Katteri Falls, Ooty.

Day3. Second and Final Stop.

After the disappointment of Doddabetta, we dragged our feet back to Ooty. It was around noon when we reached Ooty and our return bus back to Banglore was at 10:30 in the night. Which also meant we had loads of time in our hands. I dug into my pockets and extracted my Cellphone. I browsed through the list of places-to-visit stored in my phone and stopped at Katteri Falls. Now since I had no idea where Katteri Falls was, I started asking the bus drivers and conductors. Luckily they knew the place and how to get to it. Apparently there was no direct bus to Katteri. You need to first take a bus from Ooty and alight at Yallanali. From here another bus will take you to Katteri.

We did as told. Upon alighting at Katteri, we found ourselves all alone in the middle of what looked like a semi-jungle. There was not a soul around whom we could ask for further directions. All we could find there was dense vegetation, a tiny river/stream which we assumed is Katteri, a small bridge over it and lots of lotus flowers in that stream, which meant the stream was stagnant for most parts. Feeling a little uncomfortable with the whole situation we were in, we walked across the bridge admiring the yellow lotuses. And then we found something that made us a little more uncomfortable - a Photography Strictly Prohibited signboard!!! As if that was not enough, the place got a little more murkier when we found an Army Jawan walking in our direction. Feeling totally lost, we thought it better to ask the Jawan about the Falls and state our intention.

The jawan was quite receptive and told us that Katteri river just a few feet away drops from the cliff to form a waterfall. But it was a high security area and hence photography is not prohibited. Even entry to that area is conditional and subject to permissions from superior officers. When enquired about the reasons for such high security, we were told that the presence of a pumping station for an Ammunition Factory made the area a Restricted one. By now our stomach were in knots, but somehow we were determined to make this trip fruitful, after all the disappointments (the second one being the much-publicized Mohan's Store) of the day. Thanking the jawan we went in the direction of the Falls. By now we could hear the waterfalls approaching closer and closer with every step. We then reached the secured-area, where another army jawan was standing guard. What troubled the daylights out of me was the automatic machine that was chained to the jawan's body!!!. We nevertheless approached him and asked for directions from where we could view the falls. He told us that to view the falls, you need to go a full 4-5 kms downhill for a decent look. There was a bridge right at the head of the falls, where you could go and have a look, but photography was strictly prohibited.

When asked for permission to view this, we were asked a few uncomfortable questions like, who are you and where you are from? et.al. Obviously the jawan was doing his duty, but we felt a little uncomfortable and decided against going there. So we proceeded towards the foot of hill, from where we could get a glimpse of the waterfalls. The drizzle had by now turned to be full-fledged rain. We were already soaking wet but still went for it. We were really not sure if we could walk the 4 km stretch downhill and come back up again. After walking for about a kilometer, we got the first-look of the Katteri Falls. It was an amazing sight to say the least. A milky white stream of Katteri dropping effortlessly through the majestic Nilgiri mountains. It truly was a heart-stopping moment. The whole setup looked like a scene out of a well-cinematographed movie. The infinite expanse of dense-green-mountain-ranges, the omnipresent mist, the magical stream dropping hundreds of feet in a free-fall, the shower of goodness from the rain Gods, the sweet smell of moist earth, the Sun peeping out of the clouds from time to time to make His presence felt, all make you want to spend a lifetime admiring it. But it was not to be. We were woken out of our trance by the honking of an approaching TN state transport bus. It took a moment to register, but when it did, we seized this opportunity to hop into the bus to get to the bottom of the falls, thereby having to avoid the 4km walk down hill.

The bus dropped us off at the Selas Telephone Exchange. The building itself looked like a true British handiwork from the Dinosaur era. It was an old dilapidated building that has braved years of torrential Nilgiri rains. Turning back to the Katteri Falls, our hearts sank. The actual point where the water drops is quite far away from where we were, in what looks like a deep jungle. Getting there, is a challenge in itself. Add to that, the secured-area tag made us not venture there. After admiring the waterfalls from here, we started to walk back the 4-5 km stretch uphill. Amazingly though, there was no tiredness or exhaustion. The stubborn rain, the uphill climb, the exhaustion of the last three days of travel, the fear of catching pneumonia, the difficulty in breathing, nothing deterred our progress. We were having the time of our lives and we didn't want it to end.

