Day 2 – Beautiful Coonoor

Date: 23-Aug-15

Our today’s plan was to visit the Pine forest in Ooty and then visit Coonoor. In the evening, we had the plan of coming back to Ooty from Coonoor by Toy train. The train was at 4.30 PM. So, we had to cover all the places in Coonoor (including lunch) before that.

Thilak, myself and two of Thilak’s friends were ready by 7 o’clock. Rest of our friends were taking time to get ready. We four packed all our bags and went for a small walk near the resort while the others were getting ready. The walk near the hotel was beautiful. There were huge carrot fields eveywhere. We enjoyed this walk. When we returned from the fields, rest of our friends were ready. We checked out of the hotel at around 8.30 AM and started from the hotel.

Pine Forest

Before visiting Pine forest, we had authentic south Indian breakfast at a hotel called Durga Hotel which is in the Ooty town. The pine forest is around 10 km from the town and we reached there at around 10 AM. The Pine forest was same as that of Kodaikanal except that at the other end of the Pine forest, there was a huge lake which added extra essence to the beauty. All of us had great time at the forest and near the lake.

Coonoor

After Pine forest, we proceeded towards Coonoor at around 11.30 AM. Coonoor is around 20 km from Ooty and it took us around 1 hr to reach the place from Pine forest. But this 1 hr journey was the most beautiful journey for me during the trip.

As we were nearing Coonoor, we saw huge tea estates covered with floating clouds. The scene was breathtaking. We could not resist but to take a stop near one of the tea estates. Visiting tea estate was not there in our plan, but we got the most amazing view of the entire trip by visiting this. The tea estate was huge and was extremely well maintained. What made it more beautiful was the clouds playing hide and seek with the tea plants. The nature was at its best at the tea plantation and none of us were in a mood to return from there, but we were running short of time.

Dolphin’s Nose View Point
After tasting special tea varieties at the shop near the tea estate, we started towards Dolphin’s nose which was at a distance of 10 km from the tea estate. Since the road was narrow and was like ghat road, it took us around 45 min to reach the place. The road leading to the Dolphin’s nose was again beautiful. In one stretch, our TT was traversing in the middle of tea estates. On all sides of us, there were tea plantations. The moment was spectacular.

At Dolphin’s nose view point, we could not see anything initally because of the clouds. But, after some time, as the clouds faded away, we got the glimpse of the mighty Nilgiri mountains, deep valley and the huge Catherine waterfalls. The view was spectacular.

Lamb’s Rock
After Dolphin’s nose, on the way back to Coonoor town, we visited a place called Lamb’s rock (which is 8 km from Coonoor town). Unfortunately, we could not get proper view in Lamb’s rock because we did not have enough time to wait for the clouds to fade. The time was already 3 o’clock and we had to finish our lunch and had to be there at the train station by 4.15 PM. We quickly finished lunch at a hotel called Orchid Square and started towards Coonoor railway station at 3.45 PM. The railway station was around 3 km from the hotel and we reached the station at around 4 PM.

Toy Train from Coonoor to Ooty
We were all excited about this train journey of 1 hr. We asked our TT driver to go to Ooty and wait for us near the Ooty train station. Our toy train was already standing in the station when we reached. We clicked many photos near the train. We all sat in one compartment. The train was not crowded at all which made us even more happier. The train started exactly at 4.30 PM. The view of the mountains, tea estates, dark green fields in some places was absolutely amazing. The weather was chilling cold. This train journey gave a pleasant final touch to our Ooty trip.

The train reached Ooty train station at 5.30 PM and we immediately started our return journey towards Bangalore at 5.45 PM. The Bandipur forest closing time is 9 PM, so we wanted to reach Bandipur before 9 PM. As we expected, we reached Bandipur by 8.30 PM, had cup of tea near the checkpost and proceeded towards Bangalore. By the time, we reached Mysore, it was around 10.45 PM and almost all the hotels were closed at that time. Luckily, a hotel called Guru Residency was open and we finished our dinner there. Our TT driver drove slowly after dinner and we reached Bangalore at around 3 AM in the morning.

• Route Travelled: Silent Valley Resort > Pine Forest (Ooty) > Coonoor > Tea Estate in Coonoor > Dolphin’s Nose (Coonoor) > Lamb’s Rock (Coonoor) > Coonoor Railway Station > Ooty Railway Station > Bandipur > Mysore > Bangalore
• Photos: Day 2 at Coonoor Photos

See also:

• Main Post
• Day 1 – Doddabetta Peak and Botanical Garden

Route Map: