Day 4

June 21st

Time : 4:30 AM

Tasks ahead : Get to Ambalavayal village and hike to Edakkal caves

Status: All asleep

Once Bitten Twice Shy
After missing the train for Coonoor, the previous day, I was thinking about how to manage everybody so that things go as per the schedule. And so this time, I had a plan. It so happened that as a custom, Hotel manager had taken some additional amount as advance. Though, I had convinced the manager to allow our stay till 7 AM but hadn't conveyed the same to others. 

At dawn on d streets of Sulthan Bathery, excited 4 the day ahead

So, I asked everybody to get ready in the next half an hour(ie. by 5 AM) and leave the hotel or we'll end up loosing our advance amount. The words were magical and everybody got into action(even the laziest of the lot). In all this exercise, Amaan and Akshat had been extremely cooperative(rounding up everyone to get ready), even though they had hardly slept (due to their poker-sessions extending upto 2-3 AM). Indeed, by 5 AM, everybody was on road, moving towards the city centre bus stand. 

Sightseeing

After a quick tea and some weird Kerala snack, we booked a cab that would take us around the district until evening. It was a tough task to make the driver understand our plan(I had to resort to a mixture of sign language, English, Hindi, gestures and so on). The information that I had gathered before leaving Bhadravathi(from net) were immensely useful and helped me in discussing the route with the driver(in our strange Khichdi Language). 

The weather was just perfect, sky interspersed with little clouds(though it was raining like hell a day back). 

So off we began for our 1st destination Edakkal Caves with our jeep moving through the beautiful Kerala forests. . 

trekking path ahead

climbing through the rocks

midway to Edakkal caves

Finally after reaching the Edakkal cave

It also involved a steep hike which we enjoyed thoroughly. We had reached before the opening time and so we relaxed there in the jungle, waiting for the place to be opened.

Next we moved to the Meenmutty falls. But the place was closed due to the recent torrential rains, so we took a diversion to Soochipara falls. 

Soochipara falls at the background

others chose to watch the falls from distance

Meditating under the falls

one of the best falls so far

 

Refreshed after bath @ soochipara

The route was just fantastic and was laced with waterfalls, tea/spices/coffee plantations & monsoon greenery.








 



Plan Aborted
I had planned a hike to Neelimala view point but I realised that some people at the back of the jeep weren't feeling well (perhaps due to lack of proper sleep) and so with a heavy heart I aborted that plan and asked the driver to take a detour to the Bird's Eye view point at Wayanad-Kozhikode border on NH 212. The view was just awesome with far-stretching Kozhikode plains ahead and lush green Wayand hills behind.

Wayanad-Kozhikode border, Lakkidi view point

Kozhikode's beaches 60 km towards west

We also spent considerable time at Lakkidi especially at CCD (on Amaan's special request) where he emptied his pocket in pursuit of some 'Dark passion'.

The final destination of our journey was Pookot lake where we spent quite a lot of time. After boating, we enjoyed coffee at the Lake canteen.

Boating @ Pookot lake

Lotus @ lake

forest covered Pookot lake

10 of us took 5 boats, & kept on colliding with each other

Places left for my next visit to Wayanad
It was getting dark, and we had more or less covered all the representative places. In order to fully cover this beautiful district, we would have needed atleast 2 more days. So far, my group had been extremely cooperative and I couldn't have asked them to stretch themselves any further and so I had to leave the following palces for my next visit to Wayanad. Kuruva island, Banasura dam, Pakshi pathalam, Tholpetty WLS, Muthanga WLS, Pazhassi Tomb, Meenmutty falls, Thirunelly temple and so on.

End of this Journey By 7:15 pm(almost after 12 hours), our driver dropped us straight at the Sulthan Bathery bus stand, just in time to catch the bus leaving for Mysore. Our bus moved along NH 212 through the Muthanga WLS and within 2 hours we reached Mysore. I had already visited Mysore earlier with parents and had seen all the places over there, so I left that Jumbo group & decided to continue to Bhadravathi and attend next day's PS. Beginning of Another Trip But in reality my actual agenda was preparation for the next trip (Coorg- the land of Coffee). My trip to Wayanad & Nilgiris had been fantastic and had only fuelled my appetite for travelling. I wanted my next trip to be even better. I dedicate this episode in the fond memories of my dear friend Amaan without whom this trip would have been tasteless. (Special mention to his e-maps which enabled our navigation through the tricky  forests of  Tamil Nadu-Kerala-Karnataka border region)

Coming Next - Episode 4 : Wild Wild West Karnataka

<<First <Previous   Next>Last>>

Other Posts 

• Go Goa
• Fell in Love with Kerala
• Trekking in Karnataka & the 1000 year old temples 

Day 3

June 20th

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

After grabbing a little breakfast at Ooty Coffee House, we reached Railway station just in time to witness the train departing infront of our eyes. So we asked the other guys(who were still at hotel) to move instead to Ooty Botanical Garden.

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!!!

<<First <Previous   Next> Last>>

Day 2

June 19th

Mysore : A stopover

By 7 AM we reached Mysore. On enquiry we found that the next bus to Ooty would leave in an hour. As a formality, we did enquire few travel agencies over there for hiring cabs but found their rates exorbitant and so we finalized Public transport. After getting fresh(at Bus stand complex) & a light breakfast we boarded the bus for Ooty.

Wildlife Spotting (Bandipur & Mudumalai)

Soon we began our journey for Ooty through the forests of Bandipur (in Karnataka) and Mudumalai (in Tamil Nadu). These are the same forests which were infamous due to Veerappan's terror once upon a time. Though, Bandipur is also famous for a very high density of tigers but we were so unfortunate that we couldn't even spot a deer leave aside Tiger/Leopard

This pic is not a photoshop trick

Perhaps, it would be too much to expect Tigers on the Main road(waiting to pose for our cameras). For that one has to venture into the core areas of the Jungle with proper forest guide.

