I had done a short trip on the roads leading to ooty this weekend and just wanted to give a brief update on the 2 of the main roads I traversed.
Ooty - Emerald - Manjoor - Geddai - Mulli - Karamadai - Coimbatore (~120 kms)
For starters, this is the least frequented route to get to ooty and is mostly used only by locals.
Ooty to manjoor through emerald (35 kms)- Good well-laid roads, very less traffic, 34 Hair-pin bends
Manjoor - Geddai (+15) - Road repair work underway and hence at present muddy and dotted with potholes, a fresh set of 43 hair-pins welcome you, Terrific views, Almost deserted roads
Geddai - Mulli check-post (+12) - Decent roads - narrow and broken in parts but very much motorable, Hair-pins continue for a while, Forest stretch begins, no civilization whatsoever, Weak mobile signal, Marked descent leads to heat taking a toll on you
Mulli - Velliangadu (~+20) - Roads same as above, Almost plains, Forest stretch continues - chances of coming across wild elephants at dawn and dusk
Velliangadu - Karamadai (~+10) - Forest stretch ends with entering Velliangadu, Great 2-lane roads, small villages en-route
At Karamadai, you join NH-67 between coimbatore and mettupalayam.
Mettupalayam - Coonoor - Ooty
Initially planned to take the kothagiri route on return but unfortunately had to take this choc-a-bloc route due to certain logisitical issues!
Anyway, the roads were great - all the land-slide hit patches were newly laid and perfect for motoring right up to ooty.
Alright here comes the most important tip
PLEASE do ensure your bike is in a good shape before attempting the first route. Manjoor is the last place where you can expect some assistance in case of any failure. And after that, you need to get to Velliangadu for any assistance.
I made a point to mention this as you could avoid all the huff n puff in dragging the bike for 7-8 kms in the many intermediate patches of ascent in between like I did!