OOTY Trip

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It’s a very nice trip. I (we) enjoyed a lot. I never forget the trip.



Day 1: (3- Sep 2010)

We left the company @ 7:00 PM, had dinner @ Saravana bhavan, Egmore. Reached Chennai central station on-time. To our surprise Jegan & parthiban came before us. Malai & Sam joined us later. We had a nice photo shoot in the 8^th Platform where Nilgiri Express was parked. The things are going fine till 9:00 PM, the train left & Kumar missed the train. He came in Alleppey express (Unreserved) & caught us at Mettupalayam.



Day 2: (4- Sep 2010)

We reached kovai @ 5:00 AM, as planned we refreshed ourselves before reaching Mettupalayam @ 6:15 AM. Kumar took an un-reserved ticket from Mettupalayam to Ooty & he was in the queue. After Photo session in the front side of NMR train we had Breakfast there in the station. It was a malayali stall & the idli was somewhat good. The NMR train started nicely @ 7:10 AM exactly. We took more number of photos until we reached Kallar. After that there is a high climb area, where the train was not able to run further. So the Authorities decided to return the train to Mettupalayam. We’re very much frustrated & the train was returned to Mettupalayam. They railway authorities told that they will arrange a bus to Ooty, but the plan was cancelled & we get the bus to Coonoor, as the bus to Ooty was over crowd. We reached Coonoor after 12:00 PM. From there we got another bus to Ooty. We reached Ooty and went to “Hotel Nahar” in Charing Cross. The Unlimited Lunch costs ~ 85 rupees, except the rice quality the lunch was good. We can go with a family, as the restaurant is so nice. Then we met Jegan’s friend Sarath, who is his college met, CEO of a BPO company in Ooty & a very good travel guide.



Sarath arranged a very nice cottage in the uphill of Ooty called “Delightz Inn” (http://www.delightzinn.com/contactus.php). After refresh in the cottage, we went for Boating. We took 2 pedal boats for a half an hour trip. There is a chill breeze & mist wherever we went. Bought Dinner for the day @ Dhaba (Non veg), Hotel saravanas (veg) & returned to Cottage @ 7:00 PM. We started the camp Fire @ 8:00 PM, where Sarath, jegan taught us a padugas dance. Sure, no one will forget the movements, steps & the talk that made laughs. With pakoda & chips, sam enjoyed the chill weather. After 9:00 PM we ate dinner (Kanchu pona chappathi….) & went to bed after 10:00 PM.



Day 3: (5- Sep 2010)

Most of us woke up @ 6:00 AM & I shooted some colorful pictures of morning Ooty. After having idly (7.50/each) & bread jam from the delightz inn cottage, we vacated the room at 9:00 AM. The room rent is 2,250 & the camp fire costs 800/. We fill our water cans & went to Pykara. First we saw the pine forest we took some snaps, went for boating, then to falls & then to 9^th mile – a shooting spot, where the mountain is covered with green grass, where some of us went for a horse riding (300 for a full round, 100 for a half round). Then we went for unlimited lunch (Good) @ Hotel thendral after 2:30 PM. Then we went to Botanical Garden after 3:00 PM (Spent very less time), as we need to reach Doddabetta before 5:00 PM. The valley is covered with mist & we hadn’t seen the beautiful view. One thing we learnt there is not to eat radish which looks like Apple at a cost of 10/packet. From there we went to Kattabettu (Jegan’s native, on the way to Kotagiri, lies off Kotagiri – Coonoor road). We reached there after 7:00 PM. It’s a village of Padukas, we got a warm welcome by them (as most of us never expected a welcome message form neighbours).



Jegan showed his school, his mother made us a chicken kulambu (Non veg), Avarai kulmabu (veg) with meals for our dinner. After 10:00 PM we slept in his house.



Day 4: (6- Sep 2010)

After 6:00 AM, we went to shit, then we played foot ball in the school ground. His mother made us a NA2 (paniyaram, taste like appam in Madurai area, made from ravai & looked like a poori). After breakfast we left there @ 11:00 AM. We went to lambs rock in coonoor, there we saw the valley is full of mist, we had a good time there & bought spices, oils (which was not cheaper as expected). Then we went to Dolphin’s nose, there we saw the beautiful view of Catherine falls. From there we went to Tea factory (Brooke lands, Karanchi). There they showed how the tea leaves are processed. Unfortunately the Factory is holiday on Monday, but they showed the process (10/- ticket). Then we purchased tea packets @ 180/kg. From there we went to buy chocolate @ Mayur outlet. The chocolate costs RS 40/100 gms, RS 110/300 gms. Then we returned to Coonoor @ 4:30 PM. As the cost of entrance for Sims park looked too high (20/each) & we doesn’t have the time, we changed our plan & bought varukki in the Indian bakery (close to bus stand) @ 90/kg. We left there nearly @ 5:30 PM & reached Mettupalayam @ 7:00 PM.



Me & Jegan went to buy idlis, Parthi went to check the status of reservation, as we’re in RAC. Our tickets are confirmed, we left there @ 7:45 PM, had our dinner on the way to Kovai & nearly @ 9:30 PM, Parthi get into the train from Tirupur, as he left us from Mettupalayam & went to his native Avinashi.



Day 5: (7- Sep 2010)

We reached Chennai central station @ 5:10 AM.

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