I’m sure all frequent travellers have a guidebook of choice. Ours is the Lonely Planet series. When we’re planning a new trip, one of the first things I do is go and buy the Lonely Planet guidebook for the area (I have to have the paper version – I’ve tried, and failed, to get along with e-versions!). I then pore over it, annotate it, and imagine being in the places described within its pages. I did all of this for our recent trip to India and picked out the places of interest we wanted to see in each town or city we were to visit.
Whilst we were in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, we definitely wanted to visit the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. This desire was based purely on the write-up it had got in Lonely Planet. So, on arrival at our hotel in Ooty, we asked about the best way to visit the reserve, given that it’s a good distance out of town. We were persuaded that it would be best to go with their favoured car and driver and that we should take the whole-day option which included visits to several other places of interest. Back in our room, after committing to this, I checked in our guidebook for information about the other places on the itinerary. None of them were featured in Lonely Planet. I did wonder why they weren’t mentioned, but decided, on this occasion, to go with the local advice.
The next morning, our driver (who introduced himself as ‘John’, but who turned out not to understand much English) picked us up at 9am and took us directly to Mudumalai. To get there, we drove along a 36-hairpin bend road with spectacular views. It really was quite something!
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve covers 321 square kilometres and has around 50 tigers, giving it the highest tiger density in India, not that we expected to see any of these elusive creatures and we didn’t, so we weren’t disappointed! On arrival at the reserve, we transferred to a jeep at a cost of an extra 1300 rupees, as we were told that private cars weren’t allowed to drive through. We later saw plenty, as well as several service buses! We also realised the ‘John’ took a cut of the 1300, so made a mental note not to tip him at the end of the day!
We were in Mudumalai at the height of the dry season, so the parched scrub provided perfect camouflage for the animals. It also meant that there were few animals near the roads we were allowed to drive on. We did, however, see plenty of deer, monkeys and elephants, and got some good shots of them, particularly one lone bull elephant who was tearing branches off a tree to eat. He was surrounded by deer who seemed oblivious to the noise he was making, but who scarpered at the sound of a car approaching! We were also lucky to see a mother elephant with her baby, although it was difficult to get photos as the baby kept hiding behind its mum!
We thoroughly enjoyed our 75-minute drive through the reserve (it should’ve been 90, but who’s counting?!) and would certainly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. When we exited the reserve and got back into John’s taxi, we asked if we could go somewhere for lunch. John suggested we wait until we returned to Ooty at around 2pm, but, having missed breakfast, we were hungry, so asked to stop sooner. John reluctantly agreed and took us to a very nice restaurant where we ate overlooking a garden which was overrun with deer and monkeys!
After lunch, we drove back along the hairpin road to Ooty, then out again on a different road to a pine forest. We stopped at something called a ‘shooting spot’, which turned out to be a viewpoint. The idea was that we walk down a long steep slope between lots of pine trees, take a photo of a lake, and then climb all the way up again! We declined which kind of scuppered John’s plans when we returned to the car sooner than expected. He made us understand that he had to take his grandfather to hospital, so his brother was coming to drive us on the rest of the tour. This explained John’s reluctance to let us stop for lunch earlier – he had clearly already made arrangements to meet his brother in Ooty! So, we had to wait for the changeover of vehicles and drivers. When John’s brother finally arrived, John told us where we still had to go as his brother had no English at all.
We set off at a rather less sedate pace than in the earlier part of the day. John’s brother drove like a lunatic!! I’m only glad he hadn’t been the driver on the hairpin road!
Our next stop was at a dam. We took a few photos, despite the fact that it wasn’t that picturesque, but declined all offers to have a donkey ride, to buy assorted tat, or to have our photos taken with a very old, and clearly very sick, horse!
We then went to another ‘shooting spot’. We played the game this time and climbed to the top of a hill to admire the view, which turned out to be not a patch on the view from the road earlier in the day.
Our next port of call was Pykara Lake where we were expected to take a 20-minute boat ride around the lake, which we could see in its entirety from the shore. We weren’t going to do it at 750 rupees a throw, but when 2 other couples chipped in and the cost came down to 250, we decided to do it. It wasn’t particularly exciting!
Our final stop of the day was at Pykara Falls. From where John’s brother dropped us off, it was a walk of 2km or so to the ticket office. When we got there, a notice said that the falls were dry – there was no water! We decided not to go any further. Even if the entrance fee was only 5 rupees each, what’s the point of a waterfall with no water?!
We then headed back to Ooty with our driver clearly on the phone to John. We were obviously too early, so he slowed to a crawl and tried to get us to stop – at a church, for a coffee, and to visit a chocolate shop! We declined all these offers and asked to be taken back to our hotel. Eventually, John caught up with us, so we swapped drivers and he took us back. At the hotel, he was very disappointed that we only gave him the flat rate of 2,500 rupees for the day!
When we reflected on the day, we should have just visited the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, had lunch, and gone back to Ooty. The rest of the day was a waste of time and money. Lesson learned – if it’s not in Lonely Planet, it’s not worth visiting!
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