Hyderabad to Ooty road trip - Report

[Omik]

Hyderabad to Ooty, Coonoor & Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu - Pre monsoon drive meet up - June 01 - 04 17'

 

Start point - Gachibowli (ORR)

End point - Ooty (Accommodation)

Start time - 04:15 a.m.

Total Distance - ~1900 kms

Objective - A drive meet to Ooty, Coonoor and Bandipur to rejoice the pre-monsoon showers.

 

Participants:

 

1) Maruthi Suzuki Baleno

2) Volks Wagen Polo (Red)

3)  Volks Wagen Polo (Red)

4) Ford Ecosport

5) Hyundai Creta (Red)

6) Hyundai Creta (White)

 

Route Taken:

Hyderabad (Gachibowli) --> Kurnool --> Bangalore --> Mysuru --> Bandipur --> Mudumalai --> Ooty

 

 

Road Condition:

 

Hyderabad to Bangalore: 
4-lane and road condition is excellent, Kurnool bridge is finally completed. 
 

Bangalore to Mysuru routes:
Route 1:
Bangalore --> Visveshpura --> Herur --> Yadiru --> Nagamangala --> Srirangapatna --> Mysuru

Bangalore to Yadiru route  : 4-lane and excellent road.
Yadiru  to Srirangapatna route : single lane road, road condition is good but many speed bumps en-route. 

 

Route 2:

Bangalore --> Channapatna --> Mandya --> Mysuru

4-lane road but heavy traffic.

 

Mysuru to Bandhipur route:

Mysuru --> Najanagudu --> Begur --> Gundlupete --> Bandhipur

 

Bandhipur to Ooty route:

Route 1:
Bandhipur --> Theppakapadu --> Masinagundi --> 36 haripins --> Ooty

Non-commercial route, only for cars and small vehicles are allowed.

Route 2:

Bandhipur --> Gudalur -->  Ooty
Commercial route with truck traffic.

 

Places covered:

 

1) Bandipur forest safari

2) Coonoor - Highfield Tea factory

3) Avalanche & Emerald

4) Doddabetta peak

5) Kotagiri

6) Ooty - The Tea factory and Tea museum

[Omik]

Day - 1 : Hyderabad to Mysuru

 

All the members attending the drive have assembled at the start point by 4:00 a.m. and the drive kicked-off by 4:15 a.m. after a brief introductory session about the rules and the convoy positions during the drive.

 

Following the respective convoy positions, we raced on to the ORR towards Kurnool to take our stop for breakfast.

 

The usual way of how we regroup at every Toll exit until all the cars line-up to continue the drive further.

 

We had stopped by the Hotel Suraj Grand for breakfast. The food at this place was pretty good with decent ambience.

 

After a sumptuous meal, our drive commenced towards the next stop at Bangalore.

 

Running under the defined speed limit, we never missed to fall out of this convoy. Being a part of this group for my first long drive, this factor has amazed me to a certain extent.

 

We had reached Bangalore to stop by for Lunch around 1:00 p.m. The ambience and food at this place was decent.

       

Having taken quite a long break at lunch, we started our drive towards Mysuru around 3:00 p.m.

    

 

We have reached Mysuru around 7:30 p.m. to halt for the night. The Dawn hotel in Mysuru was pretty good for a night stay with an exclusive restaurant attached which served us dinner for the night.

Day 1 has turned out to be an eventful fun drive where I happened to meet some amazing travel enthusiasts and true petrol heads.  

  

Day - 2 : Mysuru - Bandipur - Mudumalai - Ooty - Coonoor

 

Our drive was scheduled to start by 5:30 a.m. towards Ooty with a stop at Bandipur for the forest safari.

 

We had stopped by a deserted road en-route for a short photo session post breakfast.

 

Everyone of us got involved in bagging some memories through clicks and poses for a while.

     

 

 

And then, our drive towards Bandipur continues...

    

[Omik]

Day - 2 : Continued..

 

The Bandipur forest reserve welcomed us  as we moved up the ghat.

 

The drive through the forest over such neatly laid tracks has been an absolute bliss.

