It was a Thursday evening. My wife had left my mother at my aunt's place. "Shall we go to Ooty or Wynad this weekend?", I asked. "Are you joking?! There is no way we can get accommodation during the weekend!", was her spontaneous response. As always, she was right. The hotels that looked good in Wynad were all booked. Udhagamandalam (the newer name of Ooty, a hill station in southern India) had more options, but here also the popular hotels were all full. I did some more browsing to check about transport since I don't drive much. I found a KSRTC bus that left Bengaluru at around 7 am and reached Udhagamandalam at 2:30 pm. "We could go to Ooty", I informed. "Now you tell me! I am supporting a summer camp in April. I thought I could plan activities during the weekend. Let me see, I will tell you tomorrow.", my wife said in a tone that brooked no argument! I silently nodded and agreed - it was the wise thing to do!
I took the Monday off anyway, as I had some other personal work also. On Friday morning, my wife called to say we should go. I found a hotel with a family room accommodating four persons and reserved it. The bus tickets were easier to book.
On Saturday morning, we woke up earlier than usual to board the bus from the pick up point. The nice part is that I got details of the bus and a mobile number to coordinate the boarding.
Within a day of deciding to go out, we were off! I missed out on the sense of anticipation and excitement before a planned vacation, but that was replaced by a sense of thrill and adventure! I am somebody who prefers a well planned trip, so this was a contrarian experience!
The bus journey was smooth and comfortable. A group of three ladies boarded at Mysuru. They were childhood friends, which my wife learned while speaking to one of them. They showed the easy intimacy that comes with a long friendship, addressing each other in the singular, talking with a sense of familiarity and exchanging snacks with each other! They made the journey fun.
Our route was via the Bandipur and Madhumalai wildlife sanctuaries. The forest sanctuary is a contiguous area, called Bandipur in the state of Karnataka and Madhumalai in Tamil Nadu. Near the Tamil Nadu border, our bus conductor announced: "Plastic water bottles are not allowed in the Nilgiris district, please throw them here." We had brought a steel bottle filled with water from home, but a few of the passengers who had bought mineral water bottles grumbled.
After Gudalur just before entering the ghat section, the bus driver stopped for a tea break. Through the ghat section were roads that curved, a few hairpin bends along which we ascended a few feet higher and amazing views of tea estates and valleys.
We saw crowds at Paykara and the pine forest. Besides pine, the eucalyptus tree is ubiquitous in the area. The elevation of Udhagamandalam is 2300m. By the time we arrived there, the weather was distinctly cooler. We took an autorickshaw to a restaurant. Neither my wife or I knew Tamil good enough to negotiate with the auto driver, but to our surprise he spoke Hindi reasonably well. My wife and I spoke in Kannada between ourselves during the ride. The driver heard us. When we got down, he spoke in Kannada! Tourism and commerce bridge the differences among all of us. Autorickshaw fares are flat rates in Udhagamandalam: Rs. 80 for 1 km, Rs. 250 to go to Doddabetta, etc. I thought it was exorbitant, but knowing that everyone was paying the same high fare made the blow a little softer!
It was almost 4 pm when we checked in to our hotel. The receptionist at the front desk informed us that the Rose Garden was about a kilometer away and would be open until 6 pm.
We relaxed for about 30 minutes and then set off to the Rose Garden. The road was narrow, about 15 feet wide, typical of hill stations. British names are common in Udhagamandalam, since it as the summer retreat for many British people in the Madras Presidency. The names in Udhagamandalam and Coonoor indicate it: Charing Cross, Fern Hill, Bedford are all located here! Southwick was very close to our hotel.
We walked past the road, me using Google Maps to reach the Rose Garden. "Look!", my wife commanded grasping my arm. I glanced to where she was pointing. Like in all hill stations, the colours of the flowers that bloom are intense. I have not seen such richness in Bengaluru, commonly. On a balcony of a small house were flowers of different colours, of different plants. We saw pink and orange and white all mixed in joyous confusion. "Just see how these flowers are! Here I am, buying fancy seeds and manure to get the pots in our balcony to bloom!", remarked my wife enviously! A few minutes later, my app said that we were at our destination. What I saw in front of my eyes were a couple of buildings, certainly not the Rose Garden. "Where is the Rose Garden?", demanded my wife. It was a good question, one to which I had no answer ! I looked at the map again. I had selected the first occurrence of the word "Rose". It so happened that it was a hotel or homestay beginning with "Rose" that I had selected in the app instead of "Rose Garden" !
