This trip was done in the last week of August 2014, and I started writing this blogpost in November. Finally it made out of my drafts in January 2015.
Ooty is the backyard of Coimbatore. As a resident of Coimbatore, my visits to Ooty should have crossed a dozen by now. But unfortunately it hasn't happened yet. I should have gone there whenever I need some fresh air or a cup of fresh tea in the chilled weather or just when to kill my boredom in the weekends. But, till now every visit of my Ooty is just like a typical tourist who comes once in a year and just tries to cover most of the common places within a weekend. Unfortunately this time also I couldn't change this jinx. But every time Ooty looks new to me and the new addition of my Sony RX100 II to this trip made me feel like a first time visitor; so no complaints.
Why this sudden visit and the reason behind this title ? Last week I had an important test for my dream job. But in the last minute I got freaked out and felt like Short Term Memory 'Ghajini'. So I made a quick plan on Friday evening and told my parents that I want to go to Ooty. The one thing in my parents are more lazy than me is in making travel plans. So after a lot of (useless) discussion, around late morning, my father decided that we will take the bus to Ooty and not the car.
So after a slow and steady climbing on a government bus, we reached Ooty around 2.30 pm. Since my father worked there for an year, he knew the city and some persons there. We got down in Charring Cross and booked a room in Meadows Residency.
After a quick lunch in the Oven (the hotel's restaurant and aptly named for its space I think), our first place in the check list was Doddabetta. The light drizzle and the clouds made this, one of my best visits here.
On the way to Doddapetta peak lies the tea museum. The entrance fee is minimal and you can get hot tea as complimentary inside. Also you can see the tea manufacturing stages and get all kind of products manufactured in Ooty here.
From the factory, you can see the Government Arts and Science College of Ooty (Where my dad worked for an year) and Ooty Stone House, which was used as residential place for the principals and soon to be converted as a museum. The Stone house was the first bungalow to be built in Ooty and it was built by John Sullivan, the founder of Ooty. The tree in front of the bungalow is named as Sullivan's Oak in his remembrance.
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| Back View of Stone House from the Tea Factory |
Our next stop was the most crowded tourist attraction of Ooty; the Ooty Botanical Garden. Since the main objective of this trip is to get most out of my new camera, I tried to take as many pictures I can with whatever I know with my camera. It was more like the rumination process of a cattle and somehow I got a few fair pictures in it.
When we came out of the Botanical Garden it was nearly 6 pm, and closing time for the Rose Garden. But using the influence of a former professor of local government college, we gained the permit to go inside (The security's sister studied in the same college). Since this was a off season we could only see a few Roses and most were just buds or already died. The really unique varieties here are Black Rose and Green Rose, which are placed just adjacent to the entrance. I forgot how many total varieties are in the garden but it was definitely more than a hundred. And they are planning to expand the garden further more.
After finishing the Rose Garden we went to the Ooty Lake just for a small walk and a foursquare checkin. With that, the first day of Usual Ooty visit came to an end. But I had high hopes for the second day since it has a place where I wanted to visit for a long time.