Final day of our visit to Ooty and the surrounding places. The last day had been fantastic after the beautiful landscape views.

Today was early morning departure again to see the remaining places and also head back to Bangalore. We planned of seeing the unknown place of Billekkal around 20 km away from Ooty.
We went to Pankaj Bhojanalaya for another day’s heavy breakfast and this time it was even better.

We were little early to the restaurant and the city tourism was waking up slowly. The service was also very prompt with better tasting food than yesterday. After a heavy breakfast we went to see the famed Ooty Lake which seemed over hyped due to some movies being shot there. The lakes we had seen in the region of Red Hills were no comparison for this one. We quickly explored the area and headed forward to see out next destination.

The place of billekkal was unknown to almost everybody and we had a hard time getting to know of its where about. We descended down the Ooty hills and stopped at Kalahatty waterfalls to inquire further. It was again bad luck for us and we continued driving further down. We reached the entrance of Mudumalai forest and stopped to inquire from our friends at home. The cellphone network up in the hills was erratic with signals dropping unexpectedly.

After many anxious calls we found that the place is a trek from Kalahatty falls and needs a guide to be followed. This information was provided by Silver Oak resort owner Pannalal’s brother. As we had come far away ahead of that place, we decided to skip it this time and head to Bandipur national forest for a safari ride and enjoy there to make up for the lost chance to visit billekkal.

We crossed the forest of Mudumalai which lies in the state of Tamil Nadu heading into Bandipur National forest which falls under Karnataka state. Once we were in Bandipur, we could see wildlife near the road also. We could see deer running around, langurs playing with each other tails and elephant a little far way but visible. This made us quite excited to see the Bandipur forest safari.

On the way it started drizzling and continued till we reached the Bandipur forest around 1 pm. The ticket for safari was to start selling at 2pm and we got in the queue to grab a good seat number.
It seemed like our luck was not favoring us on that day. We got the last row in bus where none of the window could be opened and the ride was for maximum 30 minutes showing us nothing more than some deer and bunch of hens.

It was a very disappointing ride for us and we all cursed it. We decide to start our journey back to Bangalore stopping for a couple of tea breaks. On way it started raining heavily and we had to drop our plans of stopping over for dinner. We just wanted to get home in good time and then think about dinner plans. It was a heavy rainfall which was leading to traffic jams, water logging and vehicles skidding around. We were just lucky and safe enough to reach home in one piece.

This was the last day of a beautiful trip to Ooty and Red hills barring the last day which seemed to be completely against us but the experience at Red Hills and around was the pick of this outing.

Day 1 experience

Day 2 experience – Red Hills

Trip Photo Gallery

The day 1 of our trip was little hectic due to overnight travel and we had planned of keeping it light for traveling around the locations.

Today we had planned of going to Red Hills which is located around 20 km from Ooty and is known for its untouched environment and extremely beautiful valley and picturesque lake views. By 9:00 am all 4 of us were ready to start the journey. The morning was chilly with slight wind and green surrounding with dew drops shaping as pearls reflecting the first rays of sun rise. We went straight to Charring cross and looked for a breakfast destination.  We wanted to stuff ourselves with something heavy as we were not sure of the lunch meal. We found a local restaurant named “Pankaj Bhojanalaya” which is on the first floor right opposite Sidewalk café. It is not a very high level place but the food is very nice. It serves paranthas of different varieties and this is just what we wanted for the adventurous day ahead.

In an hour we started our journey to Red hills after gathering some information from the local people. Our driver had also not heard of this place and hence we needed some road directions as well apart from the places of interest. A good thing about the roads in the this region is that they are very clearly marked out with hair pin bends information, distances to destinations and other useful travel related information at regular intervals.

The route to Red hills started from Ooty to M Palad village. This was the first place where we saw some lake views from a height and it was beautiful. Once we crossed M Palad village we headed to Nanjanad and then to Good Shepherd International School. The next village was Ithalar followed by Emerald village. Before Emerald village there was another lake. There was no movement of water in lake and the overhead sun reflected the landscape making it a very attractive location. We got down at this lake and took some photos which turned out to be real keepers for times to come.

The route we had taken was: Ooty->M Palad->Nanjanad->Good Shepherd School -> Ithalar -> Emerald village.

