So you have been there, done that - ticked off Ooty in your list of sightseeing places and cribbed about how it has become polluted, noisy and touristy,  rather than a picture perfect , quiet hill station. And then , you have told yourself, after seeing the traffic and the milling crowds, that you are done with the place for now. Well , if thats what you have been thinking, then its time to revisit your decision and the destination. And I will tell you why, but before that , a little bit of flashback .

Ooty and the Blue Mountains were always on my annual list of holidays ever since I was two years old . Dad being an old Lawrencian would never look at any other hill station besides Ooty (it took me 17 years to visit Kodaikanal) and when I was probably 4 - 5 years old , he even wanted to settle down here . I still remember a quaint wooden house  with a colourful garden blooming with roses, dahlias and gladioli where we stayed briefly . My last family holiday to Ooty was almost 20 years ago when I was finishing school .

I had hoped to join my folks last month as my father headed to his alma mater, Lawrence School at Lovedale for the 50th anniversary of his batch, but I had to cancel my plans. However  I had recently visited the Nilgiris and realized that I had rediscovered the hill station all over again. I now understand why my father is rather passionate about it .


1. The Biodiversity . Much has been written about the Nilgiri biosphere , so I am not going to get into a naturalist mode. Just that the forests, the mountains, the lakes , dams  and some of the hidden spots in these regions are reasons enough to get here . I am not just referring to Mudhumalai or Singara or Masinagudi here. While some of the reserve forests may need permissions to enter, you can just drive down the path or just walk around them.  Ive seen some pristine shola forests recently and I have told myself that I must make an annual visit every year, just to discover a new stretch of forest and hidden paths .

2. The birds -  There are so many endemic birds out here and sometimes, just a walk in the Botanical garden in Ooty or the Sims park in Coonoor is enough to sight them . Sometimes the birds will just be sitting on the pathway and or a rock near you .I almost sighted close to 75 species of birds and I wasnt even birding seriously . Some of them were the nilgiri flycatcher, the fan tail, the chestnut headed bee eater, Tickells blue flycatcher, the Eurasian  black bird among several others..

3.The wildlife - So,you are not into birds  , but the wildlife may definitely tempt. I got lost while trying to get to Long wood shola and entered through one of the forest paths which eventually was closed to public.  Barring a few private houses, we were driving through a dense shola forest and then we started walking ramdomly. My driver shuddered on a seeing a snake glide into the shrubbery , while I was trying to get a better look at it.  A little while later, a local walked by , telling me to be careful, as they had spotted a family of tigers here with cubs. In another instance, I was birding in this dense private forest that belonged to a friend beyond Mettupalayam, when we heard such loud grunts of sloth bears that I actually shuddered . The gaurs are everywhere and locals say that these usual shy creatures have become a bit aggressive of late. Elephants in Masinagudi are of course a regular sighting and if you are lucky, there is the Nilgiri tahr.


4. The flowers - So, you are not into birds or the beasts.  But you just cannot ignore the flowers here . Almost everywhere you see them bloom . the colours are so vivid that you can just get lost into them..There are so many parks and gardens here that you can easily get lost here.

5. The quaint hill stations - Forget Ooty , just go beyond it and see some quaint hill station. Some of the popular ones are Kotagiri and Coonoor,but there are many quaint ones that lure you as well

6.The mountain railway. - As a kid, the toy train was a great favourite of mine and even today, I would love to explore Nilgiris by rail . It might be a full day affair , but its well worth the slow and long journey . I was in Lovedale station , where I  saw the locals painting the board - the pride they took in their little station is a strong contrast to the way we treat our own stations in the city


7.The culture  - Colonialism is almost everywhere - in the clubs, churches, bungalows, homestays, plantations, railways, the schools  - the British have left their legacy behind .Its ok to have a bit of a colonial hangover here
Just look at this beautiful pipe organ in an old church in Coonoor - it still plays by the way



8.The Tribal culture - Nilgiris is home to several tribes, including the Todas .  The Toda mund for instance in the Ooty Botanical garden  is a must visit to understand their lifestyle,  beliefs and even to buy a few of their famous embroidered shawls



9.The little chai stops on the mountain roads - There is tea everywhere . Yes, its sad that forests have given way to tea plantations , but some of these plantations are centuries old and are handed down by the British . there was coffee here as well at one time  , but now its usually tea plantations that have carpeted the slopes of the hills ..Sometimes you see meadows as well and wish you could just roll on them  . So, if you are tired and need to refresh yourself, just stop and drink a hot cup of tea and buy some eucalyptus oil for your aching limbs
.

10. Home made chocolates - Now, this is something that I will never leave Ooty without ..who wouldnt ?

Traveling to India? If you have never visited India, it is one of a kind experience. Take good care of your health and have a memorable wonderful trip. We have a list of some common diseases and sicknesses you may encounter. Talk to your physician about what precautions to take. This checklist is compiled for a tourists interested in trekking in the mountains but is equally applicable for business travelers as well. Here's the link to the webpage for travelers to India on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of US website, Click here.

