The Queen of Nilgiris (Ootacamund or Ooty (India))

Member Name: maroli-gal

Product:	Ootacamund or Ooty (India)
Date:	06/11/08 (198 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely weather and a great holiday spot

Disadvantages: Limited choice of decent restaurants

I have visited Ooty a dozen times but i still love going there for a holiday.
I simply love this hill station.The weather there is so cool and pleasant .
Ooty is actually Udhakamandalam in Tamil, tongue twisting name and apparently the Britishers discovered this place and developed it as a hill station.Not being able to pronounce the local name they gave an easier name Ootacamund which got further shortened to just Ooty.
There are lots of very elegant English looking cottages with chimneys and flower gardens in the front , and some really huge old buildings most of which were built a few hundred years ago by the Britishers.It has an old world charm that i like.

Ooty is situated in the state of Tamil Nadu.Ooty is a little town within the western ghats and amidst the Nilgiris( Eucalyptus) hills.The hills were once covered with Nilgiri trees.But many of them have been chopped away now to make way for roads, resorts and other such things.Ooty is called the queen of Nilgiris.

There are of course plenty of things to do and see here.The major attraction being the lake and the boating .The lake is really huge and it spreads out in all directions . The last time we were there, our boat got entangled in the weeds and stuff growing on the side LOL- it was quite an experience getting the boat out with the help of the other boats.

There is a really beautiful waterfall about 20 kilometres down the hills called the"Pykara falls" and it is an amazing place.During summer one can climb all the way up and sit on the rocks next to the waterfall, but it is impossible to get close during rains as it is too full of water.The water is very forceful, quite scary.It is a lovely place for a picnic.

Then there are hills surrounding the hill on which Ooty is situated.One can go climbing all these hills and just trek around all day.There are lots of view points and hill side walks most of which are ideal picnic spots.

Another fabulous place is the Botanical gardens of Ooty.It is an amazing place with a variety of plants and cactii.Everything in the garden looks gigantic , probably because of the ideal weather and the quality of the soil.The Roses are huge and the dahlias the size of a plate, and the cactii are unbelievably large.There is one variety which spreads some 30 feet in radius and is about 50-60 feet high.It is extremely well kept and such a little heaven.In fact one gets to see some very rare flowering plants which one needs to buy from a nursery in towns, growing by the road side in Ooty.
The restaurants are not too good in the Ooty town.The choice in my opinion is very limited.There are of course the bigger hotels and resorts, where you do get great selection of food, but it is generally very expensive.There are not too many good restaurants or eating joints in Ooty.

I preferred eating sandwiches and hamburgers in 'Daily bread' which was a hang out for the local Anglo Indian crowd . Since we had a good selection of food where we stayed 'The Sterling resort' , it was not too bad.They pack sandwiches and stuff for a picnic lunch as well.In fact when we went to spend the day at 'Pyakara falls' we requested the resort restaurant to pack some sandwiches which they did, and they were delicious , an assortment of sandwiches and some vegetable cutlets as well.

Since most of the tourists stay in some resort or a Hotel, they are not too bothered about the restaurants and eating out ,because all these resorts serve excellent food.
There are lots of things one can buy here .I think most people go for the famed Eucalyptus oil and other herbal and medicinal stuff, which is available in plenty here.Lots of woollies can be bought here made by the Tibetians.

A few kilometres , i thinkit was about 20 kilometers down the hills is a place called Coonoor, which has Tea gardens and is an amazing place to visit.We were told about a water fall that can be seen only from the opposite side, since it dropped down from a steep mountain.We had to go through tea gardens to reach this spot.The waterfall( not sure about the name?) was very high and spectacular looking, actually scary as it hurtled down from such a height.One can take a toy train from here to Ooty.we did and it was a lot of fun.the train is so slow , that we can jog along with it.

I feel that one must plan and visit Ooty while in India. It is a great holiday spot.one needs to have a week at least to enjoy all the sights here.

Summary: One can visit this place again and again.