OOTY Chronicles....

There's always childishness around...

and travelling is a breath of life...

I love the adrenaline rush...

 The adrenaline rush to see places...
To see a different sunrise, a different sunset...

Places I could only think of... 

Dreams which I had...

Trying hard to keep the dreams alive...
I travel again to live the dream...

It is nearly time to say goodbye to 2017, a year which has somehow not been easy. I did some memorable trips at the start of the year but later half had been pretty boring after I went under the knife for a surgery. It was only three months but that tingling feeling of travelling to places was growing.  Dates were decided but we kept on changing the destination every day. Gokarna, Pondicherry, Kodaikanal, Coorg and finally Ooty was voted for, one of the most filmed locations in India(i still fail to believe, are we short of hill stations or this place was cheap for the filmmakers). No doubt this place is any photographer's delight, but then being a kid who grew up in Mussoorie, I know it's a bit overrated(my views only).

I had a flight booked for the 29th night to Delhi and the next day morning to Bangalore, but as luck would have it, the fog ensured the flight was cancelled. But somehow the airline shifted me to a direct flight to Bangalore on the same day. I got a chance to meet my sister(gifted one of my paintings to her).

The next day, we left Bangalore at around 10:00 am. taking the Kanakapura route to Mysore to avoid the general weekend traffic. It took us more than 02 hrs to reach Mysore, before that we made a pit stop to Rasta Cafe on the highway, again the free advice (overrated place, nothing to talk about except the location of this cafe, don't torture yourself and refrain from ordering eatries, but then it's a free advice page aapki shraddha :P)

As luck would have it, Murphy's law proved itself again without fail. We heard a loud bang and the next thing we knew was, the tyre has given up. As I was helping the driver, I noticed the tyres were smoother than the road, we really had taken a chance with this vehicle. It took another hour or so to change and get the tyre repaired at a local garage.

We had lost some time already, and the Bandipur Road closes around 10:00pm, but once you have entered before that, you can travel through it. Just in time, we could enter the road which crosses the reserve.  After we crossed the Karnataka border, the first check post of Tamil Nadu is Theppakadu, there we took a left on the old bridge towards Msinagudi and Ooty. The drive through the reserve is rather slow, many speed breakers, in a way it keeps the animal safe from the speeding vehicle. we somehow managed to enter Ooty around 11:00pm, the roads are narrow and to reach Ooty there comes 36 sharp turns all along the mountain.

it was a full moon show throughout the journey. 

The only restaurant which was still serving food so late although it was super spicey, then when you are hungry, everything tastes heavenly and it was one of the best food we have had for the entire trip. One more free ki advice, never order anything fancy when you are travelling and hungry both, btw free ki advice hai aage aapki shraddha.

We somehow reached the resort, we thought we had got a nice bargain as it was a bit away from the city and pretty close to nature. The moon was up and shining, but we were already tired to do a bonfire or a walk. Crashing on the bed was the only thing which we could do.

The next day we thought of having breakfast at a restaurant, we landed to a place called Earl's Secret. It is one of the most famous places to eat and is also the highest place for a restaurant in Ooty. One advice please book a place before you reach here.  And don't you dare to come in a big vehicle like ours, you will end up becoming a traffic police till the time your vehicle comes out of the compound.

http://www.littlearth.in/kingscliff/

Numerous movies have been shot at this location, the Earl's Secret.

After sitting at the Earl's for quite some time. We moved out to the main city and I am telling you, the city is crowded AF. We were searching for shops which would offer at the printed price and it was the toughest thing for the boys, walking into the narrow roads and places where the locals live 

The next up was the Highest Mountain Peak in Tamil Nadu known as DodaBetta Peak, standing around at a height of 2,637 metres and it is around 30 odd minutes from the main city. The locals say once you reach the peak one can see the entire Tamil Nadu. There is an observatory at the place but the telescopes were not functional and the observatory had now just become a place for sightseeing, if we go by the data at least 3500 people go there per day during the season.

We waited for the sunset, precisely the last sunset of the year. I have always believed everything can become boring at times but not the sunset. It will always be different and beautiful from the last time. A silhouette in this scene is like an icing on the cake.

We reached our resort at around 09:00pm after roaming around the mall road for some time and the stage was set for the bonfire and we were too busy to not click pictures. 

Next day we had thought of going to the Ooty Lake for boating, but it turned out that our vehicle has broken down again(Murphy's Law), by the time we reached there it was already crowded AF. This lake is one its kind, a manmade lake created between 1823-1825 for the purpose of irrigation and fishing, later turned into a tourist facility (a mistake) by the government. This lake has turned so dirty as of today, due to the poor upkeep and heavy littering by the tourists who think throwing a pack of lays will not do any harm. I really feel pity for such people, maybe they don't understand the gravity of the situation at the moment but I do believe the future generations get to understand it better.

This pic has not been clicked by myself.

Next day as it was working for many of us and we had to push out from Ooty within time, Next up we had lunch at the mall road, people who had to buy stuff like chocolates and local variety finished the task quickly and we pushed for Bangalore. Bandipur reserve was again a slow ride, we witnessed few elephants who stood on the road and were not bothered by the slow moving traffic close to them. Some bikers were waiting for the elephants to clear the road or else they could be ready for some real life action & adventure coz if by any means the elephant became a bit angry.

Ooty has been a fascinating place for most of us and the sole reason goes to the Bollywood, a staggering 300+ movies have been shot here, including an all-time hit song Chal Chaiya Chaiya. Maybe the filmmakers saw something beautiful, something beyond the imagination, call it fortune or a misfortunate for the locals.

I suddenly realised the traffic had grown and the air was warmer, We reached Bangalore late in the night. An amazing New Year trip came to an end.  The trip might have ended but for sure it is not the last. No matter how messy our lives become,  these trips are breath of fresh air. The end of the year 2017 was perfect, doing the thing I love (travelling), with some amazing people and memories for a lifetime.

Thank you for reading the blog, please do share if you like it...

Thanx