Coonoor – the Poor cousin of famous Ooty

Tourists  who visits Ooty only gives a cursive look at Coonoor. But Coonoor is not be covered in an hours time. You need at least 2-3 days to enjoy it fully. Coonoor is located in Nilgiri hills

Coonoor is located approx. 17 km from Ooty. In fact when you travel to Ooty from Coimbatore – Mettupalayam you hve to drive through Coonoor to reach Ooty. Coonoor should be preferred over Ooty because of it less crowd and moderate temperature. In winter Ooty almost touch 0 Centigrade temperature.

The beauty of Coonoor starts well before you reach Coonoor. On your way you will observe thick plantations. Two big farms namely Kallar & Burliar Farms are located in this area. The road itself is covered with the canopy of the tall trees. Coonoor has enough accommodation facilities including a Taj Retreat. As you settle down you may prefer to take a walk on this little village and if you are observant enough you may spot the original inhabitants of the Nilgiris the Thodas.

The most famous landmarks of Coonoor is Sims park. It is small in area but well maintained by the management.  Dolphin nose is another point you will not like to miss. On clear day you will get good view of the plains as well as a water falls on the far away mountain. Lambs rock is another good place to have a panoramic view of the valley.  In olden days wild labs roamed this area so British gave the name Lambs rock to this point. Lady Canning seat is another good point.

There is a local market near the Bus stand. Here you can bargain and buy tea, cardamom and other spicy items. But check properly before buying any items.

There are few good restaurants available. Laxmi vilas is one of them. Another beautyu of Coonoor is it is well connected to the following tourist points by bus service.

Ooty

Avalanche

Kotagiri

So when you plan to visit Ooty add 2 more days in your schedule and stay at Coonoor. You will love it.

Kothaiyaru – a green paradise amidst enchanting hills

If you happen to stay or visit Nagarcoil, try to visit this place. It is located on the foot of the Western Ghats and is an ideal place for natural lovers and picnickers and hikers. There is narrow road connecting Nagarcoil to this place. On the way to this place you may observe a lot of Rubber trees and other plantations.  

 When you travel in the morning you can see the locals extracting natural rubbers from the trees. They make an incision on the lower trunk of the trees and put pipe to guide the oozing rubber. Below this pipe they put pot and leave it for a day or two.  Then they sell this to traders. This activity plays on important economic role in this area.  

If you travel by public buses in the morning you will also observe another interesting phenomenon. Fisherwomen with their fresh catch board the bus from Nagarcoil and on their way up they make small parcels of the fishes and keep them handy. While the buss crosses the each plantation they throw the parcel out to their regular customers who collect them even while the bus is moving slowly on the ghat road.

 Once you reach Kothayaru you can immediately start exploring the place. There is a hydropower station and a dam on the upper side of this place. But entry is restricted. The overflowed water from this dam runs through dense jungle and on the way it makes a lot of minor falls and deep ponds. So be careful if you decide to take a bath. If you get deeper in to this area you will observe a different flora which is unique to this place. Though you get food at this area it will be better if you carry your own food and water. Some small eateries here offer you excellent fried fish.

 You should leave well before dusk since daylight fade swiftly since this area is completely surrounded by hills.

 If you plan this trip carefully you can also visit near by Pachiparai dam and other places.

 

Pilavakkal Dam

Pilavakkal Dam is situated on the foot hills of Western Ghats in Virudhunagar District of Tamilnadu. Traveling to the location itself is exciting because of its unique location and the surrounding green paddy fields.

 Watrap is the near by town. The name Watrap is derived from the Tamil word Watiiyera irruppu which means “a place where the level of ground water never goes down”. The place suits this name because the whole area gets good rain from Southwest & Northeast monsoons. So it is only natural that a dam lies there.

 I would suggest you to stop at many places on the way and       take a few minutes to enjoy the surrounding greenery and serenity. Paddy fields with little hillock provide us with many breathtaking views.

  Another unique point of this dam is its natural settings. It is surrounded by hills on 3 directions and a man made wall on one direction.  A park is built along the slopes of a hill.  The park gradually extends into wild tress and shrubs. Here picnickers usually cook their foods. If you are one of them please remember to put of the fire after cooking els it may spread as forest fire.

 As activities you can go for boating or take a stroll on the hills and observe nature. But take care as to not go deep into the forest. The forest boasts of Bisons, deers and many species of snakes.

 Pilavakkal is reachable from Madurai  &  Srivilliputtur highroad. You should take a diversion near Krishnan Koil a place famous for Engineering colleges and deemed University. If you prefer to travel by public bus then check the bus timings at Watrap or at Srivilliputtur