Blogs from Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 5

I had never thought that, travelling could be one of my hobbies, because I am not the kinda person who can travel easily.. I have got all kind of sicknesses.. bus sickness, air sickness etc etc. Anyways, after I started working, Me and my roommate and two friends of ours decided to take a trip to ooty on a weekend. We were in mysore then, a small but beautiful city in south karnataka. We booked for a tour package through our company travel agent. Our journey started at 5 in morning, our cab driver picked us up at 5 in morning and our first destination was bandipur national park, which is around 70 Km. from Mysore. We reached bandipur national park by 6:30 am and took the safari there. It was my first safari, we got ... read more

We left the hotel at about ten o'clock and drove off towards Mysore. However, we did not leave Bangalore until nearly eleven. The traffic and traffic management systems in the city really are awful. I noticed a fried chicken shop called Kentacky Chicken Corner, which I thought was probably a good name. Further on there was a temple with a giant green eagle over its doorway. I saw an attractive building and Rangam told me that it was a hospital. A lot of money seems to be poured into making hospitals here look good. This probably does increase the morale of patients and relatives and the recovery rates. There was a very beautiful hospital in Mumbai too, off Marine Drive. Just before we left the town we took a flyover, both the beginning and end of ... read more

Day 38 So we have started travelling. We've visited Calicut from Cochin. It was a 6 hour train ride to get there, we did an expensive sleeper ticket for 1.55 pound and got to stand in the doorway of the train hanging on for dear life, Russ called it free airconditioning. Eventually got a seat and moved our backpacks out the isle, and out of the rain. Numerous beggers and ppl selling everything from pencils to banana fritters! Not much to see in Calicut, the most exciting thing we did was get a auto rickshaw from the train station to a hotel reccommeded by the lonely planet book. We arrived up their covered driveway to be meeted by a doorman. We just managed to fit all kit and both of us in the rickshaw...well all but ... read more

A long weekend from March 7th to March 10th. We (Me, wife , Kunnu and Kennu) decided to dash off to Ooty at the last moment. Did some searches over net and finalized on Zest Danish Villa for 2 nights 3 day deal. Since my car was not with me we decided to use our cousins Accent. Drive Bangalore - Ooty We started from home at 6 AM on Saturday Morning. We have to pickup our friend who's parents are at Ooty and working in Bangalore. She was visiting them over the weekend and was piggy backing us in car. We started 6:15 AM from Indira Nagar by 6:45 we were near Kengari in Mysore Road. Stopped For breakfast at the Kamat Hotel around 7:30. At Mysore we took the Ring Road and we felt it ... read more

14-15 Feb 2009. Traveled to Ooty, described by all our group’s guidebooks as a charming throwback to colonial British times. It’s a “hill station”, a small town used as a summer retreat from India’s terrific heat. Unfortunately, those times are long gone. After an amazing ride up the mountains to about 6600 feet, we discovered yet another dusty town, with the worst accommodations we’ve experienced during any Intrepid trip - dirty and in poor repair. We had a breakfast to remember - it took over 30 minutes to get coffee and bread. The Indian service economy is not service-oriented. Today, we took a narrow gauge train (famous toy train, UNEXSO world heritage site) for an hour to Coonoor, where we visited a tea farm and factory. The train was fun but typically crowded, and the factory ... read more