Trip to Ooty & Coonoor – The Jewel of Nilgiris

Ooty is a famous hill station also known as Udagamandalam or Udhagai, located on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the Nilgiri Hills. Nestled amidst the Nilgiri mountains, Ooty has always been a popular destination for tourists. Just hearing the name Ooty brings to mind scenes from Bollywood movies. While working at a software company in Pune, we were planning a trip somewhere, and that’s when the idea of visiting Ooty came up. Upon researching about Ooty, we decided that this is where we wanted to go.

We finalized our journey by taking a train from Pune to Mysore and then a bus from there to Ooty. After a night-long journey, we reached Mysore. After spending a whole day exploring Mysore, the next morning, we had our bus waiting to take us to Ooty. We were very excited about it. Due to the flexibility of working from home offered by the software company I work for in Pune, sometimes I had to open my laptop due to urgent tasks.

Early in the morning, we departed from Mysore to Ooty by bus, covering a journey of approximately 125 kilometers. Passing through villages and towns, the bus gradually approached the Nilgiri Hills. The Nilgiri hills were lush green, with roads sometimes steep and other times sloping gently. The deep valleys visible below the mountain roads occasionally gave us a fright.

Suddenly, our bus halted amidst the jungle on the hill. We were wondering why the bus had stopped when we spotted a herd of elephants crossing a wild path ahead. There were about 10-12 elephants in the herd, including some adorable baby elephants. It then struck us that we were passing through Mudumalai National Park, famous for its elephants.

After the herd of elephants passed, our bus resumed its journey. After a travel time of about 4 hours, we finally reached Ooty bus stand. Our hotel was located near the bus stand, and we easily reached there by taxi. The long bus journey had left us quite exhausted. We decided to relax for the day and planned to visit Coonoor, located 20 kilometers away from Ooty, the next day.

➥Coonoor Tea Garden
Coonoor, nestled in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu, is renowned for its beautiful tea gardens. The road from Ooty to Coonoor is surrounded by forests. Our car was moving forward on picturesque roads. The beautiful houses on the hills and terraced fields were captivating us. Near the forest road, there was a temple where a wedding was taking place. The newly married couple in local traditional attire and the guests attending the wedding looked very elegant.

After a short while, the tea-covered hills of Coonoor started appearing. On one side of the road, there was a valley, and on the other side, there were hills adorned with tea gardens. The green color of the tea plantations on the hills was very soothing. We stopped at a good spot to admire these gardens. There were also some photographers capturing photos dressed in special attire worn in tea gardens, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs to collect tea leaves.

We also wore this special attire and took photos. Amidst the tea gardens, there was a tea factory where tea leaves were processed and sent to other countries and states. There was also a tea shop where you could taste 9-10 varieties of tea and buy some to take home. Taking the famous Toy Train journey from Ooty to Coonoor is also a very good option.

 

➥Lamb’s Rock
Lamb’s Rock is a very famous picnic spot in Coonoor. To gather information about this place, we hired a guide. From the slopes of the Nilgiri Hills, there is a particular mountain visible that resembles a sleeping lady, hence it is called the Sleeping Lady Mountain. Surrounded by lush green forests, the mountain creates a very enchanting scene, especially when accompanied by clouds.

Our guide informed us about the shooting of famous Bollywood and South Indian films that took place here. There are some excellent points here for taking photographs, where we also clicked many photos ourselves. After spending quite some time at Lamb’s Rock, we had to head back to Ooty. On our way back to Ooty, we again visited the tea gardens and returned to our hotel.

➥Doddabetta Peak
Located just 10 kilometers from Ooty, Doddabetta Peak is easily accessible. It is the highest peak in the Nilgiris. Here, you can also find a Weather Science Center and an observatory from where you can see the beautiful distant places. On clear days, the plains of Coimbatore are also visible from here. The weather here was very cold, with heavy showers. Despite getting drenched in the rain, we thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful place. We spent the entire day around this peak, having a great time. After enjoying to our heart’s content, we returned to our hotel in the evening.

➥Rose Garden
This garden, filled with around 2000 varieties of roses, is a sight to behold. Rather than being on a flat terrain, this garden is situated on a small hill in a terraced shape. Seeing the beautiful roses of all colors and shapes made our hearts happy. The administration of Ooty has maintained this garden very well.

We were admiring each variety one by one because in our city we had only seen red, yellow, and white roses before. There were small boards in the beds of roses that provided interesting information about these varieties, which was quite intriguing to read. After taking many filmy-style photos and strolling around, we headed towards our next destination.

➥Botanical Garden
This garden is the best place to spend quality time with family and friends. The undulating terrain covered with light green grass was very beautiful. Here, people were sitting in groups enjoying their time with their families. This park hosts a multitude of plant species. Some plants here had incredibly unique shapes and colors. Various types of cacti, lotus flowers, colorful blooms, and leafy trees were adding to the beauty of the entire park. Boards near all the plants provided their common and scientific names along with information. We had a great time here.

➥Pine Forest
For nature lovers, this place is like heaven. This pine forest situated on mountain slopes has been the shooting location for Bollywood thriller film ‘Raaz’ and Aamir Khan’s film ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’. Parking the car by the roadside, we descended on foot along the slopes to witness these pine forests, a moment never to be forgotten.

After passing through the tall pine trees, we could see the Kamraj Sagar Dam famous for its various species of birds. It was near this dam that the climax scene of the Bollywood film ‘Roja’ was shot. After spending some time near the small lake near the dam, we started our way back through the Pine Forest. We captured the beauty of these forests in our cameras on our way back.

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