We took our vehicle further beyond Emerald village and stopped at Indiranagar village as the roads after this were not motor-able. We started walking into the unknown asking local villagers of the route and distance to destination Red hills. After about 3 km we found the Red Hill valley resort sign post and went for it. It is a beautiful resort at a breathtaking place with brilliant views. We rested there for a while after the little climb. The resort owner, Vijay was kind enough to offer us some much needed lime juice and directed us to further places and the options to reach that place. We needed a 4 wheel drive to traverse that route to Porthimund, Parsons Valley and the dam views.

We had to come down 2 km to find a local shared jeep and finalized a deal of INR 600 to take us to all these places. The driver was a young boy but very skilled driver in the hilly terrain. Our journey started with a initial bumpy ride for some distance as the road was quite bad due to monsoon rains. The sky was clear blue and we could see in large panoramic views from height. Our first destination was Parson Valley. On its way we stopped to see the emerald dam which seemed more like a seasonal dam as the gates were closed. The reservoir was calm and reflected the surrounding landscape in it. We stopped there for a short while before driving to Parsons valley. The drive to valley goes through forest areas loaded with wilds animals.

On our way we encountered bisons, which was the first time I was seeing the animal. Before seeing the bison in our initial ascend we saw a unique black colored, brown outlined face monkey. As soon as it saw us, it rushed and vanished into the bushes. As we were closing in on the valley, the forest was getting dense. The sun’s rays were not reaching ground and moisture levels were increasing by huge levels. The pine forest was becoming taller and the undergrowth becoming more dense with moist climate type undergrowth of mushrooms and creepers growing all around. After covering some more distance we saw a deer species which had huge horns similar to the ones of reindeer. After an hour’s drive, we finally reached the Parsons valley which was nothing more than just a village from where you could see panoramic views. The drive was more adventure filled that the destination itself.

Our driver was young and most probably without a license to drive and permit to drive through the forest reserve which led him into a fine for some amount from the forest department officials. After some relaxation for the driver and ourselves, we started our journey back to head for Porthimund dam.

It is located off route in a different direction reaching there in another 45 minutes and walked after the barricade entry. The dam is huge and the reservoir water capacity seemed unlimited. We spent some time here also walking up and down the dam exploring all the surrounding areas. We did not have any wildlife encounter in this region.

Another place of interest on route is the Mukurthi wildlife sanctuary and needs prior permission from Regional Forest Officer to visit inside. It is protected area with guards patrolling it from intruders. Since we did not have permission we did not try our luck entering the sanctuary without permission. We came back to the place where we had hired the 4 wheel drive. On way the driver stopped at a local village to pick up a friend who took on the driving from that place. It was an excellent place to go but it is advised that it is not meant for people of all kinds.

The regions of Mukurthi, Parsons Valley and Porthimund dam are highly environmentally sensitive areas. If you plan to go, be prepared for lot of walks, small treks to see the views. Any non 4 wheel drive vehicle will not go as the road and ascend is a hard one to navigate. There can be animal adventures similar to ours so be careful. After broad daylight it is not advisable to walk in those regions. As a responsible citizen do not leave any human trail in the form of garbage, polythene bags or any other human related stuff. The hills of Ooty are Polythene free zones so maintain them as directed.

It was time for us to return back to Indiranagar village and further down into Emerald village. The fog had become dense, temperatures had gone low and the visibility was very shallow. We stopped at Emerald village for a cup of tea and eat paranthas we had got packed from Pankaj Bhojanalaya. It took us an hour to drive the 20 km back to Ooty and head straight to Charring Cross for dinner options reaching there by 9:30 pm.

We were faced with food problems as we could not find any pure vegetarian food. We went in the Sidewalk café where the waiting time was more than 1 hour. We were told that there is a backlog of 40 pizzas and then only the new orders will be taken. We were not comfortable with the idea of waiting for that long and hence decided to look around for more options. It was surprising to see that all the open eating outlets were for non-vegetarians. The vegetarian friends had to munch on chips and other snacks for dinner.

So an advice for any vegetarian tourist is to ensure that they have their dinner by 9 pm. Any time late than that is asking for trouble and relies on snacks rather than a whole meal. This was the end of an excellent day for us exploring the unknown and untouched places in Red Hills around the crowded buzzing place of Ooty.

Day 1 experience

Day 3 experience

Trip Photo Gallery

It was a hectic day as we had arrived in the city of Ooty the same day after an overnight journey. We found an old cottage which was inexpensive for 4 of us and also the feeling of staying in an old cottage was good. Tourists can choose amongst many types of accommodations on offer ranging from student’s accommodation, budget travelers to high end ones. If you can book the rooms/dormitories in advance it will help but I think you can easily find a place for yourself even at peak tourist rush seasons.

