I was travelling along with my friend from Hyderabad. We had booked an AC semi-sleeper bus named Bharathi Travels. Our boarding point was Pillar number 23, just opposite the Chennai Shopping Mall at Mehdipatnam. The boarding time was 10 P.M. I would not recommend the bus as it was almost running 2 hours late throughout starting from pickup. It took around 12 hours to reach our destination in Bengaluru the next day.
We didn't explore Bengaluru much as we had just planned to meet up with our friends and cousins. However, if you are staying in the HSR Layout area, I would strongly recommend one to try the Tandoori Chai cafe. Also, we had ordered from the Belgian Waffle Factory through Swiggy which was too yummy!
On 13th night, 11:30 P.M. we had boarded an AC sleeper bus named SRS Travels from Silk Board in Bengaluru to go to Ooty. If you manage to wake up early in the morning, you can enjoy the picturesque view of the hilly roads of Coonoor along with the sunrise during the bus ride itself. We reached Ooty at around 7 in the morning.
We had booked our stay at Fortune Retreats, Belmont Terrace which is around 7 km from the Main Ooty Bus Stand. The location of the hotel is excellent. It has really hospitable staff. On the first day, we booked a cab from our hotel and visited Pykara lake, Pykara waterfalls, Pine Forest Shooting Point, Kamaraj Sagar Dam and Wenlock Downs. It took around 5 hours to cover the entire thing and costed us Rs 1900. Most of the locations on the first day included shooting points and are worth a visit. The view from the top of the Wenlock Downs is picturesque to say the least.
On the second day we took the local sightseeing package of Rs 1700 which covered the Ooty boathouse, Rose garden, Botanical garden, Tea factory, Tea garden, Chocolate factory and Dodabetta peak. It took around 5-6 hours to cover the entire thing. It was really exciting to see how tea and chocolates are prepared from scratch. The best part of the trip was walking through the tea garden. The view from the Dodabetta Peak was breathtaking. On 15th night itself, we boarded our bus, SRS Travels again to get back to Bengaluru.
We reached Bengaluru before time at 4 in the morning. After resting sometime at our friend's place, we boarded our flight Air Asia at 1:25 P.M. to get back to Hyderabad. The entire cost of the trip per person was app. Rs 11000. It included everything starting from travel(both local & otherwise), food to lodging. Overall, it was a great trip. Our Villa was around 8 K.M. from the main Ooty bus stand. The hotel arranges for pickup and drop with extra charges. Although, I am not a mountain person, Ooty was a treat for the eyes especially when compared to the busy streets of Nainital and likewise.