| When travelling from bangalore to ooty by road, there | | | | roads are good but maintain just 30 to 40kmph. |
| are quite a fewthings to do on the way. | | | | At the theppakadu junction, (mudumalai forest office) |
| The road from bangalore to ooty pases through | | | | you have 2choices to go to ooty. The right takes you |
| ramnagara, channapatna,maddur, mandya, | | | | to ooty through Gudalur,naduvattam, Pykarra falls, |
| srirangapatna, mysore, najungad, gundelpet, | | | | seventh mile to ooty. The left takes youthrough |
| bandipur,mudumalai to ooty. | | | | Masinagudi, kallahatty water falls to ooty. Both routes |
| Bangalore to Mysore | | | | arescenic and have great views. The gudalur road is |
| Bangalore to mysore road is real good right from | | | | easy to drive andheavy vehicles prefer this road. The |
| rajarajeshwari templearch and 4 lane trafic capable of | | | | masinagudi road needs a powersteering as there are |
| doing 100 kmph and excess. Be carefulof sudden | | | | 35 hairpin bends in a 15 km stretch and the roadis very |
| traffic diversions due to bridge and road painting | | | | steep. Your vehicle needs to be in perfect condition to |
| works. | | | | tacklethis road. Just after Masinagudi there is a point |
| Also of pedestrians. | | | | where a leopardcrosses the road. |
| Take a break at 24 hour cafe coffee day (after | | | | What to do at wildlife sanctuary |
| channapatna - 70km frombangalore) or kamat (after | | | | Both at Bandipur and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, the |
| ramnagaram - 50km from bangalore). You maytry | | | | forest department organises vanand jeep safari inside |
| amaravathi before Mandya or Maddur Tiffanys. Other | | | | the forest to see wild animals. The timings are |
| restaurants arenot worth their salt (or sugar) | | | | Morning 6 to 9 AM and evening 4 to 6 PM. In Bandipur, |
| After Channapatna you may want to stop at Dodda | | | | Jeep safaris areavailable. You need to book in |
| Malur Krishna temple, avery old temple with a deity of | | | | advance dring season time as the rush isheavy. The |
| lord baby krishna. Many people believethat your | | | | crowds mill around like a mall in bangalore. |
| prayers for a baby come true at this temple. | | | | Jungle Home - Gudalur - Ooty Route |
| Srirangapatna has few spots of tourist interest like fort, | | | | Take the right turn at Theppakadu junction and follow |
| river view,nearby ranganathitu bird sanctuary. | | | | the road upto theedge of the forest. |
| If you dig pizzas, you can stop at pizza corner, mysore | | | | A nice place to relax here would be Jungle Home, a |
| which is on theway to ooty road. | | | | cottage attached tothe forest. For details please |
| Mysore to Ooty | | | | check the website. |
| Nanjungad to Gundelpet is straight and smooth road | | | | The section between Theppakadu and Thorapalli is |
| with no traffic. | | | | crucial elephanthabitat zone and is very easy to sight |
| Easy to maintain excess of 100 KMPH. Beware of | | | | the wild elephants on the roadside. Becareful about the |
| sudden speed breakersand bumpy bridges. | | | | wild tuskers which are always single and easyto |
| Nanjungad has a very old and famous shiva temple | | | | irritate. |
| with lot of statues ofgods. | | | | The road goes to Gudalur, Naduvattam, ooty. On the |
| At gundelpet, take the road to ooty. | | | | way you can seepykarra falls (not advisable to bathe), |
| Gundelpet to Bandipur is very bad stretch of raod. | | | | 7th mile (where many filmshootings happen - sing a |
| Bandipur to | | | | duet with your beau) and proceed to ooty. |
| TamilNadu border is also bad stretch. | | | | Stop at the approved view points only. |
| Drive slowly (30 to 40 kmph) as you have chance of | | | | Park at the side of the road. Dont obstruct traffic. |
| seeing the animalsgrazing on the road side during the | | | | Drive carefuly and sensibly. |
| evenings. If you see elephants onthe road side, stop at | | | | Beware of irresponsible drivers and buses |
| a distance and observe them carefully. Nohonking or | | | | How to reach Jungle Home |
| bright lights. (easiset way to irritate the elephants) | | | | At Theppakadu Junction take right, pass through the |
| Bytheir movements, it is easy to findout if they are just | | | | forest border, atthe RTO checkpost (Thorrapalli village) |
| grazing ortrying to cross the road. If elephants are in | | | | take left, (the small tar roadopposite hotel haridagiri), |
| group, no problems. | | | | follow the tar road, after the BSNL cellphone tower, |
| Beware of single elephant (especially tusker - male | | | | you find the green gates of Jungle home (green |
| elephants).Theytend to easily get irritated as this is their | | | | building) |
| mating season. Otheranimals like deer, mongoose, | | | | Route Map: |
| peacocks are harmless. Dont feed themonkeys as | | | | Bangalore - Mysore - Take ooty road |
| they tend to jump inside the car. Monkey scratches | | | | Mysore - Nanjungad - Gundelpet - Take Ooty road |
| and bitesneed anti rabies vaccine. Just before the | | | | Gundelpet - Bandipur Forest Office - Karnataka |
| TN-Kar border checkposts,many people have seen | | | | Tamilnadu Border - |
| tigers near the roads but I have been unlucky inseeing | | | | Theppakadu (Mudumalai forest office) Junction |
| a tiger so far. | | | | Balamurugan is a wildlife and nature lover visiting |
| From the TN border (police tend to leave off family | | | | Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in India; frequently with |
| cars - guys drivenvehicles are checked for liquor and | | | | various experiences liketrekking, bird watching, fishing |
| other illegal stuff, there is atoll gate on TN side), the | | | | on each visit. |