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Road: You
can travel by bus or car from near by cities such as Bangalore,
Mysore, Coimbatore, Calicut and Ooty.
There are frequent bus facilities
available from Bangalore and Mysore.
You can board an Ooty Bus in Bangalore or Mysore, asks the bus driver to stop
right after the Mudumalai forest check post / RTO check post at Thorappalli.
From the check post the cottage is only a 2 minutes walk.
Air: The
nearest airport is at Coimbatore, 160-km away. Or Bangalore which
is 220 km away or take a flight to Calicut (kozikode) which is
just 140 km away and has recently been upgraded as a international
airport.
From Coimbatore, Calicut or Bangalore
you can hire a taxi to get there.
Rail: The cottage is located at a distance
of 50-km from Udhagamandalam railway station and 95-km from
Mysore station.
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Bangalore
to Ooty Road Trip
When traveling from Bangalore to Ooty
by road, there are quite a few things to do on the way. The road
from Bangalore to Ooty passes through Ramnagara, Channapatna, Maddur,
Mandya, Srirangapatna, Mysore, Najungad, Gundelpet, Bandipur, Mudumalai
to Ooty.
Bangalore to Mysore
Bangalore to mysore road is real good right from rajarajeshwari
temple arch and 4 lane trafic capable of doing 100 kmph and excess.
Be careful of sudden traffic diversions due to bridge and road painting
works. Also of pedestrians.
Take a break at kamat (after ramnagaram - 50km from bangalore) or 24 hour cafe coffee day (after channapatna - 70km
from bangalore) or in / after Maddur.
You may try amaravathi before Mandya or Maddur Tiffanys.
After Channapatna you may want to stop at Dodda Malur Krishna temple,
a very old temple with a deity of baby krishna. Many people believe
that your prayers for a baby come true at this temple.
Srirangapatna has few spots of tourist interest like fort, river
view, nearby ranganathitu bird sanctuary.
If you dig pizzas, you can stop at pizza corner after Maddur or in Mysore which is
on the way to ooty road.
From Mysore take the Ooty road opposite the Mysore palace to Najungad.
Nanjungad to Gundelpet is straight and smooth road with no traffic.
Easy to maintain excess of 100 KMPH. Beware of sudden speed breakers
and bumpy bridges.
Nanjungad has a very old and famous shiva temple with lot of statues
of gods.
At Gundelpet, take the road to Ooty.
Gundelpet to Bandipur is very bad stretch which is being repaired now as this stretch has been declared national highway. Bandipur to TamilNadu
border is a smooth stretch.
Drive slowly (30 to 40 kmph) as there are frequent and sudden wild animal crossings on the roads through the forest. You have chance of seeing the animals
grazing on the road side during the evenings. If you see elephants
on the road side, stop at a distance and observe them carefully.
No honking or bright lights. (easiset way to irritate the elephants)
By their movements, it is easy to findout if they are just grazing
or trying to cross the road. If elephants are in group, usually no problems.
Single elephant (especially tusker) beware.They tend to easily get
irritated especially during their mating season. Other animals like deer,
mongoose, peacocks are harmless. Dont feed the monkeys as they tend
to jump inside the car. Monkey scratches and bites need anti rabies
vaccine. Just before the TN-Kar border checkposts, many people have
seen tigers near the roads.
From the TN border (police tend to leave off family cars - guys
driven vehicles are checked for liquor and other illegal stuff,
there is a toll gate on TN side), the roads are good but maintain
just 30 to 40 kmph.
At the theppakadu junction, (mudumalai forest office) you have 2
choices to go to ooty. The right takes you to ooty through Gudalur,
naduvattam, Pykarra falls, seventh mile to ooty. The left takes
you through Masinagudi, kallahatty water falls to ooty. Both routes
are scenic and have great views. The gudalur road is easy to drive
and heavy vehicles prefer this road. The masinagudi road needs a
power steering as there are 35 hairpin bends in 15 km and the road
is very steep. Your vehicle needs to be in perfect condition to
tackle this road. Just after Masinagudi there is a point where a
leopard crosses the road.
Both at Bandipur and Mudumalai, the forest department organises
van and jeep safari inside the forest to see wild animals. The timings
are Morning 6 to 9 AM and evening 4 to 6 PM. In Bandipur, Jeep safaris
are available. There is no booking in advance and is first come first serve basis. During season time the rush is heavy. The crowds mill around like a mall in bangalore.
Jungle Home - Gudalur Route
Take the right turns at Theppakadu junction and follow the road
up to the edge of the forest.
A nice place to relax here would be Jungle Home our cottage attached
to the forest.
The section between Theppakadu and Thorapalli is crucial elephant
habitat zone and is very easy to sight the wild elephants on the
road side. Be careful about the wild tuskers which are always single
and easy to irritate.
The road goes to Gudalur, Naduvattam, Ooty. On the way you can see
Pykarra falls (not advisable to bathe), 7th mile (where many film
shootings happen - sing a duet with your beau) and proceed to Ooty.
Stop at the approved view points only.
Park at the side of the road. Don't obstruct traffic.
Drive carefully and sensibly.
How to reach Jungle Home
At Theppakadu Junction take right (the road leading to Gudalur),
pass through the forest border, at the RTO check post (Thorrapalli
village) take left into Allur road, (the small tar road opposite
hotel Haridagiri), follow the tar road, after the BSNL cell phone
tower, you find the green gates of Jungle home (green building).
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