Coonoor - A Trip to Niligiri Hills

Mar 23rd – Mar 25th


Work was taking its toll on us and what we needed was a rejuvenating break and what Coonoor offered was exactly that. It had been while since we had gone for a trip and so Shivaram’s family and we decided to venture out during the Ugadi weekend. We originally planned to go to Chikmagalur but as the weather was too hot there, finalized on Coonoor.

We browsed through a number of resorts listed in tripadvisor and found that the best reviews were for Sun Valley resorts. We enquired about the availability on 11th Mar and confirmed the booking on 13th. By now, Santhosh and family decided to join us as well.

Day 1

On Friday 23rd Mar, we started from Bangalore at 6AM. The weather was perfect and our holiday started with a cool drive under the rising sun….one of those rare mornings where we stopped to watch the sun rise. On the way we stopped at Bidadi for breakfast, where we filled ourselves with some awesome hot Thatte idly. There were no stops thereafter until Coonoor.

We took the Bangalore –Mysore – Gundlupet – Mudumalai –Masinagudi – Ooty – Coonoor route. The drive through the forest was exciting though we didn’t expect to sight any animals. The roads were good but the ghat section from Mudumalai till Ooty was quite a steep and tedious drive. We reached Ooty at about 1 30PM and Coonoor by 2PM. We waited near the Coonoor railway station from where Michael (from the resort) came to direct us till the resort. We were famished by the time we reached and all we could think about was food. Before we could feel the cool air and absorb the serenity, we gathered ourselves for lunch. The food was really awesome in South Indian style with sambar, rasam, rice and chicken curry.

We then checked into our rooms, which require a special mention here…they were fabulous and very well maintained. The furnishings were really good and the rooms were well ventilated. The view was perfect, overlooking the tea plantations and the town below. Our rejuvenation had begun…..

From the start, we had planned on not keeping the trip packed with visiting places. We spent the evening in the resort, relaxing around camp fire and just enjoying the weather. Again had some yummy dinner and looked forward to the next day.



Day 2

As planned…we didn’t have any big plans for the day, though the one thing we did not want to miss after coming to Coonoor was the ride on Nilgiri Express…the train that has set the mood in a lot of Indian movies and was part of everybody’s dream of a hill station. The train was starting from Coonoor at 1215PM. We had a late breakfast at the resort (bored of saying how awesome the food was…again…!!) and started to the railway station. The itinerary was to take the train to Ooty and to immediately return in the same train, which had a stopover of about 15min before heading back. We got into the train and it started chugging along at 1215PM and immediately the mood was changed. Though the train was crowded and noisy, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the beauty of the Nilgiris unfurling itself outside. It was now that it dawned on us they we were going to Ooty- The Queen of Hill Stations and how could we return without enjoying her, though it may be only for a short while. So we reworked our plans and decided to stay back for a few hours in Ooty before taking the last train back to Coonoor.

The experience on the Nilgiri Express was truly special. She rode along the hills taking each turn slowly so that we could fill our eyes with the beauty underneath. It was a nostalgic trip for all of us as we had only heard about the tunnels and views of the Nilgiris in our childhood and this was like all those images coming to life in front of us. We reached Ooty at 130PM and headed straight for lunch. We then decided to go for the boating in the lake.

It was quite sunny though not particularly hot. Being Ugadi holiday, the boating place was crowded. We still managed to get the tickets and took an eight seater ride around the lake. It was beautiful. The greenery around was mind blowing. The place was swarming with people and we couldn’t help but imagine what a beauty this place once would have been. This felt like one of those tragedies that men inflicted upon nature, where her eternal beauty was replaced with cement buildings, shops and crowd.

It was almost 4 by now and our last train back to Coonoor was at about 600PM. After boating we spent some time lazing around – the kids enjoyed a few rides and we started back to the station. One word of caution here, the queue for taking tickets for the train is really long and so it is better to reach the station well in advance to avoid standing in the queue for too long or taking the risk of missing the train. We took the 1st class tickets for our way back and enjoyed the ride back in the coupe.

We reached the resort by 730PM, feeling refreshed in mind, but tired in physique. Again, we relaxed by the camp fire for a while, had dinner and retired for the day.

Day 3

We were scheduled to start back to Bangalore in the afternoon. We had late breakfast and relaxed in our rooms. Brinda and kids enjoyed a walk and few photo sessions in the tea plantation. By then it was time for lunch and start our journey back. We picked up some homemade chocolates from Ooty as well.

