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Published: October 29th 2012
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We reached Coonoor on a cloudy noon in the last week of October. It was drizzling over the valleys but not raining. We three (my wife, son and myself) checked in Hotel Vivek where we had booked a room thru net. It was slightly interior to the main roads, situated in upper Coonoor near Upasi at Figure of 8 Road and after calling the hotel we could locate the place. There was a restaurant also in the premises called Green Field and we had our lunch there.
Coonoor is a calm and quiet place where there is no crowd, rush and noises unlike Ooty. You can spend a lazy day here for sight seeing or simply walking thru the greenery or visiting the view points and the park.
After the meals we first visited Sims Park, the botanical garden which was around two kilometers from the hotel. Though we feared the rain would spoil the day, fortunately there was no further rainfall. It is a large park spread over acres of land having full of flowers and variety of plants and trees. Many of the trees are very old and rare. There is a lake
inside the park where one can go for boating. We spent almost two hours there wandering thru the meadows.
In front of Sims park there is a junction, the road from Coonoor town goes in two opposite directions, one leads to Kotagiri and the other towards Willington Cantonment area. There are a few small fruits and vegetables shops and tea stalls located in the junction. Opposite to the park stands the famous Pasteur Institute, producing anti-rabies vaccine. However now-a-days it is not open to the public for visit. There is a narrow road parallel to the park which leads to a tea factory where production process of tea can be witnessed and various types of tea can be purchased by the visitors. Since we have already seen the same in Munnar we didn’t opt for this destination.
Then we planned to have a rounding thru lower Coonoor. It is more crowded as the Coonoor municipal bus stand, market etc are situated here. There are a number of shops congested in this area. There is one vegetarian hotel Sri Lakshmi near to the bus stand. There are a few bakeries such as Crown Bakery,
New Indian Bakery (two branches). As we heard about the tasty biscuits available in these bakeries we shopped in the New Indian Bakery, had some coockies and varkies (a snack available in Ooty, Coonor hill stations). The latter seemed to be ordinary, but if you had the experience in your childhood, of tasting those simple but tasty biscuits displayed in the glass jars in your village shop, you would definitely like these biscuits too.
Next we visited Coonoor market, consisting full of small pathways where you will lose the direction and the way behind you, as the narrow paths are countless and cross cutting and crowded also. A large number of tiny shops and stalls selling fruits, vegetables, grocery, cloths, leather items, and a lot more are seen in the market. Viewing from the main roads outside the market you may not guess the complexity inside the market. Hence it would be a nice experience to enter into and to exit this place!
We then planned to head towards Lamb’s Rock, a view point about 7 kms far from Coonoor on the way to Dolphin’s Nose, another view point situated 12 kms fom the
town. As it was not a sunny day and it was already evening we had to drop the idea of visiting Dolphin Nose which would be covered by fog by the time we reach there. Hence we moved to the Lamb’s Rock.
It is a beautiful viewpoint on the rocks surrounded by large trees and plants which create the atmosphere of a small forest. There are two walk-paths, one to climb uphill and the other to come back. On the top there is a pillar, steps are provided so that one can easily climb the same and have the scenic beauty of surrounding valleys and mist spreading here and there.
Since it was nearing twilight we started our return trip to the town. It was getting very cold and we came back to the hotel for dinner without further wanderings.
Next day morning after breakfast we went near Sim’s park and drove towards Wellington. It is a Cantonment Board area where the Defence Services Staff College is situated and also a picturesque location. Green meadows are flood on both sides of the road. There is a Golf club by the side
of the road. We spent some time there to take a few snaps.
Coming back to Sims park junction we drove a few kilometers towards Kotagiri area. This was also a route with nice sceneries. On the way we found a small temple on the uphill side of the road which was named ‘Chinna Tirupathy’ as it was Sree Venkiteswara Temple. We had a visit there and felt a nice atmosphere there. Interestingly the poojary (performer of rituals) of the temple was a young fellow who had his MBA done and was undergoing management consultancy as told to us.
There was a water fall called Law’s falls near to Coonoor, however on enquiry we have been advised that in the rainy time it would be slippery and hence not approachable. The other water falls which we heard was Catherine falls, which was situated in Kotagiri.
As it was nearing noon we went back to the hotel. It was time to check out and go for our next destination. The time we spent in Coonoor was swift and awesome nice and we bid farewell to this scenic township, Sayanora!
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Debosmita
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Excellent description of Coonoor
This post filled me with immense eagerness and enthusiasm to explore Coonoor. Thank you for sharing it. I am eager to know more about places to visit in Coonoor. I would even plan a trip soon.