FIRST TIME TO OOTY

                                                 FIRST TIME TO OOTY
 

Ooty is known for its wonderful and beautiful photo frames with its grade hills, Was determined beauty can be achieved in the small hill town. which makes the numerous attraction to us to visit Ooty and also to find
what would be the secret of the Name Queen of Hills. Then we reached Ooty by Mettupalayam Connor road. On the way, we visited Coonoor and found that hills were covered with full of mist and clouds that was our first photo click.

We enjoyed visiting Sim's park with a lake in it. The park was a big one, big trees of many species. There were many flowing plants, looked beautiful.  we had to climb down from left and climb up from the right. At the right side, there was a tree of ‘Rudhraksha’. This is the first time I’m seeing a Rudraksha tree. Many plants were arranged with a small border of many shapes, especially India and World map. After roaming around the park, we came out.
Than finished our lunch in the hotel in Coonoor and started to Dolphin’s Nose point.  It took us 45 minutes to reach there. we parked our vehicle and walked to the point with our camera. The view from here was breathtaking. We also saw Catherine falls in a distance which looked like a white thread. This place also gave a great panoramic view of the range of hills. After that, we walked to Lamb’s rock point. It gave similar view but, also looked beautiful. the sun was shining in the middle of the mountains making the scene the most wonderful one.

we all moved to our hotel. We all dumped bags in the rooms and rushed to the restaurant. There were two dining areas. The place was quiet and without any noise. After our dinner, we ran back to our rooms to have a happy night sleep.

The next morning, we got ready for sightseeing  Avalanche lake. We passed by a Forest rest/guest house. we had to drive through a forest to reach the lake. It was beautiful. It was silent and isolated. and we traveled for minutes to visit  Emerald Lake and stopped our vehicle there. It was as beautiful as Avalanche Lake. after taking pictures we started moving forward.We reached by 1:00 PM to Ooty. After our delicious Lunch, we moved to Rose garden. We saw some of the exotic variety of roses. Very big and very small. Roses in every possible color.  There were sitting areas too. Most of the people were resting there. we went through each section with taking pictures as much as we could.

Then we visited Boat House.We ran to the bank. There was a jetty with around 5-6 boats. We booked a motorboat. . we got into the boat. Our boat driver started talking to us. He asked where we were from, how we came etc. And we were busy in taking pictures while others checked out the place. With a peaceful and calm 1 hour boating,

we headed to our next target, Government Botanical Garden. We drove a few minutes forward  The entrance itself was a great one. After buying tickets, we moved in. In front of us, was a huge and a striking colossal garden.  There were flowering plants and many crotons arranged in many shapes. There was a 20 million old tree which has been fossilized. With all that stun we came to the entrance, where there was a huge grassland to sit. We bagged the middle of that area and we moved out of the garden. And moved back to the hotel to spend the night.

The next day, we got ready early. We had planned to go towards Pykara and Mudumalai which were far then, visit the places nearby. We had our breakfast before leaving. We started at 8 towards Pykara.  We had reached in around 55 mins the way gave a beautiful view of mountains and lake flowing by. It was quiet and away from the city. whole place more clearly but wet everywhere. We enjoyed the climate.we had to walk a while to reach the falls. there were many people walking with us. Most of the people were staring at us then, moved towards Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The whole place was scaring. we saw some deer, rabbits crossing the roads.

We were told our own/private vehicles were not allowed inside the reserve so, we parked our vehicle. We then, booked with jungle safari. Before that, we had our lunch. As no food items were allowed inside the forest. Our jeep came after a 10 minutes wait. The guide who was about to come with us gave a brief self-intro, then, some instructions and guidelines. We nodded to each instruction he made. Then, our jeep moved. We first got scared and feared to move forward. But, our guide was genuine enough to take care of us. he told not to worry that he knows the behavior of every animal there. after a few minutes’ drive, he showed us pond, where a couple of elephants were drinking water. We then moved forward slowly. We were in the middle of a jungle. We had already started realizing that. We saw many, peacocks, wild squirrels, pigeons, common monkeys, anteaters and shrews, and bats. At last the thriller and scaring experience came to end. We took our vehicle and drove back to Ooty as soon as possible towards the hotel. Once we reached the hotel, the Mudumalai experience became the hot topic to talk about. The whole night (even after the dinner) we talked about that.

