Trip to Queen of Hill stations Ooty !!
Date : 27-28 May 2017
Start : Bangalore
Destination : Ooty [Hairpin curve 10]
Kmts Covered : 276 kmts
Stay : LEOPARD ROCK WILDERNESS RESORT
Group - 4 [Me, JK , KM and HR]
MoT : RE :)
I was cribbing that long time we went out ..so we should get out somewhere for the weekend .. And finally JK gave in to my pestering on Wednesday and our lovely friends KM and HR were also ready to join us.. Initial plan was to visit Masinagudi [we were all tempted after hearing so much of praising from KM about the place he stayed ..The Monarch] .. Unfortunately our two attempts to book resorts in Masinagudi failed with KM being on calls with GoIbibo and Yatra to get the refund done ... all places were S*** expensive and Booked ... we were looking at the last moment i.e. a day before the trip and realised it was also the last weekend before the Schools re-opened and so it was obvious everyone wanted to get out !! Friday eve and we still didnt have a place to stay ... we then started thinking of alternatives ... Coorg was one of the options suggested and other was Ooty .. and i didnt want Both ... Ooty I feel too crowded ... and Coorg been there many times! Finally it was decided we go to Coorg ! and we called up and Booked the Stay ..All set now !
Scheduled time to reach the Mysore road Panchamukhi temple at 6:00 am ... We Started from home around 5.45 [already late by 15 mins]... was asked to look for Kumbalagod on GPS to reach the mysore Road ... I did so but eventually ended un on kanakpura road which wasnt right ... i got scolded for doing what was told :( GPS was reset again to look for Mysore road joining and i resumed Navigator role ... Finally we reached kengeri .. Gave a call to KM stating we probably crossed the point-of-meet .. only to be told we are still behind :) Finally a few 100 mts and caught up with KM and HR Time around : 6:45.. Both seemed worried that we were already behind schedule and that we would encounter a lotttttttt of outgoing traffic ...
Finally we start our journey ! Zooooooooooooooooooom
A breakfast break at UpSouth ...in RightO after Mandya.. All of us had Idly vada ... Was just ok-ok ... spicey sambar .. For tea we had to wait n wait n wait !! after a heavy breakfast started again .. We had already covered close to 160 km by then another ~150 to go ...
Straight to Hairpin Bend 10 towards Ooty .. passing thru Bandipur forest ... Masinagudi crowd and Rough patches of road ... take a right at the Hairpin bend 10 ... passed thru steep roads which were mud roads ruined by the rains of previous night .. Finally arrived at the Stay .. CHecked into the room ... It was a HUGE room with 3+2 Beds + 2 Footons .. 3 bathrooms :O and more space if need be..we were told it can accommodate ppl .. we settled in .. hogged on the Crispy Warm banana chips got by HRs MIL ... and got ready to have Lunch !
After lot of arguments it was concluded we just find any restaurant and have lunch ... Couldnt find any decent restaurant on the way .. Mr HR had an idea of the place but he was lazy to suggest so we kept going in circles .. Then finally when his hunger pushed him he mentioned about this Italian place "Nahar Sidewalk Cafe" .. tho we werent in mood for Italian ..tiredness+Sleep+hunger helped us to settle down there and look into the menu .. had a decent spread ... Tarts , Thai fried rice with Green Curry ...Some PIzza [HR and JK were disappointed that he didnt have Chettinaad PIzza] and Pasta were ordered .. while we waited for the food to arrive KM was tempted to try some Chocolates and he got some 100gm sampler pack and we almost finished it all .. the food arrived and we gave our best not waste but ended up wasting some rice ... After Buying some more chocs and spices on the way we headed back to the Stay !!
It was close to 4:30 pm and As soon as we reached the stay the boys went to freshen up while i enjoyed the Peaceful ambiance .... HR went straight to sleep in few mins and rest of us were relaxing .. We then thought of going for a walk to try our luck with animal/Bird sightings .. The owner of the estate was around and he suggested it was already getting dark and that we should try and reach back by 630 ...We went for a nice long walk ..Sighted a woodpecker and a herd of Bisons ...Some photos clicked in the tea garden and returned back ... it was pitch dark and pin drop silence... by then HR had woken up and ordered some tea and onion pakodas for us ! Enjoyed the Fries , Pakodas and tea . Asked for more tea ... and relaxed ! After some chitchatting and discussions on Ganapati , Subramanya and other Mythological characters we had dinner which consisted of Rice , Dal , Rasam, Mushroom curry [which obviously 3 of us dont eat] , curd and savige payasa[it was more of shavige shira kinds and curds .. and crashed for the Day !!
Sunday ..I was woken up by some animal cries and when i went out i saw KM was already trying hard to look into the valley to find out what it was ... we realised it was the Sambar Deer making the sound ,, we kept looking hoping for some more animal sightings.. we were lucky enough to see 2 bisons grazing in the valley ... after watching their movements for few more mins , we freshened up and myself , JK and km started for our morning walk .. HR preferred sleeping quoting reason as "i havent carried warm clothes and its very cold outside" ... with KM as our leader , we started walking. The pathway wasn't very interesting and so we starting climbing the small hill ..saw few birds .. the photographer took few shots ..a wild rabbit hopping .. and more fresh air ! it was Refreshing ! After a long walk returned back ... enjoyed our coffee in the balcony ...freshened up and packed up ... Enjoyed the Yummy breakfast consisting of Idly-vada ..Pongal .. Bread toast ..Around 10.30 we finally geared up to head back home ... With just one break to fuel up we reached Kanakpura around 2.30 ...we then stopped @Ruchis for some hot parathas , chats and chai before heading towards Nice road to our respective Homes!
6:00 pm - Back home ! one of the very few trips where we reached back before midnight and werent tired .. felt relaxed ..