While returning, we took the Ooty – Gudalur – Gundlupet – Mysore – Bangalore route. Although this route was longer than the earlier route, the view was amazing and it was worth every extra kilometer we drove. The tall eucalyptus trees and the beautiful view of the Nilgiris provided a real treat to the eyes. We also sighted some elephants and deer along the way...would recommend this route to anybody who wants to really enjoy their drive back. We reached Gudlupet, took a short break at Café Coffee day headed to Mysore.

Sharing few  moments we enjoyed together ....click here

Trip to Sri Lanka , The Pearl of the Indian Ocean

Thanking ....

Mrs&Mr Zukkur for all the help and support provided for inland transport and accommodation in Sri Lanka.

Plan :

Oct 20,2011 - Departing Bangalore - TUTICORIN EXP - 2100Hrs.

Oct 21,2011 - Arriving Tuticorin - 1100Hrs.

Oct 21,2011 - Departing India - Check-in Flemingo Liners - 1400Hrs.

Oct 22,2011 - Arriving Sri Lanka - Check out Flemingo Liners - 800Hrs.

Oct 29,2011 - Departing Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan Airlines - 1835Hrs.

Oct 29,2011 - Arriving India, Bangalore - 1955Hrs.

Our Travel:

IRCTC - Indian Railways .

Star Destinations India - Flemingo Liners Pvt. Ltd

SriLankan Airlines

Our Stay:

Bell Hotel Tuticorin, 23 South, Tuticorin 628 001, India.

Kassapa Lions Rock ,Digampathaha ,Kimbissa, Sigiriya, Sri Lanka.

Glendower Hotel ,5 Grand Hotel Rd, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.

Ruhunu Safari Village, Gurugoda, Yala, Sri Lanka .

Sunils Beach Hotel,Galle Road,Narigama, Hikkaduwa 82020, Sri Lanka.

Hotel Renuka ,328 Galle Road,Colombo 3, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Shivaram's family and we decided to go for a week long trip to Sri Lanka about 4 months back. After a lot of discussion on the dates, we zeroed in on the Diwali week due to the long festival holidays. Our friend Mr. Zukkur from Sri Lanka helped us in organizing the itinerary and advised us on the places of visit. To add to the excitement we looked into the possibility of taking a ship to Colombo. Our wish was granted - Flemingo liner services – “Scotia Prince” plying from Tuticorin to Colombo.

Day 1 - 20 Oct: 2100Hrs - Boarded the Pearl City Express from Bangalore to Tuticorin .

 

Day 2 - 21Oct: Reached Tuticorin the at about 1100Hrs. Took a taxi to bell hotel where we had booked our halt for freshening up.We checked into Bell hotel for a couple of hours to freshen up before leaving for the port. The place was good. People were very nice and food was great. The same taxi guy picked us up and took to the port. Scheduled check in was about at about 1400Hrs. The Tuticorin Port is 12 kms from the railway station. Orange gate was the one for passengers. The check in process in the port was slow and severe with the passport checked and baggage's scanned a number of times. Finally we got into the ship at about 1500Hrs .

 

It was a new and exciting experience for all of us to go on a cruise. The ship had good facilities including a casino and bar. The rooms were well maintained and we had a good time in the evening on the deck enjoying the sailing. Welcome drink and Complimentary snacks were provided as we checked in the reception of the ship. The ship started sailing at 1800Hrs. Initially due to the sea motion we felt a sort of instability and later on it was fine. Duty free and casino starts after sailing 12 nautical miles called International waters.

Once we were in international waters , had couple of drinks and moved on for dinner. The food was fine. We returned back to bar and continued our drinks waiting for the clock to tick12 as it was my birthday next day. Raised few toasts on my birthday and we all retired to our bunkers. We had opted for deluxe rooms with toilet and shower. The rooms were really nice.

Day 3 - 22Oct: Breakfast was served in the ship. We reached the Colombo Port at about 800Hrs.But the emigration and clearance was slow and tiring It was about 1100Hrs by the time we came out.

The vehicle arranged by our friend Mr Zukkur was waiting for us with pluck cards mentioning our names.

 Jagath was our pilot for the trip. We all were so hungry that it was unanimous thought to fill in our tummies. We converted few USD to LKR. Went to McDonald's and had a great brunch. From here we set our course to Sigiriya, our first place of visit, which was about 170kms from Colombo.

