People today want to be a part of something great, want to build connections with one & all. Learn new cultures, connect with fresh minds, expand limitlessly their knowledge of the planet & life as a whole. No more do we restrain ourselves with religious stigma or blind beliefs. Today we are free to travel to the deepest desires of our heart in the remotest of locations on this planet to seek something which is truly personal to each one of us.
One such location which is a hidden gem amongst the expansive landscapes of the Nilgiri Hills (The Blue Mountains) in Tamil Nadu is Coonoor. Inaccessible directly by flight, a train from Coimbatore or a road trip is what will take you there. This picturesque hive of villages is gifted with an abundance of the nature’s best & home to the Nilgiri Tea gardens, a common sight that will steal your soul along the ride up!
Being just a 30 minute detour from the populated Ooty hill-station, Coonoor offers you the richness of peace & calm along with a plethora of history, adventure & exotic bird watching.
But what truly makes this place special is that it is one of the 6 entrances to the Nilgiri’s Hills, which was founded in 1819 by John Sullivan, the collector of Coimbatore. On his first journey Sullivan travelled miles through the hills with his cavalry & soldiers through the steep cliffs & dense forests, only to realise that he was in love with the hills. Setting up a 2 story home on a 5 acre land, Sullivan spent his time cultivating English vegetables like beetroot, cabbage & also grew english tea.
If you wish to relive this experience, The Nilgiri Documentation Centre, currently present in the Sullivan Memorial will take you on a thrilling flashback adventure of his entire journey through the historical paths.
If botany is something that interests you, the Sim’s park is a garden built in Japanese style that boasts over a 1000 species of plants & is a popular destination for tourists too. In the month of January you can also be a part of the Tea & Tourism festival, which as the names suggests is a festival dedicated to the tea plantation groups & the tourists around.
With majority of it’s inhabitants being tea planters, it is one of the most important festivals of the year for them! A mix of ethnic cultures live here, but their simplicity & common love for tea & nature is what astonishes most!
With technology redefining the way we can travel today, a drive to scarcely explored areas is now becoming a trend amongst adventure seekers. With GPS enabled on-the-go vehicles, a road-trip planned at the last minute can be organised at the drop of your hat. With cars ranging from Hatchbacks to SUV’s you can now invest your time in planning your trip than worrying about how to get there. That’s what our modern culture is all about, taking all the positives in, finding yourself amidst chaos while not worrying how to make it happen, just zooming right to your journey!