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Ooty, as
it's popularly known, or Ootacamund, or Udhagamandalam,
would still hold pride of place in the Nilgiri Hills by
any other name. It tugs large numbers of visitors from
the plains, beckoning invitingly from its lofty and
refreshing height of 2286 metres above sea level.
Short
excursions around Ooty offer many opportunities to
explore the Nilgiris on foot. There are scenic trails in
the grasslands around Mukurthi, an extinct volcano known
to the Todas as the 'Gateway to the Dead', and in the
windswept Avalanche region, which consists of rolling,
grassy downs, shola trees and rhododendrons. The western
edge of this region falls away into the dense tropical
jungles of Kerala. The eastern half of the range,
largely deprived of the southwest monsoon, is dominated
by dry scrub and volcanic rock.
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