Our accommodation was booked in Kassappa Lion Rocks. The resort was good, though we had some difficulty locating it as there were no signboards. There was a complimentary cake from the hotel as it was my B'day. We celebrated again in the night with lot of Deviled Chickent. Couple of Tripple distled arrack added the icing to the cake.

 

Day 4 - 23 Oct : We woke up quite late and it was raining heavily. The plan was to go to the Sigiriya rock in the morning. Due to rains  we cancelled the trip to the rock and headed to the Dambulla temples. These temples date back to 1st Century BC. There are five caves here and they house some of the most amazing Buddha statues. We spent about a couple of hours in the caves and headed to our next destination – Nuwara Eliya.

Nuwara Eliya is a hill station and was a 100km drive from Dambulla. We had booked our stay in Hotel Glendower. The hotel was really nice and well maintained. The place was also really beautiful with greenery and the typical hill station views. It was almost 2200Hrs by the time we reached our hotel and hit the bed straight away as it was a long drive  uphill.

visit – The tea factory ( Pedro Estate) and Ambewela Farms. The tea factory was closed by the time we reached and hence Day 5 - 24Oct : We went to the lake side and went for boating. The boating was quite enjoyable and then the kids went for horse riding. After that we ventured in to the Nuwara Eliya local market There were some really good stuff priced cheaply, we did not purchase much though. It was raining quite heavily and the fog was too dense. Without wasting any more time we set out to the next places of we went to the farms directly. We had to walk quite a distance from where we parked our car to the cow shed. As the place was covered with mist and it was really cold. Our walk through the farm was really enjoyable. They were breeding cows and goats imported from Netherlands and it was an interesting experience to see the animals being fed and processing of milk. That was the last stop for the day and we headed back to our hotel to relax.

Day 6 - 25 Oct: We set out early at about 8am as we had to visit the tea factory that was open only between 800Hrs- 1000Hrs. We got to see how the leaves are plucked, dried, cut and processed to make tea leaf / powder. Spent some time in the tea plantation, had some tea they served us and headed to our next destination – Yala. Nuwara Eliya to Yala was again a long drive of about 200kms. Our accommodation in Yala was inside the forest and this was perhaps the best place of our visit. Our stay was at Ruhunu Safari village. The resort  was small and well maintained. We were the only guests there and that made it all the more exciting. The best thing about this place was the whole set up itself. A hotel inside the forest and beside a beach…! We normally don’t imagine a forest and beach together and this was exactly that. However the sea here was quite rough and won’t really qualify for a holiday type beach. Nonetheless, it was exciting to have a whole beach to yourself…! We spent the evening in the beach and went back to our rooms once it was dark. The food here was very good as well even though the options were limited.Day 7 - 26Oct : Today was the safari to Yala National Park and we started early at 500Hrs. We saw and captured some outstanding pictures of sunrise at the beach. The safari lasted for about 3hrs and it was an amazing experience. The wild life was really active in the morning and we got to see most of the animals  in the forest except the ever elusive wild cat. Apparently Yala has the highest density of leopards in Asia.We were not lucky enough. Nevertheless, it was nice seeing Peacocks in their full bloom, Land monitors, Crocodiles lurking around the corner of swamps, Jackals, Elephants, Wild Hens, Wild Rabbits and all the wild life in full glory. We were back in the resort by about 1000hrs. Had breakfast and checked out to our next destination – Hikkaduwa.

Hikkaduwa was another 150kms from Yala. We reached by around 1500Hrs. (On the way we stopped near a small waterfall.) We were staying at Sunil’s Beach hotel, the worst place of stay during our visit. It seemed more like a senior citizens cottage with all the waiters and most of the guests being well above 60. The rooms were not great, food was bad and the pool was dirty. The only good thing about this place was the beach, where we spent most of the evening. For dinner, we were in no mood to eat from the same place and so ventured out to find an eat out and ended up in a small restaurant where they served some amazing chicken and paneer “rotty”. Back to the hotel and end of the day .

