A Visit to the Scenic Hill Station in Utakamand, India

As I have traveled a lot in India during my stay there for around 45 years, I am quiet familiar with the tourist spots of India. India is a country full of hill stations in all its directions. Utakamand is one such most beautiful hill stations of South India. This hill station is popularly known as Uti. It is situated in the Nilgiri Mountains range at a height of around 8000 feet from the mean sea level. The tourists from all over the world visit this scenic hill station to enjoy fresh, pure, and cool air of Utakamand. The weather remains very cool and comfortable all through the year here. However, the winter months are very cold and the temperature goes as down as 0 degrees C. Though, there is normally no snow fall here even in peak winter.

Utakamand is well connected by the train, bus, and air. You have to get down at Coimbtore railway station that comes on Mumbai-Chennai line. Utakamand is around 70 miles away from this railway station. You can also catch the State Transport buses from Bangalore or Mysore and reach Utakamand directly or up to the station Mettupayalam. The most beautiful toy train starts its journey for Utakamand from this station. The toy train takes around 4 hours to reach to Utakamand passing through the most beautiful and scenic areas of the Nilgiri Mountain range. This ride of the toy train must not be missed at any cost while visiting Utakamand. The speed of this toy train is so slow that one can get in or get out of the train while the train is in motion. It would be advisable to book the toy train tickets, well in advance as there is a very heavy rush at times during the peak season of summer. There are many spots of tourist's interest at Utakamand. The most vital place of all is the famous Botanical garden. This garden is situated in a vast area of around 12 square miles. Almost all types of seasonal flowers can be seen here along with many varieties of the trees. It would be proper to spend the whole day here from morning to evening. There is a lavish Garden restaurant here that can serve the tasty South Indian lunch at the rates of Rs.80 ($2) per person. The garden remains open from 9 am to 9 pm every day and the entrée is free inside the garden. There is also a large Lake, known as Udak Mangalam here at Utakamand. The Lake is in rectangle shape and there is a great facility of boating inside this Lake through the boating club. Many famous Hindi Bolywood films are shoot at this Lake. There is a lovely garden at the shore of this Lake to sit back and relax. The best time for boating in the Lake is during afternoon hours. At this time, the visibility is very clear and the tourists can see the beautiful Nilgiri Mountains range in front of them.

The sloping tea gardens on the Nilgiri Mountains slopes are the next place to be visited. These tea gardens look like lush green layer put on the ground. The next spot is the Tiger Rock that is situated at around 3 miles away from the city of Utakamand. The large rock is forming the shape of standing tiger in the middle of the Nilgiri Mountains. The tourists can visit city of Kunnur While visiting Utakamand. Kunnur is located around 21 miles away from city of Uti. Kunnur is the small, beautiful town that has all the qualities of a good hill station. It has started gaining importance recently as Uti is slowly converting in to a busy industrial city instead of the scenic hill station. There is a small and beautiful market at Uti, passing through the main city. The best items to buy from here are the Nilgiri oil, flavored tea bags, and the wooden handicrafts. You may stay here at Uti for around 4 to 5 days to cover all the scenic spots of this hill station.

There are many hotels of all types and categories available for the stay of tourists. Some of them are Hotel Woodlands, Hotel Dasprakash, Hotel Savoy, and hotel Hill Crest. I have found Hotel Woodlands the best of all considering the facilities it offers and their rates. The hotel charges around Rs.1600 ($40) per day for a nice double room, with all meals excluded. However, the attached restaurants can serve you with the decent vegetarian food delicacies, mainly of South Indian style. The hotel has nicely decorated rooms with all the three star amenities.

I would strongly suggest all my Indian as well as USA friends to surely to visit this most scenic hill station of India at least once in their life.