 

Every bit of the drive through this section has been more than worthy while we had experienced the spotting of wildlife in frequent intervals throughout

 

We have spotted a huge herd of deer en-route not just once but many a times throughout this track.

 

Burning the rubber onto the smooth tarmac while clicking some scenic views until we finished the drive has been out-rightly eventful and a memory worth recollecting.

 

 

One of those many herds we spotted.

 

One from a herd of wild boars..

 

The open forest road opens up to stock up for the monsoon coming ahead.

 

One of the many peacocks we spotted.

 

The winding forest road opened up to offer us a newer view of the ghat we were going to take.

 

A super scenic view of the ghat we were heading at..

 

Our timely delays at the breakfast point and stops for the photo sessions caused delay in being available for the safari on time and so we decided to do the forest safari on our way back from Ooty in the next 2 days from then. (Note: Timings for the morning safari is available only between 6:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. And price is 300 INR/head)

 

We have taken a short break amidst the forest road to stretch ourselves and breathe in some fresh air.

 

 

Splendid view of the ghat as we got closer.

 

We had taken the 36 hairpin ghat to reach Ooty which was super scenic offering the views at its best

 

We have reached Ooty before 12:00 p.m. and moved towards our stay which was engulfed amidst the tea plantations away from the town in an offbeat site.

 

The route to reach our stay has been quite an off road track which has added more adventurous fun to the drive and Yes, the Polo has managed to do this track

 

Beautiful vistas of the tea plantations from our stay

 

[Omik]

After we got settled at our stay, we then moved towards exploring Coonoor which is about 25 kms from our stay. Monsoon hitting this place quite early this year added more beauty to our eyes.

We stopped by 'The Grange' hotel for lunch on our way to Coonoor. This is one place in Ooty which offered good food along with ample parking space which was observed to be quite rare in a place like Ooty.

 

Proceeding further, we have explored Coonoor and halted at the 'Highfields Tea Factory' which is 50 years old. We have had the opportunity know how the history of the Tea Factory and its process. We had also tasted the samples of all the variety of Tea they grow followed by some shopping

 

While we have explored whole of this Tea estate

 

A group pic of the whole crew before the day ended

 

Getting back to Zero after our dinner, we had some great fun over the bonfire and some interactive games under the stars. This session was then followed by some night photography and star gazing. 

 

A sight at the night sky was so splendid and we had no option but to get lost in the tranquillity of nature.

 

Cool breeze, Night sky, Innumerable stars and the best people around.. Explains it all!

 

Day - 3 : Ooty - Avalanche - Emerald - Doddabetta peak - Ooty

 

The next morning, After our breakfast at 'The Grange' hotel, we have started to pace up towards the Avalanche.

 

The drive towards Avalanche was one of the best I've been to as it had offered some best roads having best of the scenic views throughout with Tea plantations and step farming all around.

 

Road to Avalanche as we got closer deteriorated but the drive was still fun as the road led us into a forest.

 

The entry at the Avalanche got closed by the time we reached as the slots were full for that day and this is the best view of the lake we could capture midway. 

 

We then moved towards the Avalanche dam and the Emerald dam which still remained closed due to the construction and piping work at the Dam.

 

We decided to Explore the place and drive down to Doddabetta.

 

Every bit of this drive has offered some best sceneries.

 

No wonder Ooty is called 'The Queen of hill stations'.

 

We had stopped by one of the best view points on our way to admire and cherish the beauty nature was offering us.

 

All of us got involved in clicking some pictures at this stop

 

A small village engulfed between the beautiful Tea estates.

 

 

[Omik]

We started to move towards Doddabetta peak which is known as the highest peak in the Southern part of India.

 

Drive towards Doddabetta peak was awesome as we have experienced different types of climatic conditions right from sunny to rainy.

 

 

This place turned out to be a true commercial spot which seemed very crowded at the top of the hill. As the fog got cleared, this is one beautiful vista of the Nilgiris form the hill top. 

 

Last picture of the day at the top of the peak, we had set back to our stay early by 9:00 p.m. as we have got a hectic drive lined up for the next morning.

 

We have started off by 4 in the morning from Ooty towards Bandipur for the safari.

 

As we got on to the ghat, the sky has offered us a magnificent view of the sunrise. No morning can get better than this sight to me.