Luckily for me, the Rose Garden was only about a few hundred meters away. We reached there at 5 p.m., well before the closing time. The Rose Garden is about 4.4 hectares, spread across terraces. https://www.ootygardens.org/rose-garden/ has more information. Since this was the end of March, there were hardly any roses. I suppose only 10% of the garden actually had roses, but how delightful they were! There are interesting quotes on roses carved in stone in the garden. The different varieties of roses were named. The varieties of roses astound me! We saw a variety called "Gallant Red" but it was all white ! One simple theory is that the board was wrongly placed, which is the more likely one. Another pet theory that I have is that I saw spots of red on the white petals: my fertile imagination pictured drops of blood on a warrior like a Bheeshma, draped in white. Perhaps this is how the name came to be "Gallant Red" ! This theory is fanciful but far more interesting !
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| The board says "Gallant Red", but where is the Red?! I have a (possibly wrong) theory! |
It was nearly 6 pm when we left the garden. There is a government museum nearby. Again, we walked, taking a short cut through a mud road. We walked on one steep hairpin bend to reach the museum, huffing and puffing. It was nearing closing time, but the person manning the ticket counter happily ushered us in. The museum looks like an English bungalow. There are fine wood carvings and interesting photos of the tribes of Nilgiri. On the way back, we got down steps and walked on narrow roads that went through an area that looked poorer than the glitzy parts of Udhagamandalam.
Soon we were back at Southwick. On the right was our hotel. "Let us go here.", said my wife, pointing left. "There is a chocolate shop where I want to drink coffee!". she said. Her directions were perfect, unlike mine ! We were soon in the shop, a crowded chocolate and coffee shop, more famous for its chocolates and other sweets. The energy in the place was infectious, as youngsters ate pastries and marshmallows, drank chocolate, and cocoa. Yes, it was unhealthy and indulgent, but in the cool night, the energy in the place recharged us. Back at our hotel, there was a campfire organised, where we met another family from Bengaluru. We exchanged travel notes, retiring for the night soon.
The next morning, I got up earlier than my wife to walk to Ooty Viewpoint. It was only a mile away from our hotel and I felt that the walk would be interesting. The road was a narrow one again branching left from the main road near our hotel. The sound of birdsong was always around me, but there were few walkers. I spotted only a handful of people. One woman looked ready for work and seemed to be a teacher, another man was a labourer. As I climbed up using the road, there were good views of Udhagamandalam. I checked my phone to see where the viewpoint was, only to realize that I had taken the wrong road at a fork. I was headed towards hotels, not the viewpoint ! I decided that the walk was enough and returned. I drank a cup of coffee at a bakery and almost regretted it. Except for the fact that it was hot, the taste was unlike what I expect as South Indian filter coffee !
We hired a taxi for the whole day. The taxi driver was delayed, but that was OK for us. We spent the time soaking the morning sun and strolling around the hotel, watching sparrows and other birds flit about from one plant to another. Our first stop was Doddabetta peak. The name translates to "Big Mountain" in my mother tongue Kannada. Since the royal city of Mysuru is relatively closer to Udhagamandalam compared to Chennai, the influence of Kannada language and the Kannadiga people is seen here. Due to tourism, there is an openness in the city. A watch tower like building has been constructed in Doddabetta that offers spectacular views. We saw Mettupalyam, Coimbatore and the area around Avalanche Lake. The greenery was a lot, there were lot of people and quite a few monkeys! The monkeys are mostly harmless though.
From Doddabetta, we went to the Tea Factory. This is an actual factory where the tea making process is explained in person by one of the factory personnel and via charts put helpfully outside the factory. Later, we watched a video that explains the process. https://www.upasitearesearch.org/tea-manufacturing/# describes the process in detail. The factory is enclosed in glass so that visitors can see the process, but do not affect the manufacturing process. At the end of it, there was a tea sampling ceremony. I was told that at one time there are six varieties of tea offered, but due to the situation in the Middle East and the shortage of LPG, we had only one variety.
