Ooty - General Information

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Ooty - General Information

General Details

• District Area - 36 Sq. Kms.

• Population - 87,763

• Altitude - 2,240 mts.

• Climate - Summer : Max. 25°C, Min. 10°C

• Winter - Max. 21°C, Min. 5°C

• Rainfall - 121cms

• Season - April to June and September to November

• Languages - Badaga, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and English

• Clothing - Heavy Woolen in winter. Light Woolen in summer

• Time - 5.30 GMT

• STD Code - 0423

• ISD Code - +91

The Verdant hills, the lush green valleys and the pristine natural beauty of the hill resort of Ooty offers the urban tired souls a chance to resume their affair with Nature, to whom they truly belong. The heavenly hill resort like a blushing bride peeks from behind lofty Nilgiri hills. The unassuming beauty of this heavenly hill resort beckons you to come and and embrace the tranquility and solace that Ooty has to offer.

The Hill resort of Ooty in Tamil Nadu, India, is located in the midst of four high hills; Doddabetta, Snowdon, Elk hill and Club Hill. These hills belong to the Nilgiri range or the 'blue mountains.' A British Collector by the name of John Sullivan discovered the hill station of Ooty and developed it as a summer resort, realizing its potential. The original name of Ooty was 'Udhagamandalam, but it was shortened to 'Ooty' after the arrival of British, which might have had something to do with the difficulty one feels at pronouncing such a difficult name! Apparently the British Collector was right about Ooty and now it is one of the most popular hill stations in India, particularly of South India.

Located in the mountainous range called the Nilgiris ("Blue Mountains"), it draws swarms of tourists every year. The weather is quite pleasant at a mean of 15-20 C year round, dropping to lows of 0 C during winter. The landscape is marked by rolling hills covered with dense vegetation, smaller hills and plateaus covered with tea gardens, and eaucalyptus trees. Many portions of the hills are preserved as natural reserve forests, and special permits will be needed to camp in noncamp sites. Ooty is not the destination in itself, as much as it is the focal point of attraction. Auto touring the surrounding country side is certainly a must do. Unfortunately, the hill town suffers from overcrowding and erosion of natural resources. Tourism has placed an enormous strain on the natural resources resulting in pollution, water shortage and bad roads.

The hilly region also houses smaller towns like Coonoor and Kotagiri. These smaller towns are a better choice to visit and spend time in, since they are off the beaten path, yet less than 1 hour away from Ooty. They enjoy the same natural climes and prices are a lot cheaper. Ooty is connected by road to travellers from the states of Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka. There are five main accepted Nilgiri Ghat Roads which all lead to Ooty.

But Karnataka-Ooty road is in really bad condition. Infact nowadays Ooty is known as Queen of potholes.Travelling by road can be really tiring and sometimes dangerous too.The government of tamilnadu is not looking towards bad road conditions. Ooty, being district capital has the most frequent bus connections from nearby large towns in the district (such as Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur). There are bus connections to most villages in the district via one of three towns. There are also frequent bus connections to the nearest mainline railheads of Mettupalayam and Coimbatore.

There are several buses from the nearest large main cities of Mysore and Kozhikode (in the two bordering states). Direct buses can be boarded for Ooty from many other parts of Karnataka, and Kerala including local connections to Palghat and Sultans Battery in Kerala as well as Gundlupet in Karnataka. The capital cities of these two states (Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram respectively) are also connected via direct bus links.

Chennai (formally Madras) by a nightly train. The Nilgiri Express leaves from Chennai at night, and reaches Mettupalayam, a small town at the foothills of the Blue Mountains early the next morning. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an experience that is more than just a mode of transport as the journey through the scenic valley and hills make it breathtaking. A through ticket from Madras to Ooty will ensure a place on the smaller train, although many prefer the faster route of taking a cab or a bus from Mettupalayam. There are other trains from Chennai to Coimbatore. Railway from Coimbatore junction (CBE) to Metupalaiyam(MTP) is Broad gauge , but only one train (Nilgiri Express) runs on this section, which reduces tourism potential of Ooty.It would be convenient if Coimbatore express (1013) was extended to Metupalaiyam or Metupalaiyam was directly connected to Trivandrum (TVC).

The Coimbatore airport is the closest to the hills at about 3 hours by road. There are flights into Coimbatore from most parts of India. The Mysore airport is about 5 hours away from Ooty by road, and lies to the North of Ooty. The road trip is quite scenic from either airport.

Ooty - General Information

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