Ooty specialites

                                                                       Ooty specialties:

Masala Tea :

                    When in Ooty, you would notice tea shops almost everywhere. Why not, since it is home to numerous tea factories. Also, one wonders at the variety of tea flavours provided - Masala, Chocolate, Cardamon, Lemon and the list goes on. Well, we prefered Masala tea everywhere we went and the price is also uniform - Rs.5 per cup. So, surely wet your taste buds with variety of tea flavours when you visit Ooty.

Shooting Medu 

Ooty Chocolates  
          

                 We had received numerous requests from friends and relatives to bring Ooty home-made chocolates while leaving Bangalore. In Ooty, we had a difficult time in choosing the flavours! - Milk chocolates, Pista, Fruit and Nut - like tea flavours list goes on, here too. Once somebody in my office had brought Ooty chocolates which did not have any particular shape. But when we looked for them, they were are all in regular shape though not neatly cut - times are fast changing!

Vegetation at Shooting Medu

Language : Conversing with the locals is never a problem in Ooty. You can talk to them in Badaga,Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi or English. People are very hospitable, indicating that they are good hosts.

Eucalyptus Oil : Nilgiris are also known for production of Eucalyptus oil. You can find it being sold virtually in every shop in Ooty.

Cactus  Flower

Beautiful images from Ooty had filled our memory, when we were returning to Bangalore. It was around 12 15 am that night, when we reached home.

Trip to OOTY

              

Botanical Gardens, Dodda Betta, Shooting Medu

  Dodda Betta is 8km from Ooty Botanical gardens. Though the vehicles reach till the peak of the hill, people also prefer to walk to reach Dodda Betta peak. When we went there, we were welcomed by the traffic jam. So, after parking the vehicle some way behind, we climbed the hill. Dodda betta peak also has asphalted roads.

               Wondering what is it all about, this was our arrangement to make sure that everyone in our group gets to enjoy the travel in Nilgiris Heritage train from Coonoor to Ooty.  

Nilgiri Heritage Train, Ooty

 

 Nilgiri Heritage train

             Nilgiri Heritage train (also called Nilgiri Toy train) from Mettupalyam arrives at Coonoor at 10 30 am and departs from there at 10 40 am. Tickets for the train are issued only half an hour before the departure. 

           Anticipating the rush for tickets, two of us stood in the queue as there was a restriction that only 4 tickets will be issued per person. There were 2 types of seats - I class and II class, priced at Rs.76 and Rs.3 per person. 

          We had bought tickets for I class, but did not find any drastic differences between the classes - each row of I class seats had 4 seats and II class row had 5 seats. Apart from that, I class seats were little more cushioned than the other.

Train Entering a tunnel

 

              Coonoor railway station officials arranged for another small train starting from Coonoor which left at 10 45 am. Journey in the train which passes through tunnels, travels in middle of hills, was a nice experience though I would not term it as great. May be the hype around it created lot of expectations in me. In this journey, we took snaps of the landscapes of Ooty and of course, of the heritage train. I also shot several videos of the train travel, which eventually made me run out of camera batteries. Train travel was just over an hour, thus reaching the Ooty railway station at 11 50 am.

                                                               Train on bridge
Ooty Lake :

            We had visited the Ooty lake on Day 1 of the trip in the evening. After hearing from boating co-ordinators that we need to wait for an hour for our turn, we dropped the idea of boating there. When Heritage train was reaching Ooty, we could spot the famous lake. After purchasing some books at Higgin Bothams at Ooty Railway station, we headed towards Ooty Botanical Gardens after picking the four wheeler, we had parked in Ooty.

Ooty Lake

 

Ooty Botanical Gardens 

              As it was a Sunday, entrance of famous Ooty Botanical Gardens was crowded. Ooty botanical gardens was full of trees of various heights, flowers of various colors and people from various backgrounds! Well, this makes an ideal picnic spot for family crowd. My camera batteries dried up after taking few snaps of the place. Now, only Nidhi's camera was operational.

