My Travel

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I place which i recomend for everyone to visit is Marrakech in Morocco.

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The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary forest is part of the larger Nilgiri Biosphere in the Western Gahts and is proposed be declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is 321 sq km in area and 17 km before Gudallur on the Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundulpet - Bandipur - Mudumalai - Gudallur - Ooty Highway. After Bandipur, you enter Tamilnadu state. A huge gateway with "Thank You. Visit Again" board by Karnataka state bids you goodbye. Across the river is Tamilnadu . At both side of the border are check posts manned by guards. They stop the vehicle and checking.

Masinagudi hill station is famous for its resorts and Home stays and is 7 km away from Theppakadau junction. The Masinagudi road crosses Moyar river bridge near Mudumalai Sanctuary. The nearby Theppakadu elephant training camp worth a visit. The camp has a 3 month old baby elephant. There is bus on this route to Moyar going via Masinagudi.



Baby elephant video

From Masinagudi, a 29 km steep route with 36 hair pin curved road takes one to Ooty. There is regular bus service on this route (Rs 10, 2 hour). After 14 km, the hairpin curves starts and the route is via 122 m high Kalhatty waterfalls (13 km before Ooty). The hairpin road joins the Main road (Gundulpet-Gudallur-Ooty road/NH 67) 7 km before Ooty. This road entry is closed at 5 pm due to safety reasons.

Mudumalai is famous for preserving wild creatures, especially elephants. The summit of Kargudi Hill offers an outstanding panoramic view of the sanctuary, including the Moyar Gorge.

Animals : Wild dog, Asian Elephant, Gaur (Indian Bison), Tiger, Leopard, Striped Hyena, Leopard-cat, Rusty Spotted Cat, moving in large hordes is a common site in the reserve. Also Small Indian Civet, Striped-necked Mongoose, Ruddy Mongoose, Sloth Bear, Indian Giant Squirrel, Sainbar, Spotted Deer (Chital), Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Chowsingha (Four-horned Antelope), Indian Pangolin etc are also seen.

Bird life : Grey Jungle fowl, Red Spurfowl, Grey Fraticolin, Painted Spurfowl, Painted Bush Quail, White-bellied Woodpecker, Lesser Yellownape, Greater Fiameback, Streak-throated Woodpecker, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Emerald Dove, Green Imperial Pigeon, Pompadour Green Pigeon, Grey-bellied Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Alpine Swift, BLick-hooded Oriole, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Grey-headed Bulbul, Forest Wagtail, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Loten`s Sunbird etc. Birds` raptors like Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Jerdon`s Baza, Bonelli`s Eagle. Crested Goshawk, Besra, Mottled Wood Owl, Brown Hawk Owl are common inhabitants.

Best Season : Mid January to mid April.
Safari Timings : Bus and jeep operates jungle safari trips with tourists in the morning and evening.
How To Reach : There is regular bus on this forest route (Mysore - Ooty Highway).

Distance Chart :

Famous Nanjangud temple is 30 km from Mysore ( 1 km deviation from high way). Gundulpet is further 30 km away (NH 212). Gundulpet - Bandipur National Park (NH 67) : 20 km. NH 67 goes from Ooty via Coimbatore-Trichy-Tanjavur-Nagapattinam.

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The park is famous for elephants, tigers, crocodiles and gaurs. The park has around 70 tigers and more than 3000 Asian elephants. Other animals found are dholes, leopards, sloth bears, wild boar, osprey, mouse deer, cheetals, antelope, hyenas and barking deer. Teak is the main tree.



Jungle Safari >> Bandipur Deers video >> Langurs

Bird life : Green pigeon, honey buzzard, hornbill, brown hawk owl, Nilgiri flycatcher, little spider hunter, plain flowerpecker, Malabar trogon, grey headed fish eagle, red headed vulture etc.

Reptiles : King cobra, cobra, water snake, python, adder, frog, tree frog, lizard, chameleon, tree frog, tortoise etc.

Best Season : November to March

Safari Timing : 6 to 8 am and 3 to 5 pm. Jeeps and mini buses operates Safari trips to forest.

How to Reach : The nearest rail head is Mysore/Ooty/Kozhikode. The sanctuary is 20 km from Gundulpet on the Mysore - Ooty road.

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The 150 acre Brindavan Garden is 15 km from Mysore. The garden is situated across the river Cauvery below the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam in Mandya District of Karnataka. The garden was constructed during the period of Krishnaraja
Wodeyar`.

The Brindavan garden is beautifully decorated with huge lawns, rows of flowers arranged in diverse kaleidoscopic manner and the fountains encircling a small beautiful lake. The main charm of Brindavan Garden is the `Dancing fountain`, where fountains dance on the tunes of music and the color pattern is changed according to the music. The musical fountains show magnificent harmony of water, colors and music.



Timing : 7 am to 8 pm daily. Lighting : 7 pm to 8.45 pm

Garden video >> Pelican

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Ooty (2286 m) is a popular hill station in Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, India. Ooty is the district headquarters of the Nilgiri district. The place name Udhagamandalam was changed durung the British rule to Ootacamund and later shortened to Ooty. Udhagamandalam is ahotened in Tamil to Udhagai. The original inhabitants of the area were Toda tribals. Toda huts can be found at Kandal Mund near Old Ooty and high areas of Botanical garden.