After a quick morning routine, we got ready and started the day heading straight to Coonoor which is around 30 km from Ooty main city. The first destination in Coonoor was SIMS Park which has trees dating back to 19th century. The park had mostly
families as visitors for picnics. There is a small lake for boating at the center of park for tourists to enjoy the lay drive of oared boats.. The park is on a hill slope and hence is maintained in steps. We spent close to an hour seeing all the different varieties of trees and the landscaping done for tourism. The entry fee for park is INR 10 per adult and INR 30 for a digital camera. Outside the park were small temporary shops setup for tea, coffee and snacks. We also had many fruits which seemed to be from trees inside the park.

Next we went to wellington park and views from there. when we reached there we were not allowed to take photos and go inside the parks as it was military area. We started our journey back without any stop as the interest levels went down due to permission issues.

Our next destination for the day was Dolphin nose. I had been to this place in my earlier trip also.
We reached there by around 3:30 pm and saw the beautiful green tea plantations on all the slopes we could see around. The mountain ranges were also quite beautiful in their appearances which were covered in a green blanket. The place got its name after a projection on the hilltop resembles the nose of a Dolphin protruding out of the terrain. We spent a lot of time at this place viewing the calm and serene green environment for inhaling fresh air. It has also become a hot tourist spot with many small shop setups for snacks and eateries.

We were back to Ooty main city by 5pm to explore the marketplace and popular roads. This was the first time during our trip that we were in the city limits. All the other time we were busy traveling outside the city. A popular street named Charring cross is a long stretch of road with shops on either side. We had planned for a continental meal at Sidewalk Café which has become quite popular after getting featured on a travel and food related TV show named “Highway on my plate” hosted by Rocky and Mayur. The café is a pure vegetarian outlet located on the ground floor of Hotel Nahar.

The specialty of this place seemed to be the firewood pizza. The clay oven is open for viewing where pizza are baked and I went to see the preparation of our order. It was a nice experience in a city like Ooty where the continental food interest levels might be low as these places thrive only on tourists. We had dinner at this place and the menu is also varied but mostly continental. The desserts are also good for people with a sweet tooth.

The weather had become cold, misty and started to drizzle. The temperature was around 15 C and we were comfortable in a jacket. After dinner and loitering around a bit we went back to our cottage to relax from a hectic day and enjoy the next day.

Day 2 experience – Red Hills

Day 3 experience

Trip Photo Gallery

It was a beautiful winter day and an upcoming long weekend for a perfect weekend getaway to a close by hill station. We started the journey on Christmas day at midnight.

The destination was Ooty as the base and travel to the surrounding lesser known and unexplored places of Red Hills and the surrounding valley views. The drive to Ooty is around 300km from Bangalore and takes about 5-6 hours. We reached around 7:30 am due to the closure of roads at Bandipur national forest which remains closed from 11pm to 6 am. The wildlife in that region comes on roads and vehicles pose a threat to their habitat and hence the decision by state government.

The drive of last 50 km is through the hills and takes more than average time. There were 36 hairpin bends which were demarcated on the roads. There were also reflector mirrors to prevent any kind of accident from either side. Generally there is a view point in such places to allow visibility till far points. We reached at this place at 1350m altitude to see a milky layer of clouds just below our level. It was a nice view seeing half the mountains below this creamy layer and the top rising above it. Finally we reached the top at 1750m altitude as one of the road side boards reflected this number.

This is the setting up of an excellent 3 days ahead. Each day wil be posted as a separate blog post. stay tuned to experience the majestic and picturesque views. Restless readers can directly jump to the complete gallery here.

Day 1 experience

Day 2 experience – Red Hills

Day 3 experience

Just back from an excellent trip of Ooty and more specifically Red hills which is located around 30km from the main city.

The scenic landscape views are something which have made a photographic impression on my mind. The valley views were just breathtaking. There were many lakes which form the hill top were just majestic in the green environment surrounding them.

The photos has been published at my site on the travelmate section. You can view the complete GALLERY HERE.

A sample photo can be seen below

If you are looking to spend your holiday at this destination my experiences on different days might help you in the planning

Day 1 experience

Day 2 experience – Red Hills

Day 3 experience