Coonoor!

We took the Toy train to Coonoor.The entire route gives some breathtaking views of the Nilgiris.The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu is the second largest mountain range in India after the Himalayas. The Nilgiri hills have a history going back a good many centuries. It is not known why they were called the Blue Mountains. Several sources cite the reason as the smoky haze enveloping the area, while other sources say it is because of the kurunji flower, which blooms every twelve years giving the slopes a bluish tinge.

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908,and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. 

 In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the site then became known as "Mountain Railways of India."

The journey is quite picturesque; here are a few pictures taken on the way to Coonoor.



Coonoor Station

We took a half day tour of Coonoor.The package inculded the following sights -Dolphins Nose,Lambs Rock,Tea Gardens,Sims park.The cab driver quoted a price of 750INR and settled for 600INR.You can travel by autos as well they would charge you some 400 INR.
 We skipped Sims Park as it has not much to offer as told by I².

Tea Garden

Ooty and Coonoor are characterised by miles and miles of rolling hills of tea estates.
There are photographers on the way whol would click your pictures like one of these workers and give you an instant picture for 50Rs.I² got one clicked.

Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint is a tourist spot in Coonoor, The Nilgiris District. Dolphin's Nose is well over 1,000 feet above sea level, 10 km from Coonoor and is a spectacular spot to visit.The tip of the peak resembles like a Dolphin Nose and so it is named as Dolphin's Nose. Best part of spot are the hairpin turns and tea plantations and monkeys on the way.

Dolphin's nose

Catherine fall is a double-cascaded waterfall and It is also a major tourist spot in Kotagiri. The upper fall drops to the floor, and is the second highest in the Nilgiri mountains.The waters from the upper stream of the Kallar river are crossed by the invisible Mettupalyam-Ooty road beyond the mountains in the south-west. The height of water falls is about 250 ft.Catherine Falls is named after the wife of M.D. Cockburn, believed to have introduced the coffee plantation to Kotagiri. The native name of the Catherine Falls is Geddhehaada Halla, meaning "Foothills Dale River". It is also possible to take a road to the top of the falls.

Catherine Falls viewed from Dolphins nose!

The Nilgiri tea and spices are very famous too apart from the Niligiri oil.
We picked up a lot of spices and oil too.

The Spices!

On the way,one gets to see Sleeping beauty.It is a range of hills in which the face, nose, lips, long flowing hair and other contours of a sleeping woman are clearly delineated. The view is clearer coming down from Dolphins Nose than on the way up and can be seen from more than one place.

Sleeping beauty!



After enjoying the beauty of Coonoor we headed to have some coffee..And like the CCD at Ooty this one turned it to be pretty awesome too.




CCD @ Coonoor

We headed to Coonoor station to enjoy our Toy train ride back to Ooty.

 

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Ooty!!

Ootacamund (officially, Udhagamandalam sometimes abbreviated to Udhagai or Ooty), is a town, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Since we saty in Chennai and there is a direct train to Mettupalayam(nearest station to Ooty) from Chennai which runs everyday,we decided for a trip to Ooty.We booked the train 2 months in advance from irctc.gov.in.Book in advance else it's difficult to get the tickets these days.

We boarded the Nilgiri Express from Chennai at 9:15PM reached Mettupalayam at 6AM.Every minute matters,we had almost missed the train by 2 mins.This was S²s 1st and I²s 3rd trip to Ooty.
 The toy train leaves for ooty at 7AM from here.We could  not get the tickets(2 months back when we booked our tickets online ) still tried our luck but in vain and took the bus instead.Bus or cab takes around 2hrs to reach Ooty whereas the Toy train takes around 5hrs.The bus stop is 10 minute's walk from the station.

Mettupalayam Station!

We reached our hotel TTDC smack in the middle of the market at 10 AM.After checking in we ordered for some dosa and took some rest.At 12 we decided to explore Ooty,out first stop was the lake.This artificial lake is a favorite spot for boating,located near the station. It also has a lake garden, a jetty, snack bars, pony rides and toy train rides.

The Lake

We decided to try our hands at boating.

We took the 2 seater pedal boat and it was fun :) Our next stop was the Botanical garden.No that great.Good for a stroll to soak the sun.

Botanical garden

Just out side Botanical garden.

By this time we were famished,we had heard about Nahar hotel so we headed there to try some pizza and soup.

