Wanderlust Tales - Road Trip to Ooty!

Ooty, a popular hill station finds itself in the heart of Nilgiri hills. It is deemed as the queen of hill stations.

Many film shootings have been done in the exotic locations of Ooty. To name a few - films like Roja, Guru, Sadma ,Dil se were shot here.

It is one of the exquisite locations that one must visit.

Ooty the land of hills, lakes, falls and wildlife sanctuaries. It is the one place where you must not forget to carry your cameras - the place is filled with panoramic views. WOW!

You would just crave to see more. The cloudy misty atmosphere, breezy weather, the lusty green valleys - there is no end to describe the beauty of this place.
It is indeed your true date with nature. :)

Places to see in Ooty:

• Pykara lake
• Pykara river
• Pykara falls
• Tea plantation
• Needle point
• Coonoor
• Kamaraj Dam
• Pine trees of Pykara
• Madumalai wildlife sanctuary
• Bandipur tiger reserve
• Shooting point

Oooty is located about 300kms from Bangalore.
There are two routes that you can take - one via Gudalur and the other is via Masinagudi.

While leaving from Bangalore we took off via Masinagudi. This road is a tricky one - it has around 36 hairpin bends. Only if you are an experienced driver and your car is in good condition, go via this road.
While returning we took the road via Gudalur - which is an easier road to drive on.

Take any routes but make sure that your car is well serviced, and please pay special check on the brakes. Do make sure to take breaks so as to not heat the engines and the brake system.

Drive extra carefully, because the beauty around is super scenic, but one moment off the wheels and God save you. So be extra CAUTIOUS!!
"Nazar hati, durghatna ghati!"

The best part of driving to Ooty, is that you actually, like actually - you cross the state borders. You literally step into the land of Tamil Naidu - where you will see big hoardings of the state label. Strange how just a board defines territories.

There are two wildlife sanctuaries that you would also cross - one is Bandipur which is in Karnataka, and the other one in Madumalai widlife sanctuary in Tamil Naidu.
The drive through the sanctuaries is serene.  You can spot few animals here and there. And the trees are in plentiful. Although it is said, in the night you can sight tigers as well.

Try not to step out of the your car for catching better glimpses. The roads are quite lonely and it is best not to try to explore the unexplored. :D

One thing you must note - you must not drive through Bandipur post 20:00.
Basically after dawn, they say it is not so safe to drive through. Anyway, they do not even allow cars to go through after this time. You can also spend the night at Bandipur, they have resorts and other special arrangements to spend the night there.

Few pictures from the trip:

As we entered the city

Bandipur tiger reserve:

We entered into the land of TamilNad.

At the border

Madhumalai tiger reserve:

The 36 hairpin bends you need to cross. Be wary!

Hair pin bends

Cheers to life!!

~Journey  of a thousand miles begins with a single step! :)

P.S.All the above photos have been clicked by me. :D

Kodak moments : The beauty of Magarpatta City - II

After staying here for more than 5 years, the beauty of this place still amazes me. :)

Here are few pictures from the onset of monsoon in our country and its wonder effect on Magarpatta!

 

You can find few more pictures in my previous post:

https://xylo742.blogspot.in/2015/05/camera-ready-beauty-of-magarapatta.html

Just picture-postcard!

 

 

Cheers to life!!

~Believe in yourself always!

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me.

Food tasting event : Picantos Mexican Grill, Seasons Mall - Pune

Really appreciate the initiative of Zomato to keep their reviewers motivated to write with zeal.

So this was a surprise lunch sent by Zomato on a Thursday from Picantos Mexican Grill.

Picantos Mexican Grill opened a year back in Pune. It has two outlets - one in Aundh and the other one in Seasons Mall, Magarpatta.

I was surprised to see the wide spread of food sent. Of course it was not possible for me to finish it on my own. It was a 5 course meal.

So the menu consisted of –

·         BBQ chicken bowl

·         Spicy chicken burrito

·         Cheesy chicken salad

·         Deconstructed nachos with beans, cheese sauce, sour cream, guacamole, jalapenos

·         Tres Leches cake

·         Ginger lemonade

Starting with the ginger lemonade – it had the ginger flavor quite in excess. It gave more of a bitter taste to the drink. The ginger flavor needed to be reduced considerably.

The BBQ chicken bowl was an absolute delight with rice, grilled chicken, beans, corn, Mexican sauces, jalapeños and cheese. I relished the dish. The combo was mouth wateringly good. The serving was more than sufficient for one person.

Coming to the deconstructed nachos - the nachos were crispy yet lacked the perfect taste – a tad bit dry. It failed to impress. The accompaniments with the nachos, specially the cheese sauce and guacamole were not up to the mark. The smoked and mild salsa were tangy and had distinct flavors!

I shared the spicy chicken burrito with my friends, and they said it was yummy. Albeit, not spicy -  had almost the same ingredients as the BBQ chicken bowl, plus minus the seasonings here and there. We perfected the the burrito by grilling it , and it enhanced the taste of the burrito.

The cheesy chicken salad - had generous portions of chicken with loads of cheese, Mexican sauces and some leafy veggies. A freshly made, tasty and I would want to believe a healthy salad. :)

The Tres Leches Cake - ahh, the smell of  vanilla won my heart – wow! And equally it had stunning flavors - ultra soft,rich and moist. It was the apt end to the 5 course meal.

Few pictures:

The surprise

BBQ chicken bowl

Deconstructed nachos with beans - cheese sauce , sour cream, guacamole, jalapeños

Deconstructed nachos with beans - cheese sauce,sour cream,guacamole,jalepenos 

Ginger lemonade

Spicy chicken burrito

Tres Leches cake

Tres Leches cake

Spicy chicken burrito

Cheesy chicken salad

The Zomato goodies

I liked the presentation of the dishes and specially would say commendable job on the packaging – loved it.

The entire meal was quite filling.

The lady(Uma if I am not wrong) who had come to deliver the package, was very friendly and sweet. Appreciate her efforts to make sure the package reached on time. The goodies bag also had a fridge magnet by Picantos!

#ZomatoSurprise

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me.