Gudalur is a sort of junction (see above) with four major destinations radiating out. If you want higher hills, go to Ooty. If you want seaside, slide left to Kozhikode. If you want national parks, swerve right towards Mysore via Mudumalai/Bandipur. If you just want to get on with your road trip (like we'd do tomorrow), head for Waynad. And if you have a free day for velagiri (that's not a mountain, but the act of drifting without purpose), you might wander around as defined by the green zone above.
We decided to catch up on some of the touristy places we had missed, while travelling from Ooty to Gudalur yesterday, since we had wanted to reach our resort before dark. But we had forgotten that sometimes logical time and space break down at event horizons. Newton had 3 Laws of Motion. I consider these 3 Laws of Commotion.
1. The earth is always more overpopulated than we think.
2. Touristy places can usually accommodate around half of the enthusiastic touristy people.
3. If it's Sunday, it must be Bedlam.
The tranquil peace of a tea garden that we were innocently cavorting in, would suddenly be invaded by three busloads of determined enjoyers, whose selfies would require shouted directions that would do justice to a Karan Johar film-set running on overtime. Incidentally, there was a place laconically marked "6th mile shooting scene" on google maps. I counted nineteen Volvos before we could even come within loudhailer distance of it. Even KJ and EK together wouldn't have managed to can a minute's worth of film on a day such as this.
So, apart from seeing a particular waterfall, we decided to go easy on touristy points on the Gudalur-Ooty stretch. To be fair, nature was giving her best today. The sun was shining brightly, the temperature was a soothing 19 degC, the sky was a deep royal blue with cotton wisps, and the lake waters were emerald green. We stopped here and there as our fancy struck us, and stood quietly by the roadside gazing at the green meadows where clouds were wafting shadows, or on the shimmer of the sun doing tapdance on a lake, or the glistening of condensed mist on the top leaves of a tea plant. Driving on mountain roads is a breeze, and till lunchtime, we had our fill of it. Post lunch (just a maggi today, so no pics) was another drive, that I will talk about later.
Pykara Waterfalls (morning drive)
This was the only touristy place that we parked at and entered. Located between Gudalur and Ooty, this small waterfall is part of the Pykara river. TN Tourism has developed this property well. Walking down well-manicured lawns and well-maintained steps, standing at the viewing gallery, taking an electric buggy back to the road - the organisation left a favourable impression. And the waterfall? Well, you can see the pics.
Mudumalai/Bandipur Reserve Forest (afternoon drive)
We had not planned on a safari on this trip although the national parks were only a short distance away. Instead, we decided to drive through them (NH181 goes right through them to Mysore). It was a superb drive. Mudumalai is the TN part of the same tiger reserve that becomes Bandipur of Karnataka as soon as we cross the border (a bit like Masai Mara of Kenya and Serengeti of Tanzania). We drove right through Mudumalai and into a bit of Bandipur, before we turned around and came back to our hotel. Beautifully maintained road, the forest moderately dense so that we could see through it, zero littering (in fact, vehicles are not supposed to stop). We saw a couple of elephants, lots of deer and peacocks - no loss for not having gone on a safari. There are supposed to be tigers here, though I doubt they would ever come close to a national highway. All in all, a successful jaunt.
Tomorrow we travel to Waynad, which is a bit of Kerala popping up again on our route. Goodbye to Tamil Nadu once again.
Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray
