Coonoor - The Emerald of Nilgiris

“Love to travel, But hate to arrive” - Albert Einstein spelt it out so aptly, although I am quite certain that he was not visiting Coonoor when he wrote this. They say that the grass is always green on the farther side of the field, but if the Nilgiris are anything to go by, the entire hills are green.I had been to Ooty earlier, but the mid-October visit to Ooty-Coonoor was a revelation to me. I had clearly underestimated the beauty of the Nilgiris in that part of the hills and I now have grown to become an ardent fan of this hill station.

We started from Bangalore Kempe Gowda Bus stop (Platform No. 7) on a fine morning in mid-October at around 9.30 am in a Rajhamsa Executive Bus (the best KSRTC Bus that goes to Ooty). The bus turned out to be less Executive and more uncomfortable. We reached Ooty around 8.00 pm after much struggle and delay, partly because of the Dasara Celebrations in Mysore and partly because of an inefficient driver-conductor combo! We took a cab from Ooty Bus stop to Coonoor which is at a 19Km higher altitude than Ooty. The half an hour drive was beautiful and the Qualis was a welcome relief from the tedious 41 hair-pin bends in the dilapidated KSRTC bus.

We had planned to put up at Brookeland Tea Estate, where I have my company guest house. Otherwise there are numerous places to stay both in Ooty & Coonoor. The guest house was a sudden turn on the way to Orchid Square about 1km from Sim's Park, Coonoor. Its a very narrow road just enough for a four-wheeler sloping down about 200mts. That walk amidst fragrance of flowers & hedges on both sides was full of excitement, especially beneath the stars & the moon. The guest house is a beautiful bunglow, set at the down slope of that hill, overlooking the Brookeland Tea Estate. The view was breathtaking, clouds curving their way through the tea plantations and silver oak trees, that stand majestic among the well-manoeuvred tea plants. Every now and then we felt that we would be drenched by the clouds. The night was serene, and we hoped the following day would be even better.

And better it was. Oh, what a lovely sight! I had my eyes barely open when I saw the clouds playing hide and seek with the sun, and we didn't know what we wanted to see then- the sun or the clouds. The balcony of the guest house, followed by a small lawn with well-mowed grass sprinkled with the dew drops, followed by the almost endless stretch of green tea leaves, followed by a small bunglow far off, possibly the estate manager's house in a neighbouring estate, followed by a green hill peeping its head out of the clouds occasionally...is probably the dream of every eyes as the ideal place to sip their morning tea! Still not fully awake from the breathtaking beauty of the hills, we started our day's tour in the same Qualis with a visit to the Pykara Lake which is 25Kms from Ooty. We stopped briefly in the Pine forest in the Kamaraj Sagar Lake on the way. Not so much a forest, but the height of the trees are truly amazing. How a ray of sun has to struggle to manoeuvre its way through the truly tall pine trees to glow on the red soil! We reached Pykara lake cutting our way through lush green fields and beautiful hills. Pykara Lake, although commercialized to include boating, has a breathtaking view. Its this really large crystal clear water body, curving its way through the pine forests on both sides.

We chose the road less traveled to Red Hills instead of the usual attractions. The driver was reluctant to take us to Red Hills, preferring the popular spots like Ooty Lake or Doddabetta peak. But there we were, a bunch of adamant travelers. Finally, he succumbed to our wishes and off we were to Red Hills. The name is undoubtedly misleading. The name ought to be "Green Hills" and not Red Hills. The only guide of ours on this 28km journey from Ooty was the Outlook Traveller Getaways-52 Weekend Breaks from Bangalore book. We had to ask every local person we encountered on the way. As we were wondering, where we are headed to, in search of what, suddenly appeared an endless stretch of green plains and hills. It was unbelievable. On the left, there are vast stretches of sloped tea estates, while on the right the plains were overflowing with greenery-vegetation of all types, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower. Mother nature seemed to have poured all her love on these stretch of land, so much near the over-explored Ooty yet so far from the eyes of most of us. And while we were merely getting accustomed to the exquisite beauty of nature, we were suddenly pulled out of our mirage as we saw a blue lake surrounding a small island of pine trees, hurdled by clouds on top of it, our eyes reaching out far away to the cluster of small huts on a hill far off. We were left speechless. It was no less than a dream and we knew that we had seen the supreme beauty of nature. There was nothing more to see. Yet we treaded along the path to Red Hills and on the way we came across 4-5 such lakes, each mystifying in its own way. Finally we reached, after quite a rough patch of road, the Red Hills Nature Resort. By that time it had started raining. We did not go inside the Resort. As we were coming back, we realised that it wasn't raining after all, we were just feeling the clouds wetting us. The journey back was a quiet one. Each one of us was too dreamy to talk. We chose to come back to the guest house, stopping for some hot brewing tea at a local stall on the way.

The evening was again a quiet one. We had clearly not recovered from that mysterious journey of ours. The next morning was a relaxed one. While we knew, there was nothing better than Red Hills to see, we still went for a quiet walk to Sim's Park, 1km away. A narrow lane just beside the Sim's Park led to the Tea Factory, it said. I thought it was worthwhile to give it a shot. The tea stall owner at the junction of this lane with the main road assured me that the walk to Tea factory was just 1Km and that it might do my health some good if I take it. So we walked. And walked. And walked. Well, the path was not 1Km. I am quite certain it was no less than 2-1/2Kms. And then the road was narrow with hedges on both sides and to top it all, frequent tourist cars were interrupting our flow. The uneven terrain was getting at us and we were planning to return, when we suddenly saw this huge slope of Tea plantations and we realised that we were actually amidst a tea estate. It was so beautiful. We just saw tea plantations everywhere, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill. Also visible was the spotless golf course of Wellington (Military Base, possibly of the Madras Regiment). It all looked like a dream sequence from movies. Amidst the tea estate stood the Tea Factory, a four storeyed building where tea is manufactured from the fresh leaves. Its only an irony that the people of an area where Tea leaves are grown do not drink tea that is made from tea leaves, but use the dust tea. The walk was a tiresome one, but yielding nonetheless. At sun down we visited the Brookeland Tea Estate and strolled among tea plantations. The night was amazing with rains covering the misty hills and plantations. And with that ended our trip, as we descended from Coonoor the next morning to board the good old Rajhamsa Executive bus(this time minus the leg space also) from Ooty bus stop.

Fact Finder:

Travel: Bangalore-Ooty: 297Kms via Mysore-Bandipur-Mudumalai-Gundulpet (9hrs by bus)
KSRTC Buses are available from Bangalore to Ooty. Volvo is not there. Its better to book the private buses like SRS Travels etc. TNSRTC has some good buses but I have no information about those.

Ooty-Coonoor: 19Km from Ooty towards Kottagiri.
Taxis available at Ooty Bus stand(Fare : Rs 550-650), public Buses also available.

Ooty-Coonor Sightseeing: Cabs available. Standard rates of Rs.2300-2500 for the usual sights in a Qualis (We paid Rs. 2900 because of Red Hills). Indica is also available at a cheaper rate.

Accomodation: No dearth of Hotels/Resorts/homestays in and around Coonor/Ooty.

Places to see:

Popular Spots: Ooty Lake, Rose Garden, Sim's Park(Coonoor), Dolphin's Nose(Coonoor), Lamb's Rock(Coonoor), Law's Falls(Coonoor).

My Recommendations: Doddabetta Peak(7Kms from Ooty), Pykara Lake(25Kms from Ooty), Toy Train ride between Ooty-Mettupalayam(28kms ride, you can choose to get down at Coonoor or elsewhere on the way).

Must-See: Red Hills(28Kms from Ooty) is a hill surrounded by 8 lakes by the names of Avalanche, Emerald, Bhavani, etc. Its the ultimate beauty of nature thats inexplicible in words. Its not possible to wash this experience off one's memory. A lifetime view!!! For those who are interested, there's a British Bunglow, just that one on top of the hill at an altitude of 7000ft-Red Hills Nature Resort. Although slightly expensive, its worth the deal!!
Road to follow for Red Hills: We took the Muthorai Road past Good Shepherd International School, followed the road past Palada, Ithalar and Emerald. 5Kms after Emerald, the road forks, the right one leading to Red Hills.