots were not accessible. So we decided to take a walk around the cottage. When something is destined to happen, the whole universe conspires to make it happen. We entered a beautiful landscape which was a diary factory with a helipad on the top of a mountain. We found some children playing cricket and football on top. Spent some quality time there playing with the children and taking some nice snaps of the beautiful landscapes as a backdrop. On the way back had a cup of tea on a road side stall.
We almost dropped the plan of going for trekking as the time was running out. We decided to go for boating which is must visit when in Ooty. We were the only people there who dared to enter the waters in those harsh wind currents. There was a shooting of a Malayalam movie going on. Was difficult to make out who was the hero and heroin there :) After talking a rowing boat into the water, struggling to stair it around, against the strong wind was a fun in itself.
There was a small railway track, a meter gauge (got it from Sa-Neha), went on a small walk balancing on the rails along side the lake. I had taken a walk on the same track with some friends when I had been there in my collage days, relived those moments again :)
Started for “Doda betta” Peak which is the highest point in the district at a height of 2623m. “Dodda betta” means “biggest mountain". The temperature was extremely low and chilling. We had some ice creams which tasted like never before. It was time to return back. We packed some Pizzas for dinner and some pastries.
On the way back, on the road side had our dinner and it was celebration time. Sa-Neha cut her 22nd birthday cake. When we decided to start and cranked the car ignition…valio…it refused to start :) I had left the hazard lights on for about 30 minutes. It had drained the battery. It was the second time this had happened. That too on someone’s birthday party. The first time I had to ask my friends to push the car to start it. This time my friends were lucky… it started after about 5 mins after switching off all the electricals of the car.
Drive back was the most amazing part of the whole journey. The stretch of around 30 Kms from Ooty to Mysore thru the dense forest and the fog with almost zero visibility made us enjoy every part of it as well as sent chill down our spines when we used to miss the road by a whisker. Finally it took us 1 Hr 30 Minutes and all our energy and concentration to cover the 30 Kms memorable drive, couldn’t have asked for more
Not to forget the last stretch where Su-Cherry drove my car…man must say…I get impressed by girls smoking and driving cars with such perfection :)
This was one of those “Shall we go, are we going, when are we going…ok lets go” kind of trip. Finally I had long yarned break I was looking for. Even after deciding the destination, timing, after googling for all the information required and all set to go…There were some initial “shall we drop it…ok... Some how we will adjust…no matter what we will make it”.
Initially we were planning to make an early start at around 2:30 PM, so that we can reach Ooty by just before dinner, got delayed till 6:00 PM. In the mean time we collected some snacks for the journey, filled up the tank started for the trip. We were four of us, Knew Amit for quite sometime, had met Sa-Neha pretty recently and Su-Cherry on the same day. But there were no ice breakers necessary (which are very much required for some one like me) thanks to the sense of humor of Amit and the sweet nature of both Sa-Neha and Su-Cherry.
Had a lot of fun right from the 1st km of the journey. After taking a break at a small restaurant on Mysore highway for tea and coffee, we continued the journey towards Ooty. With a nice collection of songs and a good humorous company, the distance was just vanishing in the time spent. Reached Mysore around 10:00 PM and stopped in front of Mysore palace to have a look. We started taking the first round of snaps in front of the palace. Spent some time there and started to look around for accommodation, found a decent hotel just near to the palace. Stayed in there overnight completely exhausted.
The next day…Sa-Neha told her it was her birthday that day. So it called for some celebrations…Started for Ooty early next day so that we can cover as much as possible in and around Ooty. Reached Bandipur national park around 9 AM. Took a safari ride which lasted about 40 minutes with some wild life visible, which were just waking up in that early morning. Took an elephant ride thru the forest, which was the best part of the Bandipur visit, though some missed it ;) Started from there in that early morning beautiful climate and landscapes. Could not help but stop at many placed to take some snaps which did come out real good in that lush greenery. The time just flew by with Sa-Neha keeping us all entertained by those amazing interoperations of the songs played throughout the journey :)
Reached Ooty at around 1:00 PM. Had a heavy lunch at Taj Savoy in the company of some cute looking kids, Su-Cherry liked one of them so much, but which did respond pretty well when approached :). After the heavy lunch visited a tea factory, where we saw the age old method of preparing tea powder from tea leaves. Took plenty of snaps there. Sa-Neha and Su-Cherry tried their luck to pluck some tea leaves. There was a stall selling fresh tea, where Sa-Neha took her first sip of Tea. She did not quite like it I guess.
Started for Dolphin's Nose which had a nice view of St. Catherine Water falls…it was indeed a magnificent view. It was getting dark and started back to Ooty looking for a cottage to stay over night. Roomed around Ooty and finally settled for Hotel Lakeview resort which was along side of the booting lake. It had a fire place, which was much needed in that chilling temperature. Ordered the dinner in the cottage and as it had to be…the power went off. We had a “fire place-lit” dinner. One of the best dinners I ever had :) watched the Football world cup and cricket for some time. Then Su-Cherry wanted to have some tea. We went on a drive in the almost deserted Ooty city looking for tea. Finally ended in Taj Savoy where we had lunch in the afternoon. Amit took the risk of waking of sleeping Sa-Neha :) Had a hot cup of tea. Returned to our cottage, Sa-Neha made us play “Raja Rani Wazir and Choor” as a punishment for waking her up :) Finally went to bed, with plans to go on a trekking trip early in the morning.
Early in the morning made a deal with a local guy to take us around for some trekking spot. Ordered breakfast, had a rather heavy one and then came to know that due to bad weather the trekking spots were not accessible. So we decided to take a walk around the cottage. When something is destined to happen, the whole universe conspires to make it happen. We entered a beautiful landscape which was a diary factory with a helipad on the top of a mountain. We found some children playing cricket and football on top. Spent some quality time there playing with the children and taking some nice snaps of the beautiful landscapes as a backdrop. On the way back had a cup of tea on a road side stall.
We almost dropped the plan of going for trekking as the time was running out. We decided to go for boating which is must visit when in Ooty. We were the only people there who dared to enter the waters in those harsh wind currents. There was a shooting of a Malayalam movie going on. Was difficult to make out who was the hero and heroin there :) After talking a rowing boat into the water, struggling to stair it around, against the strong wind was a fun in itself.
There was a small railway track, a meter gauge (got it from Sa-Neha), went on a small walk balancing on the rails along side the lake. I had taken a walk on the same track with some friends when I had been there in my collage days, relived those moments again :)
Started for “Doda betta” Peak which is the highest point in the district at a height of 2623m. “Dodda betta” means “biggest mountain". The temperature was extremely low and chilling. We had some ice creams which tasted like never before. It was time to return back. We packed some Pizzas for dinner and some pastries.
On the way back, on the road side had our dinner and it was celebration time. Sa-Neha cut her 22nd birthday cake. When we decided to start and cranked the car ignition…valio…it refused to start :) I had left the hazard lights on for about 30 minutes. It had drained the battery. It was the second time this had happened. That too on someone’s birthday party. The first time I had to ask my friends to push the car to start it. This time my friends were lucky… it started after about 5 mins after switching off all the electricals of the car.
Drive back was the most amazing part of the whole journey. The stretch of around 30 Kms from Ooty to Mysore thru the dense forest and the fog with almost zero visibility made us enjoy every part of it as well as sent chill down our spines when we used to miss the road by a whisker. Finally it took us 1 Hr 30 Minutes and all our energy and concentration to cover the 30 Kms memorable drive, couldn’t have asked for more
Not to forget the last stretch where Su-Cherry drove my car…man must say…I get impressed by girls smoking and driving cars with such perfection :)
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