THE NILGIRIS (BLUE MOUNTAINS) beckon

It had always been on my bucket list to travel solo with Anand. And it finally happened last December when we travelled to Ooty.

We flew into Coimbatore, from where Ooty is around a 3-to-4-hour drive. It’s better to rent a car for your entire stay as there are lots of sight-seeing trips a short drive away. I was worried about the winding road up bringing on a bout of car sickness but fortunately I managed fine. Our abode for the 5 days was the Club Mahindra, Derby Green in Ooty and to our pleasant surprise, it turned out to be one of their best resorts we have stayed at besides Coorg (for all you Club Mahindra members out there).

The next day we decided to kick off our sight-seeing with a day trip to Coonoor. It was pure bliss to soak in the stunning landscapes with the 18-degree weather making it that much more enjoyable. A visit to Sim’s Park, Highfield Tea Factory, Dolphin’s Nose and Lamb’s Rock are the usual ‘must-dos’ there. Of course, we could not leave without buying an assortment of teas and oils for which the place is famous, and the shop at Highfield Tea Factory was the perfect choice.

Day 2 was about exploring what Ooty itself had to offer and the Botanical Gardens was the best place to start our sight-seeing. The Gardens are divided into several sections, covering a sprawling area north of 22 hectares. Lying on the lower slopes of Doddabetta peak (the highest peak of the Nilgiris), the garden has a terraced layout and is maintained by the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department. In the centre of the Gardens was a fossilized tree trunk estimated to be 20mn years old! We had a great time snapping away near the Instagram-worthy landscaped trees and bushes. The most unique feature was a patch of garden in the shape of the map of India, with the 29 different states demarcated by different plants. It even included the newly-formed (June 2014) Telangana state 😊

The Boat House was the next stop, where a relaxing boat ride on Ooty lake awaited. We decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the Taj Savoy Hotel which was pretty good, though have to say that the food at our resort was far superior. After a good afternoon’s rest it was time embark on our Valley View Hanuman Cave mountain trek with a Club Mahindra guide. On approach, the guide pointed out the mountain we were about to climb and Anand and I just looked at each other in the car in intense amusement and burst out laughing. It was an actual mountain with pretty steep slopes! Well to be fair we did sign up for a ‘mountain trek’. So I decided to stop at the Hanuman Cave while Anand and the guide headed up to the peak, which even he admitted was a pretty gruelling and tough climb. We face-timed (that’s the modern generation for you 😊 so that I could enjoy the fabulous view from the top as well. Taking pics of the setting sun through the trees kept me busy while I waited for them to return.

We saved the best for last. On the final day, we made a trip to Avalanchi for a jungle safari which was beyond amazing! And to our luck we saw a family of large sambar deer fleeing from danger, straight out of an episode of National Geographic. The father was trying to protect his kids from being taken by the wild dogs by barking loudly, as they usually do in case of danger, and herding his family across the lake to the other bank. These deer are known to be excellent swimmers and it was wonderful to see this story unfold. The water in the lake was a beautiful blue and we could not get enough of the view from the top.

A stop at Emerald Lake and a fabulous, organic meal – we got to enjoy the traditional hospitality of the Badaga community at the homestay, Red Hill Nature Resort - was the perfect ending to the day. The resort was tucked away in the mountains with sweeping, dramatic 30-mile views of majestic mountains and lakes. The perfect place for some R&R and doing nothing if one so chooses (an art which my hubby has mastered 😊, so I could well be back to stay there with hubby for a few days.

December 2016 - Ooty, Tamil Nadu (India)