Enchanting hills of Nilgiris - Red Hills

Red Hills located 28 km from Ooty is great place to explore unexplored parts of Nilgiris. Red hill area has few amazing lakes called Emerald/Avalanche/Parson's Valley and Porthimund.

How we reached: We left K Gudi at 10.30am and drove through Masinagudi. Few stretches from Gundlupet to Bandipur had major pot holes. Masinagudi to Ooty is 34 km with ghat section. Driving on the ghat section (36 hair-pin-bends) can be tedious as the roads are narrow and there are vehicles constantly approach in the opposite direction. It was 1.30 pm when we reached Ooty. One has to pass through places called M Palada, Ithalar and Emerald village to reach red hills. Everything is written only in Tamil and it is very easy to get lost. We took about 2 hrs to reach red hills as we lost our way after Emerald. Getting to red hills can be tiresome and frustrating. Every fork that you encounter needs to be cross verified with the locals.

K. Gudi--->Chamarajnagar--->Gundlupet--->Bandipur--->Madhumalai--->Masinagudi--->Ooty--->Red Hills
Red Hills is around 310 km from Bangalore.

The ghat section(Ooty-Masinagudi Rd) which is shorter and better road to drive back to Bangalore is one way on weekends i.e. Vehicles are allowed to enter Ooty via this ghat. Outgoing vehicles have to take Gudalur road which is pathetic. Alternatively one can avoid Gudalur road by taking deviation to Kalhatti village and join the Ooty-Masinagudi Rd just before 11th hair-pin-bend. There are further no checkpoints beyond Ooty. On weekdays it is converted back to two ways.

Accommodation: Red Hill Nature Resort

This resort located at 7000ft above sea level in red hills surrounded by tea garden, offers a splendid view of Emerald Lake. Mr. Vijay and Mrs. Bhanu are the proud owners of this beautiful place. This colonial styled bungalow was purchased by Mr. Vijay's dad in 1937. The resort has 9 furnished rooms with red oxide floor and log fireplaces. There are two rooms adjacent to the main bungalow, three rooms within the bungalow and four rooms behind the bungalow. We choose a room that was outside the main bungalow facing the Emerald Lake. I was excited to see a beautiful garden with atleast 50 different variety of flowering plants. The walls in the living room are decorated with huge paintings and artifacts. Taxidermied Sambar deer on the walls captivate the visitors. Morning breakfast and lunch is served in the open backyard which has a well maintained lawn. Dinner is served inside the bungalow as temperature drastically drops in the night.

Tariff: 4000 per couple for one night. Includes breakfast/lunch and dinner. The resort is closed for three months (June/July/Aug) in monsoon each year.

Food: Home grown vegetables are used in cooking. The local tea plantation workers are trained in cooking and they make some great Italian/Chinese/Indian food.

Booking: Bookings can be made directly by calling Mr. Vijay at (0423)-2595754-55 or 09842259554.

Activities:

Organised Trek: Morning trek after breakfast is good way to burn few calories gained and to get better view of Emerald and Avalanche Lake. This peak of red hill is the 4th tallest peak in Nilgiris. The uphill trek has steep ascent in the beginning and can be exhaustive to the core. Blacky (Mr. Vijay's pet), a friendly dog was the only inspiration for me to reach the summit. At the summit one gets to see Emerald and Avalanche dam, few barren mountains of Mukurthi. Downhill trek was rather easy and we got to walk through woods and tea plantation.

Walk to Emerald Lake: There are some paths in the tea plantations that leads to Emerald Lake. It is better to take a resort guide as many tea plantations are fenced and there are more chances of taking wrong path.

Places Around:

Parson's Valley Lake (8 Km from Red Hills): Parson's valley lake surrounding red hill area has a small reservoir that supplies drinking water to near by villages and Ooty. The road that leads to this lake from Red Hills has hair-bin-bends and there is hardly any vehicle movement on the roads.

Mukurthi National Park (18 Km from Red Hill): The other guests at the resort were praising about Mukurthi National Park the previous night. So we skipped a visit to Porthimund Lake and headed towards the national park. Entry to this park was rather tough as we did not have prior permission from the forest department. We were told that it normally takes 3 days for an approval. The resort staff who accompanied us was helpful in getting us entry. He knew the forest guard and tipping him got us entry. The topography was breathtaking, never seen such huge barren mountains. Our guide would spot a Sambar deer few miles away from the road. It is easier to spot animals as the area is dry land with dispersed bushes. There were few trekking trails and rest houses being made inside the national park. On the way back, got a glimpse of a huge Sambar deer which accidentally came on road.