 

morning, after having breakfast it was decided not to continue our stay there and started to Colombo. Day 8 - 27Oct : The original plan was to stay in Hikkaduwa for 2 nights and then check out to Colombo. That Fortunately rooms were available in Colombo a day in advance. We started at about 110Hrs.On the way we visited the sea turtle hatchery. It was quite informative. We purchased some souvenirs and reached Colombo by 1500Hrs. We had booked our accommodation in Renuka Hotel. It was a good one, typically serving the corporate visitors we suppose. That evening we walked few streets in the city and had dinner in a small joint.

really cheap and you get good branded stuff. We shopped till evening and went for RA.One that night. Day 9 - 28Oct: The next morning we set out for shopping. Colombo is a great place to shop for clothes as its Probably the worst disaster after Sunil’s Beach Hotel was RA.One during our trip. Bad movie.

Day 10 - 29Oct: This being the last day of our trip, we spent the day relaxing and packing. The flight was at 1800Hrs and we started to the airport by 1500Hrs.

you can make the most of it only if at least a week is spent there.It felt like a long trip when we started off, but in the end it was over really quick and we were back in Bangalore on 29th night. We had a great time in Sri Lanka and it was an enriching experience to get a peek into their culture and life. We would definitely recommend a holiday to Sri Lanka to anybody, but

Thanking again Mrs.& Mr. Zukur for helping to organize such a wonderful trip. We would have been lost without their immense help in booking accommodation and without the car that you provided us with..!!

Click here to see the pics of the Trip

Photographers :  Brinda Shivaram, Meera Menon and Radhish Kurup

Trip to Thekkady

Feb 17, 2011 to Feb 20,2011

Feb 17,2011

0615Hrs : I started my journey to Kotayam from Calicut in Shatabdi Express. I had mistook Janashathabdi for Shatabdi express.Difference is you don't get food in Janashathabdi express ! Poor peoples chair car but still 25% more expensive than other express train chair cars :-(

From Kotayam railway station took prepaid auto to KSRTC bus stand. Boarded bus to Kumily. It took me 210mi to reach Kumily. Had a great Kerala lunch with beef fry in a restaurant nearby. From there I went tot the Kumily police station where I met the station SI as advised by my cosine Rahul. The office helped me with the stay and the local arrangements.

Our stay was confirmed at Haritham residency( http://www.thekkadyharithamresidency.com/ ). A great place to stay. Biju Mathew is the manager over there. He is a registered government guide and tour operator also. We can book our full trip through him. Mob No - 09447387344.

 Please follow my link below to see the pics of the room we stayed. Please note there is no in house dining available here. We need to walk to a nearby hotel for the same. Checked in to the room and called the day to an end.

Feb 18,2011

Rithwik joined me in the morning. We went to the forest wardens office and met the Warden to understand the procedures and permissions needed to camp in the jungle. It was the same as for Silent Valley Forest. The permits needs to be taken at Trivandrum.

For the evening we decided to go for a Nature walk. At 4.00pm we started with a guide allocated to us. The trking was really good. It was raining also. We had a great time. Got few sun set shots.

Feb 19,2011

Early morning we geared up ourselves for the Border Hiking. We were a group of 6 people. Only 2 of us Indians ;-) This was a 24 km long trek. Would not reccomend for Indians. The food provided was not great and very less in quantity. We dint get any good sighting also. Reached back by 1900Hrs. We were so tired that we dint even know when we went to bed and when we slept !

Feb 20, 2011

This was the last day and relaxing day for me. Rithwik went to the nearby jingle for capturing birds with his new tele lens.We were ready to leave Thekkady by 4.00pm. I had my bus back to Bangalore from Thekkady itself. Rithwiks bus to Chennai was from Theni.

Sharing some moments of our trip ... click here

Wayanad

Wayanad – A trip to the God’s own country.
Jan 13th – 16th’ 2011.

Naveen and I were discussing about a photography cum vacation trip and after sifting through a few locations, we zeroed in on Wayanad. Later Shivaram and family decided to join us as well…So on Jan 13th, we set out on the three day trip. Our plan was to stop over at Mysore on 13th night and proceed to Wayanad on 14th morning.

Meera, Naveen and Divya met at Shivaram’s house and they started at about 3.30pm. I joined them later on the way at Kamat, Mysore Road. We reached Mysore at about 7pm. Our stay was booked in Ginger. The room was good and our stay was comfortable.

Our dinner was already booked at Pai Vista…had some good food and drinks and retired for the day.

