Ooty in August

sk0325 · Jul 21st, 2009, 18:19

Hi everyone

We are an elderly couple planning to visit Ooty by mid-August. Our plan is to reach Mettupalayam, then the mountain train to Ooty, Stay for about 4-5 days, then travel to Bangalore. Our queries are

1. Since we will most likely be in Thrissur, Kerala before this, is there a direct train from there to Mettupalayam. How can we time it so we can catch the mountain rail?

2. The list of sights that we intend to see are - Botanical gardens, rose garden, Lake, Doddabetta peak, Glenmorgan, Avalanche, Ketti valley point view, Pykara lake, Wenlock downs, Western catchment, Upper Bhavani, Mudumalai life sanctuary, Elk hill, Mukurthi peak, Coonoor & Wellington. Which of these points can we combine so I get to see all of them in 2-3 days, leaving one day free for Coonoor and one for Ooty.

3. I believe a couple of these sights are on the way to Mysore (Mudumalai?). Is it better to hire a car to Bangalore or should we sight-see them, then take a bus to Bangalore.

4. Can you recommend a reliable driver for the entire trip. We would like to get down at a lot of places for photo-ops and need a driver who will be patient.

Thanks a lot.

TheTrekGuy · Jul 21st, 2009, 21:42

Hello,

Please check out this thread. It answers most of your questions.

Coonoor-Ooty-Kotagiri

Browse through http://www.indiamike.com/india/udagamandalam-ooty-f147/ for more info on Ooty and surroundings.

Have a nice and safe trip.

rajered · Jul 21st, 2009, 22:11

The train from Mettupalayam to Ooty is in the morning at 07:10. There is no direct train from Thrissur to Mettupalyam. If you want to do the train ride do it while coming back. Tickets are available as of now on irctc.co.in except for 15th August.
Avalanche & Mudumalai life sanctuary are a one day trip each.

davef22 · Jul 29th, 2009, 03:09

Pykara is after Conoor and on the way to Mudhumalai I think. A taxi ride from Metupalayam to Ooty should not cost more than Rs 600.
Pykara falls is nothing but really green water(drain mixed) flowing like a falls. It is nice to see but involves a lot of steps which goes down and while coming back climbing back up can hurt. My wife and me were there in June and we are young and we found it a bit rough climbing up. Give pykara a thought. I really don't recommend this place as any of these falls are not really streams and like I said drain flowing. You can give this a pass if you want.

sharan_travelcrazy · Jul 31st, 2009, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by davef22

Pykara is after Conoor and on the way to Mudhumalai I think. A taxi ride from Metupalayam to Ooty should not cost more than Rs 600.
Pykara falls is nothing but really green water(drain mixed) flowing like a falls. It is nice to see but involves a lot of steps which goes down and while coming back climbing back up can hurt. My wife and me were there in June and we are young and we found it a bit rough climbing up. Give pykara a thought. I really don't recommend this place as any of these falls are not really streams and like I said drain flowing. You can give this a pass if you want.

- Pykara is on the way to Mudumalai but coonoor doesn't fall in this route at all. Its about 23 kms from ooty and you could cover wenlock downs enroute to Pykara. There is the waterfalls which comes first and then you proceed 1.5 kms further up the road to get to the lake.

- I would grossly disagree that Pykara is all about 'drain flowing'. Though yes, its not the typical waterfall gushing down from a huge height and it is quite a distance to walk - 1-2 km hike and down the stairs, you should give it a try if you are young enough.

On your queries:

- Cover coonoor & Wellington on the way up to ooty from mettupalayam since they fall on the route. Though I am not sure whats there to see in Wellington except for the defence areas.

- Its certainly not a great time to visit Mudumalai since its the monsoon season. I mean you can still visit for the sheer experience of seeing a jungle but I wouldn't vouch for any great wildlife spotting opportunities.

- Again upper bhavani, Mukurthi and western catchment aren't very easily accessible in this season and is better avoided.

- You could cover all botanical garden, rose garden, Dodabetta and the lake in a day

- Glenmorgan is a 8 km diversion from the ooty-Pykara route, a few kms before Pykara. Its supposed to be a very pristine place. However you would require permission from the TNEB if you wish to stay there.

- You would require forest dept's permission to visit the avalanche lake. Avalanche is 28 kms from ooty and can be done as a day trip. See here for more info on avalanche.

- You could exit from ooty by either taking the mysore route i.e Pykara - Gudalur - Mudumalai - Bandipur or through avalanche --> Avalanche - geddai - mulli - karamadai - coimbatore.

