Bangalore to Ooty Roadtrip by Bike
The list of plans we make before we decide on which place to go. It depends on so many variables like if it’s solo it’s just you who take the decision. But with friends, there’s always an option to be added to that list of places everyone would go to. So we were all excited in December 2016 that we need to celebrate New Year somewhere to make it memorable. So we had a list as I said earlier with Hampi, Chikmagalur, and Ooty at the top of it. Always when a plan in progress gets more contributors than the actual people to turn out on the last day.
An Innova with a lot of people to come to our still to be decided location. I got transformed to 2 bikes and 4 friends including me on Dec 25. We started searching for Homestays, Hotels and almost everything was booked for the New Year. So we had 3 locations and needed 1 place to just take us in. We started AirBNBing where we booked a place that was canceled by the host in Chikmagalur. Later we found this homestay in a society in Ooty near the Ooty Lake. With some awesome pictures and Ooty lake nearby made our mind that this is our place to be. We booked it and were confirmed so yeah we were heading to Ooty for a chilly awesome New Year 2017.
Ramgad – Shooting of Sholay
After traveling a distance we were in Ramgad most of you would know the place as the shooting of Sholay was done here. But it is also famous for trekking and rock climbing. We were riding in the busy town but if you plan to go to the mountains you can take an auto to Ramadevar beta. But yeah it’s a daytime trip as you won’t get any accommodation there so plan your return on the same day.
Mysore – Cleanest City in India
After some time we were in Mysore the city that got the title this year of the Cleanest city in India. When there you should definitely visit the Mysore Palace even I have not been there but yeah soon. Before reaching there we rested and chit chatted with friends which never ends if you miss a turn on the maps. After reaching the city we thought to eat our lunch their so we searched online if any interesting places we can eat at. We found this restaurant called Gufha with multi cuisines and the restaurant is themed like a cave as the name goes.
Reaching at 12:40 we found out that it was closed till then and would open late so we thought to find someplace nearby to eat and start again. So we went to the Purohit Restaurant near Gufha to eat some Rajasthani Thali which was awesome not just my feedback as they have some good reviews online.
Bandipur Tiger Reserve & Madumalai Tiger Reserve
Before Ooty you have to cross 2 Tiger Reserves with wild roads you will just fall in love with but you cannot imagine being trapped in these roads at night. As officially too these roads are not accessible from 6 PM to 6 AM. But yeah it’s not 2 Tiger Reserves its just one with two names in 2 states. When you are in the Karnataka part of it people call it Bandipur Tiger Reserve and when you are welcomed in Tamil Nadu it is called the Madumalai Tiger Reserve. We counted the number of speed breakers which accounted for 70 approx which was a real pain as you were slowing your bike and crossing and another one right after that. I hope these breakers were added to reduce the noise of vehicles racing in the reserve to not disturb the animals there.
Inside the Reserve
Inside the reserve, you are not allowed to stop, photograph, and picnic. But yeah I wonder if a tiger shows up and we have so many breakers to jump how would the escape be. If you wish to explore more into the reserve you can take the Elephant Safari which is a major attraction there. And also drivers who can take you in as we saw boards all around the roads.
Ooty – 36 Hairpin Bends to the Top Hill Road
As you cross the Reserve you will start getting the chilly climate as the temperature jumps down. After some distance you see the board saying 36/36 hairpin bends and Ooty is approx 18 km from there. Just stay alert while taking these bends as many vehicles just appear from nowhere. With every bend, you get a beautiful view of the path you left behind and just go up. My hands were all cold as they were out carrying the camera taking videos. We didn’t stop in between instead we just rode up to directly reach our Homestay. We were in Ooty and seeing the 1/36 board cheered us up more than we were finally in the town.
Welcome – Coldest Wind Welcomed Us to Ooty
It’s not something I can describe in words as some places have a different feel which you get only if you were there. Ride in the town was awesome kids playing football on the grounds, the beautiful houses in the valley, not much traffic at that moment only some cars accompanied us as the coldest wind welcomed us to Ooty.
Reaching our Homestay – Near Ooty Lake
We called our homestay owner to guide us on how can we reach there. We rode around the Ooty lake and went to the top seeing people boating in the lake, horse riding, and playing in an adventure park nearby. Our homestay was located in a beautiful society with houses you would dream to live in. The owner gave us the keys and vanished 😀 as there were no rules which he wanted us to follow.
Tired – But it’s New Year
We were tired a bit but it was New year’s Eve we won’t be spending it sleeping. So we took our bikes out to grab some snacks and stuff for a small party for the 4 of us at midnight to welcome the next year.
Cops – Caught Us For Documents
In Ooty, you must not forget your license and bike documents in your room as we didn’t do the same and had to go back to our room to bring back the documents on one of the bikes till 2 of our friends waited in the cold. This was when we faced the bad traffic which reminded us of Bengaluru. It took us more time to go back and return to the checkpoint. The temperature was down and we put on some more clothes to save us from cold. We collected what we needed from the market and then went back to the room.
Hyderabad Biryani House – Jumbo Biryani Looks, Giant
After chilling at our homestay we went to this famous Hyderabad Biryani House for dinner. It’s famous for its Jumbo Biryani which comes in a different vessel that looks giant and can serve for 5 people easily. We tried the Biryani not the Jumbo but a regular portion which was really great. You must also try their Brownie and after that Mitha(Sweet) Paan :P. It was 8 degrees there so we returned back to our room.
Happy New Year – Fireworks and Surprise
We chatted, laughed, and danced on some tunes. So many stories that life gives us and we had one to share with everyone now the journey to Ooty. And a funny story happened as we had 2 doors to lock and the inside doors knob was stuck with the outside door so we were not able to open it. First, we were chill as let it be as the owner will help us out opening it from outside. But we wanted to be out for the New Year so one of our friends crawled through the window to open it from outside. But it was almost a fail we weren’t able to open it. After giving up we heard the sound of fireworks when I tried to open the door pressing it harder and it suddenly opened.
We went out to see the fireworks and were laughing at how did that happen. We tried so badly earlier and nothing and just before the New Year it worked.
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