The next morning – 14th Jan, we started to Wayanad at about 10am after breakfast and reached there by 1pm. Our stay was at Haritagiri Hotel and Ayurvedic Spa. This is situated in Kalpetta. Though this place would not ideally qualify as a resort, it is well maintained and since it is situated with in the town itself, it is easily accessible. The food was average, although the complementary breakfast was excellent. As it was already 3pm by the time we finished lunch, we decided to relax for the day. The kids had a good time at the swimming pool and we all had an Ayurvedic massage. A word about the massage, few of us found the massage excellent while some of us were disappointed….so I think it will depend upon the condition of the person who massages….!

We started early next morning and our first stop was at Karlad Lake. The drive was through some small village roads which were still being laid and when we reached, we were the first set of tourists to arrive…took some good photographs of the lake and we went for boating. The lake was very small, so the boating lasted for about 20 min and the kids enjoyed it thoroughly.

Our next stop was at Banasura dam. Well, not much to watch here. We took a jeep from below to reach the dam. As it was midday, it was quite hot and we relaxed a bit in the shade there. After about an hour, it was time for the next spot.


Next, we went to Kuruwa dweep. This is basically a collection of small islands and the fun part is to hop on to each island and spend some time there. It was already 4 pm by the time we reached and as this place closed at 5 pm , we were reconsidering to come the next morning. Finally, on Brinda’s insistence, we decided to take the plunge and finally took the boat to the dweep. As we were late, we decided not to go on to all the small islands and had some fun in the water on the first island.
This place was a nice experience, taking us back to a different age of life in jungles and in between trees and water. It was really unfortunate we could spend only about an hour here. Next time, we thought if we ever come here will come to the island first thing morning.

Finally before calling it a day, we went to Tirunelli temple to offer our prayers to God. It was about 45min drive from Kuruwa dweep.

We started back to the hotel at about 6 30pm and the drive was for 60kms. It was a terrific drive through the ghats and thoroughly enjoyed it…although the co-passengers wouldn’t agree…. Reached hotel in an hour and cancelled our trip to water falls the next day as we thought we need a day of relaxation before returning to Bangalore.

Next day was relaxed and we enjoyed a late breakfast and some drinks by the pool. The ladies went for a second round of Ayurvedic massage and after lunch it was time to start back home…. We had a brief halt in Kamat for dinner and reached home by 10 pm.

Wayanad would qualify more as an extended weekend getaway as it would easily take 2 days to visit all the places in and around and a day totally in driving. Our trip was nice and relaxing. As we probably didn’t cover Wayanad fully, would love to go back there for a longer trip.

The trip costed us RS 7000 per head ( inclusive of everything ).

Sharing some captured moments of our trip......
......Please Click here .

Enchanting Mauritius

Mauritius trip – Feb 9-15, 2010

This is a long delayed write up on our trip to Mauritius in Feb 2010.

After sifting through a lot of locations, we zeroed in on Mauritius after a few of our friends gave good reviews about the place. We did our research about how to organize the trip and decided to take the 6 nights & 7 days package tour offered by makemytrip.com since it looked like a complete package and economical at the same time.

Our flight was at about 0600hrs on Tuesday, Feb 9 from Bangalore. Vikram my friend had advised that liquor was expensive in Mauritius and hence we purchased it from the duty free shop in Bangalore airport. We then boarded the flight and there was a one hour stop over at Chennai for boarding passengers and then it was a non stop 6hr flight till Mauritius. We landed in Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International airport at about 1300hrs local time. The time zone in Mauritius is about 1.5hrs behind India.

As informed to us, we were met by a representative of Seaside Holidays in the airport. Our booking was made in a 4 star resort - Casuarina Resort & Spa, which was about 1.5hrs drive from the airport.

The first things that struck us about Mauritius were the serenity and greenery around and also the unending sugarcane plantations. We reached the resort and were met by the staff who were quite hospitable. We had a quick chat with them about the facilities available in the resort and then retired to our rooms to refresh ourselves. The resort was very well maintained with excellent landscaping and individual cottages. We were famished by then after the long flight and went to have lunch. Unfortunately the lunch buffet was closed by then and we helped ourselves with some awesome chicken and tuna sandwiches. It was then that we learnt that no water will be supplied for free anywhere in Mauritius and we had to buy a bottle for MUR70 (= Rs 100)…..!!! After the lunch we relaxed for the rest of that day and then we were informed that next day would be a rest day as well as our tour would start only from the day after.

