Ma trip to Ooty…

Tis June ma dad found some time to take us on a vacation to Ooty. It was a sudden plan yet somehw we gt the train ticket(using ma dad’s so calld influence !!;)) We startd on the 30^thof May n d Niligri express and reachd Metupalayam the nxt day morning.

I’ve been to the Queen of hills a few times already but tis trip was kinda different. An age ol’ ambassador awaited to take us up the hill (one f ma dad’s frnds sent d ultimate vehicle for our use for d 3 days)!! I had to take a pill to avoid creating any nuisance coz of my ‘phobia’ for heights n climbing up hilly areas.

We reached Ooty by 9 or so and boarded n d Tamizhagam guest house which n itself looked like a botanical garden……awesum place I shud say!! We took some time to unpack, refresh n have our breakfast and got ready by 11 to explore Ooty…But!!

Expect d unexpected…Lord Indiran startd showering His blessings!!:(

I wud ve loved the rain if t had been Chennai. But its Ooty n already it was so cold out there that I couldn’t get my sandals or my sweater off and now its raining like hell when we were about to step out!!:( Jus imagine I went cold n numb and my teeth startd typing!
Couldn’t bear t anymore, I seeked the help of 2 blankets n went to bed. We had to skip lunch coz nobody could get out n d heavy rain to buy lunch first. Also that we had nothing else to do, all of us dozed off till the evening. The rains had stopped by thn bt still d weather was bad. We juz watchd TV for sumtime, had dinner n went back to bed.

The next morning we got ready by 9 and set out to the Doddabetta peak. We enjoyed the scenary- the blue moutains, the cloudy sky tat seemed so nearby, crunched some popcorn, had a nice hot chocolate (apt for the climate!), clicked some (no lot of) pics and headed down the hill to a tea factory where they demonstrated us the Tea-making process- how the green tea leaves are turned into the tea dust. They also gave us some nice tea to have there in the tea factory:) Also did we buy sum Tea dust they sold there for sum relatives and family friends. There were a lotta flavors being sold- Lime tea, ginger, herbal, elachi and even chocolate flavored tea!! :)

Next our destination was the Botanical garden. The garden or shud I call it a paradise, obviously looked beautiful with all nice colorful flowers and tall trees- large varieties. The green house and the grass lawn looked their best. At 12 sharp it started raining and all the visitors started running to find sum place to hide. After an hour wait, the rains stopped and we continued exploring the garden and clicking pics at every spot! Awesome place lookin neat and green everywhere- the wet grass, the neatly groomed bushes, tall trees tat too in diff shapes, each and every tree looked different in height, color n shape of their leaves. It was lunchtime by thn and we needed food badly so we headed straight to hotel Bluehills had full meals wid nice kerala chicken curry!!:) Nxt we headed to the rose garden- it was good but not as good as I remember seeing t last time! There were many breeds of roses in diff colors bt nt so much as we usually find there- the heavy rains s the cause mayb!! We planned to go boating but it was late already and being Sunday the boating area was crowded so we had to get back to our room.

First thing, the next day 2^nd of June, we planned to go to the Pyakara falls that was some 18 kms from Ooty. On the way we had a look at the pine forest. The wood pulp of the tall pine trees is being used for making our currency notes my dad remarked. We clicked some pics there and then visited a hilly area- a mount that is a famous shooting spot. We had to do a 15 minute trekking to go up the hill and were breathless by the time we reached the top. It was colder there but the view we had from there was the beautiful!

It looked like we were standing just below the clouds. We spent some time there clicking pics and also watching a family (some 15 of them, members from 3 generations were there) playing anthakshari there happily! :)

It was almost noon and we reached the Pykara falls after quite a long journey. The time we spent at the falls was the best moments of the 3-day trip I shud say. Me and my sis(my partner in crime always;)) stealthily got to the bottom of the rocky area nearer to the falls ie beyond the permissible limit (so did some other tourists) before my mom could find us and scream at us!!;) We gt our dad’s permission actually u c…dads are more sportive than mommies always!!;) Awesome experience next to the one at the Athirampalli falls n Kerala. The water was so cold and playing in it was so refreshing!! Aftr sumtime sumhw my mom found us at the bottom of the rock and we were asked to get back quickly!:( Bt the thng is we found jumping down the slippery rocks easier than climbing up and we had to gt help from a gud lookin northie tourist to climb up!!;):) Aftrnoon, we went boating which was juz the usual stuff!:( Not so adventurous lik d one of Munnar trip! Later, we spent the evening in the garden of the guesthouse which was juz tremendous n very impressive juz lik the botanical garden wid lot f spots to click pics!! We did lotta shopping tat nyt mostly tea dust, spices, home-made chocolates and some oils. We got back to the room by 8 to watch the IPL finals till the last ball- watta match!! The CSK lost but fought well till the last ball. Also the best team won!

We spent the 3^rd by visiting a wax museum at Ooty and the Sims park in Coonoor. The Wax museum was quite impressive- the highlight being the wax image of Veerapan!! On the way downhill to Coonoor, we visited a telescope house and had nice views of the mountain rail track (where chaiyya chaiyya song was shot) and some other shooting spots like the hilly areas where most parts of the movie Roja were shot and the convent where Poo Pookum Osai song frm Minsara kanavu was shot.

It was almost 11 and the day happened to be sunny. We were in the Sims park which covered a vast area with lot of tall and age old trees and plants with nice colorful flowers and neatly trimmed bushes. It also had a small boating area but we were reluctant to attempt another boring ride! We juz clickd some pics in the park and left for lunch. Later we visited the Dolphin’s nose and had a view at the St.Catherine’s falls. Next we went on a trek up a rocky area called the Lamb’s rock to have a nice view from the top of it (we could spot the Black Thunder theme park from there). The way down the Lamb’s rock ma sis clickd some pics wid her frnds – monkeys (an imp note!!) ;) We trespassed a nearby tea estate n clicked pics there !!;)

It was time to leave to the Metupalayam station by then to catch the 6.30 train to get back to the city. And so did end the 3-day happy trip to Ooty. Yeah it really was a memorable one and I missed Ooty nd its pleasant climate for a few days aftr getting back coz as we knw Chennai was really very hot then. Also unlike Chennai, Ooty is quite clean and is a plastic-free (eco-friendly) area. Though Chennai s hot, noisy with loads f traffic and stinky areas, but sssssssssstillllll its ma city nd I love t!!

Home s always sweet home!! (isn’t t!)

Signing off

Me ;)