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| From the top of the tea factory, most (or some) of Udhagamandalam is seen. |
At the factory is Sullivan's viewpoint, named for John Sullivan. Sullivan was the Collector of Coimbatore, who heard of Udhagamandalam, visited it and settled there. He is credited with introducing tea and other vegetables as narrated in http://www.ooty.com/jonhsulivan.htm. Once the British people learned about the cool climate of Udhagamandalam, a lot of them settled here. Bakery and chocolate making were introduced by them and picked up locally. My wife and I found too many shops selling Ooty home made chocolates. https://ootymade.com/blogs/news/ooty-chocolate-whooty-chocolate-why-it-tastes-different narrates the history behind Ooty's home made chocolates.
The view from Sullivan's viewpoint at the tea factory is beautiful. From the tea factory, our way out led us into a shopping area for tea and spices, then another for different types of chocolates, then a place where children could play video games and then still another shop for souvenirs! Our next stop was at an actual tea estate, full of tea shrubs planted on terraces at different levels. It made for a refreshing view. Coincidentally, we met the three ladies from the bus. My wife took a picture for them.
By now, it was almost 12:30 p.m. We debated whether to eat lunch now or finish Botanical Gardens and then eat. In the end, we ate in the cafeteria at Botanical Gardens, about an hour later. The Ooty Government Botanical Gardens is about 55 acres and like the Rose Garden is spread across different levels. The weather was cloudy, which was ideal for us. We went to the Japanese garden first on the left and then the conservatory. The conservatory was crowded, since it was full of flowering pots. Both my wife and I felt that we were in the Lalbagh flower show in Bengaluru!
After eating at the cafeteria, we went to the Italian Garden. As https://www.tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in/destinations/rose-garden informs us, this garden was made by Italian prisoners of war from the First World War! This garden is at a higher level, so the crowd was lesser. We went up even further and saw the hydrangea garden, a collection of hydrangea flowers, some of which were blooming. There was one building that housed only cacti and orchids. It was delightful. We spent some more time there and then concluded at about 3:30p.m. My wife purchased a succulent inside the garden and strawberries and lychee fruit just outside the garden.
We visited Ooty Lake as evening began to set. There was a lot of waiting time for the boat ride, so we skipped it. The lake looks peaceful and relaxing. We walked along it, drank tea at the cafeteria there and then left. Right opposite the lake is the Thread Garden, a hall with potted plants. Only: the plants here are artificial and made entirely of thread, the idea of a man named Antony Joseph. https://thebetterindia.com/46486/thread-garden-antony-joseph-ooty-nilgiris-flowers-embroidery/ describes how the Thread Garden came about. We marvelled at the flowers and the plants.
This was the last stop in our taxi for the day. We came back to our hotel and decided to buy chocolates. It was about 7 p.m. when we started. I felt cold ! When we set off for Udhagamandalam, I told my wife that I was not taking any sweater. That night, I regretted my decision for 30 minutes. As we stepped out, my teeth were chattering due to the cold ! "I need coffee today!", I bawled. we soon reached the chocolate shop that we had visited the previous evening. Since it was Sunday evening, the crowd was lesser compared to the previous evening, but still the place was full. We purchased chocolates, including dark chocolate. The hot cappuccino that evening was particularly welcome for me!
We were heading back to Bengaluru the next morning. I got up and again set off for Ooty Viewpoint. This time, I took the right road at the fork. Soon I was at a clearing on top of a small hillock. Taller peaks surrounded me. From the viewpoint, I could see the roofs of houses and other buildings. It was already 7:30 a.m. by this time. The sun had risen and it was playing hide and seek with clouds. I watched it for some time and then started back, with a small sense of achievement.
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| The road to Ooty viewpoint showed me interesting views. I liked the look of the hotel/ resort/ bungalow as I descended from the viewpoint. |
Again, I stopped at the bakery where I had stopped the day earlier. Thankfully, the coffee was far better. Soon, it was time to depart. Just before we boarded the bus, we saw the three ladies in the boarding queue in front of us. We greeted each other with a sense of familiarity now. By evening, we were back home. Both during the onward journey to Udhagamandalam and the return journey we saw elephants near Bandipur forest. The thrill of spotting elephants, peacocks and deer made the passage around Bandipur exciting.
This trip was planned literally a couple of days before we started. It was brief, but a lot of fun. Some memories stand out: watching the colourful flowers in the balcony of a home, seeing sparrows flit about, the taste of home made chocolate and the unexpected sight of a tusker near the Moyar river in Bandipur.
Often, it is the unexpected and new experiences that make travel memorable!
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