On day 2, after breakfast we met Saif, the representative from Seaside Holidays. He briefed us about the agenda for the 3 day sight seeing tour and gave us the list of options we could try on the remaining two days. The options included submarine, lion safari, cruise to a nearby island and quad biking. We finally decided to go for quad biking on one day since it sounded quite new and adventurous . We made all the payments regarding the rides for the 3 day tour and quad biking to Saif to avoid last minute hassles. He also gave us some helpful info about where to get water cheap and some good restaurants nearby.

The rest of the day was left to us and we relaxed ourselves enjoying the greenery of the nature and blueness of the beach. The resort had a private beach and we could use their rides like peddle boat, kayaking, glass bottom boat etc at anytime during the day. We took the peddle boat and went around the beach sometime and had an excellent Indian lunch at “Tandoor”. We also had some excellent fruit wine which was a complementary gift for honeymooners….and then relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the day.

Day 3 was our start of Mauritius tour and this day we were to go around the city and heritage sites. We started at 0800hrs and our first stop was at “Aapravasi Ghat”. This is one of the world heritage sites and this was where indentured labourers from India had first set foot in Mauritius. This site is a souvenir to those labourers. From there we went to “Fort Adelaide” and “Citadel”, both of which were heritage sites again. It was almost 1300hrs by then and we went to “Caudan Waterfront”. It was a huge mall with a number of eat outs, shopping stuff and a good view of the harbour. This was actually the most boring part of the whole trip since we didn’t find anything great to shop and were just trying to kill time. We spent about 3 hrs in the mall and then proceeded back to the hotel….end of day 3…well…..not so exciting…:(



Day 4 - This was our most awaited day of the tour - the trip to an island “Ile Aux Cerfs”. This place was about an hours drive from our hotel. The first event of the day was undersea walk. This was perhaps the best event of the day. It was an amazing experience wearing a 22kg helmet and getting into the water…! We spent about 15min walking inside the 10ft water, viewing the corals, plants and fishes. It was a wonderful experience and the last thing we wanted to do was to get out of the water…!!

After the undersea walk experience we were taken to the island in a boat. The guy riding our boat was a cool chap and played some Carribean music and gave us a really enjoyable and adventurous boat ride. Our next event was para sailing. This again was really exciting and along with our ride, it was really funny to see how the other people landed….it felt serene being on the air in the parachute and see the blue sea from the top.

That was the end of rides for the day and then we had a relaxing lunch in the beach, had some fun in the water and took some snaps. It was evening by then and we headed back to the hotel….end of day 4….awesome fun…!!


Day 5 - Today was the final day of our tour and we went to the Southern part of Mauritius. We went to a dead volcanic crater first. It was raining by then and it was quite a romantic place to be in. We enjoyed the greenery there for sometime and then moved on to “Ganga talao”. This is a religious place for Hindus and there had been a big Mahashivarathri festival just the day before. We then proceeded to “Chamarel” – the place with the seven coloured sands. It was an amazing sight to see the sands in such varied colours and they had done a great job in maintaining the site. Luckily a rainbow also had formed on the sky by then and it was a once in a life time sight of seeing the seven colours on the earth and sky at the same time…! We then went to a small waterfall and that was the end of day 5 of sight seeing…….a great day again enjoying the beauty of Mauritius.



Day 6 – Another day of adventure…today was the day for quad biking..! We had another couple, Yogesh and Harshali whom we had befriended during the tour with us. The place was about 2.5 hrs of drive and we had to start early.
We reached the place by about 1200hrs and had some good Mauritian lunch. It was a beautiful location full of greenery and a stream. We then wandered around the property for sometime enjoying the nature and having some fun with the horses there. Then the adventure started. Each couple had a “bike” to ride. It was really hard trying to control the bike as it was very heavy and we were driving through rough roads….but it was good fun. It felt like we indeed were in paradise. The view from the hill was breathtaking …Mauritius at its best…! After more than a couple of hours our biking we ended the ride. It was an amazing experience and were glad we chose to go for this adventure….headed back to hotel….end of day 6…adventurous and rejuvenating

Day 7 – This was the saddest day of the tour since it was returning time…our flight was at 5 pm in the evening. We didn’t plan any outing and relaxed by the beach. We also went for the glass bottom boat ride on the private beach. It was a great experience too as we got a closer view of the life under sea, the corals and colourful fishes…

Finally, a few more words about the resort and the trip. First of all, thanks to Makemytrip.com & Seaside Holidays for organising the tour so well. We were never in doubt of anything at any point of time and help was always available. The resort was also nice with good facilities, food and rooms. Apart from the tours our best times were spent in the swimming pool in the evenings. The resort also organised some good dance and singing programs in the evening for entertaining the guests.

