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Golden Triangle (Ooty -> Mysore - > Bangalore)

The road route from Ooty to Mysore is an amazing drive and scenic. There are two routes from Ooty

Routes

1. Ooty - Kalhatti - Masinagudi - Theppakadu - Bandipur - Gundalpet - Nanjangud - Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore

2. Ooty - Pykara - Naduvattam - Gudalur - Theppakadu - Bandipur - Gundalpet - Nanjangud - Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore.

Difference

The difference essentially between the two is the Ooty to Bandipur section.




















The Kalhatti route (1) is shorter by almost 35 KMS, but is a very steep and winding road with with 36 hairpin bends in a stretch of about 45 KMS.

The Kalhatti route takes you through Vegetable farms and then enters into thick jungle stretches. There is a valley view point along the way, where you can spot some wildlife if you are lucky but do carry a pair of Binoculars.

The Gudalur route is a scenic stretch winding through needle view point, Pykara lake, tea plantations and some eucalyptus groves. An area called Naduvattam on this road is a perrenial misty stretch and it is a great experience driving through.

Both these routes meet up at Theppakadu in the Mudumalia wildlife sanctuary and then it is a thick jungle stretch all the way past Bandipur. There's plently of wildlife in the form of Deer, Bison, Elephants, Langurs etc right by the roads and is a great drive.

The Mysore to Bangalore road is a regular highway passing through towns of Srirangapatna, Mandya etc. The thrill is essentially in the jungle and ghat stretch.

A few tips:
- Make sure your spare tyres are in good condition (if you are not on one of the newer self sealing ones)and your tools for tyre change are in order.

- Keep your wipers and fog lamps in good shape for you may need them in this season

- Be careful of animals on the roads and if you do encounter any of those, just pull up and let them pass. Don't honk or try to rush them and you will be OK

Mesmerising glow

Thats Valankulam for you!!!! Well thought UK bypass. Flyover railway crossing on Sungam - UK(Ukkadam) bypass Road. No need to travel through Townhall hectic traffic to reach destinations like junctions for Palghat/Pollachi, Eachanari. This is a time saver taking just 5-10 min to reach those junction.

Bored of Coimbatore.......Advantages: Go Spidey Go!!!!
1) Just like a Cauvery River Bridge connecting srirangam temple in Trichy, this may become a time passing hangout for evening walkers, chatters, bird watchers. No crow after 7 pm though.Joggers kindly excuse, you need to run for life, if lorries, scorpio, sumo travel via this in low speed of 80kmph.

2) With wonderful view of green patches round the valankulam, those who are bored of Coimbatore, but likes to travel a lot on weekends, can take their vehicle and start from Gandhipuram, then thru flyover to Ukkadam, take right into townhall, comeback to Gandhipuram. And another round, until fuel gets over :)

3) Pleasant Stay at Police Station guaranteed, when anywhere in the city you are asked for papers by policemen and you surrender your "Hindu Newspapers". ["Be Careful"..I am telling to myself]

Shanghai to Beijing? Train is Better than Air

Courtesy: The following travel experience is published at
http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20081027_shanghai_to_beijing_train_is_better_than_air_.htm

kTonight, I am going to Beijing, and will be back on Wednesday night. Previously, my trip was all via flights. After I tried train the last time, I decided to switch all my trip to Beijing to train in the future. Why?

Time Efficiency

Although train takes much longer than flight - 12 hours vs 2 hours, the biggest advantage of train is, it wasted your time at night, especially deep night, instead of train.

Most fast trains between Shanghai and Beijing travel between something like 19:44 PM at night, and arrive at the other city at around 7:00 AM the other day. For busy business persons, it is ideal.

By Air

I, for example, have to plan for a night or morning to take flight. My typical schedule by air looks like:

1. Flight from PVG to PEK at 9:00 AM, arrives at 12:00 PM. Have a meeting in the afternoon, and night, and fly back the next afternoon at 7:00 PM, and arrive at around 10:00 PM (tired day).
- or -
2. Flight from PVG to PEK at 7:00 PM, arrives at late night (tired and taking taxi to hotel), spend the night at hotel and have meeting the other day.

For a 1 hour meeting in Beijing, typically you need to take two day off from work.

By Train

For train, it is different. My new schedule is:

1. Work full day on Monday, and have my last meeting at 6:00 PM. I even have dinner with others before I go to train station at 7:00 PM
2. Get on train before 7:44 PM, and sleep on the train - maybe talk a little bit on the train with travel partnres.
3. Wake up in the morning at 7:00 AM, and take metro to where my first meeting is.
4. If I don't have other things, I can travel back at around 7:00 PM in Beijing, and arrive in Shanghai the third day morning.
5. I can directly come to work on Wed morning (this trip has more things to do, so I stay two days, and get back to Shanghai on Thursday).

In that typical trip, it seems there is no travel cost - if you count in terms of work hours. It is just like three continous working day in the same city.

Besides that, you saved all your hotel cost.

I will try my first travel like this and report back about how well it works.

Train Travel In China

Take a step closer to the information......


















You can get an idea by visiting the website of The Man In Seat Sixty-One ( http://www.seat61.com/China.htm ).

Beijing Travel Guide And Tour Packages

You can please visit..
Beijing Travel Guide And Beijing Tour Packages

Extreme Survival Quiz : Man Vs Wild

You set out for a leisurely stroll which turns out not to be a walk in the park. Can you survive mud bogs, raging waterfalls, scorching heat ... and more? Begin here, your peformance level determines your scope of survival.....

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/manvswild/quiz/extreme-survival/extreme-survival.html

Hanging Out!

Here's some advice...
If you're about to get arrested by the police in Kazakhstan, climb the nearest pole! The police will fall over themselves with laughter and invite you back to their homes for some camel's milk...
If you get shot you only have yourself to blame...