Drive to the 'Queen of Hill Stations' Hyderabad to Ooty, 1800 kilometers in 60 hours, Tamil Nadu

[Naveen1]

Where : Ooty (Udhagamandalam)

Why : Hills and fresh air

Ride : Swift

Fuel : Diesel

Mileage : 17kmpl

Distance : 1800 kilometers

Route : Hyderabad ---> Kurnool ---> Bangalore ---> Mysuru ---> Theppakadu (Take a left for 36 hair pins) ---> Ooty

 

Road condition

 

Hyderabad to Bangalore : Excellent 4-lane road (Toll)

Bangalore to Mysuru : Good : 4-lane road (No tolls but heavy traffic)

Mysuru to Theppakadu : Decent : Single lane road

Theppakadu to Ooty : Decent : Single lane road (Ghat roads with excellent views, inexperienced drivers avoid this route)

 

It was Friday afternoon and there was some strike in the Hyderabad city and most of my team mates were on leave. Have done all sorts of circus to kill the time.
 

• Get a coffee (multiple rounds)
• Check Mails
• Check account balance online
• Read news
• Online shopping (Check for good offers)
• Bookmyshow
• Read movie reviews
• Whatsapp, Social networking
• Roam around
• Play TT
• Browse Job portals

Inline, i have started searching for the short weekend getaways. After some financial calculations engrossed on Srisailam i have decided to drive down the coming weekend. Having checked with friends, everyone were up for it and one of them ignites to the thought of starting off right then. Put up a quick request to my manager at work and he let me go for the day.

 

We started off by 2 p.m. from Hi-tech city and cruised lazily on the beautiful ORR. One of my friend is not interested in Srisailam as he had visited the place just two weeks back then and started to change the plan as everyone got convinced and agreed to explore a new place.

Next question, which place? and none had a clue of where to head.

 

We exited the ORR and took the Bangalore highway. Having no other option we decided to enjoy the drive down to Bangalore and return back by Sunday. Traffic got thin as we crossed Jadcherla, and we hit the pedal to metal drive style and reached Bangalore by 11 PM. None of us had a clue on what to do next, and some one pitched in the idea of Ooty, with nothing much to do in Bangalore, we hit the Bangalore-Mysore highway and headed towards Bandipur forest.

 

In Bandipur forest we spotted many deer, elephants and fox on the roads. After some photo sessions, we crossed Bandipur forest and took a 36 hairpin route and started to gun towards Ooty. Reached by 11 a.m. and checked into a hotel which costed us around 2000/- per night.

We relaxed for some time and headed out for a local sightseeing. Now, i will let the pictures do the talking

 

Tea break between Hyderabad and Bangalore.

 

Thin traffic on the Bangalore roads is a rare sight.

 

Bangalore to Mysuru 4-Lane Road

 

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary which is also known as Pakshi Kashi of Karnataka.

 

We took some pictures at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary

 

Bamboos

 

We spotted an silent lake in the sanctuary

 

Boating at the lake

 

In Bandipur forest we spotted many deer

 

Surrounded by a thick forest until Ooty

 

Bandipur to Ooty, Next is up an hill drive with 36 hair pin bends

 

Peacock

 

As we reached Ooty, we headed out for local sightseeing.

 

Pictures at Ooty

 

Our drive for the tour

[Naveen1]

Next day we drove towards highest point in Ooty

 

Spot the house on hill top, We tried to get the details of the place, Falling short of time we decided to skip it for the next trip.

 

A perfect place for the bird watchers

 

Doddabetta is the highest mountain in the Nilgiri Hills at 2,637m (8,650 feet).

 

 

An observatory at the top of Doddabetta has 2 telescopes available for the public to enjoy the magnificent view of the whole district.

 

Pictures from the return Journey

 

Down hill drive towards Bandipur forest

 

 

 

Quick tea break

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of those random hair pin bends

 

 

 

We reached Bandipur in 2 hours including breaks

 

[Naveen1]

We spotted elephants, deer and fox in Bandhipur forest during our return journey.

Elephants

Mother and its baby elephant

Bandipur Forest road

Pack of elephants

Furious Fox

After some breaks of photo session in the Bandipur forest, we started heading towards Mysore

Palace of Mysore

It is the official residence and seat of the Wodeyars” the Maharajas of Mysore

As it started to get dark, first phase of lights turned ON

After some time they turned ON all the lights

Soon it turned dark and We started to head towards Hyderabad via Bangalore.

We were back in Hyderabad by early morning. We covered a good amount of ground Chasing the Volvo B9R bus which is cruising above 120 kilometers per hour. Picture of the Toll tickets of the drive.

 

[shammy]

Pictures are really beautiful!! Nice write up!! How is the present road condition from mysuru to theppakadu?

Has anyone been to ooty recently??

[Gowtham]

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Hello,
Can you please share me information of your latest drive

 

 Don't miss following places
1. Avalanche lake
2. Dodabetta peak
3. Ooty to coonoor drive 
4. Dolphins nose
5. Ooty to Kotagiri drive
6. Kotagiri tea estates

 

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How was temperature in ooty

How was the route.Where do we need take precautions on road.

Which way we need to follow and speed limits?

 

Temperature is low.
Carry umbrellas and winter wears.
It is raining randomly

Route is good.Will share you links

 Start early in the morning for the sight seeing in Ooty.
Start by 6~7am to beat the crowd.

 Stick to 80km/hr while you enter Bangalore.

 

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Where we can take rest .
 I mean to stay night
 Any destination point on the way?

 Mysuru is ideal for stop over

Start early in the morning to Bandhipur
You can visit Bandhipur Safari
 But you need to start a 4am
 We spotted many elephants and wild animals.

 

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 Bandhipur to ooty traveling time?

2 hours, take 36 hairpin route via masinaguda
Bandhipur Safari is between 6am to 8am
 

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Let know which route we need to follow from Bangalore to Mysuru, google maps is showing two routes.

We tried both the routes.
Both will take same time.
One is 4-lane with heavy traffic.
Second one is mix of 4 and 2 lane with less traffic.

[sbhamidi]

While I could not join you guys on this trip, here is my story: https://spark.adobe.com/page/WxJk9WQdtXxRI/ do share your feedback


Sent from my iPhone using India-Drive

[Gowtham]

Few pictures shared by Diviji Pamnani

Madumalai forest wildin guest house.