Visiting Ooty??

It was my first trip to a hill resort in southern India and it turned out to be a completely rejuvenating experience. Yes, Ooty or Udhagamandalam nestled in the blue Nilgiri's is a land of picturesque beauty and a perfect destination for a romantic weekend getaway.

Among the popular sightseeing options,Doddabetta peak is the highest point in the Nilgiri's. At a distance of around 11 kms from the main town,the peak is at the junction of the Eastern and Western Ghats from where one can have a panoramic view of the Ooty and Ketty Valley. Enjoy a video taken during our trip from the peak. However,note that there is not such good eating joints there and hence its better to carry your food and water.

Since ours was a 2 days trip, we spent our first evening boating at the artificial Ooty lake.Make sure to reach well before 6o'clock as the lake closes at 6pm. A major attraction here was the thread garden ,an amazing collection of hand made vibrant flowers made of 60 million meter long thread where not a single needle or any machine has been used. Another favourite here was horse riding.

The rose garden was our next visit where there were 3600 varieties and is amongst the 14 rose gardens recognised in the world.

A visit to a tea factory and museum is a must if want to peep into the history of tea and try some authentic tea available in different flavours and oils from the Nilgiri's.However, such tea n oil is a popular product in every shop in Ooty.

Our last and most awaited stop in the town was the much famed botanical garden which however did not leave a very good impression on us as they charged us Rs45 for parking our car at a place for less than 5mins but had to be removed because of parking problem. Its a crowded place especially on weekends and there is a small market place too.But after entering the exotic garden which is considered the second largest in Asia we seemed to forget everything.

Our our return trip we came via the long route so that we could enjoy a refreshing boat ride on the much famed Pykara lake, the sacred river of the Todas,the original inhabitants of the Nilgiri's, where many bollywood scenes have been shot.Enjoy a video therein.

Like every woman,I too am a shopaholic,and could never come back without any souvenirs and what best can one opt for from the Nilgiri's than some tea ,spices and oils and not to miss the home made Ooty chocolates.


Though there are shops lined up along every street in Ooty,we found the best options on garden road, especially at NPS super market from where we bought ourselves loads of Ooty chocolates in various flavours and spices along with some genuine oils like eucalyptus oil, an antiseptic and deodorant, lemon grass oil for gastric and diarrhoea problems, lavender,geranium,citriodora for dandruff and hair fall, winter green for muscular pains, clove oil,olive oil,rose oil,almond oil ,etc to name a few.

Check out some of my Ooty and Coonoor videos shot during our trip to this magnificient hill station in the Nilgiri's on the right hand side of my blog under my youtube videos.

Coonoor ,the second largest hill resort in the Nilgiri's , famous for its verdant tea plantations,is yet another favourite amongst tourists. Do come back to know what we did in Coonoor before your plan your trip this weekend