Mr John Sullivan, the then Governor of Coimbatore, developed the town. The rack railway and the toy train were oprational since 1908. The Mettupalayam - Ooty toy train route (Nilgiri Mountain Railway, steam locomotive) is a UNESCO World heritage Site.

Tea is cultivated in Coonoor and Kotagiri. In Ooty, homemade chocolates are popular.

Government Botanical Garden video

In this 1847 AD park, a flower show is held in every May. The garden has a 20-million-year-old fossilized tree. The park has rare trees (like the cork tree, the paper bark tree, and the monkey puzzle tree), flowering bushes and plants, ferns and orchids.



Ooty lake video

This artificial lake built by John Sullivan is 2.5 km long located near the bus stand. Boating is the major tourist attraction.



Daodabetta (2,623 m) is the highest peak in Ooty (10 km) and has road access.

Distance Chart : Ooty has frequent bus connections to nearby main cities. Nearest Rail head (broad gauge) is Coimbatore. Nearest Airport is at Coimbatore.

Ooty is 18 km from Coonoor, 78 km from Coimbatore, 155 km from Mysore (via Gudalur), 187 km from Calicut, 290 km from Bangalore.

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Mysore Dasara, 2010

The 400th Dussehra was celebrated from 8 to 17th October, 2010 at Myosre, Karnataka. Dasara literally means tenth day. The Dasara procession starts from the Mysore palace at around 4 pm and the procession takes nearly 2 hour to pass Banni Mantap point. At last comes idol of goddess Chamundi in a golden howdah on caparisoned elephant. Palace will be illuminated during the festival. Exhibition at the Doddakere grounds is a major crowd puller.



Too many people walking in the barricade area has created interruption in the video.

Video >> Video 1 >> Video 2 >> Video 3 >> Video 4 >> Video 5

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This popular walkway in Kochi city starts from high Court junction to Rajendra Maidan. One can enjoy the breeze, fine views of Sea mouth, Vembanad lake and the harbour ships. GCDA Shopping Complex is a major shopping arcade, Rainbow bridge, boat jetty and Taj Residency Hotel are nearby.

Photo Gallery >> Video

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Soochipara falls is 22 km from Kalpetta via Meppadi in Wayanad, Kerala. KSRTC buses ply to the falls. The falls is further 2 km by walk.

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Kozhikode (Calicut) was the capital of the powerful Zomorins. It is also famous for the Urus - large wooden boats crafted manually with a variety of timber. The taste of Kozhikoden Halwa is unforgettable. Vasco de Gama landed at Kappad beach (16 km from Kozhikode) in 1498 and become successful in finding a route from Europe.

Kakkayam has plenty of forest and a nice place to spot wildlife, birds, butterflies. Kakkayam offers excellent rock climbing and trekking opportunities. The Kakkayam dam is in Koyilandy taluk and in Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary. Best season is from April to November.





Map

The Kakkayam is 50 km from Kozhikode and the route is via Balussery/Thamarassery to Estate mukku and then to Thalayadu. Kuttiyady power station at Kakkayam. The KSEB hydro-electric power station is functional and supplies power. The dam is fed with water from Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad. Good road to the dam site / Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary. Shared jeep taxis run on this 15 km hill route.

Urakkuzhi waterfalls is near the dam accessible by a nice 3 km trek.

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Padmanabhapuram palace, Tamil Nadu

The palace is located within a fort having 4 km perimeter. The palace is adminstered by Kerala Archelogical Department. The palace was constructed by Iravipillai Iravivarma Kulasekhara Perumal, the ruler of Travancore in around 1601 AD.

The dark palace floor has a fine perfect finish. It is made of burnt coconut shells, egg white and so on.

The palace complex consists of Mantrasala (King's Council Chamber), Thai Kottaram (oldest building dating 1550 AD), Nataksala (Hall of Performance. There is a wooden enclosure, with peepholes, where the women of the royal household used to sit and watch the performance.), A four-storeyed building at the centre of the Palace complex (Uppirikka maliga having the a cot made of 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunks) and Thekee Kottaram (the Southern Palace, now serves as a museum).

The interseting features of the palace are Clock Tower (300 year old clock), bronze hanging Lamp (Thooku vilakku), wood carving in ceiling, a big dining hall to accommodate 1000 guests, a secret escape passage (now blocked), ponds, temples, a collection of old Chinese jars, Single Wood Pillar made of Jackfruit Tree, a variety of weapons (swords and daggers), Queen's dressing room having large polished metal mirrors and handcraft iron roped swings, polished granite coat for cooling effect, a cot made of 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunks, toilets, kitchen utensils, old paintings and so on.

Ambari Mukhappu - Built for King to view chariot races.The structure built in the shape of Ambari, the seat put on the elephant back for safaris.







How To Reach :

The Kerala style palace is located 3 km from Thuckalay, and is 63 km from Thiruvananthapuram on the Nagarcoil road. Also 20 km from Nagarcoil, the nearest railhead.

Timings :

8.30 am to 4.30 pm except Mondays and other Government Holidys.

Ticket rate :

Entry : Rs 25 , Still camera : Rs 25.