When travelling from bangalore to ooty by road, there are quite a few
things to do on the way.
The road from bangalore to ooty pases through ramnagara, channapatna,
maddur, mandya, srirangapatna, mysore, najungad, gundelpet, bandipur,
mudumalai to ooty.
Bangalore to Mysore
Bangalore to mysore road is real good right from rajarajeshwari temple
arch and 4 lane trafic capable of doing 100 kmph and excess. Be careful
of sudden traffic diversions due to bridge and road painting works.
Also of pedestrians.
Take a break at 24 hour cafe coffee day (after channapatna - 70km from
bangalore) or kamat (after ramnagaram - 50km from bangalore). You may
try amaravathi before Mandya or Maddur Tiffanys. Other restaurants are
not worth their salt (or sugar)
After Channapatna you may want to stop at Dodda Malur Krishna temple, a
very old temple with a deity of lord baby krishna. Many people believe
that your prayers for a baby come true at this temple.
Srirangapatna has few spots of tourist interest like fort, river view,
nearby ranganathitu bird sanctuary.
If you dig pizzas, you can stop at pizza corner, mysore which is on the
way to ooty road.
Mysore to Ooty
Nanjungad to Gundelpet is straight and smooth road with no traffic.
Easy to maintain excess of 100 KMPH. Beware of sudden speed breakers
and bumpy bridges.
Nanjungad has a very old and famous shiva temple with lot of statues of
gods.
At gundelpet, take the road to ooty.
Gundelpet to Bandipur is very bad stretch of raod. Bandipur to
TamilNadu border is also bad stretch.
Drive slowly (30 to 40 kmph) as you have chance of seeing the animals
grazing on the road side during the evenings. If you see elephants on
the road side, stop at a distance and observe them carefully. No
honking or bright lights. (easiset way to irritate the elephants) By
their movements, it is easy to findout if they are just grazing or
trying to cross the road. If elephants are in group, no problems.
Beware of single elephant (especially tusker - male elephants).They
tend to easily get irritated as this is their mating season. Other
animals like deer, mongoose, peacocks are harmless. Dont feed the
monkeys as they tend to jump inside the car. Monkey scratches and bites
need anti rabies vaccine. Just before the TN-Kar border checkposts,
many people have seen tigers near the roads but I have been unlucky in
seeing a tiger so far.
From the TN border (police tend to leave off family cars - guys driven
vehicles are checked for liquor and other illegal stuff, there is a
toll gate on TN side), the roads are good but maintain just 30 to 40
kmph.
At the theppakadu junction, (mudumalai forest office) you have 2
choices to go to ooty. The right takes you to ooty through Gudalur,
naduvattam, Pykarra falls, seventh mile to ooty. The left takes you
through Masinagudi, kallahatty water falls to ooty. Both routes are
scenic and have great views. The gudalur road is easy to drive and
heavy vehicles prefer this road. The masinagudi road needs a power
steering as there are 35 hairpin bends in a 15 km stretch and the road
is very steep. Your vehicle needs to be in perfect condition to tackle
this road. Just after Masinagudi there is a point where a leopard
crosses the road.
What to do at wildlife sanctuary
Both at Bandipur and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, the forest department organises van
and jeep safari inside the forest to see wild animals. The timings are
Morning 6 to 9 AM and evening 4 to 6 PM. In Bandipur, Jeep safaris are
available. You need to book in advance dring season time as the rush is
heavy. The crowds mill around like a mall in bangalore.
Jungle Home - Gudalur - Ooty Route
Take the right turn at Theppakadu junction and follow the road upto the
edge of the forest.
A nice place to relax here would be Jungle Home, a cottage attached to
the forest. For details please check the website.
The section between Theppakadu and Thorapalli is crucial elephant
habitat zone and is very easy to sight the wild elephants on the road
side. Becareful about the wild tuskers which are always single and easy
to irritate.
The road goes to Gudalur, Naduvattam, ooty. On the way you can see
pykarra falls (not advisable to bathe), 7th mile (where many film
shootings happen - sing a duet with your beau) and proceed to ooty.
Stop at the approved view points only.
Park at the side of the road. Dont obstruct traffic.
Drive carefuly and sensibly.
Beware of irresponsible drivers and buses
How to reach Jungle Home
At Theppakadu Junction take right, pass through the forest border, at
the RTO checkpost (Thorrapalli village) take left, (the small tar road
opposite hotel haridagiri), follow the tar road, after the BSNL cell
phone tower, you find the green gates of Jungle home (green building)
Route Map:
Bangalore - Mysore - Take ooty road
Mysore - Nanjungad - Gundelpet - Take Ooty road
Gundelpet - Bandipur Forest Office - Karnataka Tamilnadu Border -
Theppakadu (Mudumalai forest office) Junction
Balamurugan is a wildlife and nature lover visiting
Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in India; frequently with various experiences like
trekking, bird watching, fishing on each visit. |
