Hill Stations of the South: Ooty

Hill stations are the quintessential holiday destination for Indians. For those who do not know, a "hill station" is a small town nestled in the hills, where the climate is much cooler than in the plains. Most hill stations in India have a British Raj legacy. When the Brits came to India, they saw it as a land of immense opportunity, and wanted to rule over it. However, the heat & dust of the Indian summer would sometimes get a bit too much to bear for these gents, and they went about the length and breadth of the country looking for cooler places to rule from. One of these intrepid British explorers - a Sir John Sullivan by name - chanced upon a place in the Nilgiri mountains in South India. The place was known as Udhagamandalam, which obviously the British could not pronounce. So they decided to call it "Ootacamund", which we Indians found strange, so finally everyone settled for "Ooty".

29kms from Ooty.

Today, with the British sent back to their little island, Ooty (or Udhagamandalam as it has been re-re-named), remains a well-visited tourist spot in South India. The place has a nice cool climate, and still has, at least in some places, good pollution-free air.


Things to Do & See

Quite frankly, there’s little to see in Ooty. Most of the sightseeing can be done in a day. There’s the peak of "Doddabetta" which is the highest point in South India. It’s worth a visit, however, the place is generally swarming with people. The Botanical gardens is highlighted as another place to visit, but is no big deal really, and the Ooty lake... again, you dont miss much if you skip this.

View from Doddabetta.

The really nice places to see are a bit out of town, for e.g. the Pykara lake, which is about an hour’s drive away from the town. The route is scenic, but roads are usually quite bad. Then there’s Conoor, which is another smaller hill station just 18 kms off Ooty. Conoor also has some cliffs like Lamb’s rock & Dolphin’s Nose which may be worth a visit. The drive to Conoor also passes through some really nice tea plantations.

Tea Plantation in Conoor.

Pykara Lake.

And the best thing to do in Ooty is... sit back in a comfortable chair, enjoy the weather, sip your favorite drink & read a good book!







The Savoy Hotel
On my recent trip to Ooty, I stayed at the Savoy Hotel run by the Taj Gateway Hotels group. This place is worth mentioning, as I think it’s one of the oldest hotels in Ooty. The hotel started operations in 1841, and was later expanded in the 1920’s to 1960’s. The beams used in this place came from Tipu Sultan’s palace in Srirangapattanam after the Sultan was defeated in the Anglo-Mysore wars. 

Front Lawns of the Savoy Hotel.

Main cottage.

The hotel boasts of hosting King Edward VII in 1875. We stayed in a cottage room that was built in 1965. Although the place is old, it’s maintained quite well. It sounds cliched, but one gets to savour the old world charm without compromising modern comfort and luxury. Rooms are quite warm and comfortable.

Rooms.

There's even a fireplace!

As expected, the hotel looks like it just stepped out of the late nineteenth century British Raj period. There's dark wood paneling & flooring everywhere, especially in the dining room. Speaking of which, the dining room has a very old upright piano, manufactured by a Stuttgart company named "Rich Lipp & Sons". It still has a very sweet sound for such an old instrument.

Upright Piano.

Overall, it's a really nice place for a weekend break, especially if history interests you.