The NAHAR hotel has got 3 restaurants -

1)Sidewalk which is more like a cafe and serves Italian food.A meal for 2 would cost INR500.
2)Garden serves South Indian cuisine.
3)Chandan serves Indian and Chinese.A meal for 2 would cost you around 600INR unless you go for a south Indian meal which is priced at 100INR.
All the restaurants are a bit on the bit expensive side for the quantity they offer.Ooty does not have many options except some local restaurants and Dominos.Do not forget to pick up some home made chocolates from the market.Ooty is known for home made chocolates,you can find a lot of shops selling them.

Sidewalk

Our next stop was CCD just a 5 minute walk from Nahar cafe.When in Ooty,this CCD is a must visit.Its big,has chimneys though they were not functional this time around :( (were functioning when visited last.. a few years ago) and you cant help but fall in love with this CCD atleast.

The Chimney

We had booked our tickets for the Toy train to Coonnor for the next day so we decided to sleep early as we had to board the train at 9AM.Between Coonoor and Udagamandalam, there are four daily trains each way.Even though the NMR stations have networked computerized ticketing systems for onward journeys, it still issues Edmond son style manual tickets for the Ooty-Mettupalayam journey to preserve the 'World Heritage Site' status of the railway. Tickets can be booked on IRCTC.

Book the tickets in advance else you would not get the tickets.

The Interiors

The famous Hindi song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the film "Dil Se" featuring Shahrukh Khan was shot on the roof top of NMR. The train fare is 24 rupees for second class and 142 rupees for first class, one way.

On the way to Coonoor!

The 'Nilagiri Passenger' train covers a distance of 26 mi (41.8 km), travels through 208 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges. The uphill journey takes around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours) It has the steepest track in Asia.

The Tunnel

We took a half day tour of Coonoor.We will talk about that in the blog about Coonoor.

The next day we took the Filmi chakkar tour which starts at 9AM and ends at 2PM.A cab would cost you around 900INR and a maxi cab would cost 150INR per person.
It covers the following spots-
 Rose Garden
6th Miles (Old Mysore Road)
Golf Links
Pine Forest
9th Miles
Pykara Dam
Pykara Boat House



We enjoyed the pine forests and the walk to the lake.

Pine Forest

Lake

The 6th mile gives some amazing views.Pykara waterfall has no water so you can skip it.

6th mile.

some fun!!

We had already done boating in Ooty so skipped that and instead sat in the restaurant and enjoyed the view as we sipped on some hot tea.

Pykara lake

 The Pykara River is considered very sacred by the Todas. It rises at Mukurthi peak, flows northwards, and then turns to the west after reaching the edge of the plateau.

Rose garden

We left for Rose garden from here.The Government Rose Garden is the largest rose garden in India.The rose garden has also received the Garden of Excellence Award for being the best rose garden in south Asia, from The World Federation of Rose Societies, during May 2006, in Osaka, Japan.This garden is one of the 35 gardens world wide to have won this award.

Rose Garden

Buffet@Taj

This was the last spot of our tour.We had our lunch at Chandan(Nahar) and decided to rest for a while,as it was S²s  B'day we booked a table @Taj Savoy.We left around 7PM for the dinner.We opted for the buffet . the spread was (surprisingly) heavy on the vegetarian side.I² first time ever loved the fish fingers,they were amazing and the tartar sauce too was simply wow.
 The Palak Paneer,Dal,Vegetable rice,Noodles,Triple Vegetables,Chicken were truly the Taj style.The desserts were out of the world in spite of our full stomachs we relished all the desserts.This is the second place(Dinos being the fav till now ) where I² loved the Cheese cake and S² for the first time ever enjoyed the cheese cake :))..
As it was S²s B'day we got a complimentary cake :) which we could not eat all so they packed it for us.Not to mention it was damn tasty!

Bonfire

Taj Savoy, Ooty sets up a bonfire in the gardens around 7:30PM each day. With night setting in, the temperatures drop and this provides the excellent setting for sitting by the fire. Simple Pleasures of Life!!!!!

Our table!!

If you are looking for a nice dinning experience you can head to Taj Savoy, Ooty in their typical Hill Station style restaurant ( wooden interiors and a fire place :) ). You may want to call up and book a place by the fire side for that lovely dinning experience.

Personal experience with Taj in general has been excellent and this time was no different. Service and attention to customer delight was quite evident.The Ooty trip ended with this,next day we left for Mysore.

The best time to visit is April to June and September to November.During these months the days are pleasant and nights a bit chilly.
Winters can get quite chilly.

