Weekend ride from Bangalore to Ooty to Kotagiri

Tripoto
27th Sep 2019
Photo of Weekend ride from Bangalore to Ooty to Kotagiri by Prakash Pali
Day 1

Started from Bangalore towards Ooty at 5:30 A.M through Mysore road. There was so much traffic on Mysore road as lane expansion is happening. A better way would be to take Kanakapura road and join Mysore road.

Did not stop anywhere for lunch, was taking 10 mins break after every hour of riding and was killing my hunger using coconut water and snickers chocolate. In the midst of afternoon, Bandipur National Park was refreshing.

Reached Ooty by 1:30 P.M. Shifted to hotel room and freshened up. Had lunch at Quality Restaurant on Church Hill Road.

Relaxed at hotel (Oyo 23425 Ooty Residency Rooms) in Ooty city till evening and went out to see sunset. Stayed here for a night. Rooms and bathrooms are decent. There is no restaurant in this hotel. Will have eat outside for dinner. They do serve complementary breakfast though. I wanted better mobile network so that I can write this article and upload photos.

Few restaurants like A2B remains open till 11 P.M. It is advised to have lunch or dinner here as food is good, a lot of travelers come here and it is located in the main Ooty City.

Roads from Mysore to Ooty

Photo of A2b Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Commercial Road, Upper Bazaar, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Panoramic view of road to Ooty

Photo of A2b Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Commercial Road, Upper Bazaar, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali
Day 2

Left for Kotagiri after having complementary breakfast today. Most restaurants here start breakfast by 8 AM. So if you are planning to leave early, you will have to skip breakfast at hotel.

Tea estate in the outskirts of Ooty

Photo of OYO 23425 Ooty Residency, Road, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Botanical Garden

Photo of OYO 23425 Ooty Residency, Road, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Doddabetta peak

Photo of OYO 23425 Ooty Residency, Road, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

The best road I have driven on before was in Shiradi Ghat (in between Mangalore and Bangalore). This road, from Ooty to Kotagiri was the 2nd best till date. Flat roads, nice curves, shadow from trees covering you most of the time and cold weather complements the experience of driving here. Finally reached Kotagiri after an hour of drive. Kotagiri is one beautiful place with most of the hotels at hill tops. You can literally see valleys, other hill top hotels and clouds. You can also take you bike in between tea estates as there narrow roads here as well. You can visit Catherine water falls as well but it is not worth an experience.

Stayed at Nahar Retreat and Spa hotel. This was one the best hotels I have stayed till date. It has complementary Snooker, Table Tennis etc as indoor experiences. During on-season, they also have complementary camp fire in the lawn area. They also offer complementary cycling around Kotagiri. Spa is also available and it is a premium experience. Lawn area is very well maintained. In fact the entire resort was so well maintained. They have a restaurant (Prana) which serves amazing food. Breakfast is complementary. See photos below. You can also choose other hotels which are very cheap compared to this. I just wanted a premium experience so I chose this.

Enter Kotagiri

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Those buttery roads

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Enroute

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Enroute

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

This view is to die for - my personal favorite

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Hotel Lawn

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali
Day 3

Enjoyed chilling morning walk in the lawn. Had complementary breakfast at hotel at 8:30 AM and left for Bangalore at 10 AM.

Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali
Photo of Nahar Retreat And Spa, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India by Prakash Pali

Bangalore, from here, is around 330 km and it took around 8:00 hrs with a tiny lunch break. There are two ways available from here, either through Salem or through Ooty. The route through Salem is slightly monotonous whereas route through Ooty is really good with mix of ghats, national park, highways and normal 2 lane roads. Also this route has a lot of options for taking regular breaks.

Do keep in mind that Google Maps does not show the correct route. The main 36 hairpin route is only for incoming traffic and not for outgoing traffic. Click on this link to follow the route till Mudumalai National Park - https://goo.gl/maps/K1JDvWcQqfH6RZ8H7. After this follow Google Maps.

Day 2
Photo of Bandipur National Park, Bandipur, Karnataka, India by Prakash Pali
Day 3

Stopped at Cafe Coffee Day for a sandwich at around 2 PM as I had to take Outer Ring Road to pass Mysore. Also most of the restaurants in Mysore serve food only till 3 PM and I was already late.

Photo of Café Coffee Day - Gundlupet, Nagapattinam - Coimbatore - Gundlupet Hwy, Gundlupete, Karnataka, India by Prakash Pali

Finally reached Bangalore at 6:30 PM. I was slightly faster than Google Maps as there was not much traffic in Bangalore. May be most of the crowd went on holiday.

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