There are couple of more places that we could not go. Trout hatchery at Avalanche, hydroelectric power stations at Emerald and Avalanche, Upper Bhavani reservoir.

Magical snow mountains of Manali

A visit to Manali was long pending from our honeymoon days. It was all because of FlightRaja offering free return ticket and a tempting package tour of Himachal offered by 'Journey Partner' that fetched us a trip to Manali.

How we reached: We drove from Delhi at 11 am passing through several towns and villages of Haryana and Punjab. We stopped at Sukhdev Vaishno Dhaba at Murthal which is famous for veg dhaba's. The road through Panipat is narrower because of flyover construction and there is every possibility of traffic jam. It took about an hour to get out of Panipat. It was interesting to see bunch of shops lined on the highway selling locally made Phenoyl and Soaps at Rajapura (Punjab) village. The road from Rupnagar to Kiratpur is below average. A cement plant at Barmana is the reason for lot of lorries to ply on the ghat section from Swarghat. It was around 2.30 am when we reached Manali.

Delhi--->Panipat---->Karnal--->Ambala--->Rajapura--->Kiratpur--->Barmana--->Sundernagar--->Mandi--->Pandoh--->Kullu--->Manali

Accommodation @ Apple Country Resorts: Located at the highest point in Manali, Apple Country Resorts is a great place to unwind. It is a well equipped 4 star hotel with 24 furnished rooms and 15 suites. Also has a gym, discotheque, veg restaurant, Ayurvedic spa and a well maintained garden with swings. I have two things to complain about this hotel. The discotheque needed some immediate soundproofing and the rooms required carpet.

There are other good luxury hotels available in log-hut area like Banon Resorts (4*), Snow Valley Resorts (3*), Orchard Greens (4*), Manali Heights (3*) and Snowcrest Manor (4*).

Food: The package included morning breakfast and a dinner at the hotel. The food was nothing extra-ordinary. The food served was well-presented but my taste buds were more sensitive than ever before, so felt that it lacked any flavor, taste or texture. I fell in love with Pachranga achar though!


Places to Visit:

Hadimba Temple: Located inside Dhungari Van Vihar is the four-storied wooden temple dedicated to goddess Hadimba. There is a natural cave inside the temple which has a foot-print of goddess Hadimba. The temple is surrounded by many deodar trees. Must be bliss when it snows! You could borrow a Himachali outfits for 20 bucks and take a photo of yourself. Also if you like the idea of holding a rare pet for a minute, then borrow Angora Rabbits. Obviously you got to pay for it! Angora rabbits are bred for its long, soft fur which is used in making shawls.

Vashist Hot Sulphur Water Spring: Vashist a village 3 Kms away from Manali is famous for sulphur springs and a temple for sage Vashist. There are separate bathing complex for men and women inside the temple. It is believed that these medicinal springs can ward off aliments. Anyways I did not dare to dip even my feet inside the fuming tank. Not that it was hot but it seemed so dirty with whole lot of tourists flocking to the place and dipping their feet.

Manu Temple: This temple located in old Manali is believed to be the only temple for the sage Manu in India. Manali got its name from Manu and Alya meaning the abode of Rishi Manu. On the way to this temple, one gets to see the chalet styled homes and locals in their traditional outfits.

Van Vihar: This park is located in front of Tibetan market on the mall road. It offers some activities like boating and river crossing. The park is totally engulfed with tall deodar trees and is cooler and cozier.

Mall Road: The most happening place in Manali and the only shopping place around. One can shop for locally made fruit wines, jams, squashes. Try out pastries at German Bakery on mall road.