 

We got stopped at the check point on the ghat, before we entered into the wild forest zone as was closed and we had to wait at the gate until we got a signal about the road being cleared. It got opened at 6:00 a.m.

 

We have reached the Bandipur Forest safari gate by 7:00 a.m. and booked our safari slots for 7:30 a.m. The price per head for the forest safari in the bus was 300 INR.

 

Standing tall on the head, the wild vulture was overlooking at the forest ground.

 

We have also spotted a lot of these grey faced Langoors.

 

A furry mongoose, I wonder if it was wandering in search of snakes.

 

The female Sambar deers always look confused to me. They are undoubtedly huge when compared to the normal deers.

 

Mother and the fawn.

 

And a lot more of these deers.

 

 

A group of peahens.

 

 

A herd of 'Great Indian Elephants' taking a break at the lake amidst the forest.

 

It was 9:00 a.m. by the time our forest safari got done and we then, started our drive back to Hyderabad taking breaks at regular intervals for food.

We have reached home by 11:00 p.m.

Over all, It wouldn't have been a lively trip without a great company!

I would like to thank @sagar for being so generous in offering me a ride and also my co-passengers @Kashyap @Sug @charan89 for putting up with me throughout the drive :P. Each and every member's actions & help will definitely have a profound effect on me for sure and I have got a lot to learn from everyone of you. Though we have parted ways in the end, our paths have aligned, memories are woven and crossed each other's minds. This is just the beginning and I am sure that I am in for one Hell'uva time with you all in more of such trips. Thanks to the admins for organising such a wonderful road trip and I am looking forward for more. May the 'Driving spirit' be with you all. Cheers!

[sagar]

Lovely report with some amazing and brilliant pictures Omkar. Thanks a lot for sharing. It really took us quite some time to recover from the exhaustion & trauma and get back to our senses. I would like to thank each and everyone of you for making this a road trip to remember. Every bit of the drive starting from the highways into the forests and cruising on to the ghats and falling in love with nature has been really worth. More importantly, support from everyone of you, your enthusiasm and energy really did matter to us when a few things turned out aback at us. Thanks a lot for puling up your socks and keeping oneself so charged to explore more during the lows of this drive. Overall, it has been a commendable team work and we would like to thank each and everyone of you for being so active throughout and making this drive worth a memory in India-drive's sac. Cheers!

[Gowtham]

@Omik, Amazing pictures and the report is very perfect.

What a meet it turned out to be.
Best way to spend a long weekend. A long drive along with road trip enthusiasts (India-Drive members).

 

We would like to thank all our members who were a part of this drive. 

Every member became more like an extended family in playing their parts, which also increased the fun quotient.

 

Ooty being very commercial, has landed us in facing few blocks.
It is amazing to see how our members kept up their spirits.

We feel very greatful to have you all as a part of the 'India-Drive' family.

Thank you.

 

Few clicks from my side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saran]

Awesome report guys.... amazing pictures@omik &@ranger

[Ravi]

Neat,crisp and informative report. Brilliant images, and the pictures of the milky way galaxy stood out. Outstanding work omkar, here is to many more such trips to come!

Here are my additions to this travelogue

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sug]

Amaizing one guys. Pictures were breathing just the way they were in reality.
One heck of a ride it was. Cheers to all the drive buddies. A loud one for the organisers :D

[sagar]

@Ranger @Ravi Great pictures guys.. Lets catch up soon for a short drive meet

[Asher]

Amazing report @Omik.

 

Great captures @Omik , @Ranger & @Ravi . I could still feel those moments from these photos.

 

As @sagar mentioned it's the enthusiasm & energy of all the members which fueled this trip.

 

Kudos to Organizers for presenting us with such beautiful memories. Keep it up guys !

