Its been quite a while since I rode, had been a part of 2 one day rides in Dec 2007. Definitely did not satisfy my hunger to ride more…….
So up came plan of visiting BR Hills and Ooty.
A little about the place BR Hills
The Biligiriranga Hills, commonly called B R Hills, is a hill range situated in south-eastern Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu in South India. The area is called Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973. Being at the confluence of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, the sanctuary is home to eco-systems that are unique to both the mountain ranges. This makes it a very critical habitat.
The hills are located at the easternmost edge of the Western Ghats and support diverse flora and fauna in view of the various habitat types supported. A wildlife sanctuary of 322.4 km² was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to 539.52 km² on 14 January 1987. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Rangaswamy or from the white mist and the silver clouds that cover these lofty hills for a greater part of the year.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_R_Hills
Udhagamandalam sometimes abbreviated to Udhagai is a city, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Ootacamund is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. The origin of the name Ootacamund is obscure, but "mund" is the Badaga word for a Toda village, and it is probably a corruption of the Badaga name for the central region of the Nilgiri Plateau.[1] Another likely origin of the stem of the name ("Ootaca") comes from the local language Tamil where "Otta-Cal" literally means "Single Stone". This is perhaps a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people. Udhagamandalam is a more recent official Tamil name for the town. Ooty stands at an approximate height of 7,440 feet (2,268 meters) above sea level.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooty
To be honest, the Ooty city has lost its charm, but the surrounding place does still have the charm. The reason being Ooty has become more commercialized.
Day 1: 11th Jan 2008
Took leave on Friday and this would be my last leave in the organization as I was changing jobs the same month. With no better reason rather than to celebrate on the occasion of the new opportunity at hand, BR Hill would be the right place to do it.
My cousin had to take his Driving license the same day, what a coincidence and this ensured we could not leave Bangalore before 6 pm. With nothing to do for most of the day packed bags and had a good afternoon sleep. We started after my cousin collecting his driving license and tanked up the Indian Oil petrol station on the Mysore road. With the first destination being Kollegal for the night, we were cruising with just 150 odd kilometers to cover in about 3 hours. Also my cousin was a new bie to ride, so decided to take it easy with ample breaks in between.
The road till Maddur is a dream, but once you take the deviation towards Kollegal, the roads from Maddur to Kollegal can definitely be rated below average with more potholes than tarmac
Reached Kollegal at 9.30 pm, Checked into the lodge, dumped the luggage and rushed to the nearby restaurant only to find that another 10 mins delay would have ensured we starved for the night.
Day 2: 12th Jan 2008
Saturday morning got ready by 7 am and left for BR Hills took time riding slow all through the route to enjoy the village ambience. Reached the forest check post and after duly entering our vehicle numbers we proceeded further. We stopped at quite a few places in between to click photos and of course hoping to spot a few wildies. But our hope remained as it is, because we could not spot any animals other than few monkeys and birds. Reached the temple and spent some time in the temple to offer our prayers. The environment here is better to experience rather than read about it. So why wait, go ahead to the place and get yourselves lost in the nature.
So up came plan of visiting BR Hills and Ooty.
A little about the place BR Hills
The Biligiriranga Hills, commonly called B R Hills, is a hill range situated in south-eastern Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu in South India. The area is called Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973. Being at the confluence of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, the sanctuary is home to eco-systems that are unique to both the mountain ranges. This makes it a very critical habitat.
The hills are located at the easternmost edge of the Western Ghats and support diverse flora and fauna in view of the various habitat types supported. A wildlife sanctuary of 322.4 km² was created around the temple on 27 June 1974, and enlarged to 539.52 km² on 14 January 1987. The sanctuary derives its name Biligiri from the white rock face that constitutes the major hill crowned with the temple of Lord Rangaswamy or from the white mist and the silver clouds that cover these lofty hills for a greater part of the year.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_R_Hills
Udhagamandalam sometimes abbreviated to Udhagai is a city, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Ootacamund is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. The origin of the name Ootacamund is obscure, but "mund" is the Badaga word for a Toda village, and it is probably a corruption of the Badaga name for the central region of the Nilgiri Plateau.[1] Another likely origin of the stem of the name ("Ootaca") comes from the local language Tamil where "Otta-Cal" literally means "Single Stone". This is perhaps a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people. Udhagamandalam is a more recent official Tamil name for the town. Ooty stands at an approximate height of 7,440 feet (2,268 meters) above sea level.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooty
To be honest, the Ooty city has lost its charm, but the surrounding place does still have the charm. The reason being Ooty has become more commercialized.
