Of fog,elephants and bends!. Review on Ooty

You must be wondering what is the meaning of the cryptic title.

Read on and you will understand!

Taking the bypass off Mysore I crossed Bandipur and touched base at Madhumalai forest on a particular sunny day during the second week of May?04.

My plan is to stay at Madhumalai for a night, drive to Ootythe next day and move to Coonoor on the third and drive back to home base (Bangalore) on the fourth.

I had booked the forest department accommodation at Madhumalai and Ooty from Bangalore. (TTDC Counter Majestic railway station - Madhumalai -Rs 400 / Ooty - TTDC - Rs 800)

The accommodation at Madhumalai is fairly basic (but clean) with the forest and its denizens just a furlong from your hut. The canteen is in the between the two and you need to walk down for some basic food. Alcohol prohibited but the manager uses a Signature whisky bottle as a candle stand- some fancy candle stand really!

You will need to enquire about the jungle safari well in advance otherwise you will be standing for tickets for at least a couple of hours - like me. The ride inside the forest is usual one as with sighting of peacocks and other four legged creatures! I am talking of monkeys in case you thought otherwise. Well I did sight some elephants though! Just across the road is an elephant training camp. It opens to the public around five in the evening. We found a lot of elephants being trained there, but seeing the younger jumbos doing ganesh puja is really interesting.

A waiter from the hotel approached me and said that there are private safaris in the night but I did not avail that offer because I was not sure of the results.

Next morning we planned to drive to Ooty around 100 odd kms. The road in front of Madhumalai forks into two ways with both ways showing Ooty. I had read in a book that there is a shorter but dangerous route via Kalahatty Ghat Road to Ooty. I wanted to be sure which one is not that route and asked a fellow whether the road to the left is Kalahatty - he said no ... and of I went. vroom.

The road was fantastic. With the mountains on your right you will sing along Kishore - ruk jana nahin ... until you suddenly take a sudden left turn and then again a sharp right turn and another one .....The bends are very sharp and quite steep. Only once I have crossed at least ten bends I saw a small sign board -KALAHATTY GHAT ROAD!

I did not meet my Madhumalai guide later. Lucky for him. To your advantage there are no buses plying this route (logic is simple buses would not be able to manage the bends) and after some time reached Ooty.

The TTDC hotel is a good one and is recommended for family stay. I got hold of a Qualis for a local sight seeing and covered the entire place in the next couple of hours- Botanical Garden is a must see. Remember the songs in Raja Hindustani ? it was shot at a place called Pykara. It was raining profusely when we visited Pykara. The saplings I bought from there are hale and hearty in Bangalore. The lake was very crowded and some quick negotiations helped us get a boat faster. A nice ride with lot of photo ops. I spent more time in the evening doing shopping and having some good Chinese food at the main crossing. Take a leisurely stroll in the Ooty streets ? you will like the cool breeze blowing across your face.

Next day we planned for Coonoor. I went to the station to book for the toy train tickets and was told to come back around 8 a.m. I waited and bought the tickets. The train was supposed to leave Ooty at 9 a.m. I waited for my family to join me from the hotel. They reached. The train left. They were getting down from the cab and the train rolled out ? almost simultaneously.

We shouted behind the moving train and the guard saw us and smiled but the train moved on... I saw in the watch it was 8.55 a.m. I went the stationmaster's room and said that the train has left early. He said that is not possible. I turned around by chance and saw that the Ajanta clock in his room showed 8.57 am. When I pointed that out, he kept on saying something. He said that he will help me - he informed the next stationmaster at Ketti that we will be reaching there shortly. My driver who knew the route drove fast. We found the train rambling out of the platform when we reached there.

The stationmaster made an honest statement - I made the train wait two minutes for you guys to come. There was no other suitable stations from where we could board the train. So off we went to Conoor in the car. On the way stopping by some tea estate to buy some spices. Having reached by noon we went to the stationmaster and showing the first class (Rs 78 one way) tickets narrated the entire story. He said he knows this and offered us priority seats in the train back in noon from Mettupalyam.

Nothing much was seen in Connoor- except Dolphin nose and some other similar points We did not waste time in coming back to the station for catching the train. We bought tickets once again and was sipping coffee since the train was yet to come.

There was a similar looking train standing in a middle track in front of the platform- Mettuplayam to Ooty was written on it. I enquired with the tea stall vendor (entering the station extreme left vendor) whether this is the train. He said no. I asked him at least thrice and always he said no. All of a sudden I find people getting down from the station, crossing the track and boarding the train. I shout does this train go to Ooty ? there is an unanimous shout from the scramblers ? yes. I too join the rush. The first class compartment has four rows ? four adults can seat.

When I boarded, two rows were nearly occupied. The other two already had happy occupants. Five of us managed to squeeze in. There was a family of three adults occupying the row in front of me ? I requested them to adjust but no one moved. I gave choicest Bengali gallis in a low tone addressed to the gentleman seating in front of me. He kept a blank stare.

The train journey was beautiful. After all the adventures that we had since morning to board this train, Ms Beauty and Mr Cold gave us fantastic company throughout.

Landing back in Ooty and after having a round of purchasing chocolates (you will get various varieties ? try out the rum and raisin) there was only one thing to be done sleeping and that I did.

After a eventful stay here its time to drive back to Bangalore (around 260 kms) Since I had faced an interesting time while coming up the Kalahatty Ghat road, my people suggested that we take the Pykara route. Agreed and abided by ?. All of a sudden I find myself engulfed in thick fog so thick that you cannot see in front of your bonnet.

You do not know what is on your either side of the vehicle. My wife asked me to stop ? but stop where, I could not understand which part of the road I am. To make things worser, small tempo travelers would cross me blaring horns. You could see the red taillights vanishing in the mist. I must have driven around 10 kms and all of a sudden I see the mist clearing. I see that I am in a road bend. A sign says ? Fog Valley ? and a lot of vehicles are parked. Those were the vehicles that overtook me for reaching here.

The rest of the journey was a smooth one. We stopped once we reached the plains for some quick snacks. Driving back through Madhumalai and Bandipur was interesting . Shot a lot of elephants and deers and peacocks. One more break at old favorite Maddur for a cup of coffee before we touched base at Bangalore late in the evening.

Oh I forgot to tell you one thing. Just when I getting down from the toy train in Ooty the lady accomp