We wanted to end our daughter’s
vacation on a high, so we planned a sudden vacation to Ooty. Red Hills Nature
Resort was selected as my wife had visited that place 6 years back. The
location of the resort was good: on top of a mountain facing the emerald lakes.
We started from our home at 5 AM
(1-6-18), and after filling fuel in Old Airport road, through Mysore road
reached the Mysore Ring Road by 7:30 AM. Planning to take breakfast at Nanjangud
at 8 AM, we drove through the ORR. There were barricades kept at almost every
junction in the ring road. At one junction, there was no barricade, and as we
were cruising at around 100 kmph, 2 idiots in a bike came from left to right.
Even after honking the bike was coming to us. I applied brakes instantly,
turned right & stopped on the opposite side of the road. Luckily there were
no oncoming vehicles. My wife scolded those idiots in Kannada and all the people were
looking at us halting at the wrong side of the road. All this happened within
seconds and luckily all were safe. I took a reverse & came to the correct
side of the road & started our journey. We reached Nanjangud at 8 AM &
had our breakfast.
After Gundlupet & Bandipur,
we reached Tamil Nadu border and entered Theppakadu. There we saw some trained
elephants going into the forest. Crossing Masinagudi and the 18 hairpin bends
we reached Ooty by 10:30. The weather was good with some fog around the
mountains. After having some fresh carrot by the road side, we started towards
the resort as per the Google map. We had to drive towards west of Ooty and pass
through Emarald lake/dam. Google took us in the right path except for some
distance which took inside a village.
View from the resort
Somehow we managed to reach there
by 11:30. The resort was in a perfect location for a nature lover. It was on
top of a hill with a great view of the Emerald Lake in the front & Red Hills
peak at the rear, surrounded with tea plantations. The area of the Resort was
around 75 acres with a lot of tea plantations, some garden for vegetables, a
place for country poultry, some goats and a small temple. Also they had some
4-5 dogs around which were quite friendly. They had around 12 cottages spread
across. We got the top most cottages over-viewing the lake.
We had a warm welcome by the hosts & the people working over there. The locals come there every day & work for them. And they grow most of the vegetables used for cooking. After having some tea, we strolled through the resort until lunch time which was around 1:30 PM. Mr Godwin provided us with a great lunch, later we retired to our cottage for some rest as we had to go for a nature walk/trek at around 4 PM till the lake.
Around 4:30, we started our walk with Mr Easwar, a naturalist studying about plant & animals. We were accompanied by another family of 3 and 1 dog too. We walked down the resort, crossed the so called Shola forest which was dense. After walking for around 30 minutes, we reached the lake & spent some time there. The water level was very low compared to the markings on the surrounding hills. After having a nice time there, we climbed up & came back through the same Shola forest. We saw some birds & langurs on the way back & reached the resort around 6 PM. We also saw a small baby snake on the road, of course it was dead. After having the tea, we relaxed a bit sitting in front of the lake.
The night started off with a barbecue & bonfire as there were many guests by that time. After dinner, we went back to our cottage, hoping to see the sunrise in the morning.
The next day morning, I woke up
at 5:45 for the sunrise, but didn’t see a great sunrise as expected as it was a
little bit cloudy. After taking some snaps of the available sunrise, woke up my
family for some tea. After the morning tea, we were eager to trek to the
mountain behind or resort after breakfast. They also caught a small snake that
sneaked into the kitchen that morning.
Some shots in the morning...
Some shots in the morning...
We finished breakfast by 9:30 & were ready for the trek by 10. We were totally 4 for the trek: me, my daughter & another father-son (8 yr kid) duo also wanted to trek along with Mr Easwar, not to forget the 2 dogs that were ready for trek. We started around 10:15 AM; the initial path was fine & clear, then started some small rocks in the path, steepness & slippery.
The other kid was getting tired after some 15 mins of the trek. After some forcing, positive talk, & some helping the kid to climb up, the father said that they will not go up further. After some half an hour of the trek, we rested at a point which was a beautiful view point of the valley & the mountain. Easwar told us that Elephants travel from Kerala to Karnataka, AP and till Orissa via that path of the mountain: on top of the mountain & they climb down from the steepest path. He also told that sight of elephants along with their small ones resemble train bogies when seen from here. Hard to believe; but has to be true.
Elephants travel through this mountain...
After the break, the father-son duo said they will turn back to the resort as the kid was able to climb up. Easwar & I too agreed to the decision after seeing the kid. As they both sat there for a while, we 3 along with 2 dogs started our trek non-stop to the top. My daughter was used to trek any path provided we give her the motivation. After some 1 hour of the trek, we got a clear view of our resort. I called up my wife & after some great difficulty she saw us from there, waved at her and started to reach the top.
Resort from half-way the trek
Strawberry plants
On the way Easwar showed us the Strawberry plants with tiny fruits in that. It seems that these were the actual strawberries & the one we get in market are hybrid ones. We were shocked to hear that. Finally at around 11:30 we reached the top of the mountain & we were welcomed by the cool wind & some awesome views of the lakes. We could even see the Emerald & Avalanche dams from there. We almost had a 270o view (from resort) with this trek: starting with front side lake view, left side mountain-valley view from trek mid-point and the right side lake-dam view from the top.
We spent some 15-20 mins there at the top enjoying the clean, fresh, cool air. After taking some nice pics, we left for the descent. On the way Easwar showed us some Leopard scratching/markings on a branch of a tree. He also explained that the depth & pattern of the markings shows the size & strength of the animal. It is used by them for marking their territory & to signal the other animals.
On the way down, we plucked some strawberries and also some raspberries down the mountain for my wife to taste them. My daughter played around with some dandelions too. We reached the resort at around 13:30, right at lunch time. After finishing our lunch, we had some talk with the hosts about the resorts, etc. They said that we were the last guests for the season as they were closing the resort for monsoons.
While returning back to the cottages, one of the villagers working there told us that a goat has given birth to 2 small ones. My daughter was excited to see the new borns as they were screaming & trying to stand on their feet. We took some pics of the new borns & went to our room to have a shower after a long trek.
The rest of the evening was spent by taking rest & enjoying the nature around. It was cloudy as it was raining in Ooty that evening. My daughter was biking in the garden with bicycles available there. That night we had a good sleep as it was required after that trek.
We left the resort the next morning around 9:30 AM after having a nice breakfast. We reached Ooty & at a junction some policemen diverted us through Gudalur saying that the other route has more traffic and is one way. So we went through Gudalur and that route was also good with some nice views. But the disadvantage was that we did a 9 hour journey which would have been a 6 hour one if we had taken the route through Masinagudi. We had a lunch break near Gundlupet & then reached home at around 6:30 PM.
The Red Hills peak that we climbed (right side in the background)
Overall the trip was fine in terms of nature point of view. The location of the resort was awesome for someone who wants to visit Ooty & enjoy nature.
Distance travelled: 666 Kms
Home-Mysore Road-Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet-Theppakadu-Masinagudi-Ooty-Resort:
308 Kms
Resort- Ooty-Gudalur- Theppakadu-
Gundlupet- Nanjangud- Mysore-NICE Road-ORR-Home: 358 Kms
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