Start : Bangalore
Destination : Ooty [Hairpin curve 10]
Kmts Covered : 276 kmts
Stay : LEOPARD ROCK WILDERNESS RESORT
Group - 4 [Me, JK , KM and HR]
MoT : RE :)
I was cribbing that long time we went out ..so we should get out somewhere for the weekend .. And finally JK gave in to my pestering on Wednesday and our lovely friends KM and HR were also ready to join us.. Initial plan was to visit Masinagudi [we were all tempted after hearing so much of praising from KM about the place he stayed ..The Monarch] .. Unfortunately our two attempts to book resorts in Masinagudi failed with KM being on calls with GoIbibo and Yatra to get the refund done ... all places were S*** expensive and Booked ... we were looking at the last moment i.e. a day before the trip and realised it was also the last weekend before the Schools re-opened and so it was obvious everyone wanted to get out !! Friday eve and we still didnt have a place to stay ... we then started thinking of alternatives ... Coorg was one of the options suggested and other was Ooty .. and i didnt want Both ... Ooty I feel too crowded ... and Coorg been there many times! Finally it was decided we go to Coorg ! and we called up and Booked the Stay ..All set now !
Scheduled time to reach the Mysore road Panchamukhi temple at 6:00 am ... We Started from home around 5.45 [already late by 15 mins]... was asked to look for Kumbalagod on GPS to reach the mysore Road ... I did so but eventually ended un on kanakpura road which wasnt right ... i got scolded for doing what was told :( GPS was reset again to look for Mysore road joining and i resumed Navigator role ... Finally we reached kengeri .. Gave a call to KM stating we probably crossed the point-of-meet .. only to be told we are still behind :) Finally a few 100 mts and caught up with KM and HR Time around : 6:45.. Both seemed worried that we were already behind schedule and that we would encounter a lotttttttt of outgoing traffic ...
Finally we start our journey ! Zooooooooooooooooooom
A breakfast break at UpSouth ...in RightO after Mandya.. All of us had Idly vada ... Was just ok-ok ... spicey sambar .. For tea we had to wait n wait n wait !! after a heavy breakfast started again .. We had already covered close to 160 km by then another ~150 to go ...
Straight to Hairpin Bend 10 towards Ooty .. passing thru Bandipur forest ... Masinagudi crowd and Rough patches of road ... take a right at the Hairpin bend 10 ... passed thru steep roads which were mud roads ruined by the rains of previous night .. Finally arrived at the Stay .. CHecked into the room ... It was a HUGE room with 3+2 Beds + 2 Footons .. 3 bathrooms :O and more space if need be..we were told it can accommodate ppl .. we settled in .. hogged on the Crispy Warm banana chips got by HRs MIL ... and got ready to have Lunch !
After lot of arguments it was concluded we just find any restaurant and have lunch ... Couldnt find any decent restaurant on the way .. Mr HR had an idea of the place but he was lazy to suggest so we kept going in circles .. Then finally when his hunger pushed him he mentioned about this Italian place "Nahar Sidewalk Cafe" .. tho we werent in mood for Italian ..tiredness+Sleep+hunger helped us to settle down there and look into the menu .. had a decent spread ... Tarts , Thai fried rice with Green Curry ...Some PIzza [HR and JK were disappointed that he didnt have Chettinaad PIzza] and Pasta were ordered .. while we waited for the food to arrive KM was tempted to try some Chocolates and he got some 100gm sampler pack and we almost finished it all .. the food arrived and we gave our best not waste but ended up wasting some rice ... After Buying some more chocs and spices on the way we headed back to the Stay !!
It was close to 4:30 pm and As soon as we reached the stay the boys went to freshen up while i enjoyed the Peaceful ambiance .... HR went straight to sleep in few mins and rest of us were relaxing .. We then thought of going for a walk to try our luck with animal/Bird sightings .. The owner of the estate was around and he suggested it was already getting dark and that we should try and reach back by 630 ...We went for a nice long walk ..Sighted a woodpecker and a herd of Bisons ...Some photos clicked in the tea garden and returned back ... it was pitch dark and pin drop silence... by then HR had woken up and ordered some tea and onion pakodas for us ! Enjoyed the Fries , Pakodas and tea . Asked for more tea ... and relaxed ! After some chitchatting and discussions on Ganapati , Subramanya and other Mythological characters we had dinner which consisted of Rice , Dal , Rasam, Mushroom curry [which obviously 3 of us dont eat] , curd and savige payasa[it was more of shavige shira kinds and curds .. and crashed for the Day !!
Sunday ..I was woken up by some animal cries and when i went out i saw KM was already trying hard to look into the valley to find out what it was ... we realised it was the Sambar Deer making the sound ,, we kept looking hoping for some more animal sightings.. we were lucky enough to see 2 bisons grazing in the valley ... after watching their movements for few more mins , we freshened up and myself , JK and km started for our morning walk .. HR preferred sleeping quoting reason as "i havent carried warm clothes and its very cold outside" ... with KM as our leader , we started walking. The pathway wasn't very interesting and so we starting climbing the small hill ..saw few birds .. the photographer took few shots ..a wild rabbit hopping .. and more fresh air ! it was Refreshing ! After a long walk returned back ... enjoyed our coffee in the balcony ...freshened up and packed up ... Enjoyed the Yummy breakfast consisting of Idly-vada ..Pongal .. Bread toast ..Around 10.30 we finally geared up to head back home ... With just one break to fuel up we reached Kanakpura around 2.30 ...we then stopped @Ruchis for some hot parathas , chats and chai before heading towards Nice road to our respective Homes!
6:00 pm - Back home ! one of the very few trips where we reached back before midnight and werent tired .. felt relaxed ..
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