Its 3rd-Feb-2012 6:30 PM, Runai and me are waiting for our bus in
Mysore Kengeri Satellite bus stand. At 7:15 PM, the bus started and headed toward Mysore and then went to
Coimbatore via
Sathyamangalam. We reached Coimbatore at CBE SETC bus stand next day at 4:30 AM. We waited there and boarded another bus at 5:45 AM to reach
Coonoor via
Mettupalayam.
We reached Coonoor at 8:00 AM 4th-Feb-2012. We got down near Coonoor Railway Station and found a good old hotel. We freshened up and went for breakfast just below the hotel. We enquired about the sight seeing to the person who was serving us and he told that he will arrange a auto-wala. As prompted, he got a descent auto-wala after we finished breakfast at 10:00 AM and made a deal with him to show
The Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint,
Lamb's Rock and
Tea Factory in Rs. 350. We went back to our room and packed our travel back with lens and other stuffs to start.
The Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint is 12 km from Coonoor, is an important place to visit. It not only provides a panoramic view of the vast expanse of the Nilgiri hills but also of the famous
Catherine Falls.
Lady Canning's seat is another notable viewpoint on the way. Lot of hindi Bollywood movie were shot here. I can right now remember just one i.e. Sajan. (Remember that old Sanjay Dutt movie).
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| The Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint |
It was a very cloudy day. (Particularly the time when we reached there, it was very cloudy and every corner was misty and without any visibility). We missed the scene of Catherine Fall which is just opposite to the viewpoint. Could only hear roaring sound of the fall. There are few shops. These guys will tempt you to taste their masala tea and soup, obviously by paying them. There were one or two photo shops. This guys will give you an option of instant photo keeping Catherine Fall as a background for Rs. 50 or take you to nearby tea garden and dress you like a tea plucking lady with a tokri (i.e. after plucking tea leaves it is kept in tea basket placed on their back) for Rs. 100. This is particularly for ladies. But I guess if you guys want to dress like that please go ahead.
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| Lamb's Rock |
Lamb's Rock was on the way back. From Coonoor bus stand it is 8 km.
Here too we faced same problem. Nothing was visible due to mist. It commands a grand view of the Coimbatore Plains. It is a favorite place for tourists. Horse ride is also available here.
On the way back we went to Brookfield Tea Factory.
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| Brooklands Tea Factory |
For the first time we saw how tea is made starting from raw tea leaves till packing. AMO, its very simple process but was really nice to see how it is made. The process of making tea follows like this. Dry raw leaves by placing it on top of net and high speed air is blown underneath -> Place them in 3 separate grinder one after another to make small pieces of it -> Place them 3 different drier one after another to make it turn into brown color from green color -> Purification and Dusting -> Final process for tea -> Packaging. This all process automatically and is transferred from one place to another by conveyor belt. We take tea everyday and now I know how it is made. Outside the tea factory, we have a splendid view of tea garden and awesome landscape.
We returned back to our hotel and planned to go
Sim's Park walking which is approx 4-5 Km.
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| Sim's Park |
It is in Upper Coonoor i.e. near Bredford junction. We did not take the usual route which is very busy but has taken a longer behind the town route where nobody or very few people can be seen. The park is situated in a deep ravine on the Northern side of Coonoor Railway Station at an elevation of 1768 to 1798 m. The park can be divided into eight major sections. The natural shola with winding footpaths all over the higher slopes of the park is the most distinctive and picturesque feature of this park. This apart, a number of individual tree specimens planted in a scattered fashion all over the place, lend a special charm to the park, specially when they bloom in different seasons throughout the year.
There are all century old tress. I could not find any tree which is planted after 1900 except small plants. It is in a shape of cone and in the tip of the cone is a lake where they have 2 paddle boats in service for tourist. There are lot of fishes who are waiting for people to give them food and you will see each of them will be jumping on top of each other to grab whatever food we throw for them.
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| Sim's Park - Lake |
We came out of Sim's park at 3:30 PM and felt hungry and thirsty. The time was odd, so we ordered for egg fried rice and chicken cutlet and asked him to give us warm water. We walked down in town from the busy route. One the way we went to one of the oldest church and then returned back to our hotel crossing the busy market in Coonoor at 6:00 PM.