After more than an hour of walking we finally reached the place, where the bus had dropped us off. And to our surprise we again saw the same receptive jawan we had interacted to when we first arrived here. We told him about our adventure for the last hour and he looked genuinely happy for us. We still had about 20 mins more to catch a bus back to Yellanali. When asked what else we could see around here, he took us to his check-post up the hill. This was where the Katteri stream originates. It's a spectacular location over here with the Katteri village overlooking the stream. Upon reaching the check-post, we found another jawan there. He was a Sardar and the other guy we interacted to, a Tamilian. Waiting for the bus to arrive we started chatting with these two jawans. They were very warm and receptive. We guessed they also enjoyed our company in this sleepy village of Katteri. The told us about how the Katteri stream is infested with large fish, some even weighing about 20 kilos. And interestingly, none of the villagers catch any fish, as they are all pure-vegetarian brahmins. This indirectly benefits the jawans since they get the best and the largest fish everyday.

Finally we saw the bus coming our way. But it first has to go to the sleepy town of Katteri, drop the villagers and come back. We nevertheless took the bus to see the village. The ride now was an amazing one. After wading through large shrubs on a slushy and bumpy road, we reached the village which was on a hill. The bus then started on a vertical incline up the hill. The road was so narrow here, that the mini-bus could exactly fit-in. Not even a cyclewala can stand in either side of the road, while the mini-bus is in motion. After a one minute stoppage, the bus started its detour. When we reached the army check-post, we waved out to the jawans who were intently looking to say Good Bye. When we saw them wave goodbye in return and their image faded away as the bus moved on, we knew we were leaving Ooty after making two nameless friends...

Getting-there: Ooty to Yallanali by bus. Another bus from Yallanali to Katteri.

Must-Do: A MUST visit place. And Pleaseeeee do NOT trash this place. Its heaven-on-earth. And so, lets keep it that way.
Must-Don't: Take pictures that can get you in trouble.

My Rating: 8/10

Doddabetta, Ooty.

Day3. First Stop.

The entire time we were in Ooty, there was one name that we kept hearing again and again from anybody we talked to about tourist attractions was Dodda Betta. We were told its a must visit. Strangely Doddabetta never featured in my shortlist. In fact I hadn't even heard about the place till we landed in Ooty. Only after we reached the place, did I realise why it never featured in my shortlist.

It was Day3 and we were quickly running out of destinations to visit. Most of my shortlisted locations were in and around Coonoor. But getting to Coonoor and worse still, moving around Coonoor had already become a pain. So we were in no mood to go back to Coonoor and re-live the tragedy. Hence we decided to go around Ooty. Anything and everything that could be covered in a bus. As I said a little while ago, Doddabetta kept cropping up whenever we asked the locals. So here were, on our way to Doddabetta. We covered the first 6 kms uphill ride in a State Transport Bus. You then need to take a jeep for the remainder of the journey. The jeep driver told us it would cost us Rs 25 per head for the to and fro trip. He would take us to the top of the hill and would be back in an hour to take us back. We told him one hour would not be enough and asked him to come back back 2 hrs later. We didnt have much plans for the remainder of the day and so we felt spending time here would have been ideal. But the driver insisted that you would finish your sight-seeing in half hour and we still had another half-hour to kill. This got us a little confused. I mean how could you explore/trek a hill in half hour?

Anyways we said ok and hopped into the Jeep. After us, 8 more girls squeezed themselves into the back of the jeep. What happened after the driver switched on the ignition, took us totally by surprise. As if on cue, all eight girls seated behind us started screaming and howling. At first we presumed it to be the excitement of starting a journey to a wonderful destination that prompted this insanity. But hell no. The girls just wouldn't stop it!!! They screamed and howled all of the 4 km stretch, till we came to a halt. They screamed at their male-counterparts in the jeep ahead of us, they screamed when our jeep overtook theirs, they screamed when they saw jeeps coming in the opposite direction, they screamed when they saw people walking up the hill, they screamed when they saw people walking down the hill, they screamed when they saw a stray dog, they screamed when they saw a tree, they screamed when felt they were not screaming enough, they screamed because wanted to scream louder than their last scream. In other words they screamed for 4 kms.

Apart from this being the most horrific experience of my life, it was also the most embarrassing. More than a wish for deaf, I would have loved to have placard hanging from by neck saying "I am NOT with them". Every time the girls screamed (which was ALL the time), the some tourists gave us a glare which said something to the extent of "Where the hell did these guys come from?", whereas the others howled back, making the girls howl even louder.