 

Happy Motoring & drive safe. 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Asher

[Gowtham]

Action camera Photolog, Ooty Meetup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[suhas]

Excellent write, even I had done a recent drive to Ooty from Hyderabad from June 12 to June 16 to avoid the crowd

On a side note can I ask who owns the polo TS07FN***
Can the owner pm pls
 

[Asher]

On 7/12/2017 at 3:46 PM, suhas said:

Excellent write, even I had done a recent drive to Ooty from Hyderabad from June 12 to June 16 to avoid the crowd

On a side note can I ask who owns the polo TS07FN1223
Can the owner pm pls

sent from Mobile
 

Hi Suhas! That's my Polo there. Please check your inbox for my message.Thanks 

[Viswa Devabattula]

hi guys.. is this right time to visit Bandipur & Ooty..?  Thinking of a road trip this coming 30th, 31st & Jan 1st.

 

[sbhamidi]

hi guys.. is this right time to visit Bandipur & Ooty..?  Thinking of a road trip this coming 30th, 31st & Jan 1st.
 

Ooty will be overcrowded during the new year you may want to avoid unless you have booking done already.

Try Kethi Valley should be relatively better n you would get Doddabetta peak views from there...

[sagar]

On 28/12/2017 at 9:43 AM, sbhamidi said:

Ooty will be overcrowded during the new year you may want to avoid unless you have booking done already.
 

 

Spot on response @sbhamidi... Ooty and places around Ooty are definitely not worth a visit during any holiday seasons. I am eagerly waiting for your year end trip report

[Gowtham]

Avoid Ooty during weekends/long weekends.
Place is completely spoiled by commercial tourists.

[Viswa Devabattula]

Thank you guys for the feedback.. This coming weekend we r going to Pacherla jungle camp. and from there Srisailam.. any suggestions regarding must visit places..? 

[Gowtham]

Snowfall in Ooty
Pictures shared by Prabhu, 9/1/2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sahil]

2 hours ago, Ranger said:

Snowfall in Ooty

 

Snow in ooty...No wonder! Amazing pictures....

 

I stayed in Bandipur forest in Aug 2017. We stayed in that night surrounded by thousands of Deers, peacocks,  wild boars.....Its wonderful experience. We spotted these animals near our stay while going for dinner @9pm. Heard that these animals come and stay at the safari office place in fear of tigers/panthers.

 

Edited January 10, 2018 by sahil

[sagar]

Lovely pictures @prabhum. Is this the beginning of the Ice age now.. Lol~ Quite amused to see the snow fall in a place which hasn't experienced it anytime before.

 

1 hour ago, sahil said:

I stayed in Bandipur forest in Aug 2017. We stayed in that night surrounded by thousands of Deers, peacocks,  wild boars.....Its wonderful experience. We spotted these animals near our stay while going for dinner @9pm. Heard that these animals come and stay at the safari office place in fear of tigers/panthers.

 

 

Awesome @sahil. I have experienced a leopard's chase on a deer and how the forest animals reacted to the situation conveying a hunt for other preys during the safari. It was an exciting experience too. Can you share the name of the place or resort where you have stayed in Bandipur ?

[sahil]

38 minutes ago, sagar said:

Can you share the name of the place or resort where you have stayed in Bandipur ?

 

http://bandipurtigerreserve.in/BTRBooking/#/login its at Safari office guests houses.

Rooms are OK types. 

[Gowtham]

3 minutes ago, sahil said:

its at Safari office guests houses.

Rooms are OK types. 

 

Bandhipur is a fantastic place.
Lately traffic has became pain on the forest road.

It is tough to stopover for animal spotting.
Even If you find a place to stop, heavy fines are imposed on the vehicles. 

 

Around 2009, traffic is very less.
We used to stop where ever we want.
Forest rangers used to tell us not to stop for long periods. 
Now the situation is changed completely.  

[sahil]

3 hours ago, sahil said:

 

http://bandipurtigerreserve.in/BTRBooking/#/login its at Safari office guests houses.

Rooms are OK types. 

 

But the Staying in the night is amazing experience. They have small restaurant which provides basic dinner, breakfast and some snacks. Not many options though. Food is tasty.

 

We did 2 safaris one in the evening and the other in the morning. Some guys behind our vehicle spotted panther. There was a rain during that night and the next day morning safari is really fabulous. And the driver took us to interior places. 

 

3 hours ago, Ranger said:

Now the situation is changed completely.  

 

That's True. You shouldn't stop on the Road. There are sign boards for the same. Some times if you are lucky, elephants will cross the road and all the traffic will be stopped!

