Ootacamund or Ooty (India)

...in the District of Ootacamund or OOTY in short, for about 9 years and have grabbed every opportunity to visit Oot y when I go to India.

Ooty is the District HQ of the District. Frankly, in the actual city of Ooty there are a handful attractions. The actual beauty, attractions, nature and interest lies in many places around in the district.

For a start, Ooty has a good share of 5 star hotels and other star hotels , ...
...the main attractions are the Botonical Gardens which boasts of flora and fauna from all lands of the world. The collection is exotic and well maintained. The Gardens are built up on the natural contours of the land with very few man made alterations. This gives a unique blend of openess as well as mysticness. When you are in one part of the Garden, the other part is obscure and it gives visitors a chance to be surprised at every turn of the corner. ... more

I lived & studied in the District of Ootacamund or OOTY in short, for about 9 years and have grabbed every opportunity to visit Oot y when I go to India.

Ooty is the District HQ of the District. Frankly, in the actual city of Ooty there are a handful attractions. The actual beauty, attractions, nature and interest lies in many places around in the district.

For a start, Ooty has a good share of 5 star hotels and other star hotels , average hotels and budget hotels.
In Ooty, the main attractions are the Botonical Gardens which boasts of flora and fauna from all lands of the world. The collection is exotic and well maintained. The Gardens are built up on the natural contours of the land with very few man made alterations. This gives a unique blend of openess as well as mysticness. When you are in one part of the Garden, the other part is obscure and it gives visitors a chance to be surprised at every turn of the corner. The best of the park comes when there is a grand Flower Show in Summer, its eden of flowers and the fragrance just sends one into a disney land of flowers. The colours runs roit. The well manicured lawns provide a great carpet of greenery. The water features hold good water life, fishing is prohibited. The Garden is also a famous spot for filming Indian movies of every language, many visitors have been lucky to witness songs being shot in the park. Unknown to many people there are people of two tribes who live on the edge of the park. One of the tribes are called Todas and Badugas, though Badugas are in plenty and spread all over Ooty District, the Todas are quite numbered and live on the edge of the park.
Todas have a unique lifestyle which is simple and un-materialistic.

The Ooty Lake-

It is a decent sized lake. Wish it could be kept clean at all times.
The lake has many features on its banks. The main entrance is away from the city centre from where all the boats are launched. The boats are in various sizes and kinds, large boats carrying many people on rides, motor boats carrying smaller numbers, 2 seater boats, row boats etc. This lake too is legendary and has appeared in many Indian movies. The lake is slightly murky in colour. Near the main entrance, there are resturants, eating joints, roadside food sellers. There is a mini train ride , pony and horse rides. Also near the entrance, there are good number of trees. The mornings on the lake is quite pristine, the mist low on the water looks awesome. There is a small path along the edge of the lake and people enjoy walks along the leafy path. On one side of the lake towards the city centre, there is a small park, the park is well lit, well maintained and has a large children area with a lot of well thought games to play. The park also has speakers spread all over and music is on all the time the park is open. The edge of the park slopes into the lake and people can have a good look at people on the boats. It has good picnic spaces and is popular.

Palaces- Ooty is dotted by palaces of erstwhile King of Mysore. Now, most of them are converted into hotels and command a good price to stay in them. The best way to visit these palaces is to hire a local Auto-Rickshaw. ( a 2 wheeled motor that can carry 3 passengers)

Doddabetta- A high mountain on the edge of ooty. The access road is entwined on to the mountain with a few hairpin bends and sharp curves. The mountain is covered in mist on most mornings and has good breeze but can get strong and nippy. The ride on the bus to the top is quite interesting, as one can get good view of various parts of Ooty and other smaller towns and villages around. The top has a good viewing area, with seating chairs around the top and the middle has a 2 storey building with a resturant and telescopes arranged around. The building has large windows and on a windy day, its a good refuge. On a clear day, one can see a bit of Mysore which is about 160 kilometers. Through the telescope its a bit better. Its a good place to spend good few hours.

Visiting small villages around ooty is quite interesting, you can get a flair for local produce of Carrot / Red Raddish, Beans, Potatoes,Cabbage and Flowers.

Ooty has all sorts of eating places, Pubs and Bars are spread out evenly and people of thirst never go dry.

