Rediscovering Ooty

 Like all other popular hill station,queen of Nilgiri loosing its charm very fast.Proper Ooty is now more of a touristy,noisy and polluted hill station  rather than a serene, flowery,pine wooded mountain escape.But please don't tick off Ooty from your itinerary,still you can rediscover the blues of the blue mountain,the valleys,the wild flowers and the scent of the Nilgiri tea and I will tell you how?The forests,the mountains, the lakes,dams  and some of the hidden spots in these regions are reasons enough to revisit Ooty once more.

Sagar Holiday Resort,Ooty facing beautiful Ketty valley

1)Wonderful Stay in Ooty :I entered into Ooty through an unusual path from Wayanad,Kerala and I choose carefully not to stay in proper Ooty,rather I have opted for a resort (Read Review :Sagar Holiday Resort

),little outskirt of the Ooty near Lovedale,on the way to Connoor. The resort is on the slope of the hill facing beautiful Ketty Valley. From reception I descended  down the hill by lift and flowers with vivid colors accompanied me all my way from reception to my suite.

Flower  at Ooty

Once I opened the door and entered into the wide open balcony,the idyllic landscape,slopes carpeted with rolling tea plantation,smokey nilgiri mountain range seems to me the perfect arrangement for a much desired holiday.And by then I spotted,whistling mountain toy train passing through the valley,vanishes inside a tunnel and lost in the blues of the blue mountain.My lungs filled up with crisp mountain air.Soon sarong of mountain cloud wrapped up the valley and so as I,visibility became zero.I started floating in the midst of clouds, near and far hills of Ooty were studded with evening lights.

2) An evening in Ooty:
On set of mountain evening chill,I took an auto to take a stroll in the Ooty's busy streets and my senses reawakened with the aroma of various spices,herbs,medicated oils,tea,coffee . And the very famous sweet smell will make sure that  without buying homemade chocolate,its impossible to leave Ooty.I packed full chicken roast,chicken swarmer roll and a plate of very much 'Ooty' biriyani (I have doubt whether we can call it biriyani )from a street side food joint to indulge a hearty meal back in our resort's open air roof balcony with my foodie hubby .On my journey through the Nilgiris days were packed with activities and sightseeing and when evening chill sets in it was drink,food and shopping. 

3)Ooty Rose Garden:
Now one of the main attraction of Ooty is various parks and gardens.A site to behold forever in spring & summer is Ooty's Rose Garden. Find photos of beautiful roses here :  Say it with Roses

 4) Wandering in Avalanche Lake: Just 30 km away from Ooty, a lake with shimmering water sits in the lap of hills overlooking  beautiful valley,surrounded by wooded hills.Fore more look at: Trip To Unexplored Ooty- Avalanche
 
 5) Into the tea country 'Conoor'- Just a  shout away from Ooty, less commercialized, more beautiful.

6)Lastly the roads through Bandipur Forest from Ooty to Bangalore with lots of wild animal sighting.
These are my six main reason not to avoid Ooty in this summer.