[veeran]

Brilliant writeup bro. 

[Kiran24]

Let me know any plans in 2018

[hsudhir]

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 1:20 PM, Ranger said:

Avoid Ooty during weekends/long weekends.
Place is completely spoiled by commercial tourists.

 

Any offbeat places to do around Ooty which are left unexplored?

[sagar]

11 minutes ago, hsudhir said:

 

Any offbeat places to do around Ooty which are left unexplored?

 

 

We are keeping it low on drive meets due to the soaring summer heat. Will keep the forum updated about the upcoming drives. Stay tuned!

Edited April 12, 2018 by sagar

[Sridhar Tandra]

On 1/10/2018 at 11:27 AM, sagar said:

Can you share the name of the place or resort where you have stayed in Bandipur ?

I have been to Bandipur too and we stayed at the Windflower Bandipur (https://www.thewindflower.com/bandipur/resorts-hotels.html). This place is a little expensive but the stay / Rooms / Food / Campfire / Spa and the list goes on and on... One of the best places that I have had a stay so far!!! Right in the forest, surrounded by all possible wild life around your cottages, yes you heard that right, you are not allowed to step out of your cottages after a certain time since this resort is amidst forest!!!

[sahil]

14 hours ago, hsudhir said:

 

Any offbeat places to do around Ooty which are left unexplored?

You can try Waynad, Kabini river lodge, Nagarhole forest. etc. Ive not been to these places yet.

[sagar]

20 hours ago, hsudhir said:

 

Any offbeat places to do around Ooty which are left unexplored?

 

You should try exploring Kotagiri which is next to Ooty. I would say, staying in an exotic location in Kotagiri would give you more peace rather than spending a day in Ooty amidst the commercial crowd.

But, Where ever you stay around other towns in Ooty, and are interested in savouring the handmade choclates for what Ooty is famously known for, You should do this only at Modi's hand made chocolates in Ooty. I would say he stands tall in providing the best in taste, quality and spread in his store.

[ksa171983]

beautiful pics.. one of a helluva drive it is..

I did the drive from Hyd-Blore-Mysuru-Bandipur-Ooty in 2017..

Stayed at Mysuru for 1 day and 1 day at Bandipur.. Ooty was not in my to-visit as I was unsure about the hairpins and the way the borrowed corolla Altis's condition..

After the stay at Bandipur was just driving without any destination in and around Bandipur, Saw a board which said Ooty-80KM.. and thought to myself "came so close and one should not miss Ooty".

Went ahead and enjoyed the hairpins honestly and the Corolla Altis surprised me with it's ease of Maneuvering. We just had lunch in Ooty as it was not in our schedule.. Had some nice oxygen time .

Drove down back to Bandipur-Mysuru-Blore(stay over) and then Hyderabad.

[ksa171983]

On 4/13/2018 at 5:02 AM, sagar said:

 

You should try exploring Kotagiri which is next to Ooty. I would say, staying in an exotic location in Kotagiri would give you more peace rather than spending a day in Ooty amidst the commercial crowd.

But, Where ever you stay around other towns in Ooty, and are interested in savouring the handmade choclates for what Ooty is famously known for, You should do this only at Modi's hand made chocolates in Ooty. I would say he stands tall in providing the best in taste, quality and spread in his store.

Kothagiri is just beautiful.. I can vouch for that.. On a personal note I prefer Kothagiri to Ooty.

The home made chocolate boxes ranging from 25 to 100 rupees .. mouthwatering..

I will be more than happy to do Kothagiri again and again ..

[sagar]

14 hours ago, ksa171983 said:

Kothagiri is just beautiful.. I can vouch for that.. On a personal note I prefer Kothagiri to Ooty.

The home made chocolate boxes ranging from 25 to 100 rupees .. mouthwatering..

I will be more than happy to do Kothagiri again and again ..

 

Very true @ksa171983. I would prefer Kotagiri to Ooty too. When I usually travel, I don't want to be surrounded by crowd and would rather choose to stay closer to nature in solitude. Kotagiri offers such lenience in this case.