Ooty Botanical Gardens

Dodda Betta  

 

              This was a surpise for me as I had always imagined ground at peaks of hills to remain natural. A telescope installed here, enables you to view the distant Coonoor town from here. After Dodda Betta, we are returning back to Bangalore, thinking thats the end of trip and no more places to be visited. But soon after leaving Ooty, we got down at Kamaraj Sagar dam and Shooting Medu. Realizing the difficulties in Kalhatti Ghat road, we had now chosen the Gudalur route to reach Mysore.

Another view from Dodda betta

Kamaraj Sagar Dam  

                 Also known as Sandynallah Reservoir, this apart from being a picnic spot, is also a good place of study for enviromentalists.

Kamaraja Sagar  

 

KodamanViewPointMoyarRiver

Kodaman View Point Moyar River

        KodamanViewPointMoyarRiver

Laws Falls

Laws Falls

           This place serves as a lovely picnic spot, situated at Coonoor – Mettupalayam Road at the distance of just 7 km from Coonoor and hence is very popular. The altitude of the falls is about 180 feet. Vast stretches of undisturbed sholas make it a paradise for all nature lovers.

St. Catherine’s Falls

St. Catherine’s Falls

              This double-cascaded Falls is the second highest in the district(250 ft) and it waters from the upper stream of the kallar river crossed by the invisible Mettupalyam-Ooty road beyond the mountains in the south-west.
               It is named after the wife of M.D. Cockburn, the pioneer-planter of Kotagiri.    

Foothills Dale River

             



        The native name of the Falls is GEddhehaada Halla meaning “Foothills Dale River”.It presents a lovely view of the sweeps of forests and woodlands, waylaid by tea gardens and yet running to meet the plains in the south-western moorings.The glittering Dolphin’s Nose of Coonoor is also seen across the mighty gap in the hills-one of the three great systems of faults in the geological formation of the Blue Mountains.

History

           Take a pleasant drive on the misty road passing through the tea estates and fragrant pine forests that leads to the stunning Catherine Falls. Also known as St. Catherine, these Falls are located in Kotagiri that is 17 kms away from Coonoor. Cascading from the altitude of 250 ft the Catherine Falls are situated amidst lush green forests where you can enjoy the fresh breeze coming through the Nilgiri Hills. You can enjoy the best view of these Falls from the Dolphin’s Nose view point.

 

           The Catherine Falls are named after the wife of MD Cocburn who was a pioneer coffee planter in Kotagiri and Yercaud. The native name of the Catherine Falls is Geddhehaada Halla. Today these Falls serve as a perfect picnic spot and are visited by tourists visiting Coonoor.

St. Catherine’s Falls

Best time to visit The best time to visit the Catherine Falls in from September to November. The weather during this time is pleasant and the landscape is simply superb.

Trivia Trekking enthusiasts can go trekking in the Longwood Shola Forest, which is 3 kms away from the Catherine Falls and has some popular area amongst adventure enthusiasts. Bear in mind you will have to take prior permission from the District Forest Officer.

Timing You can visit the Falls during any time of the day, but early morning time is preferable.

Elk Waterfalls Kotagiri

Elk Waterfalls, Kotagiri

          Elk Waterfalls is one of unique spots of Tamil Nadu which is mainly known for exotic waterfall and beautiful European cottages located in the valley.

             Elk Waterfalls is one of the prominent places located in Kotagiri district of Tamil Nadu. This place is mainly known for its scenic beauty. Located at a distance of 7 kms from Kotagiri this place is situated below the Ulliyatti village. Surrounded with well maintained British cottages, this is one of the most picturesque villages of Tamil Nadu. 

              While the little village provides some of the most exemplary sites of Kotagiri, it is further enriched with the Elk water falls that flows in the mountainous region that surrounds the village. The water falls remains full of water during the rainy season which makes it most picturesque site in Tamil Nadu. 

                         The water fall passes through some of the steep gorges and lands up into the picturesque valley. From the surrounding areas one can enjoy some of the amazing views of the exotic valley which is called Kookal. This valley is popularly known for the cultivation of oranges. Surrounded with greenery this is a quite place which provides ample opportunity to enjoy the flow of silver water through the valley.
            Thus known for its picturesque valleys and attractive water falls this is one of the pleasant tourist spots of Tamil Nadu.

