Our itinerary only included Nilgiri train ride from Mettupalayam to Ooty. It starts at 710am, so we started from resort at 515am and reached at 7am at mettupalayam Station. The train goes uphill with steam engine till coonnor and then diesel engine replaces steam engine. The views and the experience one gets is unforgettable. We had done the research before traveling and read the views one gets which are better from Mettupalayam to ooty than from ooty to Mettupalayam. The duration of the whole ride is 5 hours up hill and 3 hours downhill. Tickets are advised to book in advance from Irctc website because it's a very major tourist attraction with the full capacity of 160 people only onboard.
So with 1 toddler and a 10 years old getting up at 330am to start the journey at 515am, this was enough for us. After coming back, we enjoyed the play area for kids in resort in evening hours which is again very involving and well thought of with interesting games based on Nilgiris. My kids really enjoyed it.
We covered various local attractions on 3rd and last day of our stay in Ooty.
1. Doddabetta peak: Considered as highest point of Nilgiris with whole city view
2. Tea Park: I hv been to Munnar also and saw the tea estates there in but the vastness of tea estates in ooty is different. There are various points wherein one can go, we preferred going to govt prescribed tea park. Along with that some prop photography on the way with local photographer.
3. Tea factory: It showcases the detailed process of how the tea granules are made from fresh green aromatic tea leaves. We were more interested to go there as wanted to show our daughter how it is made. Anyone who goes there, just a word of caution.. before government's tea factory there is one private tea factory and touts are standing there to pull u inside. So decide judiciously where u want to go or spend. We prefer spending generally at Government places in order to help increase in state revenue and get the unbiased experience.
4. Chocolate factory: It is adjacent to tea factory, not as detailed as tea factory is but gives a good experience to kids. With proper planned shop having multiple counters with plethora of chocolates, we bought some to relish kids' and our taste buds also.
5. Rose garden: We traveled in January so there were not much of roses, because as per my knowledge of botany March is the main month when roses bloom with onset of spring. But still rose garden is must visit in any season.
That was all for us in the whole day as we started 11 from resort and returned at 6pm.
I hv traveled quite a major places in Nilgirs especially and I would say, Ooty is the best I hv explored so far. It is worth going once to understand why is it so famous.
We did not cover any lakes as we find them all similar but we were keen to see Pykara waterfalls. However, we were informed by the localities that it is all dried in this month and gets water in rainy season or due to hydroelectric reasons.
Traveling from Banglore to Ooty via Bidadi, Mysore, Bandipur Tiger Reserve takes around 7 hours with family because of few stoppages in between. We started at 6 am and reached around 2pm. We always self drive and follow GPS quite rigidly. And this time, we did not follow the highway from Nice road but was suggested a bypass of Kanakapura till Mysore. We are glad that we followed it and did not use our experience of highway. It is not 4 lane road but anytime faster than highway because of less traffic. The roads are under construction at few places but still it was faster, so I m glad we explored it.
After tiger reserve, there are 36 hairpins till u enter ooty, and they are well built and marked with numbers. It is one way for uphill because the roads are not very broad.
The temperature in Ooty is like one person is wearing without sleeves and other is wearing a jacket. Noons are pleasant but mornings n evenings are chilly with cold breeze flowing all around.
We stayed in Sterling resort, Fern Hill and its an awesome resort with mesmerizing views depending on the room location. Luckily we got the best. All thumbs up to the resort!!
Traveling back to Banglore
We checked out at 11 and moved back. In the last 3 days we had spoken to locals who guided that there is different way till Bandipur. The route did not have any major hairpins but the road was pretty broad and a comfortable drive.
The beauty of Ooty didn't end with city but stretched much beyond. We saw Pine forest, natural hill trail, pykara lake on the way. Bought some farm fresh veggies and enjoyed them raw on the way.
Enroute was Madumalai Tiger Reserve. We were surprised to discover that one tiger reserve but two states have their own names for it. In Tamil Nadu, it is called by the name of Madumalai and in Karnataka it is called by the name of Bandipur. We were lucky as we saw elephants, deers, monkeys, wild boars on the way...
We stopped in Mysore for late lunch and then had a non stop drive till banglore.
The trip ended but memories will last forever!
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