Day 1: 11th Jan 2008
Took leave on Friday and this would be my last leave in the organization as I was changing jobs the same month. With no better reason rather than to celebrate on the occasion of the new opportunity at hand, BR Hill would be the right place to do it.
My cousin had to take his Driving license the same day, what a coincidence and this ensured we could not leave Bangalore before 6 pm. With nothing to do for most of the day packed bags and had a good afternoon sleep. We started after my cousin collecting his driving license and tanked up the Indian Oil petrol station on the Mysore road. With the first destination being Kollegal for the night, we were cruising with just 150 odd kilometers to cover in about 3 hours. Also my cousin was a new bie to ride, so decided to take it easy with ample breaks in between.
The road till Maddur is a dream, but once you take the deviation towards Kollegal, the roads from Maddur to Kollegal can definitely be rated below average with more potholes than tarmac
Reached Kollegal at 9.30 pm, Checked into the lodge, dumped the luggage and rushed to the nearby restaurant only to find that another 10 mins delay would have ensured we starved for the night.
Day 2: 12th Jan 2008
Saturday morning got ready by 7 am and left for BR Hills took time riding slow all through the route to enjoy the village ambience. Reached the forest check post and after duly entering our vehicle numbers we proceeded further. We stopped at quite a few places in between to click photos and of course hoping to spot a few wildies. But our hope remained as it is, because we could not spot any animals other than few monkeys and birds. Reached the temple and spent some time in the temple to offer our prayers. The environment here is better to experience rather than read about it. So why wait, go ahead to the place and get yourselves lost in the nature.
After a cup of coffee we continued our ride and moved on towards Chamarajanagar via KG Gudi Route. With no roads, we rode pretty slow, again hoping to spot a few animals, but our luck sucked big time on the day. Cross the other end of the check post and then continued riding towards Bandipur and reached there by 1 pm.
It was time for lunch and chilled off till 2 pm. All the while a person by name Richard from Australia was shooting a few queries asking our experience. Started off riding towards Ooty via Masinagudi. This route has the 36 hair pin bends and not so high traffic ensured we enjoyed the climb up the hill. Reached Ooty by 3.45 pm, checked into a lodge, dumped the entire luggage and headed for the nearest service station to get the Bike washed (lot of dust you see) and moved toward Dodda Betta, but the Check Post guys did not let us to the top because the gate closes at 5 pm and we had been there at 5.02 pm (found it ridiculous as per the IST standards, no offense here). Had no choice but to ride back, on the way had masala tea, and found a small place to off road and create our own sunset spot. Clicked pics and headed back to the Lodge, rested for a while and went out for dinner, again clicked a few snaps and came back and slept like a log till 6.30 am next morning… Zzzzzz time
Day 3: 13th Jan 2008
Sunday, got ready by 7.30 am and left for Coonoor, it was pretty cold in the morning, The winding roads, the chilling breeze, got me really excited. We had a very tasty breakfast (Idly and Onion Utthappam) at Coonoor and rode ahead to Lamb’s Rock to find out that we were the first one’s for the day there. The place is best with very less people. Do not know why, but I always preferred to go to places where very few people flock the place. The silence of the place was disturbed by the click sound generated from the camera when we were clicking photos. It was time to move on to Dolphins nose, spent about 30 mins and started riding back towards Ooty and had Doddabetta on the list to be done on that route. Doddabetta is the highest peak in the Nilgiri hills. The place has got a wonderful view all around the hill. Doddabetta already had loads of people around as it was already mid day, and this ensured, I left the place after clicking a few photos.
We headed back to Lodge, had lunch and packed the bags, refueled and starting riding towards Pykara Lake. This lake is about 20 odd kilometers from Ooty city. Pykara is blessed with popular attractions like Pykara Dam, Pykara Falls, and Pykara Lake. With little time left for us to go boating here, we left the place after regular session of clicking photos.