History Of Kotagiri

 Kotagiri

            Considered as the hill stations of antiquity, Kotagiri is a lovely hill resort roosting amongst the Nilgiri Hills. Beautiful tae estates form its backdrop; the place draws tourists in large number which can be owed to its spellbinding imageries. At the time of colonization, British used it for getting reprieve from scorching summer heat. The sylvan charm associated with the place is typical of any hill station. A nice trekking destination for adventure seekers and a paradise for nature enthusiasts, the place is known for its solitude.

          Approachable from a road lying 10 kilometers from Kotagiri, this viewing point offers a fantastic view of Mysore Plateau. The massive Thengumarahada farming cooperative is also visible from here. Kodanad is also called Terminus Country as it forms part of Nilgiri's eastern edge. The vast expanse of paddy fields and valleys as seen from here paint a charming picture.

View form Kodanadu

          Early morning in the Nilgiris, and the vegetation is covered with needles of icy frost. This flower is glazed with a coating of it. The temperature at 8 AM on a January morning was 9 degrees Celsius.

 Nilgiri Shola

Tea Estate

Tea Estates In Kotagiri

Kodanadu Tea Estat

           Kotagiri is a panchayat town in The Nilgiris District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

           Kotagiri is situated at an elevation of around 1793m above sea level and is one of the three popular hill stations located in the Nilgiris.

          This picturesque hill station is bounded by verdant green tea estates and offers a number of trekking options.

          The three popular trekking trails are Kotagiri - Kodanad; Kotagiri - St. Catherine Falls and Kotagiri - Longwood Shola. The Kotagiri - Kodanad trail leads you through splendid views of lush-green tea estates and the magnificent Moyar River. One has to cross through meadows to reach Kodanad.

Rangaswamy Peak and Pillar

        Rangaswamy Peak and Pillar is a tourist spot in Kotagiri, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.

• It is located at a distance of 28 km from Kotagiri. 
• Located at 11°27′39″N 76°59′13″E, the height of Rangaswamy Peak is above 5,885 ft (1,794 m) and it is visible from Kodanad View Point.
• Rangaswamy Pillar is found on the north west side of Rangaswamy Peak. The height of the pillar is about 400feet.

          Located at a distance of 12 km from Kil-Kotagiri, the highly captivating Rangaswamy peak is revered by the Irulas tribes and sacred place for Thousand of families in and around porangadu seemai (kotagiri region),Located at the altitude of 1800M Above MSL. It is the most sacred hill on the plateau. Visited by devotees during the summer month and pray Lord Rangaswamy. According to Hindu Legend Lord Rangaswamy used to live at Karamadai in Coimbatore district on the plains but quarrelled with his wife, came to live alone here. Two-foot prints on the rock not far from Arakadu village below the peak are stated to be the proof for this.

Rangaswamy Pillar 

Rangaswamy Pillar

       Situated 4 km from Kil-Kotagiri is another sacred pillar that is worshipped. It is an extraordinary isolated rocky pillar rising in solitary grandeur to a height of some 400 feet (120 m) and has sheer narrow sides which are quite unclimbable.

Bhavanisagar Dam

The Bhavanisagar Dam and Reservoir, also called Lower Bhavani Dam, is located on the Bhavani River between Mettupalayam and Sathyamangalam in Erode District, Tamil Nadu, South India.

        The dam is situated some 16 km (9.9 mi) west to Satyamangalam ,Mettuppalayam and 70 km (43 mi) from Erode and 75 km (47 mi) from Coimbatore.

  

Canal

         There is a garden in front of this dam, which makes it a good picnic spot in this area. There are a few things that children could play with (like swings, etc.) and there is also a small closed channel of water for boating, shown in the below picture.

Rangaswamy Peak and Pillar View

This dolphin Nose and Catherine Falls

This dolphin Nose spot is view form catherine fall.Catherine water falls is wonder full spot in kotagiri.

Distance from kotagiri is exactly 8 KM.
this is on the way to mettupalayam.

Catherine Falls

View of Dolphin Nose from Catherine Falls

Kodanad View point is a tourist spot near Kotagiri town, Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is located about 18 km east of Kotagiri on the eastern edges of Nilgiris at 11°31′29″N 76°54′57″E. 

From Kodanad View point

கோத்தகிரி -கோடநாடு Peak

View From Dolphin Nose Mountain

          This is for ever spot in the middle of two mountains a single rock is fixed...this is seen from ever 200 years ago.