The next morning we had to check out. So, we came out of the hotel. Then we headed towards to Doddabetta Peak. it was 9.5 km away  After having our breakfast  After a 20 minutes drive, we reached Tea Factory and Tea museum for which we have to take a right turn up from the main road to reach. The place covered by fog, but, was awesome. We went inside after paying Rs.5 for each person. We walked inside. There was a huge room where the tea leaves were kept for filtering. We went through each section of the tea processing. After that, we came to a place where free tea was given for tasting. We grabbed each one. It was perfect for the weather. We then moved out where we saw signs, like; Chocolate making, spices, etc.

We then headed to Doddabetta Peak.We parked our vehicle and started climbing up through a series of steps. We were tired but, once we reached the peak, the whole tiredness went away. There was fog everywhere. We walked through the fog and the mist hit us. there was a watch tower. We climbed to it. But, we couldn’t see anything because of the fog. Then, we went down and walked to the peak point. It was scary as we saw a deep valley at the end.  We took pictures of the rock. It was quite slippery so we had to be more careful. After spending some time we came back.

We had our lunch and traveled back to our home via Coonoor to Mettupalayam road. It was the great experience and found the secret why the Ooty is known as Queen of Hills.

GOVERNMENT MUSEUM OOTY

                                               
                                                GOVERNMENT MUSEUM OOTY

Ooty has so much to flaunt, from scenic beauty to myriad of activity it offers; museums of Ooty are yet another way to exhibit what makes this town so enchanting.The Government Museum, Mysore Road, Udhagamandalam, has items of tribal objects, districts ecological details and representative sculptural arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu.

It was set up in 1989, with a view to providing education benefits to the residing and visiting population of the Nilgiris district. The admission to this museum is free. The timings are 10.00 am to 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. It is closed on Fridays, Second Saturdays and National Holidays. The nearest airport is at Coimbatore (100-km).

Udhagamandalam Government Museum has an interesting selection of objects covering an assortment of subjects – from art and sculpture to archaeology and anthropology to botany, zoology, geology and numismatics and philately. You can see many contemporary paintings and sculptures here. And you can learn about the Todas, the local tribe that resides in the region.  

RACECOURCE OOTY

                                                 
                                                         RACECOURCE OOTY
                                                   

In its more than 100 years of remarkable history, the famous Ooty course has witnessed many rare distinctions.Ooty Racecourse is one of the famous tourists' place It entertains tourists and to attract more tourists to the much sought after tourist destination, the government, district administration as well as various organizations conduct a host of events and competitions every year.Apart from the flower show and other annual events, one cannot miss mentioning the famous Ooty Horse Race at the picturesque Race Course in Udhagamandalam.

The annual event that begins around April 14 is witnessed by thousands of tourists and locals. Horses have already started coming to the town and are getting ready to gallop from the post position.This year too the Madras Race Club has started gearing up to meet the expectations of tourists and horse racing enthusiasts by preparing the race track on which hundreds of horses from across the country will be racing – over the next few weeks.Ooty Racecourse is a highland race course in Ooty, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Built for summer racing in the hills, the course stands at an altitude of 2,268 m above sea level. The race course is adjacent to the railway station in the heart of town

ASSEMBLY ROOMS

                                                             ASSEMBLY ROOMS

The Assembly Rooms has touched almost every individual in this area.The old Assembly Rooms in Ooty, constructed over 150 years ago, gets a nip and a tuck. Originally called Misquith’s Rooms it got its present name in 1886. It was bought by Lady Willingdon for Rs 50,000 and bequeathed to the people of Ooty in 1922 for their entertainment. From holding dances and theatre performances, the Rooms turned into a movie hall.

 The theatre is spacious, with digital technology for a better viewing experience and a silver screen that allows 3 D films.The Rooms are on 1.15 acres of prime land.It has never been profit-oriented. Funds have generated for the maintenance. Ms. Archana Patnaik who was the collector then got us funds from HADP and maintenance was taken up. Along with other generous contributions, over 70 lakh have spent on the project. The area around has been turned into parking to earn revenue.   The movie experience to be as good as it is in the big cities. 90 percent have has been achieved.The space behind the theatre was cleaned that was lying unused for years to be used as parking.