The road towards Gudalur can be termed as horrendous (can conclude as no tarmac). Took more than an hour for us to reach Gudalur. Reached Theppakadu at around 5.30 pm and spent some time at the canteen, actually wasted time over there to ensure I ride through the forest reserve when it’s dark. Took a new road which had new tarmac, none of the traffic took this route not sure as to why. I preferred to take this route to include some adventure in the ride and boy o boy it would, when I spotted a tiger leisurely walking into the bush on a curve. Since it was pretty dark, could not see as to where it was and clicking pics were of no use. Stopped for a minute for my cousin to join me who was riding a little behind, then moved on from there to exit the forest reserve. At last my thirst is fulfilled to spot a tiger in the forest, but no pics to cherish on that.
With the delight of spotting a tiger ensured I was high on energy all the ride on the way back home. Had dinner in Dhabha near Mysore and rode back and reached home at 11.30 pm.
A part of life reclaimed would definitely be an understatement…..
The route
Bangalore – Maddur – Kollegal – BR Hills – Chamarajanagar – Gundlupet – Bandipur – Masinagudi – Ooty – Coonoor – Ooty – Pykara – Gudalur – Theppakadu – Bandipur – Gundlupet – Mysore - Bangalore
Now I will let the pictures do the talking.
Link to the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/n.krishna.p/BRHillsOoty
Day 3: 13th Jan 2008
Sunday, got ready by 7.30 am and left for Coonoor, it was pretty cold in the morning, The winding roads, the chilling breeze, got me really excited. We had a very tasty breakfast (Idly and Onion Utthappam) at Coonoor and rode ahead to Lamb’s Rock to find out that we were the first one’s for the day there. The place is best with very less people. Do not know why, but I always preferred to go to places where very few people flock the place. The silence of the place was disturbed by the click sound generated from the camera when we were clicking photos. It was time to move on to Dolphins nose, spent about 30 mins and started riding back towards Ooty and had Doddabetta on the list to be done on that route. Doddabetta is the highest peak in the Nilgiri hills. The place has got a wonderful view all around the hill. Doddabetta already had loads of people around as it was already mid day, and this ensured, I left the place after clicking a few photos.
We headed back to Lodge, had lunch and packed the bags, refueled and starting riding towards Pykara Lake. This lake is about 20 odd kilometers from Ooty city. Pykara is blessed with popular attractions like Pykara Dam, Pykara Falls, and Pykara Lake. With little time left for us to go boating here, we left the place after regular session of clicking photos.
The road towards Gudalur can be termed as horrendous (can conclude as no tarmac). Took more than an hour for us to reach Gudalur. Reached Theppakadu at around 5.30 pm and spent some time at the canteen, actually wasted time over there to ensure I ride through the forest reserve when it’s dark. Took a new road which had new tarmac, none of the traffic took this route not sure as to why. I preferred to take this route to include some adventure in the ride and boy o boy it would, when I spotted a tiger leisurely walking into the bush on a curve. Since it was pretty dark, could not see as to where it was and clicking pics were of no use. Stopped for a minute for my cousin to join me who was riding a little behind, then moved on from there to exit the forest reserve. At last my thirst is fulfilled to spot a tiger in the forest, but no pics to cherish on that.
With the delight of spotting a tiger ensured I was high on energy all the ride on the way back home. Had dinner in Dhabha near Mysore and rode back and reached home at 11.30 pm.
A part of life reclaimed would definitely be an understatement…..
The route
Bangalore – Maddur – Kollegal – BR Hills – Chamarajanagar – Gundlupet – Bandipur – Masinagudi – Ooty – Coonoor – Ooty – Pykara – Gudalur – Theppakadu – Bandipur – Gundlupet – Mysore - Bangalore
Now I will let the pictures do the talking.
1 comment:
Nice and informative blog. Me and my hubbie are planning to hire a kinetic honda/activa when we visit ooty and conoor. It's something we would like to explore ourselves. I was wondering if the ride was safe along ghat roads as I would be riding in parts. Did you switch off the engine while going downhill? Just need some tips and wondering if there are many female riders on the there? Thanks.
Post a Comment