Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Long weekend in Ooty

Our little engine that could (dedicated to LKT)


Jumbo spotting


The following photos are from our early morning jungle trek.






misty lake in the early morning hours

Team Tufts with our guide

A view of Ooty from the winding "hair pinbended" drive.

The weekend of February 8-11, we conquered the overnight trains and traveled west for a weekend in the hilltown of Ooty. Built into the mountainside, Ooty serves as a respite from the heat and humidity of Tamil Nadu. I felt refreshingly chilled for the first time since I've arrived in India (apologies to the Boston folk, I hear it's been pretty cold.) We took an overnight train from Vellore to Coimbature (by far the most appealing means of traveling thus far.) We arrived at daybreak in Coimbature and made acquaintance with the steam engine that carried us, slowly but surely, up the mountain to the town of Ooty. We learned the "chug-chug" is not a fabricated noise, but truly an accurate portrayal. The train stopped frequently, allowing for photo ops as well as water refills for our little-engine-that-could. The scenery included stretches of green tea plants, graceful valleys dipping into thick rivers and rivuleted with waterfalls, and compact houses etched into the mountainsides.

We found ourselves some horses for a more intimate tour of our surroundings. I could only encourage my horse, who I named "Eeyore" for his lack of enthusiasm, to break into a halfhearted trot for 30 yards or so. A bit of a tease, but fun all the same.

From Ooty we traveled northwest to a family style "Jungle home" where we had home cooked meals, a campfire (sadly sans s'mores,) and an early morning jungle trek. Upon the backdrop of still lakes and wildflowers, the rustle of wildlife and the sounds of early morning chores were delicately studded. Our barefoot guide wove us through the landscape with care.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Little blue engines are unstoppable:)

Rupesh said...

Just googled "vellore" and landed up here.. :)