Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Oodles of Ooty - Memories and more

I recently went on a short trip to Ooty with family , a place that is very close to my heart.
This time it was more of a relaxed trip than that of visiting places.


Route
We started around 6:30 am from Bangalore via Mysore- Bandipur - Masinangudi - Ooty.
                   
Weather & Nature
The pleasantness started right at the time we entered bandipur , it started pouring and absolutely enjoyed each and every moment.
We spotted deers, elephants , wild boars and of course monkeys all around the stretch.
My daughter was delighted and was more than excited , this brings me the memories of my trip to Ooty for the first time


A trip down nostalgia
 
The first time i ever visited Ooty was in my 6th grade through my dad's office tour. It was a dream come true because i have seen those lush greenery, beautiful waterfalls and thrilling curves of hairpin bends only in movies but in reality it looked even more breath taking .Imagine how beautiful and glorious Ooty would have been in early 90's , less exploited  and more green that’s exactly the Ooty i saw.Still remember how I ran inside the TTDC (Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation) Hotel as soon as our tour bus stopped . Too cold and too beautiful for my heart to contain the excitement. And i have still not forgotten those delicious steaming hot idlies we were served with piping hot sambhar with all those delicous Ooty carrots , radish and pumpkins. Now that the tummy was full and weather cool , we set on to the visit the lovely botanical gardens, Doddabetta peak, Tea factory visit and quintessential Boating in the Lake .

Still remember how i was shivering while we were in the boat middle of the lake , Inspite of my mom insisting me to wear sweater I never wore it saying , I don't want to miss the cool air which I will be missing in chennai when we go back.
Also an important ritual when visiting Ooty is to buy Homemade chocolates.I was awed when I first saw the shop exclusively for chocolates .I was really and literally the kid in the candy shop. I wanted to buy every other chocolate variety available but my parents strictly told just two boxes to take back home and for cousins. Only consolation was free samples. I still remember those golden wrapped marie biscuits dipped in chocolate still coming in my dreams.

That trip I wanted to stay back in ooty and even asked my parents whether they can work here and put me in a school in ooty. I was laughed at saying that wouldn’t be possible. That cold night still dreaming of those chocolate dipped marie biscuits I slept snugly between my parents

I think have less photos of the trip and more memories which i will cherish time and again.
After this trip and falling in love with Ooty , I have visited numerous times.
I wish every trip is as cherished as this one.

Stay
This time we stayed at Space4 Resort , which is absoulety ,prefectly located .
Serene yet pretty close to most tourist attractions. And the rooms were pretty decent.
But the Food the less I talk , the more it is better. Bad food.
This costed us around Rs.6000 for two nights which is not really the bang for the buck because the complimentary breafast was so bad, so went out to eat but other than that the stay was pleasant and service was good.
This is not sponsored... Duh!!!!



Places to Visit and things to do
Ooty toy train
Botanical gardens
Boat House
Tea factory visit
Doddabetta peak
pykara water falls
avalanche 
coonoor

I have visted all the above places and more but this time went only to boat house and avalanche because we really wanted to relax and enjoy the weather.

Food
I think everything tastes good in ooty maybe because of the weather or the water or the fresh veggies..But i simply love it. If you are vegetarian you have numerous options like Nahar Veg, A2B, Pankaj Bhojanalaya (Jain food) etc...
If you are a non veg you have hotel blue hills, Junior kuppana, etc
of course pizzas, pastas by sidewalk cafe at nahar , dominos etc and don't forget to eat piping hot mini samosas , cutlets and kachoris from prabha sweets and yummy snacks at C-store.
Maggi at boat house was yummm and tea was okayish.


Shopping 
Of course any trip is incomplete without some kind of shopping
Homemade Chocolates - Numerous options available but the good ones are Moody's (Modern stores) this is right opposite to bonatical gardens gate and Kingstar chocolates in Commerical road ooty. Don't forget to grab a sweater at the tibetian market and the yummy tea time friend ooty Varki (something like a puffpastry but crunchy) .Also most importantly Ooty Tea.



As I write this want to go there again. I seem to never get enough of ooty ever.
Ooty Love

Varshini