Reminiscing, Ooty.

The above photographs are from our four-day trip to Ooty and surroundings. Ooty, also known as Ootacamund or Udhagamandalam is perhaps the most popular tourist spot in South India and one of the famous Hill Stations in India. It is the headquarters of the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu State. Ooty is situated at an altitude of 2,240 meters of the Nilgiris range of hills of the Western Ghats. Nilgiris means the Blue Mountains. They look so beautiful and picturesque that this location is called ‘Queen of Hills’ and ‘Queen of Hill Stations’.

While the whole of South India has a warm to hot climate throughout the year, the climate of Ooty is different. Even at the peak of summer when the temperature crosses 40 deg. Celsius elsewhere in the country the temperature at Ooty would never cross 25 deg. Celsius. The temperature at Ooty would normally vary between Max. 21 deg. to Min. 5 degrees Celsius. This apart the lofty mountains, waterfalls, lakes, dense forests, sprawling grasslands, miles and miles of tea gardens and beautiful parks with charming flowers enthralled us. In specific it is the Botanical garden, Doddabetta peak at 2637 meters above sea level – the highest peak in South India, Rosegarden, Pine forest, Ooty Lake - a boat ride in it, Ketty valley, Mudumalai National Park, the adventurous Nilgiri Passenger Hill Train journey - to and fro from Mettupalayam to Ooty, the tiny Railway Stations en-route and the ever-changing beautiful landscape before us were all awesome. At every meal, we chose a different cuisine or variety and enjoyed the food. The sweetest part of the trip was the excellent Chocolate fudge we had every day. Chocolates and Chocolate fudge are sold everywhere in Ooty and of different varieties. Overall, Ooty trip is unforgettable and at anytime an enchanting flashback.