Sickness due to extreme environment exposure

Altitude sickness or Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Hypothermia

Jet Lag

Motion Sickness

Prickly heat

Sunburn

Infectious diseases

Diarrhea

Giardiasis

Amoebic Dysentery

fungal infections

Hepatitis

HIV and AIDS

Intestinal worms

Meningococcal Meningitis

Sexually transmitted diseases

Typhoid

Insect Born diseases

Malaria

Dengue Fever

Japanese B encephalitis

Bedbugs and lice

Leeches and ticks

Bites and stings

cuts and scratches

minor burns

Less common diseases

cholera

filariasis

rabies

tetanus

tuberculosis

typhus

Medical kit check list

aspirin or paracetamol or acetaminophen

antihistamine or benadryl

antibiotics like ampicillin or erythromycin

loperamide or anti diarrhea or anti nausea

re-hydration mix

insect repellant, sunscreen, lip balm and eye drops

calamine lotion or aloe vera or sting relief spray

anti-fungal cream or powder

antiseptic

bandage or band aids

water purification tablets or iodine

scissors, tweezers, thermometer

syringes and needles

cold and flu tablets

throat lozenges

nasal decongestant

multivitamin

At Derapuck, our first overnight camp, we rested well and got up early to undertake the hardest journey of our lives. The second day’s travel was 25 kilometers, crossing Dolma pass, the highest mountain pass in the world. This pass is at an altitude of 5750 meters above the sea level. Some of us decided to ride on a horse back while others decided to walk. By God’s grace the sky was
very clear and the weather conditions were good. After trekking for about 2 kilometers on flat land, we reached the base of a tall mountain. Our path crossed over this mountain to the other side. The road was extremely narrow and through difficult terrain. Only a single person or a horse could walk at a time. With scant oxygen in the air, it was very difficult to climb. We had to stop after each step, take a deep breath and then take the next step. Even the horses had to stop often to breathe. On several occasions, I actually had to get down so the horse could walk. We had to constantly sip water to stay hydrated.

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Finally, after 4 hours, we reached the top of the mountain and rested our exhausted bodies for a while! The next part of the trek involved downhill travel. The descent was so steep that horseback riders had to get down and walk so the horses wouldn’t fall. After trekking for a while, we saw a holy pond called Gourikund. The water was very clear and still but it was difficult to get some due to the steep slope and rocks. But one of our sherpas was very kind. He descended down to the pond very skilfully and brought the holy water back to us. Our day was made and the hard journey suddenly seemed all worthwhile!

Ironic that my first ever contribution to a blog begins with a story of so many more firsts. They say, 'There's always a first time’ and I'm so glad I've had so many of them.

In totally random order... this was indeed...

The first planned vacation with my family after marriage!

The first time I drove miles to a temple and didn't step in!

The first time it hit me how my only little brother was not little anymore!

My first memorable brush with my roots, where we really come from!

The first vacation without hubby dear after marriage!

My first road trip ever!

I could go on. At the risk of contradicting myself, besides all these firsts, it still seemed just like before - The four of us, Mom, Dad, Brother & me on a holiday during the summer vacations. Without getting into more details, the point is we discovered different aspects of a place deeply etched into the history of India. The richest Indian Empire - Vijaynagar Kingdom. Just for you to map this one right, Goa was a part of this Empire, more than 400 years ago. It is a part of the Incredible India campaign, a world heritage site, more popularly known as Hampi! I'm not going to touch upon the history or the famous stories related to the place. Wikipedia & Google will keep you reading about those for days! Yes this was the richest empire India ever saw aptly called The Golden Age. The bazaars sold rubies & diamonds in kilos and similar measures all in the open. What we see today, Hampi, is just the remnants, the mere foundation of what was buried for ever centuries. In the early 1980’s, the Karnataka Government took the initiative & as a result of excavations over the years, these huge stone structures rose up giving India & the world a Heritage site – Hampi. 

To put it very simply, all there is to see here is the ruins of temples and palaces. All these looted & sadly destroyed within a mere 6 months of the Mughal invasion. What hit me and for a very personal reason was, how they had stolen or shattered the idols in all the temples. I am not a person who religiously visits temples but I share a strong spiritual connect with Lord Ganesh! It hurt me to see how all the trunks were missing almost everywhere. We know the Mughals did not believe in idol worship. But here you can see how much they might have detested it. A broken or cracked idol is not worshipped by Hindus and hence all these temples lie deserted today. Only four walls, devastated idols, in most places, no idols and merely stone over stone is what remains. To me, the very reason they are all so clean and well maintained and more so a big attraction to the foreigners is the fact that they are not worshipped anymore.

The more obvious reason for attacking and rampaging the temples was the wealth it housed. Most of the kingdom’s treasures were stored in temples those days. Besides the idols were made of rich sandalwood, gold and adorned with all precious stones and jewellery.

Without being biased, just with an intention to share what I took back from this was another shocking fact. All the structures which were built in the Islamic style still remain beautiful and untouched. They’re only eroded naturally but not destroyed or attacked at all. A perfect example being the Lotus Mahal or Hawa Mahal, a place for the recreation of the Queens. 

When you reach Hampi, you can take a guided tour of around 3 hours which we did on Day 1. I’ll leave that for you to discover. A silent wish for anyone who reads this to be able to visit this magical kingdom once in their lifetime! The next day we took all the routes opposite the guided ones. Quoting my little brother, ‘Sometimes you get the best things when you take the wrong path.’ Make what you have to of this, but we all agreed in this case. All we found was rocks, boulders, quarries, lush greens... pure, untouched art of some Supreme Force that exists, somewhere, everywhere you go! To me it felt like I was looking at His ‘Lagori’ (a local game played by arranging a tower of seven stones and aiming to knock them all off with one stone’s throw).

These stones have been arranged like they would rumble and tumble down any moment but that’s exactly what they don’t do. Man has slit them apart and used them for several purposes. That’s what I took home from the wrong path – ‘The power of the Supreme Force & the power of Man... how we co-exist peacefully in nature. Every second that we experience this is a miracle indeed!’

Where? How to get there? What’s the best time? What are the places to see? Find all answers at www.hampi.in