The Ageing Queen still has charm. Review on Ooty

Ooty - The queen of hill stations was developed way back in the 19th century by the British. This place brings a unique blend of Scotland into India at an altitude of around 2200 m. The official name of the town now is ''Udhagamandalam'', though the most popular name continues to be Ooty.

My experience :

I have visited to this hill station at least six times starting from way back in 1985 to as recent as may 2004. Ooty used to be a little hill town with a small vegetable bazaar and lots of cabbage / tea plantations surrounding the town, but not any more... The whole place has commercialised at a rapid pace and the town looks now like any other commercial town in the plains, but for the climate of the hills (5 to 25 deg C) and the beautiful botanical garden that remain the same. One thing which you should not do is to visit Ooty during the peak summer months, when bus loads of tourists visit this place making it almost impossible to enjoy the places in and around the town... Still it has its own charm which lures us back again..

How to go ?

You could take the Chennai - Ooty Blue Mountain express to reach Ooty. The regular broad gage train takes you to Mettupalayam (last station in the plains about 30 Km from Coimbatore). From then onwards a small narrow gage train, unique to blue mountains, takes you amidst steep valleys and dense forests to reach Coonoor. As you near Coonoor, you can start seeing a lot of beautiful tea estates. The Blue Mountain railway was developed by the British more than 100 years back. Till recently the original design steam locomotive was in operation. The unique feature about the railway is the engine pushing the coaches up the hill from the behind the coaches. The railway also has a unique ratchet and pinion mechanism to counter the steep climb up to Coonoor. The further climb up from Coonoor to Ooty is a once in a life time experience.... The train passes thru vast tea estates, small towns and scenic valleys which look really beautiful. The entire trip is a real feast to the eyes. The whole journey from Mettupalayam will be in slow motion and will take about 5 hours for the 40 Km distance.

If you want a normal route, Ooty could be accessed by road from Coimbatore (90 Kms) via Coonoor and Wellington. It is only a 3 hour journey. But this route is not as scenic as the train route.

Another way to reach Ooty is from Mysore (160 Kms). You will have to travel thru the Mudumalai / Bandipur wildlife parks to reach Ooty. From Mudumalai, you could travel via Gudalur or take the difficult Sigur route. The Gudalur route is similar to any other mountain highway. But the Sigur route is very steep and it is a unique experience to climb up more than 1300 meters in less than 10 Kms with the help of around 30 hair pin bends. It is a real difficult terrain and is not recommended for new comers. In many stretches, the cars will have to use first and second gear (only) continuously to enable the vehicle to climb. The adventurous ones can take the route on the way back from Ooty. We have taken this uphill route once and it was a really tough experience for our car.

Where to stay ?

There are many good resorts and hotels in Ooty to suit your budget. At the high end, Holiday Inn, Taj Palace and Savoy are available. For reasonably priced accommodation, you could stay at Nilgiri Woodlands, Nahar, Hotel Tamilnadu are available. All these hotels are really good and pretty affordable at less than 1000 Rs per night during the season (april to july). Club Mahindraalso has a very good villa type accommodation here. Streling also has two good properties in Ooty.

What to buy ?

Ooty tea is very famous and is a close rival to Darjeeling. Ooty varki, a type of snack prepared here is also a popular buy. Delicious home made chocolates and strawberry are available in Ooty. The best buyamong all would be the good quality Eucalyptus oil (popularly known as Nilgiri oil in Tamilnadu) from Ooty. There are small shops available just outside the botanical gardens, selling woolen and other dresses. All shops offer same rate with no bargaining ordealsand are a good buy. You can also get good quality Lemon grass oil and other natural / herbal oils along with good quality spices in the government retail shops.

Things to do ?

There are a many tourist spots around Ooty. But I am going to explain only a few important ones only.

Botanical Gardens :An ancient and beautiful garden with picturesque surroundings, spread over more than 50 acres of land. Flower shows are being organised every summer at this place for nearly 100 years. The flower show is a very special occasion for flower lovers and more than 1 lakh people come to visit the show. The garden has a unique fossil tree more than 1000 years old. the entry fee is only around 5 Rs. Video camera fee is around >250 Rs.

Lake : An old natural lake converted later by the British into a bigger lake. Now this has shrunk and is about 2.5 Km long and 4 sq. km. area. Weeds have started to creep into this scenic lake recently. Nothing has been done to improve the situation and so a nature treasure is slowly being lost...TTDC has boats available on rent at affordable rates from around 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.

Rose Garden : Beautiful garden full of hundreds of varieties of roses. My wife always likes spending time here. Located close to the city center.

Doddabetta : This 2635 m peakis about 10 Kms from Ooty. The second highest peak in South India after Anaimudi, this enables you to have a very good view of the surrounding mountain ranges. On sunny days without mist (you need to be lucky), you will be able to see the Mettupalayam town. On average days , you can have a glimpse of the very big spread of tea estates and the towns of Wellington and Coonoor.

Mudumalai / Bandipur : This wild life sanctuary is in the Nilgiri biosphere and is about 35 Kms from Ooty via the difficult Sigur road (around 65 Kms thru the Gudalur route). Known for its elephants and bisons, this sanctuary has now developed into a popular leisure spot. Many private resorts have sprung up around the sanctuary in the recent past. Sighting of animals is good in the dry summer months of april and may.

Pykara :This lake and dam is about 20 Kms from Ooty on the Gudalur road. TTDC has a small restaurant and boating facilities in this lake. Very natural surroundings and less number of visiting tourists are major plus points. I always like to spend time in this lake as this is very secluded.

Shooting Mund : Small grass covered hill tops and vast stretches greenery with small ups and downs everywhere make it a popular film-shooting spot (near Pykara). One song sequence in almost every tamil film and many hindi films are shot in this spot.

Avalanche : About 25 Kms from Ooty, this dam and lake spot is in ta very natural and un-commercialised setting.

Coonoor, Kothagiri and Wellington are other towns on the Nilgiri mountain ranges with good climatic conditions. All are less than 30 Km from Ooty and are easily accessible by road

Happy Holidays!