India - Through Chris's Eyes

Thursday 1st April

We found out the previous evening that the Hill Railway was actually running approximately half way down the mountain to Coonor, so we booked a 1st class ticket costing 102 Rupees. We had read the best views were to be seen from this carriage especially if you had a seat on the left side of the small train. Serena got one of these but my views were somewhat restricted.

We weren't allowed to book a return for some strange reason and were told to book in Coonor for the journey back up. This we tried but we couldn't do until 1 o'clock. A taxi driver spotted us and asked if we'd like a guided tour for 600 Rupees, eventually we agreed on 400.

He took us to a tea plantation, where we sampled and purchased some very tasty tea, and several viewing sites where views of the Nilgiri Mountains were wonderful. These included Lamb's Rock and Dolphins Nose, where a rather aggressive monkey looked like thwarting us getting to a viewing point, showing his rather large teeth and looking likely to steel some of our possessions.

We then visited a Tea Factory that looked as if it hadn't changed for about 60 - 70yrs and were shown how the green tea leaves were turned into tea, as we would see it. All in all the tour was enjoyable and not at all expensive

We arrived back at Coonor just after one and went to book our train back. Serena decided to go 2nd class for the return, much to the disgust of the man behind the counter who became rather irate and abusive. As it happened we both got a seat on the left side of the albeit slightly crowded carriage where I was able to take photo's and video's on the way back up the 19km journey, all for 3 Rupees each (about 5 pence Sterling).

Arriving back in Ooty we took the bus back to the Hotel and relaxed before later going to the lake and taking a trip around it in a somewhat waterlogged pedalo. We spent a short while at the small fun fair type attraction before taking dinner at the Darshan. This was akin to spending an evening at Fawlty Towers but having enjoyed the TV program I couldn't help but enjoy what was happening here, even if we were on the receiving end.