Around Manali:

Rohtang Pass ( 51 Kms from Manali ): This is the only reason why one should go to Manali. A mountain pass situated at 3978 meters connects Kullu valley with Spiti valley and is open only for 4 months (June - Sep) in a year. The road to Leh was accessible from May 12 this year. It is advisable to leave early in the morning to avoid traffic jams (by trucks) and to get a convenient parking space. It takes about 2 hours to reach from Manali. There are many shops on the way that rent out snow coats and boots for visitors. We were comfortable with our jackets and woolen gloves.
On the way we passed thru Nehru Kund, Kothi village that is supposed to offer some breathtaking views of snow clad mountains but it wasn’t breathtaking. We got to see frozen version of Rahala falls. Beas Kund looks amazingly beautiful from Rani Nallah. Marrhi village has some shops where you could stop to sip in hot tea. Rohtang offers whole lot of activities for visitors like Skiing, Snow bikes, Snow sledge chair, Sliding tubes. The base point of Rohtang was extremely crowded so we walked up towards 'Zero point' which offered breathtaking view of snow capped mountains. I remained awestruck by the magnificent array of snow-clad mountains of Himalayas.

There is also an option to Paraglide from Rani Nullah. The take-off point is really scary with sharp rocks lined up and few yards below the cliff is the road where constant traffic movement happens. My first attempt was a total disaster as I tripped off and rolled on the ground. However the second attempt was successful with good take-off and bad landing. It is a short flight of 90 seconds but it was truly amazing. They video the entire take-off and landing and burn it in a CD with extra cost of 150 bucks. I would not recommend this for beginners like me.


Naggar: Located at about 12 Kms from Manali is the beautiful village Naggar. The drive from Manali to Naggar is very scenic with Peach orchards on either side of the road. Naggar has a Roerich Art Gallery and Naggar Castle.
Roerich Art Gallery: Nicholas Roerich an artist/traveller from Russia purchased the Hall Estate from the King of Mandi in 1929. The Hall Estate now has a art gallery on the ground floor which possess paintings of the majestic himalayas and few portraits of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. There are few portraits of yesteryears heroine Devika Rani painted by Svetoslav Roerich(son of Nicholas). The first floor on Hall Estate has a house in which Svetoslav and Devika Rani stayed for few years. The balcony around the house on first floor is the only area accessible for visitors. However visitors can view the well furnished office, bedroom, living areas of the house through window on first floor. We went all the way up to Urusvati Himalayan Folk Art Museum but was closed for lunch. It is about 200 meters uphill from art gallery and there are benches placed beside the path for relaxing.
Entry Ticket: 10 per person

Naggar Castle: The castle built in 16th century by Raja Sidhi Singh offers a beautiful view of Kullu valley. The wood carvings inside the castle and the central courtyard were really amazing. This castle was later converted into a heritage hotel by HPTDC. The upper courtyard of castle has a beautiful Jagtipat temple. The balcony on the first floor is now used as restaurant. The service at the restaurant is awfully slow.
Entry Ticket: 10 per person

Solang Valley: Located at about 13 Kms from Manali is yet another destination which offers snow-clad mountains. There are lot of activities (Paragliding, Horse ride, Zorbing, Skiing (only in winter)) to keep yourself occupied while you are at Solang valley. We did not visit a Shiv temple which was located on top of a small mountain as every bone in my body was aching because of the royal fall that I had on previous day at Rohtang. Cable car options may start sometime this year to Shiv temple.

Manikaran ( 85 Kms from Manali): Manikaran, a place situated in Parvati Valley is famous for its hot springs, a temple and a gurudwara. The drive from Bhuntar to Manikaran is scenic. It is at this place where you get a 'Picture Perfect' shot with tall deodar trees on the bank of a Parvati river flowing by and a snow peaked mountain behind. There are lots of blind curve so a cautious driving is needed. The Gurudwara and the temple are located side by side and there is a hot spring bathing complex inside Gurudwara. Inside the Ram temple there are small pools of boiling hot springs where dal and rice gets cooked for langar. I even noticed few pilgrims dipping cloth pouches containing peas inside the fuming pool.

Kullu: Kullu located at about 45 Kms from Manali offers white water rafting, shawl shops and a beautiful temple of Vaishno Devi. We did not opt for white water rafting as there was hardly any water on Beas River. I would call it more of a boating and less of rafting. Vaishno Devi temple is 5 Kms from Kullu on Kullu-Manali highway. An idol of goddess Durga is enshrined in the naturally formed cave. Leather items (purse, wallets, belts), Hand bags, Camera, Cell Phones are not allowed inside the temple premises.