The ride out of ooty can take you in two directions, If you went south, you would go towards Coonoor, Mettupalyam and Coimbatore, all three on the same route. There are two main ways of travel. Via the Road, or the train/

Ooty to Mettupalyam and then to Coimbatore on the train.
The train itself is a stream engine and again commands fame of being in many movies. The oot y station is still maintained without much of changes made, this is quite interesting. The train sets off with a loud hoot and a puff of black soot. Not much of ooty is visible from train. It passes through the famous Residential Lawerence School in a place called Lovedale. This school fames for having kids of VIPs India studying there. The ride takes through a lot of fields growing crops all round the year. The ride can be scary with deep gorges and the train almost on the edge of the track. the track is the narrow/meter guage . The train passes throught some stunning views and long tunnels. It makes through a few stations like Keethi before it arrives in Old Aruvankadu. This is a major stop before it embarks on a slower journey on long bridges with steep views, it makes your heart miss a beat. It then passes through Wellington, a suburb of Coonoor and arrives at Coonoor after a ride of about 2 kilometers along a river flowing towards coonoor. Coonoor station is again, old, rustic and has a single platform.
The ride then takes a different shape. The track from coonoor to mettupalayam has 3 tracks. the middle track being a teethed track. The train drops a 3rd wheel in the middle of the engine and the compartments. This wheel is teethed and sets into the teethed track. This provides extra control of the train since the ride from Coonoor to Mettupalayam passes throught some of the sharpest corners a train can go, through some high bridges, deep gorges, ups and downs and not to mention the possible chance of wildlife on the tracks. The train slows even more, but the ride is just mind blowing. One has to be there to understand it. The mountains are full of trees or tea estates. Eucalyptus trees cover the entire region. Mettupalayam to Coimbatore is a normal train ride.

If you came down from ooty to Conoor-mettupalayam via bus, again the views are just great. You pass a spot called Valley View from where the whole valley for about 30-40 miles can be seen. The bus takes sharp turns and curves easing down the mountain. Aruvankadu is one of the major points . It has got a good popluation. From Aruvankadu, the bus passes either Wellington or Barracks to get to Coonoor. From Coonoor the road gets more steep, dangerous and there are about 30 hairpin bends before arriving in Mettupalayam.

Other spots of interest in Ooty District.

Towards South- Valley View- A birds eye view of a large piece of land

Keethi- a Small village/town with a nice terrain

Aruvankadu- A hidden factory that produces Cordite for the Indian Armed Forces. Has a great school, thats where I studied and for a radius of about 5 miles people working of the factory live. The terrain is rugged and roads are small, small footpaths are the only access to houses and homes.

Wellington. A small town in the bottom of the valley, it has a lovely river running right at the bottom, its got a train station on one side, administrative offices close by and on the other side of the road are all the houses for people.

Barracks- An Army barracks. has a good amount of military.

DSSC- Defence Services Stafff College. A Premier Staff training centre for Defence Staff.

SIMS PARK- Another major botonical park , but this park is famous for its roses. They have a huge rose collection and again the park is quite well laid and interesting.

Louise Pastuers Institute- A small Research Institute worth visiting with a good history behind it.

Coonoor. A major town in oot y district covered with Tea estates all around and thickly grown trees. This also is a trading post and people come here to shop . The busstand is the centre peice of the town and this stands by the river. Coonoor has a good count of bars, resturants and pubs.

Mettupalayam, the last post after which the plains begin/

Dolphins Nose- A lovely spot near SIMS park where the water cascading down the rocks form rising clouds. This is nestled in the middle of tea estates.

Lamb's Rock. Again , nestled amongst Tea Estates, this spot gives a good view of about 30 mountains and on a good day, coimbatore is within sight. Tea estates allround.

OVER ALL THE TERRAIN IS LIKE THAT OF PEAK DISTRICT. ROLLING MOUNTAINS, TUMBLING VALLEYS, RIVERS , THICK TREE COVER, TEA ESTATES and of course Lots of British People live there due to its likeness to England.

If you travelled towards North from Ooty, i.e towards bangalore. You pass through dense forests and lots of wildlife along the roadside. Animals like deer, bears, elephants occassional tigers, monkeys, peacocks etc.

Mudumalai National Park- The road to bangalore passes through Mudumalai National park with abundant trees and rich green vegetation. This has thriving wildlife and the Park offers Camps inside the forest, of course the camps are protected.

Bandipur national park.-- The forest towards the Karnataka State is called Bandipur National Park. Again Wildlife is great and has good green vegetation. But Bandipur is more of plains since its the edge of Ooty District.

Ooty is also called Nilgirist which means - Nil- blue, Giris- Mountains, i.e Blue Mountains. The blue skies, the Bluish green of Eucalyptus makes it seem blue .

Its indeed another England far from England. I could call it England of East. The only difference is, here in England we dont get Eucalyptus and in Ooty you dont get snow.

 

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