Ooty–Coonoor Trip

A letter to Sunanda Mainji (May 1, 2006)

Respected Mainji,

JRJK!!

It was a long weekend, and we also had a holiday today for May Day. So we decided to visit Ooty and Coonoor.

We left Mysore early Saturday at 2:00 am by taxi. It takes about six hours to reach Ooty. We arrived around 6:30 am, slept till 10:00, and by late morning headed out.

Ooty day

We started with Ooty Lake. After boating, we hired a taxi for sightseeing and went to Pykara Lake and Pykara Falls. The lake was extremely beautiful. The falls were nice, though not like the kind you see in the Himalayas, like Mussoorie or Nainital.

From there we visited the Botanical Garden. In the evening we went to the market, had dinner, and returned to the guest house around 11:30 pm. We also stepped out nearby for tea.

Coonoor day

On Sunday we went to the railway station to catch the toy train to Coonoor, but the tickets were already sold and the counter was closed. So we hired the same taxi instead.

First we visited Doddabetta, the highest peak in Ooty. Then we continued to Coonoor and saw Lamb’s Rock, Dolphin’s Nose viewpoint, and a tea factory.

We returned to Ooty by about 3:15 pm. We bought chocolates from the market since Ooty is famous for homemade chocolates. We had pizza for lunch, rested a bit at the guest house, and at 6:30 pm the bus picked us up for Mysore.

The best surprise

The route between Mysore and Ooty passes through Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary. We were lucky enough to see a tiger, snakes, and deer on the road.

We reached Mysore at 11:30 pm and our campus around midnight. We even played basketball for some time and returned to our rooms at 1:30 am.

That was a brief description of our Ooty–Coonoor trip. We took many photographs. I will show you when we meet.

Rest is fine.

TC
BFN

Regards,
Palak Mathur