Visit to Tirupati, Hyderabad, Bangalore,Mysore,Uti

n kumar

Hi rudra,
let us first freeze the plan and then i will give you the distances, time required etc.
I think you can go ahead with plan 2 with some changes so that you can visit bandipur/madumalai.

rudra75

Can you tell me what will be the weather(ie. cold, rain etc.)like in Ooty in December end or January first ?

bonded

The weather would be cold

rudra75

Thanks. But what will be the temperature like ?
Are there any trains to Howrah or Shalimar(West Bengal) from Coimbatore ?
What is the best route to return to Howrah from Coimbatore ?

bonded

Day 10 Guwahati Express from Coimbatore (21:40) to Howrah (10:55) running only on Sundays

GHY TVC Express from Howrah (01:05) to Coimbatore (14:05) running on Thurdsay

Ooty climate Dec/Jan Max 25 Min 5

Binsar Climate Dec/Jan Max 24 Min 0

rudra75

Hi everybody,
I have ultimately zeroed on 2 plans. Need your comments. Here are they.

Day 1: Boarding Chennai Mail from Howrah
Day 2: Reaching Chennai at 17.15; Boarding Nilgiri Express at
21.00
Day 3: Metupalaiyam at 06.15; Boarding Toy Train(07.10) to
Ooty(Sightseeing)
Day 4: Ooty(Madhumalai)
Day 5: Ooty (Sightseeing); Ooty to Mysore by bus/car
Day 6: Mysore
Day 7: Mysore to Bangalore (Bangalore sightseeing)
Day 8: Bangalore sightseeing; Bangalore to Yesvantpur; Boarding
train at Yesvantpur
Day 9: Train
Day 10: Howrah

Or

Day 1: Boarding Yesvantpur Express from Howrah
Day 2: Train
Day 3: Yesvantpur; To Bangalore (Sightseeing)
Day 4: Bangalore((Sightseeing)); To Mysore
Day 5: Mysore
Day 6: Mysore to Ooty
Day 7: Ooty(Madhumalai)
Day 8: Ooty to Metupalaiyam by Toy Train; Nilgiri Express from
Metupalaiyam to Chennai
Day 9: Boarding Howrah Mail from Chennai
Day 10: Howrah

Is the stay in Bangalore sufficient to tour its surroundings )ie
Bannerghata etc.)?
Can the tickets for Toy Train be bought in advance from Kolkata?

n kumar

Hi,
You are therefore skiping tirupati,
Your plan 1 seems to be a bit tight scheduled, if the train to mettupalayam is late by an hour you might miss the toy train.
I will definetly say YES to plan 2 with some minor modification.
Day 1: Boarding Yesvantpur Express from Howrah
Day 2: Train
Day 3: Yesvantpur; To Bangalore (Sightseeing)
Day 4: Bangalore((Sightseeing)); To Mysore
Day 5: Mysore
Day 6: Mysore to Ooty
Madumalai and bandipur is on the way to ooty and i advice you to visit bandipur/madumalai on the way to ooty. The ride into the forest start around 3 pm and you can visit this and then go to ootyDay
7: Ooty
Day 8: Ooty to Metupalaiyam by Toy Train; Nilgiri Express from
Metupalaiyam to Chennai
Day 9: Boarding Howrah Mail from Chennai
Day 10: Howrah

rudra75

I understand your concern regarding the Toy Train in the first plan.
But in the second plan if the Toy train arrives late in Metupalaiyam, then I will miss the Nilgiri Express and left stranded in Metu for the night. It's a perfect catch-22 situation. What to do ?

Another thing.Is the stay in Bangalore sufficient to tour its surroundings (ie Bannerghata etc.)? Can you give me the names of places to visit in Bangalore ? Will I be able to cover the places in time or shall I stay a full day at Bangalore ?
What's the normal Check out time for hotels in Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty?

Can you give me the detailed plan(timings etc.) to visit Bandipur and Madhumali en route Ooty ?

n kumar

Hi rudra,
I opted the second option for the reason, the chances of trains getting detailed for various reason from metupalayam to chennai is more than ooty to metupalayam as the former is the high traffic area and it needs a lot signal issues, etc,whereas the toy train is a single track train and the chances of the train being detailed for this reason is very little
This is my personal opinion.
Generally in bangalore it is 24 hours.
I will post the other details later on
with regards

rudra75

Thanks. Will wait for your reply.

n kumar

List of tourist places in bangalore :
1)Bnnerghatta
2)Lalbagh botanical gardens
3)Tippu's palace
4)Museum
5)Iskon temple
6)Vidhana Soudha,
These are the major tourist places in bangalore. For more details refer :http://www.discoverbangalore.com/sightseeing.htm
I advice you to hire a taxi as you limited time and visit bangergatta park in the morning, followed by lalbagh and iscon temple in the evening and the next day visit tippu's palace and then proceed to mysore.
mysore to bandipur is around 80 kms, it takes around 2 1/2 hours journey and the distance is almost the same from bandipur to ooty.For more details visit the site : http://www.bandipur.net/safari.php

rudra75

Thanks for the info.
I think I would like to opt for Plan 1.


In that case, When to visit Bandipur and Mudumalai - from Mysore or Ooty?

n kumar

Ok, personaly if you feel this suits you, then your iteranary will be :
day 3 = Arrive at ooty around 12 noon, check into the hotel and ooty sight seing.
day 4 = ooty,
day 5 = ooty to madumalai by taxi and reach mysore late evening.
day 6 = mysore
day 7 = mysore to bangalore, reach bangalore and then proceed to bannergatta park, if time permits visit iskon temple in the evening.
day 8 = Local sight seeing and catch the 5 pm train to howrah.

rudra75

I have differed from your view regarding the plans since as you can see above in Plan 2, if I miss the Nilgiri Express from Metupalaiyam, I will be stranded in Metu for that night.
Whereas in Plan 1, even if I miss the Toy Train to Ooty, I can still go to Ooty from Metu by some other means and it will be daytime and it wont matter much even if I reach Ooty a bit late .
This is the reason behind choosing Plan 2. Now what do you think about it?
Now, according to your itinerary, from where can I go to Bandipur NP ? Will I have to go to Bandipur from Madhumalai ?
I have found out that Bandipur and Madhumalai are only 12 km apart. Do they have a common Reception Office from where I can arrange the safaris for both Bandipur and Madhumalai ? Or do I have to arrange the safaris from different places?

n kumar

hi rudra,
I see your point now and i am now convinced with the plan 1
According to the your plan on :
day 4 = you will be travelling to madumalai/bandipur and coming back to ooty
and on
day 5 = you will be travelling to mysore via bandipur/madumalai
in other words bandipur/madumalai is half way between ooty and mysore.
Madumalai is in tamilnadu and bandipur falls under karnataka forest department. Therefore you will not have a common reception office.
and i adive you to change your plan slightly
day 4 = ooty
day 5 = leave ooty early morning, visit madumalai first and proceed to bandipur and then to mysore and rest of the days will remain the same.
Please post your comments.
with regards