The Assembly Rooms were thrown open today after they had shut in 2011 for renovation. There will soon be a gallery displaying old film paraphernalia including the Bauer projector that was used till recently.There will also be photographs of the legends of Hollywood and Indian cinema and of the popular movie shooting haunts in the Nilgiris.

MAJOR DISASTER OF OOTY

                                               MAJOR  DISASTER OF OOTY

Ooty faced the major disaster in the year 2009.Heavy rains triggered a series of landslides in Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri regions of the Nilgiris, about 600km from Chennai, killing 42 people in the past 48 hours. Most of the people were killed after the landslides slammed into their houses. Seven of a family died at Acchanakal hamlet near Ooty,” a source in district collector Anandrao Vishnu Patil’s office told DNA. “We have set up relief camps in the three regions and nearly 1,000 people have been sheltered there.”

The slides and uprooted trees also cut off access to Nilgiris via Mettupalayam and the district collector asked tourists to stay away from Ooty. “The approach road to Ooty from Tamil Nadu via Mettupalayam has been severely damaged. We received 310cm rain this morning. After 1978, this is the biggest rain-related disaster in the district. The road via Kotagiri is in slightly better shape which is why traffic has been redirected through it.

“However, smaller landslides and fallen trees are also blocking parts of the road. At this point, we can only say that there’s been a lot of damage but it’s difficult to say how much. It will be some time before we begin to assess the losses to roads, houses, crops and other property,” the sources said.The state government has announced a cash relief or Rs1 lakh each to the kin of those killed. Chief minister M Karunanidhi asked agricultural minister Veerapandi Arumugham and small industries minister Pongalur Palanichami to visit the district to assess the damage.

CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

                                                    CHOCOLATE  MUSEUM

Handmade chocolates are famous in Ooty, Every tourist who visits Ooty will not forget the packs of chocolate. M & N Chocolate Museum on Mysore Road, near HPF factory. The brothers maintain it’s a first-of-its-kind in the country and it gives an insight into the history of chocolate-making.

The museum, with its vintage architecture and interiors that remind one of British country architecture, also boasts of model of horse carts, boat, idols, chocolate fountain, ancient chocolate making implements, cocoa seeds and the photographs of three Swiss men who were pioneer in home-made chocolate-making, along with signages on the health profit of chocolates. It also has a counter to house varieties of homemade chocolates.

December 2010 they had organized the first chocolate festival featuring 101 varieties and since then they had shown their deep love for cocoa and chocolates in different ways. Bringing into being a museum was a natural corollary.Apart from the 16 items designed with chocolates, posters listing the health benefits of cocoa have also been displayed.

OOTY FLOWER SHOW

                                                     
                                                          OOTY  FLOWER  SHOW

Thousands of tourists visited the Government Botanical Garden  every year .The Ooty Summer Festival is an annual event, which is celebrated every year in Ooty amidst the Nilgiri Hills. Organised by the Government of Tamil Nadu, this 121-year-old event is one of the most amazing and prominent festivals that attracts tourist from various corners of the world. This summer festival consists of fairs, carnivals, flower shows, vegetable, and spice show and several cultural activities that catch the eyes of the visitors. The flower show is the major attraction of this festival as it displays more than 15 varieties of flowers from different countries, which is organized at the Botanical garden and witnesses the most number of spectators.

The event usually continues for 3 days and diverse ventures take place during the same. Classical art exhibitions and adventure activities can also be enjoyed during the festival that makes it a memorable experience for the audiences. The major aim behind organizing the festival is promoting tourism of Ooty. The arrangements are done by the Government keeping in mind the visitors. The impeccable charm of this festival steals the hearts of all the people visiting it and leave them awestruck. This year the Ooty Summer Festival is going to be held in the month of May in Ooty and can be visited by taking a flight/bus/train to Ooty.

More than 15,000 potted plants and 200 varieties of blooming plants including Oriental and Asiatic Lilies, French marigolds, petunias, salvias, begonias, asters, balsams, chrysanthemums, zinnias, and verbenas are on display. Five types of carnations were imported from Italy for the show.Visitors will get to see more than 4 lakh flowers and can take pictures from a dedicated ‘selfie’ spot.The main attractions are the replica of Mahabalipuram shore temple made from lakhs of red and white carnation flowers and a hornbill made from thousands of carnation flowers and arches and arabesques decorated with orchids and other colorful flowers.