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Bekal-Vivanta by Taj(Staycation)

It was our very 1st anniversary,we wanted it to be a relaxed trip since we had already done a lot of trips this year :). We decided to go to one of the resorts of Vivanta by Taj. We had stayed their earlier in the year and we were not disappointed. While researching the resort looked beautiful in the pictures and the reviews were outstanding. So we booked the hotel well in advance; a good way to get a bargain in the peak season.
Bekal is not top-of-the-charts in holiday destination for outsiders. Well known to those in surrounding cities though; it has long served as a weekend getaway for people living in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Bekal is the Kasargod district of Kerala. Kerala is well known for the backwaters and the greenery, Bekal offers you the same.The famous Bekal fort is here.
How to reach

 We took a train from Chennai, the train does stops at Kasargod. We  however planned on staying a day at Mangalore  and enjoyed the fantastic food the place has to offer before leaving for Bekal.
From mangalore we took a KSRTC bus from KSRTC bus stop at Bejai.There are buses for Kasargod every 15 min.We reached at Kasargod around 12PM after 2 hours’ journey. From there we took an auto from there for Bekal for 230INR.
TIP
1. Bus ride costs less but are not very comfortable.
2. Auto drivers may not know the exact location so make sense to make pit-stops along the way to make sure you are on track. Connecting up with the hotel on phone would be helpful
3. If you are driving by yourself it is all the more important you make sure you are on track
There are signboards of Vivanta on the way which would help. The landmark would be Kappil Beach

Hotel Entrance

Well received at the reception,we were taken to our rooms.Staff is courteous eager to help and very pleasant.

Reception

This 26 acres property has around 71 rooms of which 60 rooms are operating as of now.There is a touch of Balinese culture to the property with the local touch of course present all over the place.The property is beautifully done.The roofs are given the look of a houseboat which is very interesting and unique.

 It was our anniversary, our room was decorated  a cake was waiting for us too. Well done Taj!!!

The bathroom was big and very nicely done.We liked the way the tap  filled the bathtub,very innovative.
Some of the facilities available to the guests are lockers in all rooms, choice of English/Hindi DVD’s available at the reception, complimentary fruit daily.

 The chitra pothi art on our room wall.They have taken care of each and every minute detail.Its worth noticing the minute details.The outdoor sitting area and swing-bed made it even more wonderful.

Property is well decorated with beautiful and interesting statues

 The property is huge and has a backwater running through the property. This stream divides that hotel rooms from the spa area. As the property is big the hotel has put into use  ” buggies” for the guests to move around.

Strip of land separates backwater and the sea

We went for a walk in the evening on the beach.The beach is super neat and the sand feels like cushion under the feet.The best beach seen so far in India.Its simply  beautiful.

Loved the walk on the sand

Some Fun

We spotted a starfish too :).

The place sells itself as a spa resort and offers Spa and yoga session for relaxation and rejuvenation. They have  other activities like Kayaking,archery also.

We had our own fun and frolic session :)

Loved cycling around the place!!

The pool is neat and has an awesome view of the Backwaters and the sea.

They have made seating arrangements like these around the backwaters.Couples can sit here and enjoy the view over a drink.

The restaurant is beautifully done too.The property is just 1 year old so they have used quite interesting and innovative ideas which makes it stand out.

There are 3 restaurants By the Bay which specializes in Sea Food, Latitude-where breakfast  and Dinner-Buffet is served and Ivory bar. There is also a small grill restaurant near the pool which serves grill food.

The buffet!

The spread was pretty good.There were 2 soups.Some 3 Chinese dishes were there.Hunan potatoes,Stir fried vegetables,Noodles well cooked and good to taste.The Chicken(Chinese dish,not able to recollect the name now) was awesome,did not quite like chicken in wine.There were no North Indian Non-veg dishes :( .The veg north Indian dishes were quite tasty ..Dal tadka,Kadai paneer,Taurai ki sabji..We tried South Indian dishes as well and they were yummy too..They had a lot of Salads as well and the presentation was impressive.The desserts looked tempting and we thought we would taste and got some but could not taste at all thanks to the cake we had eaten in the afternoon which was yumm and soft like sponge :)
If you want to go on a relaxed trip and yet want to enjoy what the place offers,head here.The place is beautiful.We were smitten by it.Taj knows how to pamper their guests.We were quite impressed and would surely visit this place again.

Hotel Address-

Vivanta by Taj – Bekal, Kerala,
Kappil Beach,
Udma West (P.O.),
Paalakunnu,
Kasaragod District,
Kerala – 671319

Telephone: +91 467 661 6612

 Website- http://www.vivantabytaj.com/Bekal-Kerala