I quickly freshened myself and went to get dinner from a good restaurant. They really packed nice parota with egg masala and chicken tikka. Mind you Nilgiri is a plastic free zone. So they have parceled the food in paper bags. We finished our dinner at 8:00 PM, watched my super favorite TV serial Adaalat. But before it could finish I was fallen asleep. We were very tired and I had a nice sleep.
Next day 5-Feb-2012, we got up, freshened up and straight went for breakfast. Then we checkout our room and went to bus stand. We boarded a bus to go towards
Wellington and we got down in Gymkana.
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| Wellington - Victoria Bridge |
I think it is around 10-15 km. Its a wonderful landscape and is meant for golf. Its a military area and very well maintained. Many people were playing golf and we started walking upward on the same route we came in bus. Lot of picture session and collected few nice grown unbroken pine. We went to the junction point and got another bus for the town.
After reaching town, we immediately got in another bus to go to Sim's park again. We have really enjoyed the time spend over here. Later at 12 noon, we went to near by Kwality hotel which has a descent veg buffet. Later we walked down and setteled ourself in Coonoor railway station where we are going to board Hill Train at 3:30 PM to reach Mettupalayam. I was really excited to travel in this train since I have heard lot about it over net.
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| Coonoor Railway Station |
Sharp at 3:00 PM, train reached Coonoor railway station from Ooty. There were some shunting processes and finally steam engine was fitted. There are 3 classes in this train. First Class (4 people per row), Second Class (5 people per row) and General class. First and Second class are same. It is well maintained and feels like that old classy look with lots of woody work and brass metal curving. We meet some good funny people and journey was full of fun. We also meet two lady Diana Graham and Annie Sparkes from Bristol - England who after their retirement came to visit India. There were nearly 7 tunnels through which train passes and each last for 10 sec each. There is a culture among locals. Whenever train passes through the tunnel, people inside the train shouts and whistles. Lights will be on in each compartment a min before train is about to enter a tunnel. On the way we can see
Laws Fall. We reached Mettupalayam Railway Station around 5:20 PM. We got in a auto to drop us in Mettupalayam Bus Stand for Rs. 40 and after reaching the bus stop, we found that it is not even half a kilometer from Rail Station. Anyway we got in a bus which was headed toward Chennai. We got down in Coimbatore - Gandhipuram at 7:00 PM. We made Diana and Annie to get in a town bus which will drop them in Ukkadam bus stand which is hardly 2 KM away. After that we went for dinner and got in our Bangalore bus at 9:30 PM. On the way we were stopped for half an hour around 12 o'clock night in Satyamangalam because group of Elephants were crossing the road. I have never seen this and was excited. Anyway we reached Bangalore next day morning and back to work.
Price list approximate (single person)
Bangalore to Coimbatore - 350
Coimbatore to Coonoor - 70
Hotel double bed room - 475
Food each time - 150 veg and 350 non veg
Side scene Auto charge - 350
Sims park (1 person and camera) - 15 + 30
Parking fee on all side scene - 10
Visiting Tea Factory (1 person and camera) - 20 + 40
Hill train 2nd Class Coonoor to Mettupalayam - 50
Mettupalayam to Coimbatore - 30
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| Inside Tea factory |
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| Inside Tunnel |
We started with masala corn with mango. It was something different which we never tasted before. After that we promptly went to south indian store where it was very busy. With lots of struggle in the cash counter, we paid for 2 different types of dhosa and akki roti. It was very tasty and nice hot food. Good thing this is that they use nandini ghee and quality is good and they make everything as and when ordered. Then we went chat store and ordered for sev puri, dahi puri, gelabi and rasa malai. Meggy went to get bele obbattu. Every plate was very tasty. Later we again went for another plate of bele gelabi. Next was gulkan store. It was really really nice. 
There was this rose chutney type with lots of fruits and ice cream.Then we got a bottel of water and end of our dinner. For 5 people, the total bill was around Rs. 320.
