The road from bangalore to ooty pases through ramnagara, channapatna,



maddur, mandya, srirangapatna, mysore, najungad, gundelpet, bandipur,

mudumalai to ooty.

Bangalore to Mysore

Bangalore to mysore road is real good right from rajarajeshwari temple

arch and 4 lane trafic capable of doing 100 kmph and excess. Be careful

of sudden traffic diversions due to bridge and road painting works.

Also of pedestrians.

Take a break at 24 hour cafe coffee day (after channapatna - 70km from

bangalore) or kamat (after ramnagaram - 50km from bangalore). You may

try amaravathi before Mandya or Maddur Tiffanys. Other restaurants are

not worth their salt (or sugar)

After Channapatna you may want to stop at Dodda Malur Krishna temple, a

very old temple with a deity of lord baby krishna. Many people believe

that your prayers for a baby come true at this temple.

Srirangapatna has few spots of tourist interest like fort, river view,

nearby ranganathitu bird sanctuary.

If you dig pizzas, you can stop at pizza corner, mysore which is on the

way to ooty road.

Mysore to Ooty

Nanjungad to Gundelpet is straight and smooth road with no traffic.

Easy to maintain excess of 100 KMPH. Beware of sudden speed breakers

and bumpy bridges.

Nanjungad has a very old and famous shiva temple with lot of statues of

gods.

At gundelpet, take the road to ooty.

Gundelpet to Bandipur is very bad stretch of raod. Bandipur to

TamilNadu border is also bad stretch.

Drive slowly (30 to 40 kmph) as you have chance of seeing the animals

grazing on the road side during the evenings. If you see elephants on

the road side, stop at a distance and observe them carefully. No

honking or bright lights. (easiset way to irritate the elephants) By

their movements, it is easy to findout if they are just grazing or

trying to cross the road. If elephants are in group, no problems.

Beware of single elephant (especially tusker - male elephants).They

tend to easily get irritated as this is their mating season. Other

animals like deer, mongoose, peacocks are harmless. Dont feed the

monkeys as they tend to jump inside the car. Monkey scratches and bites

need anti rabies vaccine. Just before the TN-Kar border checkposts,

many people have seen tigers near the roads but I have been unlucky in

seeing a tiger so far.

From the TN border (police tend to leave off family cars - guys driven

vehicles are checked for liquor and other illegal stuff, there is a

toll gate on TN side), the roads are good but maintain just 30 to 40

kmph.

At the theppakadu junction, (mudumalai forest office) you have 2

choices to go to ooty. The right takes you to ooty through Gudalur,

naduvattam, Pykarra falls, seventh mile to ooty. The left takes you

through Masinagudi, kallahatty water falls to ooty. Both routes are

scenic and have great views. The gudalur road is easy to drive and

heavy vehicles prefer this road. The masinagudi road needs a power

steering as there are 35 hairpin bends in a 15 km stretch and the road

is very steep. Your vehicle needs to be in perfect condition to tackle

this road. Just after Masinagudi there is a point where a leopard

crosses the road.

What to do at wildlife sanctuary

Both at Bandipur and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, the forest department organises van

and jeep safari inside the forest to see wild animals. The timings are

Morning 6 to 9 AM and evening 4 to 6 PM. In Bandipur, Jeep safaris are

available. You need to book in advance dring season time as the rush is

heavy. The crowds mill around like a mall in bangalore.

Jungle Home - Gudalur - Ooty Route

Take the right turn at Theppakadu junction and follow the road upto the

edge of the forest.

A nice place to relax here would be Jungle Home, a cottage attached to

the forest. For details please check the website.

The section between Theppakadu and Thorapalli is crucial elephant

habitat zone and is very easy to sight the wild elephants on the road

side. Becareful about the wild tuskers which are always single and easy

to irritate.

The road goes to Gudalur, Naduvattam, ooty. On the way you can see

pykarra falls (not advisable to bathe), 7th mile (where many film

shootings happen - sing a duet with your beau) and proceed to ooty.

Stop at the approved view points only.

Park at the side of the road. Dont obstruct traffic.

Drive carefuly and sensibly.

Beware of  irresponsible drivers and buses

How to reach Jungle Home

At Theppakadu Junction take right, pass through the forest border, at

the RTO checkpost (Thorrapalli village) take left, (the small tar road

opposite hotel haridagiri), follow the tar road, after the BSNL cell

phone tower, you find the green gates of Jungle home (green building)

Route Map:

Bangalore - Mysore - Take ooty road

Mysore - Nanjungad - Gundelpet - Take Ooty road

Gundelpet - Bandipur Forest Office - Karnataka Tamilnadu Border -

Theppakadu (Mudumalai forest office) Junction

Balamurugan is a wildlife and nature lover visiting

Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in India; frequently with various experiences like

trekking, bird watching, fishing on each visit.