So finally our ordeal came to an end but not the ringing in our ears. The first thing that caught our eye was the sea of vehicles, then the sea of humanity, then the sea of trash and then the unbearable stink. It being a "popular" destination, they place is equally trashy and stinky. It was not even 5 minutes since we landed, and we were ready to leave. The Jeep driver had said it would take us 30 minutes to cover this place and we were done in 5! With time to kill, we decided to go ahead and check out the place. A few flight of trashy steps and an entry ticket of Rs 5 later we were at the highest peak in Tamil Nadu. At 2635 mts MSL we were at the highest point in Tamil Nadu with a view of the meeting place of the Eastern and Western Ghats. And thats about it. We spent about 10 minutes amongst that sea of humanity and got out of there. Not wanting to go completely deaf on our way back, we decided to walk the 4 kms downhill. About close to an hour later we got back to where we caught the jeep. Not finding the Jeep driver there we waited there till we got a bus back to Ooty.

Must-Do: Avoid going to this place at any rate.

My Rating: 0/10

Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Ooty-Mysore Highway

Day2. Third Stop.

After committing the eighth deadly sin of reporting late to the mini-bus and getting nasty stares and cold treatment from our co-passengers we started towards our next destination viz boating in the Pykara Lake. After reaching the late the driver announced that boating in the lake is a pleasure but standing in the queue might be a pain. One would have to wait for at least 2-3 hours before getting your hands on a boat. According to the driver this is a wastage of precious time, because if you do not report at the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary early enough, then you would loose the chance for a safari ride. And most instantly 22 pairs of eyes glared at us reminding us of the half hour wasted by us. The life imprisonment sentence suddenly upgraded to death penalty. The bus for the second time( the first being our sentencing) unanimously opted for Mudumalai instead of boating. We also uttered our meek approval ( which nobody really cared) not because we wanted to win back the gallery, but we just thought that a Wildlife Safari will be the lesser of the two evils. Morover I had never been on a Safari, except the one in Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad.

So it was Destination Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. The milestones told me that Mudumalai was a good 55-odd kms from there. And the slower-than-a-TVS-Scooty Swaraj Mazda was not helping us get there any faster. The long and painful ride finally came to an end after about 2 hours. As we found out we were just in time to book a safari at the very last ride of the day. That also meant we had to spend the next two and half hours waiting for our ride with monkeys to keep company. I wonder why these wild creatures are not inside the perimeter of the Sanctuary! On second thoughts, they were actually not that bad. Quite well-behaved and not really bossy and more importantly definitely not
food-snatchers.

So after 3 long hours of waiting we were finally in the Sanctuary's Swaraj Mazda all geared up to see the Tiger. By the end of the tour we had successfully spotted about 200 Deers, One Buck (not sure, after all they don't walk around with name boards, do they?), One Langur, 4 Elephants, Two Bisons and that's it. No tigers and definitely no animals that's remotely "Wild". That also brings the curtains on Day2 in Ooty.
The only positive about this Safari was that we were spared of any further prosecutions from our co-passengers. At least we will not be held responsible for not denying 22 human beings the chance to see their wild cousins. That night I slept peacefully!!!

Must-Do: Do you really have to do anything here?
Must-Don't: Aggravate the monkeys.

My Rating: 3/10

Pykara Falls, Ooty.

Day 2. Second Stop.

After spending a blissful half-hour at the Shooting Locations we hit the road again. A few minutes later, our driver cum guide pointed out the Kamaraj Dam. He told us that, this was where Mani Ratnam shot the final scene of Roja with Arvind swamy escaping from the Pakistan (other side of the dam) and entering India (this side of the dam). The Dam is closed and tourists are not entertained here. We continued and reached Pykara Falls a few minutes later.

Pykara is the largest river in Ooty. The Falls is a double cascade of 55 and 61 meters. Even before your reach the Falls the sight of the huge trees and the river flowing next to it takes your breath away. Its truly an image that will remain embedded in your head for a very long time. We took a long somewhat-winding steps down to reach the banks of the Pykara, right where the first cascade is. There's a Warning Board erected reminding the tourists of the slippery nature of the terrain including the number of fatalities recorded here. Its a very wise warning as we found out a little later with a personal experience. Thankfully we were well away from the waters when there was a tiny slip-and-fall resulting in a sprained ankle and broken slippers.

So here we were, enjoying the sight of the first cascade and suddenlywe saw this tremendously courageous/extremely stupid dog trying to cross the river right where the first cascade is. We really had no clue what in the whole wide world prompted the dog to cross the river, but he was doing it and doing it quite confidently too. For not a second he seemed to look like a trapped dog or feeling helpless. He was just jumping, swimming, strategising, contemplating, sniffing, sliding, slipping, recovering his way to the other side. The breadth of the river, we guessed it to be about 150 meters. Thankfully it was a happy ending much to the delight of the entire crowd who started clapping and whistling at the end of this ordeal.

After the doggy-antics we moved on to have a look at the second cascade. After finding the perfect vantage point to watch both the cascades, we were really thrilled by what we saw. Its truly a beautiful sight and therefore a must-visit if you are visiting Ooty. After a while we walked back and found a safe spot to wet our legs. Let me warn you again, that the entire place is very very slippery. After much care we went down to touch the water. Not suprisingly it was freezing cold, which prompted us to get out of it pretty fast. Before walking back to the bus we stopped to buy slippers(which were thankfully available) and some hot-hot mirchi and vazhakai bhajjis. We were about half an hour late and got some real nasty stares from our co-passengers. It was as if we had single-handedly spoilt their entire weekend trip by failing to report back in time. As for us, we didn't bother much :-)
All in all, great place to visit. The only downside however is the dangerous terrain that will keep you away from enjoying the river.

Must-Do: Take pictures of the beautiful locale. Use the "Open" Trash Cans provided.
Must-Dont: Throwing caution to the wind.
Must-Buy: Try the hot Mirchi and Vazhakai Bhajjis. Entry fee of Rs. 2.
Watch-Out: Stupid river-crossing dogs, slippery rocks/stones/earth/trees/leaves and everything that you can touch!

My Rating: 7/10

Shooting Locations, Ooty.

Day2. First Stop.

By now we were resigned to the fact that Guided Tours are the only way to see places in Ooty. So on Day 2, we decided to undertake one such guided tour in a Swaraj Mazda. After a series of pick-ups scattered across Ooty and few exchange of brick bats between the various tour operators on account of bad planning and some surprise last minute bookings (that would be us) we finally were off to see Ooty.

The driver announced to us in Tamil and broken Hindi that we would be touching the following places:
1. The Gymkhana Golf Course
2. Pine Forest
3. Shooting Locations
4. Pykara Waterfalls
5. Boating in Pykara Lake and
6. Safari in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

The first stop as expected was the Gymkhana Golf Club, except that it was not really a stop. Only the Swaraj Mazda stopped there for like a minute, so that the driver could tell us it was the GGC. Apparently only the Gymkhana Club Members have access to this golf course. Not surprisingly, this Golf Course is the most beautiful sight you'd get to see in Ooty, as its not open to general public and hence is well maintained. After the 2 minute stoppage for the driver's recitation and attempt-in-vain to click pictures through the window, we were off to the next destination - The Pine Forest. The less said about the Pine Forest, the better. A vast slippery area of symmetrically planted Pine Trees with oodles of garbage sums up Pine Forest. Off to next location - the Shooting Locations.

My heart was already beginning to sink when I saw the long line of Swaraj Mazdas, SUV's and Mini Buses parked outside the Shooting Locations. After buying some Bhel Puri (for breakfast) we went in to explore the place. The locations in question is a green carpeted hill that spreads over a vast area and climbs a good height from where you get a good view of the surrounding areas. Standing atop this hill, a sudden realisation hit me - Im in Ooty. This was the Ooty I had in mind when I set out of Bangalore. And here I am. Finally something that looks remotely Ooty-ish. Looking at the glorious green plains and the foggy moisture-filled air I could recollect a zillion Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood, Collywood, Sandalwood movies picturised here. It was the perfect location for the umpteen song sequences. The place had it all, a steep green hill for the heroine to run into the arms of her knight-in-shining-armour, a lush carpeted slope for the hero and heroine to roll down the hill cuddling each other, the zillion trees at the foot of the hill for dancing around them, a pond where the hero can throw the villain into in the climax of the movie, amazing cloud formations that can rain any second for the heroine to seduce her guy by getting all wet, horses that will enable a chasing scene, a forest where the heroine about-to-be-raped-but-saved-by-the-hero can run into, flowers that the cameraman can zoom into as soon as the hero and heroine come closer to kiss each other et al. Its a total riot for the Indian film-maker. Give him this location and he will make a movie out of it.

I was shook out of my filmy khayals by a horse-mounted tourist who wanted to know how to apply the breaks on the horse. Having realised we had a time schedule to keep we headed back to the Swaraj Mazda only to find we were the only ones back. We then decided to not stick to any time stipulations, but that lead to some unpleasant stares and below-the-breath cursings at our next destination. But that's for the next blog to tell the story.

Must-Do: Take pictures of the shooting landscapes. Check out the brakes on the horse before you mount it.
Must-Don't: Make the lives of film makers difficult by trashing the place thereby rendering the place un-shootable.
Must-Buy: Too good to be true weird-looking carrots.

My Rating: 7/10