i've just spent 4 days in ooty, preferred hill station of the british administration in madras when things got a little too toasty in the summertime. it's a lovely little place, and the drive up here through the nilgiris wasn't bad either. my bus was supposed to leave mysore at 8am so i was up nice and early with the intention of treating myself to a leisurely breakfast. nanoseconds after my coffee arrived (at about 7:15) the chap from my hotel reception desk - a spitting image of manuel in his appearance and manner - came bouldering into the restaurant with a worried look on
his face "mister david!! mister david!! your bustrip is here!" i grinned up at him, had one last sip of my coffee and followed him outside. my pack was hoisted onto the roof and i settled down for a nice drive in the hills, through a game reserve and everything. we drove maybe 100 metres down the road and picked up a few more passengers, and then sat there. for about an hour...
once we got going it wasn't bad, stopping off at a roadside dhaba where i had a masala dosa (surprise surprise) and i even saw elephants on the way up. i stayed in the reflections guest house opposite the lake in ooty and it was cosy and lovely. whilst it's baking hot there during the day, ooty's altitude means it gets a bit chilly at night and the cosiness of my room would enter my thoughts each evening as i huddled into my fleece hurrying along the main bazaar. i did the usual wandering around on my first two days, and met a lovely chap called ted who was also staying at my guest house who (like me) is fond of a natter :D
on my last day i went on a hike through the nilgiris with a local man named anthony (his real name, we left a lot of christianity in ooty) and it was just amazing. through tea plantations, a thali for lunch in a small village, over hills, up a big mountain and through tribal areas. it was great, the view from our final destination was beautiful and i had a really lovely day, one of the best yet in india i think.
the next day i had planned to take the toy train down to coimbatore and then grab a bus to kochi but i was waitlisted. i hate the goddamn waitlist.... i ended up taking a local bus to coimbatore, down through the hills and it was spectacular - i was right at the front next to the driver and i had a great view of the mountans as we snaked down through them at an alarming speed. the ride from coimbatore to kochi was less spectacular but still really pretty. the scenery slowly changed from rugged hills to palmtrees and waterways as we (inched) our way into kerala and towards the sunset.
kochi is lovely, i'll tell you more about that later. this internet cafe's annoyingly hot and the 'c' and 'p' keys don't work properly. i'm going to catch me a sunset and a beer :D
i've just spent 4 days in ooty, preferred hill station of the british administration in madras when things got a little too toasty in the summertime. it's a lovely little place, and the drive up here through the nilgiris wasn't bad either. my bus was supposed to leave mysore at 8am so i was up nice and early with the intention of treating myself to a leisurely breakfast. nanoseconds after my coffee arrived (at about 7:15) the chap from my hotel reception desk - a spitting image of manuel in his appearance and manner - came bouldering into the restaurant with a worried look on
his face "mister david!! mister david!! your bustrip is here!" i grinned up at him, had one last sip of my coffee and followed him outside. my pack was hoisted onto the roof and i settled down for a nice drive in the hills, through a game reserve and everything. we drove maybe 100 metres down the road and picked up a few more passengers, and then sat there. for about an hour...
once we got going it wasn't bad, stopping off at a roadside dhaba where i had a masala dosa (surprise surprise) and i even saw elephants on the way up. i stayed in the reflections guest house opposite the lake in ooty and it was cosy and lovely. whilst it's baking hot there during the day, ooty's altitude means it gets a bit chilly at night and the cosiness of my room would enter my thoughts each evening as i huddled into my fleece hurrying along the main bazaar. i did the usual wandering around on my first two days, and met a lovely chap called ted who was also staying at my guest house who (like me) is fond of a natter :D
on my last day i went on a hike through the nilgiris with a local man named anthony (his real name, we left a lot of christianity in ooty) and it was just amazing. through tea plantations, a thali for lunch in a small village, over hills, up a big mountain and through tribal areas. it was great, the view from our final destination was beautiful and i had a really lovely day, one of the best yet in india i think.
the next day i had planned to take the toy train down to coimbatore and then grab a bus to kochi but i was waitlisted. i hate the goddamn waitlist.... i ended up taking a local bus to coimbatore, down through the hills and it was spectacular - i was right at the front next to the driver and i had a great view of the mountans as we snaked down through them at an alarming speed. the ride from coimbatore to kochi was less spectacular but still really pretty. the scenery slowly changed from rugged hills to palmtrees and waterways as we (inched) our way into kerala and towards the sunset. 
kochi is lovely, i'll tell you more about that later. this internet cafe's annoyingly hot and the 'c' and 'p' keys don't work properly. i'm going to catch me a sunset and a beer :D
1 comment:
Hi,
Thanks for posting your blogs. I'm going to India next month for the first time, visiting many of the same places. Hope you keep posting.Safe travels!
Best regards,
Phleques
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