Running away from the heat

Ooty Hill Stations

Tea plantations in Ooty

We retreated back into Tamil-Nadu, the first province we entered in the beginning of our India chapter. We retreated to higher grounds, running from the hell fire that’s scorching the plains before the humidity comes to bake it into a sauna. At 3,000 meters, the night air drops to a very comfortable 19 degrees. An inviting change after suffocating 34 degree nights at the bottom of the mountain.

Ooty is the highest hill station in India and one of the most popular. Hill station started with the British trying to find a way to escape the killing heat of the South Indian summers and found that the high mountains provided ample relieve. As already a retreat for the rich, this area is re-known as a tourist area, however, surprisingly not completely destroyed by tourism yet. (thank goodness)

As a British safe haven, it also doubles as their tea plantations. And over the years, this area transformed into a tea plantation capital of South India, only next to Darjeeling in the North.



GETTING THERE

Miniature train from Coonor to Ooty

Getting here wasn’t exactly a walk in the park from Kochin. We took a 5 hour train to a bus to another bus to another train. Our first train departed at 11 am and we got into the major city of Coimbatore. From Coimbatore train station, we found the bus that took us to the “New Bus Stand” at the edge of the city. From there, we found another bus that takes you to Ooty, but we got as far as "Coonor” Here, it was about 10pm at night. We had no choice but to stay the night here, as we have to catch another train in the morning to finally finish the leg of the trip to Ooty. Be fore warned, the bus ride is not very pleasant. Going up or down the mountain.

This said train leaves at 7:45 in the morning. This is the small miniature train that trucks up the mountain, stopping along several other stations. This last part of the journey took 3 hours to get up finally to the tea plantations. No where online could we find an update schedule of the trains. So we took a picture of the schedule for anyone to use. This is recent as of March 2013 from Coonor:

Train times from Coonor

More tea plantations!

We stayed at the YWCA near the horse race track. It was a nice clean facility, but the service and kitchen was absolutely horrendous. At any point in time, they only have 2 items from the menu. And it’s dal – or lentils. That or mixed vegetable curry. It doesn’t make for a very satisfying dinner. We ended up usually doing the 20 minute walk into the city and finding a place to eat there.

There are plenty of things to see in Ooty if you decide stay for awhile longer. Trekking is always popular, but we wanted to see the tea plantations. And that’s exactly what we saw. Tea plantations covered the hills beyond the reaches of the eyes. It’s very similar to rice paddy fields, the way the system is set up.

There was also a wildlife sanctuary that wasn’t very worth it. One new friend we met came up from that side of the mountain and saw more wildlife taking a bus through than we did renting a jeep specifically to go see animals. We counted a smashing 3 elephants, 2 of which were chained up. A handful of peacocks and 2 handful of monkeys. We didn't think it was worth our money either. But that was our experience. A black panther was spotted a few weeks before we arrive. They do hide pretty well.

The only elephant that wasn't chained up

After all that's said and done, we have to brave the heat oncea gain. Hampi, here we come!