05 March 2012

Udhagamandalam (Ooty)

Order of Sections
- How to Get There
- Sights in Ooty
- Accommodation
- Transport
- One Day in Ooty

Udhagamandalam, is the new name of the town commonly known as Ooty. It is located in the western part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

video
View of Ooty

How to get there
From Bangalore, expect around a 6hr drive to Ooty. The road till Mysore is fine although it passes through some towns. It's not difficult at all to find a stopover meal on the way, be it in a cafe or a restaurant serving fresh South Indian cuisine. Till Ooty, you have the option of stopping in restaurants like Kamat, or in Cafe Coffee Day, or in Indradhanush etc. For more variety, get into Mysore city.

For some sightseeing on the way, Mysore is an ideal choice.

St Philomena's Cathedral (Mysore)

Mysore Palace

St Philomena's Cathedral (Mysore) is a nice church to visit although pictures aren't allowed inside.

If you want to head straight to Ooty, you should bypass Mysore, and not enter the city.

Sights in Ooty
Municipal Market
The most well-known sights in Ooty are the Ooty Lake and the Botanical Garden. To visit Ooty Lake, there's an entry fee
required- INR 5, besides an extra fee for cameras. The area
is pretty busy with shops. Boating can be done on the lake.
The Botanical Gardens are quite beautiful; they have a
map of India and some other designs made from flowers
and soil. There are different elevations in the garden allowing
for good view spots.

If you like markets, try Municipal Market. It stretches on a main road and behind and is a good place to buy fruits, spices etc.

 Other sights include the Kandal Shrine and the Rose Garden (not been to either though).

Map of India at Ooty Botanical Gardens

Boating at Ooty Lake

Ooty Botanical Gardens

St Stephen's Church
Most of these sights can be very crowded. For a change try St Stephen's Church which is generally calm. Notice the beautifully decorated windows. Behind is a graveyard.

Accommodation
We stayed at Club Mahindra's Derby Greens Resort which
affords pretty good views of Ooty and the racecourse. Rooms
are fine. The property is quite big. Service, however, isn't up
to the mark- slow room service, non-availability of certain goods
such as lemon and apple pie. Food at the resort is otherwise not
bad, though.

Transport
Beautiful glass decoration
at St Stephen's Church
Walking and auto-rickshaws are the main ways to get around.
Although prices for autos may seem ridiculous, these are
official. There are auto ranks in some areas, or you can hail
one on the road.

One Day in Ooty
Visit the Ooty Lake and the St Stephen's Church followed by the
Botanical Gardens. Around the lake, you can wander around the Municipal Market.

Last visit: Mar 2012
No of visits: 2
First visit: N/A

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