Rush Hour
As per the plan, we were supposed to reach Ooty railway station to catch the 9am train for Coonoor. It was already 8am and except Santosh none of us were ready. Infact most of the people were still sleeping(exactly this is what happens in a large group). Somehow, I and Akshat tried to get people ready to leave.
 |
| Ooty' Botanical Garden's entrance |
The place was huge, neatly designed and well maintained. |
| The ethnic tribes of Nilgiris dwelled in these traditional huts called Toda Mund |
The main attraction was the Toda Mund.
 |
| At Ooty station |
UNESCO World heritage : Nilgiri Mountain Railways
Finally we got back to hotel, packed our stuff and left to finally catch the world renowned train to Coonoor.
 |
| At Coonoor |
The train journey was awesome (though slow) with some breathtaking views on the way.
 |
| Sim's park, Coonoor |
At Coonoor, we reached Sim's park and had delicious marwari lunch(yet again), this time Abhay and Apurv joined me in the chapaati eating competition.
Later we visited a tea estate & factory.
I also got Masala tea for family.
As pre-planned, Santosh left for Mysore(he was to join his BITS Hyderabad friends there)
 |
| On the way to Ooty lake |
Coonoor seemed to be a nice place but it was same as Ooty (albeit at a lower altitude). We deliberately skipped places like Dolphin's nose, lamb's rock, etc because we had to sort out few other issues related to Wayand. So we got back to Ooty(enjoying the beautiful Ghat roads with Nilgiri railways running parallel) and checked out the Ooty lake(Akshat had so vehemently marketed for it, but it turned out to be a lame excuse for being a lake)
Wayanad Issue & Solution
Nilgiris had been good so far(Rain Gods were kind as it didn't rain madly) but I wasn't too impressed. My real destination was Wayanad (which is infamous especially during Monsoons). I warned everybody not to blame me afterwards if anything goes wrong due to harsh weather and suggested them to go to Mysore instead. But, everybody was eager to set foot into this Northern state of Kerala. After dinner, all 10 of us finally left in an evening bus for Sulthan Bathery. My resolution was finally taking shape.
At Wayanad finally (Encounter with the Kerala Police)
At the dead of night, we finally descended into the misty lands of Wayanad and encountered the Kerala Police at the bus stand(what a welcome!!!). They were curious to know why so many strange folks in shorts came at the dead of night in their sleepy, quaint town. After answering their queries and taking directions from them for night-staying options, we left in pursuit of Lodge.
We finally managed to get 2 rooms for the 10 of us for a total of Rs 700. I also consulted with the Hotel manager(I already had a list of places which I wanted to cover) and roughly fixed the next day's plan with our day starting at 4:30 AM. One room was occupied by people who wanted to sleep immediately and the other was occupied by the Gamblers. I was torn between the two but chose to sleep in time.
In Retrospect
Ooty to Coonoor, Coonoor to Ooty and Ooty to Sultan Bathery - it was a long, exhausting yet satisfactory day. And I expected a better tomorrow. Was it too much to ask for? Only time can answer!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment