Ooty Outing

Date: 21-24 April 2013

 

Ooty, which is deep within the Nilgiri hills, is also known as The Blue Mountains. It is unknown whether this name comes from the blue smoky haze given off by the eucalyptus trees that cover the area, or because of the kurunji flower, which blooms every twelve years giving the slopes a bluish tinge.(Wikipedia)

 

No wonder Ooty draws a large number of tourists every year...especially during this hot summer season ! It's soooooooo cool / cold up here. We set out to enjoy this wonderful place ! Voila !

 

The Government Rose Garden

 

Reckoned as the largest rose garden in India this garden issituated on the slopes of the Elk Hill in Vijayanagaram of Ooty. It has one of the largest collection of roses in the country with more than 20,000 varieties of roses of 2,800 cultivars. Mom surely enjoyed this !

 

 

Doddabetta Peak

 

It is the highest peak (2,623 m) in the Nilgiris, about 10 km from Ooty. It lies at the junction of the Western and Eastern Ghats and offers beautiful vistas of the Nilgiri Hill ranges. It is surrounded by dense shoals. One can have a panoramic view of the landscape through the TTDC telescope.

 

 

 

 

 

We also visited some other tourist spots such as the tea estate,boat house, mountain railway and so on. All in all, it was a great trip here...plus the weather was just as nice ! Enjoy these snapshots of OOOOOOOtttyyyy

 

Oh...Ooty ...

Ooty @ Udhagamandalam @ Ootacamund @ Udhagai is a popular hill station (also known as a tourist town in the mountains) located in the Nilgiri Hills town . It took us almost 6-7 hours by road to reach Ooty from Trichy. We visited Kodaikanal in 2009 but this time around, we opted for Ooty. The drive up was not so bad even with the constant honking of vehicles going up & down the hill using that narrow two-way road. Our eyes caught the beautiful sights and it's gorgeously breathtaking !! Neatly “groomed” estates, miles and miles of blooming pristine trees & tea gardens, colourful homes build along the valley a distance away… Ooty welcomed us :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the first day, we stayed @ Lakeview Hotel - a cottage style accomodation...with fireplace & all.. very English huh...

 

Always the dramatic one..with my lovely sista

 

chimney

Ooty moon

Another hotel we tried out was Preethi Classic Tower... biasalah ngada ngada ....so nak rasa duduk Suite ...wahhhhh, ko ada ?! Ish...ish..ish...

Sleeping out in a cool chilly morning on a holiday, with no timeline/engagements planned is one of the best things in most people’s life. We are doing the same thing here in Ooty. It was also freaking cold !!!!!Opened the door or window and we can see the beautiful view sprite up by the morning sun with cold air came gushing insending chills down our spines... Okie then...adjust the woolen blanket and go to sleep again. Simply fantastic !! Nite !

 

To be continued...

Incredible India

Date : 20th April 2013

Tiruchirappalli a.k.a Trichy is the 4th largest municipal corporation and urban agglomeration in the state. An important industrial and educational hub of central Tamil Nadu, Tiruchirappalli is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Tamil Nadu.

Road to Pillayarpatti

Trichy Rock fort

We visited Trichy cos sister wanted to perform prayers @  the Pillaypatti Temple. The journey from Trichy to Pillayarpatti takes about 2 hours. The pooja was carried out @ the Karpaka Vinayakar Temple, an ancient rock-cut cave shrine dedicated to Ganesha located at Thiruppatthur. We visited this temple way back in 2009. I didn't know it was a Shivan temple...maybe cos Pillayar overtook his dad's popularity *lol* ..

Temple

 

houses @ the area...

Inside the temple

divine

wall paintings...

The view on our way back to Trichy...

To be continued....

Incredible India

Date: 19 April 2013

 

We started planning for this (second) trip to India as early as in December 2012. Had some Enrich points which I redeemed. My aunt tagged along & this was her first trip there.  We headed to Chennai formerly known as Madras, the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This time around, we (sister & moi) planned everything from the trip, accommodation & so forth. Pakka. Reason being, this trip is for mom to relax, unwind and enjoy her vacation. Hence, we limited the visit to 3 venues. We departed KLIA on the 9.35am flight & all was good (of course, MalaysianHospitality maaa).

Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, and economic centre for many centuries. Touchdown @ 10.45am local time (Malaysia 12 noon). Arrival, immigrations & customs clearance was fast. Hmm...not bad (thanx to mom that is). Our driver was waiting at the entrance so we headed straight to Thiruchy by road. Journey took 4 -5 hours or so.

 

The weather was hot -34°C. Thank you technology for AC !   It is said that the hottest part of the year is late May to early June, known regionally as Agni Nakshatram. Phewwwwwww... Fortunately road conditions were better than when we visited in 2009. Chennai is one of the cities in India that is connected by the Golden Quadrilateral system of National Highways. It is connected to other Indian cities by four major National Highways (NH) that originate in the city. Anyway...it reminded me of our highways... and then...tadaaa... I saw one name - IJM.  ok laa Cik Kiah, better ada daripada tak ada kan...

 

 

Finally...we arrived Trichy late in the evening and had a gooooood rest @ our hotel - PLA Residency located @ the centre of Trichy town.

To be continued....