Veerappan'sJungle

My Neighbor 

In the bus, an elderly Kannada lady(around 50-55 in age) was sitting besides me. When we reached Gundlupet (56 km from Mysore), she asked me if I had eaten anything(that was the 1st thing she had spoken to me so far). I told her about a light breakfast at Mysore at which she offered the whole of her home-made food(how kind). I always follow a no-food-exchange policy during my journeys to avoid complications but I couldn't refuse to her motherly affection. I am sure I never had yummier idly than that and the timing was just perfect(I was indeed hungry then).

NH 67 through Mudumalai National park, Tamil Nadu

Soon, our bus entered the Bandipur National Park following NH 67and she became my Tour guide, telling me about all the places on the way to Ooty. She made the journey immensely informative and interesting.

Tea time on the way 2 ooty
 

Jaggu, myself & Amaan in the awesome mausam

Through the cloud covered sky touching tea-estates

Ooty's Shock value!!!

carefully laid tea estates all along the Nilgiri slopes

Savouring the alluring nature, lush forests and beautifully placed Tea estates(on the slopes of Nilgiris) all along the route, we reached Ooty bus stand by noon.











But, I was shocked by the overcrowded, encroached & polluted hill station. The biggest irony were the numerous huge Boards of Nilgiri district administration which claimed to have Plastic free- Grabage free Ooty and just beneath those boards, one could find heaps of plastic garbage.

Infact at one point of time under the scorching sun and in the meretricious bus stand, I got a feeling that even Pilani was cleaner. I felt pity at the dismal state of this world renowned Hill station of Tamil Nadu and my resolution to go to Wayanad grew stronger. I had expected a wet weather due to Monsoon, but it was sunny with few clouds here and there.

World's 2nd Best Coffee 

One of the best coffees that I had was at a Chikmagloor restaurant 'Hotel mayura' (Chikmagloor in Karnataka is world renowned for its coffee plantations). Next to it comes the coffee which I had at this shabby, tacky, dusty restaurant on the Temple Lower Bazaar road, close to the private taxi stand(I hope someone from my group would take the pain to remind me its name). Soon after lunch and coffee, I and Akshat booked a cab for the 11 of us for sightseeing around Ooty.

Advice : If you are on budget, then better hire cab from the private taxi stand rather than the Govt one beacuse you might end up getting a better bargain.

Sightseeing
It was indeed a hilarious sight to see 11 grown ups stuffed in one cab. 3 of us sat in the front(+driver), 4 in the middle and 4 got stuffed at the back of the cab. Nothing was impossible on this high melodrama, budget trip. The worst blow came when I realised that the driver didn't know Hindi or English(But until that time. he had reacted to all my queries as if he understood perfectly what I was saying)

At Golf course

PS1 EEE project group

Our first stop was a private golf course. For the 1st time in Ooty we felt being at an altitude of 2200m. 

Next our driver took us to Pine forest where numerous bollywood/tollywood/kollywood films have been shot.

Pine forests where numerous blooywood songs have been shot

These are the same trees around which so many Salmans, Madhuris and Shah Rukhs have  danced around.

Amaan is fighting with me :( for dat perfect spot 4 photo session and the audience is waiting to applaud the winner

  

Finally after defeating Amaan, I occupied my coveted throne and thanked God for my victory !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally everybody got onto the the Royal throne

Then we tried some neighboring trees as well

So finally we were all happy and so we came back : Jungle me Mangal

 

Trying to recollect "saala Roza ka wo kaun sa scene tha ", @Kamraj Sagar Dam

This was followed by a trip to Kamraj Sagar Lake (our guide told us that Roja's climax was shot here).

Amaan on Dam's wall

Shooting spot, Ooty (true to its name- The blue Nilgiri)
 

Our driver cum Guide picked us up from the other side of the dam and we proceeded towards the shooting point, where numerous typical Nadeem Shravan songs have been picturised. 

ye chhote se pair kiske hain?@ Pykara lake

 

Teeny-tiny Pykara falls

We then proceeded to Pykara Lake. After a slight walk through forest, we reached the boating area. Next it was Pykara falls (one of the most worthless and most feeble falls that I've seen in South India). It only made me miss the mighty waterfalls of Karnataka, more than anything else. 

I had expected a wet weather due to Monsoon, but it was sunny with few clouds here and there.

In between, we had slight drizzle every now and then, which made the weather pleasant. We also had other places to visit like Wax world, Tea museum, Rose garden, Botanical garden, Bee museum, etc. But, by the time, we got back to Ooty, it was already getting dark and that meant that we had perfectly utilized our daylight. 

Acco, Food & An Evening in Ooty
We got a large decent room for the 11 of us(after much bargaining) & got ready for our evening in Ooty.  I was lucky to locate a decent North Indian Gujrati-Marwari restaurant where I devoured Ghar type of food voraciously along with Jaggu while the others had their non-veg at some neighbouring restaurant. Jaggu had won the Chapaati competition, his score being 10 against my 8. Followed by ice-cream and the home-made Ooty chocolate, we went around to experience the Ooty chill.

Night Walk
I thoroughly enjoyed the night stroll on the roads of Ooty with friends. We casually moved along unknown paths and ended up being at CCD (Amaan's dream destination in every town). Soon we got too fatigued and drained & got back to our hotel. Few got immersed into the football world cup match while others played cards. After a game or 2 of Poker, I got too drowsy & heavy-eyed and so I went to sleep thinking about the long & beautiful day that had passed.

<<First <Previous   Next> Last>>