We were back in Bangalore on Feb 15 early morning. It was a very good break from the hectic schedules of work…looking forward to a trip like this again..!

Masinagudi - The Untouched Valley

Masinagudi is a small town situated 29km from Ooty at an altitude of 1000-1200mts from MSL. Its one among the five ranges of Mudumala ( 'first hills’)-one of the first wildlife sanctuaries established in India. The sanctuary is divided into 5 ranges - Masinagudi, Thepakadu, Mudumalai, Kargudi and Nellakota. It was a casual conversation with Dheeraj and Suhas which led to the plan of going to Masinagudi. It was long time we had been to a hill station. The team consisted five of us - Suhas, Dheeraj, Bhavya, Meera and myself. However, fortunately or unfortunately Dheeraj fell ill just before the trip and could not join us ;-) . The plan was to start by friday afternoon so that we can reach Masinagudi by 9pm, after which the forest road is closed for vehicle movement.

Though Masinagudi can't be called a typical hill station, its nearness to Ooty, awesome weather and a gorgeous view of the Nilgiris gives it a feel of being close to nature..

The drive:
July30,2010: As planned Bhavya and Suhas reached our place by 1515hrs and we started our journey by 1530Hrs. Masinagudi is about 250kms from Bangalore. The route was,
NICE road towards Mysore road - Mysore - Gundalpet - Nanjangode - Bandipur - Mudumalai - Masinagudi.

It was a nice drive in the evening and weather was cold and breezy.It was a 6 hr drive with no breaks in between since we wanted to make sure we don't miss the 9pm deadline...!! By the time we crossed Bandipur it started raining and that slowed our drive a bit. We then crossed the Karnataka and Tamilnadu checkpost by 8 30pm. Its worth mentioning here that we had to pay an "entry tax" to enter Tamilnadu although we were there well within the time. The amount of entry tax...well...the police told us whatever suits you...!!...So we paid a Rs.10 "entry tax" and proceeded.

The stay:
We reached our destination by 2100hrs. Dheeraj had already booked our stay in "Chalets farm & GuestHouse". The place was good with 5 cottages. Although the landscaping is not great, the rooms were very clean and the staff were hospitable especially Mr Senthil who was the care taker of the property.

Chalets Farm & Guest House, Achakkarai, Masinagudi, The Nilgiris. Cell 09486956551,09486189899,09486189996.

The food was also very good...especially the chicken fry...mouth watering...:)..It was almost 2230hrs by the time we finished our dinner and retired early to bed after the long drive...The weather was very cold and windy and it was really nice and relaxing being there..

July 31,2010...
We woke up by around 830hrs and it was a lovely morning. The view of Nilgiris was breathtaking from the cottage. We enjoyed the weather and view for sometime and had breakfast. We then went to a stream nearby and spent some time there.

It seems wild animals came to the stream to drink water and it was quite apparent when we saw the dead remains of a cow attacked by a leopard there....The next getaway was for an evening safari...

Before starting the safari we went to a nearby hill to enjoy a panaromic view of Nilgiris. With such an amazing weather it was just the place to be.....cold and breezy.....


The safari was nice and adventurous. Our guide Mr Pramod, was a friendly guy and very familiar with the forest and the wild animal behaviours.

We saw a group of elephants first and when we went nearer to see them, one of the elephants came charging at us.....that was scary..!!...Pramod dealt with the situation quite well and soon after we realised the elephant was being protective of its kid.....well after a while the family posed for a few snaps as well ..:)..We then spotted a lot of deers, monkeys, bisons, peacocks and more elephants. Although the safari was enjoyable, we were a bit disappointed that we could not spot any wild cats and that too when a gang that went on a safari the previous night spotted a leopard....anyway the heroes don't show their face often...!!
Well that was the end of the first day...adventurous and relaxing...
Aug 1,2010 ......
The second day was unfortunately the returning day and we decided to head back after breakfast...we started back to bangalore by 1100hrs. We halted for lunch after Mandya and were back home by 1725hrs.

Masinagudi is a great weekend getaway and you can thoroughly relax and enjoy your stay....looking forward to our trip there again....

Please make sure you are carrying enough cash with you as Masinagudi town doesn't have an ATM.

Sharing some captured moments of our trip......
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