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| Ooty |
| OOTY
Ooty (Otacamund), also known as Udagamdalam, it is a hill station in Tamil nadu. It's pleasant environment and scenic beauty makes it a very nice place to visit that's why it's been famously called 'Queen of Hill stations' and capital of nilgris. Ooty is a great tourist spot. located at the trio junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu, it lies 7500 feet above the level of sea and can be found in Blue Mountains i.e. Nilgiris. The best part of visiting Ooty is the scenery and heart throbbing adventure it offers; with the stream of waterfalls, sloppy gardens and it's highest peaks. Ooty has in here, just everything which you can expect on any hill station. It's vast green lands are fruitful in preventing global warming, environmentalist and scientists are always having a keen eye on the changes of it's climate and vegetation. Though, Ooty is enough developed as a massive tourist spot, it is still well preserved and naturally balanced, as ever. It was a land being held by Tipu sultan and East India Company took the possession of it's ceded part. The word Ooty is not ancient. The name Ootacamund is likely to be originated from the name ('Ootaca'), it is derived from Tamil which is the local language. Though, the word 'Otta-Cal' has a literally meaning as a Single Stone. This is perhaps a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people, but 'mund' is the Badaga word for a Toda village, and it is probably a corruption of the Badaga name for the central region of the Nilgiri Platea. It was also because of the Britishers, that they would pronounce Udhagamandalam as Ootacamund and then it was reduced to Ooty from the name Ootacamund, with the time passing from generations. Ooty is very famous for it's estates of tea. Along with it, the vast forests, huge mountains, natural vegetation and the misty climate makes it a very scenic place to visit. There's an annual festival of Tea and Tourism which attracts a huge gathering of people. The view of it's natural beauty is wonderful. While traveling from Kallar to Coonoor, one can easily observe the nature, changing it's colors. The nature, climate and hospitality converges and serves the tourists in a perfect delight.
How to reach Ooty
By Road
Ooty is well connected to other parts of India through roads. National Highway 67 is in a way through Ooty and is connected by road to the states of Karnataka, Kerala,Tamil Nadu and also through Nilgiri Ghat Roads.
One can reach Ooty from various other places of the state through buses such as Gudalur, Kotagiri and Coonoor. While travelling for Ooty you can take a direct bus to the various other cities of states of Kerala and Karnataka. The buses connects Ooty to many other villages and districts also. The rush of bus connections is quite frequent to the main railway station, which lies on a small distance at Mettupalayam and Coimbatore. There are simple services of buses which heads towards many cities, various cities and towns of Tamil Nadu, such as Salem, Sathyamangalam, Karur, Dindigul, Chennai, Thiruchirapalli, Madurai, Thanjavur and Kanyakumari,Tirupur, Erode and also there are frequent bus routes in a way to the cities of Kozhikode and Mysore (which are the two adjacent states). The Roadways connects the cities of these two states of Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram respectively and Puducherry (Pondicherry) is also connected via buses through roadways. links.
By Rail
Ooty is connected to Chennai (formerly Madras) by a nightly connecting train service. Between 'The Nilagiri Passenger' NMR metre gauge service and the Nilgiri Express broad gauge service, Mettupalayam provides the interchange face. Being one of the oldest mountain railways, The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) was conferred as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in the month of July 2005.
By Air
There's no airport at Ooty, it is not connected to other places directly by air. Though, Coimbatore is a near by place which is not too far and there are some airlines offering domestic flights to almost all the big cities of Indian and internationally, there are flights services to Singapore, Sharjah and Colombo which is direct. Calicut is another such place lying nearby which has an airport and it is almost hundred and fifty kilometer away from Ooty.
Places to stay in Ooty
Ooty has a lot to offer as accommodation for it's tourists. With an array of line up hotels for every kind of visitors, the nature and surroundings of Ooty adds on to the fine experience of staying here. Heritage hotels of Ooty are well equipped with all the modern services and the vast green gardens, huge fire places in winters, conference rooms and the choicest of delicious cuisine holds back the visitors to fall in love with place. There are other Economy and Budget hotels where one can have a lesser expensive stay. Star rated Hotels in Ooty offer excellent services, located amidst the green valleys with a breathtaking view from it's living place and far away from the hustle bustle of crowded life, you can feel the breeze and such peaceful surrounding gives you tranquility of mind, body and soul. Staying here in these hotels of Ooty, you can experience a sense of deep connection with the nature. There are also home stays in Ooty, which gives a homely feeling at a place standing so high from sea level. There are resorts, wooden cottages, luxury hotels and bungalows built by Britishers., which boasts over their world class amenities and have everything to please it's visitors. Dharamshalas and other budget hotels are also there, for a less expensive tour and most of the travellers stays in these type of hotels for bread and breakfast facilities. Ooty has a rush of visitors at all these accommodation options throughout the year but mainly, people like to visit Ooty in the months of summer season of India when one can take a relief from the hot and humid climate of other regions and comes here for a soothing experience. Ooty offers a very unique hospitality and accommodation facilities.
Places of interest in Ooty
Dodobetta Peak Ooty
Dodabetta Peak lies 2,623 meters high and is the highest peak of the district. A 10km away from the town, being the topmost point, it offers a collective view of all the near by places which is a fascination. Everyone who visits this place doesn't forget to capture it in camera as it stays forever.
Telescope house is a place structured for tourists to have a fine view standing at this place, it is maintained by by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. This peak is really worth visiting.
Pykara Lake
The marvelous lake of Pykara is worth a sight-seeing and the surrounding nature adds on more beauty to it.
Botanical Garden
This lush green garden is lean over the slopes on the hills, Governor of Madras laid down the formation of this garden and it's main fascination is the millions year old trees which are fossilized. There are many beautiful things which surrounds this garden e.g. a shining pool, various forms of flowering bush and lots of species of trees and plants which are either rare or on the verge of extinction.
Kalhatty Waterfalls
It's a breathtaking waterfall, which falls down to the slopes from a height of 100 feets. It's one the wonders of nature which gives a very thunderous vie of stream and sprouts of water flowing from the hills. Tourist enjoys coming here and taking joys of water sprints .
Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary
Ooty has an adventurous wildlife spot as Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctaury. It spread over an area of 1,140 meters at a ranging altitude of 322sqkm. This sanctuary is very famous of being an habitat to the numerous elephants of whom this place is a habitat and survival place.
Ooty Lake
Artificialy constructed,The Ooty Lake is a prominent destination worth to visit. It was constructed by John Sullivan, who had been the first of all Collector and also the virtual founder of Ooty. This lake is also surrounded by lush gardens.
Art Gallery
An art gallery which has antique collections of rich contemporary paintings, tribal dynasty's elements, all the ecological detailing of district, other forms of arts and sculptural crafts of Tamilnadu.
Rose Garden
A very special garden spread vastly over five terraces on 4 hectares. This magnificent place has over different varieties of roses of over 2000 kinds and above 20000 plants of roses.
Shopping in Ooty
Visiting at such an aromatic place, one can't move back their bags without doing some shopping from Ooty. Though there aren't any special regional handicrafts which belongs to Ooty but handicrafts from Tamilnadu and near by areas can be found here to buy in variety. Production of one of it's best coffee and tea takes place here, so no one leaves without buying a hand full of them from this place. Nilgiri oil which is very aromatic stays on the shoppers list. The traditional clothes is also a major attraction to tourists. The handmade chocolates, spices and various species of plants can be a sought out shopping here at Ooty. The jewellery items which is specially made my Tamilnadu craftsmen is unique in itself and people from various places are fond of it's designs and other painting and pottery materials.
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