Hope this gives you a clear picture of sorts!

davef22 · Jul 31st, 2009, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharan_travelcrazy

- Pykara is on the way to Mudumalai but coonoor doesn't fall in this route at all. Its about 23 kms from ooty and you could cover wenlock downs enroute to Pykara. There is the waterfalls which comes first and then you proceed 1.5 kms further up the road to get to the lake.

- I would grossly disagree that Pykara is all about 'drain flowing'. Though yes, its not the typical waterfall gushing down from a huge height and it is quite a distance to walk - 1-2 km hike and down the stairs, you should give it a try if you are young enough.

I stayed at Kurumba village resort which is much before Conoor and we had to go Gudulur and we went through Conoor-Pykara(after), so yes in our route it came after Conoor. I had just been to Pykara and the drain thing is my opinion. We saw buffaloes sitting in the middle of a rock and the water did look like drain and greenish. The place before Pykara was just breath-taking. Fantastic views of the tea-plantations and landscape. I enjoyed that more than Pykara

sharan_travelcrazy · Jul 31st, 2009, 21:24

Dave, the monsoons weren't there yet in june. But after the heavy rains lashed out in the nilgiris in july (when I was there), this place was really worth visiting with water gushing at a great speed.

davef22 · Jul 31st, 2009, 23:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharan_travelcrazy

Dave, the monsoons weren't there yet in june. But after the heavy rains lashed out in the nilgiris in july (when I was there), this place was really worth visiting with water gushing at a great speed.

I agree it probably looked better with more water, but when we went Pykara was still nice but I just felt it was not a natural falls.

Jul 21st, 2009, 18:19	#1
sk0325 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: sk Posts: 4	Ooty in August Hi everyone We are an elderly couple planning to visit Ooty by mid-August. Our plan is to reach Mettupalayam, then the mountain train to Ooty, Stay for about 4-5 days, then travel to Bangalore. Our queries are 1. Since we will most likely be in Thrissur, Kerala before this, is there a direct train from there to Mettupalayam. How can we time it so we can catch the mountain rail? 2. The list of sights that we intend to see are - Botanical gardens, rose garden, Lake, Doddabetta peak, Glenmorgan, Avalanche, Ketti valley point view, Pykara lake, Wenlock downs, Western catchment, Upper Bhavani, Mudumalai life sanctuary, Elk hill, Mukurthi peak, Coonoor & Wellington. Which of these points can we combine so I get to see all of them in 2-3 days, leaving one day free for Coonoor and one for Ooty. 3. I believe a couple of these sights are on the way to Mysore (Mudumalai?). Is it better to hire a car to Bangalore or should we sight-see them, then take a bus to Bangalore. 4. Can you recommend a reliable driver for the entire trip. We would like to get down at a lot of places for photo-ops and need a driver who will be patient. Thanks a lot.

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Jul 21st, 2009, 21:42	#2
TheTrekGuy Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Blore Posts: 16	Hello, Please check out this thread. It answers most of your questions. Coonoor-Ooty-Kotagiri Browse through http://www.indiamike.com/india/udagamandalam-ooty-f147/ for more info on Ooty and surroundings. Have a nice and safe trip.

Jul 21st, 2009, 22:11	#3
rajered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Navi Mumbai Posts: 1,184	The train from Mettupalayam to Ooty is in the morning at 07:10. There is no direct train from Thrissur to Mettupalyam. If you want to do the train ride do it while coming back. Tickets are available as of now on irctc.co.in except for 15th August. Avalanche & Mudumalai life sanctuary are a one day trip each.

Jul 29th, 2009, 03:09	#4
davef22 Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: FL, USA Posts: 72	Pykara is after Conoor and on the way to Mudhumalai I think. A taxi ride from Metupalayam to Ooty should not cost more than Rs 600. Pykara falls is nothing but really green water(drain mixed) flowing like a falls. It is nice to see but involves a lot of steps which goes down and while coming back climbing back up can hurt. My wife and me were there in June and we are young and we found it a bit rough climbing up. Give pykara a thought. I really don't recommend this place as any of these falls are not really streams and like I said drain flowing. You can give this a pass if you want.

Jul 31st, 2009, 21:24	#7
sharan_travelcrazy Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 194	Dave, the monsoons weren't there yet in june. But after the heavy rains lashed out in the nilgiris in july (when I was there), this place was really worth visiting with water gushing at a great speed.