Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Heritage ( Botanical ) Garden - Ooty

Heritage garden was the first place we visited in Ooty. You might think you have seen many like this before but it has it's own natural touch. The huge Eucalyptus trees with their heavy trunks , the fossil tree trunk, the Italian garden are some of the things you wouldn't find everywhere. The flora and fauna there are exquisite and it's worth every penny you pay to visit Ooty.



The garden is part of the bio-reserve. Did you guys know that Nilgiris is a bio-reserve. Now I didn't know this until I went there. What a dumb idiot I am. You might not take more than an hour in the garden if you are not too much into gardening and related stuff.


Beware of the monkeys in the garden. We also bought some oils and spices in the garden which was being sold in a van. We were told by the lady in the garden that it was a Govt. van. Also the oils you find outside the garden might be a little costly and not as pure as the ones you find inside the garden.


On our way to the garden, there was a Tibetan market from where we bought sweaters, woollen gloves and half caps. There is a famous shop in Ooty named Mohan's which would be your one stop shop for everything including antiques but the Tibetan market is a better bet for warm clothing. These Tibetan people have been there since 1930 as told by the lady from whom we bought the warm clothes.



Coming to the garden, I felt it wasn't being treated the way it should have been at some places, like the pond which had lotus leaves and some plastic bottles thrown in. Did you guys know that the Nilgiris is a plastic free place? I didn't know that too until I got there. Anyways, when I saw the pond, my heart was broken.


This fossil tree trunk seen in the above picture is 20 million years old and it was carried by rivers and deposited in the rocks and the outer woody covering was replaced with silica to preserve the tree trunk. Isn't it interesting? The wide varieties of trees and flowers found here are itself very interesting that is what makes the garden a worthy visit.
All in all a must visit place for all the nature lovers.
Till the next post, take care and happy blogging !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R

2 comments:

  1. oh so nice!! I havent been to Ooty.. but would love to check this out!

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  2. Really very few locations in the world could be as beautiful as this wonderful Botanical Garden. It's indeed main attraction of the Hill Station with its numerous variety of flowers including Roses. Words to be found to express the beauty of this Park.

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