[Gowtham]

Ooty hair pins are fun to drive.
Now a days it is getting over crowded. 
Finding an off beat location is getting tough.
There is crowd at every other place ?

Kotagiri is a much better option. 
 

[Sridhar Tandra]

I stayed at "The Windflower, Bandipur" in August 2014. Expensive place but I do not have words to explain how beautiful this place is, food here is. This place is inside the forest literally, no fencing etc., you see deers roaming around your cottages and you are not allowed to open your cottage doors after 9/10 pm after dinner, Resort guys said wild animals roam around your cottages since they do not have any fencing around the resort. It was one super duper experience, I was disappointed since I could not find a Tiger in the safari but my luck shined on the day we were checking out. I was relaxing in the pool and I spotted a Leopard right in front of me just about 0.1 kilometers away, it looked at me as I looked at it and started to walk and that's it, I ran behind it with my camera with the resort guy since my nature walk was due and could only find its foot prints at the water pond just about few meters away from where I saw it!! Just missed, it was one hell of an experience that morning

[sagar]

13 hours ago, Sridhar Tandra said:

 I was relaxing in the pool and I spotted a Leopard right in front of me just about 0.1 kilometers away, it looked at me as I looked at it and started to walk and that's it, I ran behind it with my camera with the resort guy since my nature walk was due and could only find its foot prints at the water pond just about few meters away from where I saw it!! Just missed, it was one hell of an experience that morning

 

Now, that's an experience to tell people about  During my safari in Bandipur, we waited for almost an hour after knowing that the Leopard was up for a chase. All the birds and other animals in the forest were giving signs to one another about the danger ahead for their survival. Process of watching this from birds like peacocks and animals like Deers was an interesting experience. We waited and waited and left the place.

 

13 hours ago, Sridhar Tandra said:

I stayed at "The Windflower, Bandipur" in August 2014. Expensive place but I do not have words to explain how beautiful this place is, food here is. This place is inside the forest literally, no fencing etc.,

 

This is something that has to be experienced. Is that place open to every one for staying (commercial) or a private property? If so what was the price charged? Any pictures to share?

 

[Sridhar Tandra]

2 hours ago, sagar said:

place open to every one for staying (commercial)

Yes it is an open place (commercial) / Resort, one can make bookings online on their website! I am not too sure of the price, but I remember spending about 24 - 26 k for 4 days and 3 nights accommodation. Pictures.... I will be able to share it once I am back from Tirupathi this weekend, I remember I have them on my Desktop / External HD. Meanwhile, you can look out for more information about this place on their website ?

 

https://www.thewindflower.com/bandipur/resorts-hotels.html

[sagar]

2 hours ago, Sridhar Tandra said:

Yes it is an open place (commercial) / Resort, one can make bookings online on their website! I am not too sure of the price, but I remember spending about 24 - 26 k for 4 days and 3 nights accommodation. Pictures.... I will be able to share it once I am back from Tirupathi this weekend, I remember I have them on my Desktop / External HD. Meanwhile, you can look out for more information about this place on their website ?

 

https://www.thewindflower.com/bandipur/resorts-hotels.html

 

The resort looks killer but very much on an expensive side  Looks definitely worth the price ..

[Sridhar Tandra]

1 hour ago, sagar said:

very much on an expensive side

Exactly!

[ujwal]

Awesome monsoon drive team. I don't this it's call pre-monsoon after seeing those pictures. It looks like a peak monsoon drive . Super work on the report @Sridhar. The resort looks superb as if it is located in between the forest territory.

[Gowtham]

Hello everyone, I am planning to drive from Hyderabad to Mysore with family, can you please suggest the best route (would like to avoid Bangalore traffic) and the best time to start from Hyderabad. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Hyderabad to Mysuru:

 

- Start at 5AM

- Breakfast stop at food pyramid

- Lunch stop at NH7 refuel

-Take nice road entrance (Maruti layout)

-Since you are driving on weekday, stay on regular Mysuru highway(4-lane)

-Quick break/Tea at KFC on Bangalore-Mysuru highway

-Be cautious while overtaking 2 wheelers on Bangalore-Mysuru highway

 

Plan in Gmaps:

https://goo.gl/maps/gteM4QvaXk72