Apr 26, 2013

Fastrack Ooty :)

Okay, I'm skipping many a few earlier jaunts to post a quickfire note on a super fast, express weekend outing to Ooty somewhere in Jan.


I, need not give an introduction about Ooty as its a household name and a destination for every other traveler, be it a casual traveler, a family traveler, an adventure junkie, a honeymooner, a cyclist or the leisure traveler. All about Ooty or Udhagamandalam on wiki here.


Why I wanted to be here?
On the onset, the touristy, cluttered Ooty is not a popular choice for me, but the charm of the valleys, the estates, the dilapidated landscapes, the chilly weather, the amazing forests, the mouth watering chocolates and most importantly the plentiful, amazing bird life has plenty in offer for me to visit Ooty regularly. I cane myself for this being only my '2nd' visit to Ooty, atrocious indeed!!!


Summary:
We drove down early on a Saturday morning, with the chillness making way for the hot sun all along the way and driving on the hairpin bends via Masinagudi, Kalhatti was a pleasure but the changing landscapes was a sore sight. All, I recall of Ooty of my earlier visit was lush green landscapes confined to a small town but now deforestation is evident everywhere with forests and hillocks making way for homes and hotels. We stayed at the 'Doddabetta Resorts', a quiet place located at the foothill of the 'Doddabetta' peak away from the hustles and bustles of the town.


We spent the entire afternoon at the Botanical gardens looking for the beauties, well I was interested in the beauties and the boys was busy chatting away to glory. Ah! Beauties I meant were the winged beauties and not the walking beauties :) Some tasty chocolate shopping took a lot of time and well the day ended with all of us wrapped in blankets and chatting away after a long period of time, in fact we had grouped after a very long time!

Doddabetta:
We were up quick and the initial ones to reach the peak. As expected the bird life was very much active and all around the place, owing to the crowd yet to come in and the garbage dumps offering plenty of unhygienic food. After spending a couple of early hours here, we came back to the town for a pricey breakfast and took the way towards home.



Notes:
Ooty is very pricey!
Ooty is crowded!
It's pretty cold in the night (non summers) and cool during summers.
Anything you buy is pricey!
Visiting Doddabetta early in the day makes sense as fewer people are there (the gate opens only by 8am).
Botanical garden is the place to go for families and couples alike.
Chocolates are a must buy from here!

There are many other things about Ooty that is not specified, well what is the fun in revealing all, let some secrets remain so!

All these photos are from my Samsung Galaxy Ace 5830i.
Watch out for the Ooty beauties coming up soon :)

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