Travel To Ooty

caro7

[If you need to arrange a driver from Kochi, please send me a private message and I will put you in touch with a friend (registered travel company) who will provide the car and driver and not rip you off!]

Hi John, would you mind passing on the details of your friend with the travel company to me (we'll be doing the same trip but from the other direction) with an approximate idea of the cost?

Thanks very much
(just tried PMing you but it said you weren't accepting PMs)

Nick-H

Caro, it is always worth checking on the dates of previous postings before responding on a thread: this thread was a couple of years old.

If you are interested in something posted by a member in an old thread, you can see their profile, which includes the information of when they last visited the site. John.SW has not been around for a while.

You get to a members profile by clicking on their 'avatar' (the picture to the left of the post) or by clicking on their name and then selecting View Public Profile

caro7

I did see the dates of the post, but I knew that replying would bump it up to the top - I know mods don't like to have the same questions asked several times in different places (easier for us users searching too, of course). I also clicked on John's profile but didn't see the 'last visited' date - my mistake I guess. Anyway, someone else PMed me with a contact for a driver so I got what I was after

Nick-H

Appreciated

It also helps to bring to the surface old threads with hidden treasures; a bit like ploughing.

brishti

lets start over...
what are your queries caro... what is your point of embarking to ooty?
what facilities are you looking for - transport? travel agent? hotel info? etc etc



:brishti
[here's hoping pmvelu is close by and reading] hope i got the name correct

pmvelu

Hi Brishti,

I shared the info what I know on OP's ooty plan over here

http://www.indiamike.com/india/tamil...m-ooty-t18637/

and in this thread she is looking for Car + driver option where I don't have any real experience and hence I was waiting for Experienced IMer to share the info !..


Snonymous,

Do you Refer Jagadeesh for ooty ?.. If so, May be you Could share the related info for Caro [ For Comparisions of Cost It would help I suppose]

Regards
Velu

caro7

Thanks everyone for further offers of help - as well as a goldmine of information, the kindness of folk on here reminds us of why we come back to India

Brishti - we're arriving in Ooty from Sultan Bathery. We'll take the toy train to Coonoor and then take a bus to where we are staying (a remote place in the Palaniappa Tea estate, about 90 mins away from Coonoor & Ooty). After a couple of days walking there, we're then aiming to get to Cochin - as it involves many changes and potentially some stress as to whether we would get it all done in one day, I thought a driver from Ooty to Cochin would be the best option (potentially a bit out of our budget, but we'll work that out as we go!) I'd like to do the other part of the toy train trip (Coonoor-Mettapulayam) and then meet the driver there, but again I think the time would be a little tight for that...So with the accommodation sorted, a driver is all we're after, and as Snonymous has kindly helped me with that, all I am really trying to find now are the latest bus times and toy train times (I've checked every link on the bus information sticky with no luck!) Although in addition to that, if you know offhand of a homestay in nature near Ooty/Coonoor that is less remote, I'd be interested in hearing about it

Velu - I did reply to your last post on the other thread, but it doesn't appear to have gone through. Snonymous has already given me contact details for Jagdees - he must be really good if you all know about him We can't change our itinerary as it is organised around the New Year Parade in Cochin, but thanks for the alternative suggestions. I am still hoping to catch the toy train without booking in advance, as I cannot find the bus connection information (or a reliable toy train timetable) to know when we will arrive at the station. Is the Christmas/New Year period likely to be busy for the toy train? I know Kerala is full of tourists at this time, but I don't know about Tamil Nadu...

Thankyou once again to the forum folk for giving so generously of your time in helping us

pmvelu

@Caro,

Thanks for your generous comments about the site as well as our members !..

You could see the "Toy Train [ Nilgiris Mountain Railways] " timetable over here

http://www.indianrail.gov.in/hill_2.html

Reservation is very much advisable for this NMR !.. And First Class will give you better views and it's just next to Engine and the all-round view is excellent from this Coach !.

And to be frank I don't have experience with rental Car and Snonymous did used Jagdeesh's Services previously and was recommending in few posts and hence I asked her opinion..

Have a Fantastic & Safe Journey !

Velu

dhans

I can give you the same link to the company as John ould have provide . They're good and trustworthy.

Hans

__________________

Tips for trips to India with (young) children: India with kids
Stories about our travels in India: Journal

firestar

Hi all,

Are the baggage restrictions on the toy train or are they the same as other trains in India? We will be travelling up to Ooty but will have our bags with us and wanted to make sure that this isn't a problem. Gut feeling is it won't be but I just want to make sure? Obviously I'd rather keep bags with me but does anyone know if there is a baggage cart on this train?

Thanks