Today we descended the Nilgiri hills and left behind the cool fresh air of Ooty. It was a real treat to sleep with the windows open and actually smell clean air. The majority of the area is a forest preserve until you reach Mudumalai National Park on the northwest side of the Nilgiri Hills. Mudumalai is a designated tiger reserve and contains around 50 tigers which we did not see (and didn’t expect to) but we did see spotted deer and gaurs (bison) while driving on the main road through the park. The forest is thick jungle and looks more like you would imagine African jungle to look like with the tigers roaming under the thick dark canopy waiting to pounce without warning. As you exit Tamil Nadu into Karnataka State, Mudumalai NP turns into Bandipur NP, also a designated tiger reserve which also hosts a small population of tiger, spotted deer, gaur, Indian elephants, antelopes and numerous other species. The park was once a private hunting reserve for the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore. Six hours later after what was supposed to be a 3 hour drive we arrived into Mysore (Mysuru) in the state of Karnataka. Mysore was the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947 however here there is very little if any British architectural influence in the city as the maharaja were on good terms with the colonial British occupiers at that time in history so the architecture is considered Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture which was a style used by Indian British architects.
Ooty to Mysore road pics