          We next went to Dolphin nose-located at the edge of a hill, connected by very narrow road. Nothing there resembled the name, but view was great nevertheless. A magazine page with Amit Agarwal’s photo was lying on the ground and caught our attention. Catherine falls is visible from here (we went there later in the day- refer photos at the end of post). Photo session at the tea garden, stop at a small water stream and checking out Lambs Rock viewpoint were next few activities before returning back to city. Sim’s park was the next destination, where we had breakfast. The Poori we had there came with a Sabji of north Indian style.

கோத்தகிரி -கோடநாடு Peak

          Several big trees (with honeybee nests) and lots of shade.
          This garden was supposed to have a japanese style-didn't notice anything to that effect.

          n 1965, László Fejes Tóth discovered that the trihedral pyramidal shape (which is composed of three rhombi) used by the honeybee is not the theoretically optimal three-dimensional geometry.     
A cell end composed of two hexagons and two smaller rhombuses would actually be .035% (or approximately 1 part per 2850) more efficient.

kotagiri : MY Home town.

KOTAGIRI Sight Seeing:

The Hill Station of Kotagiri has several tourist attractions.
 
Kodanad View Point

It is 18 kms away from Kotagiri on the easternmost ridges of the Blue Mountains and hence the name meaning Terminus Country.From this point, the country lies spread out before the eye sparkling hills row after as though bathed in the mystic silver sunshine. The enchanting valley dips down to embrace the historic gajalahatti pass glancing at the green corpeted paddy fields of Thengumarahaada and watced over from its eyrie by the habitat of   

                Hallimoyar.While the River Moyar scurries along to join her pal Bhanvani round the corner, across the valley of Talamalai ranges of the Eastern Ghats cuddle upto Mysore Plateau, westerly strides of which again adjoin the Kodanaadu stairs in the north, over the deeptrenched Mysore Ditch.

St. Catherine’s Falls: 

                 It is 8 km from kotagiri on the Mettupalyam road branching off at Aravenu. This double-cascaded Falls is the second highest in the district(250 ft) and it waters from the upper stream of the kallar river crossed by the invisible Mettupalyam-Ooty road beyond the mountains in the south-west.

It is named after the wife of M.D. Cockburn, the pioneer-planter of Kotagiri. The native name of the Falls is GEddhehaada Halla meaning “Foothills Dale River”.

                 It presents a lovely view of the sweeps of forests and woodlands, waylaid by tea gardens and yet running to meet the plains in the south-western moorings.The glittering Dolphin’s Nose of Coonoor is also seen across the mighty gap in the hills-one of the three great systems of faults in the geological formation of the Blue Mountains.

John Sullivan Bungalow
Another attraction is the John Sullivan’s bungalow, which was built during his stay. This has just been renovated and is presently open to the public. Located in Kannerimukku it is about 20 minutes from the main town.

The Longwood Forest


            The Longwood Forest which is located within Kotagiri town is an immaculate tropical evergreen forest. It serves as a sheltered refuge for anyone seeking peace and quiet and is also home to the flying fox (a large arboreal squirrel) that is a delightful scene for the zoologists. Also a resident family of about 20 bison can be seen in the evenings just outside the forest on Milidhane road, grazing.

The Nehru Park

             The Nehru Park can be found in the town and is a big complex housing a temple of the Kotas. The Gandhi maidanam which serves as the public playground, congregation centre and the flood shelter which is used in normal times for indoor games can also be seen here. A private park which is around 3 km from the town on coonoor road specializes in oses and is a must see in March to June.

Elk Falls:

             It is 7 km from Kotagiri and situate above Uyilathi village. The road passes through serenely laid out Badaga habitations.
‘Enroute’ at the Kannerimukku village is found the first European house in the Nilgiris built by collector Sullivan in the year 1819. The two-storeyed house is now in a sad-state or ruins.
Though the water is fully only in the wet months, the site is always worth a visit. It commands towards the north, a spectacular view of the Echoing Valley of Kookal and a vista of exquisite surroundings.
A very primeval tract of wild enclave, the Shola provides a grand opportunity for bird-withers and a perfect rendezevous for serenity – seekers.

Be Bold In What You Stand For...

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