Ooty or Udhagamandalam is India's most famous hill station in the Nilgiri Hillls. Ooty is 2240m above sea level. We returned to Cochin for two days after Munnar before setting off for Ooty. It was Ant's birthday and we did not want to be travelling all day inthe heat on his birthday. He had a packet of woolies biltong sticks, some jelly tots and watched cricket in a great air-conditioned hotel room. I explained to the hotel manager that it was Ant's birthday so he gave us such a special deal, breakfast on the house and even gave Ant a card and small pressie. Great guy. Whenever Indians meet Ant they think he is Indian and when he tells them his name, the people in Kerala just smile and say:"Anthony is Keralan name."
We went to shul again on the Friday night which was a good thing as there were exactly 10 men including Ant. Ant wore his own pants this time . They asked us for shabbat supper but we needed to find somewhere to stay etc so couldn't join them.We left Cochin by train for Coimbatore where we spent the night in a dirty, old hotel. Its a bustling duty Indian town that is simply for passing through. Our train to Mettupayalam left Coimbatore at 5.15am so we just needed somewhere to shower and sleep for a few hours. The train to Mettupayalam is two hours and there we got on the miniature steam train to Ooty.
The train travels through the Niligiri Hills and could take 2 hours but in the steam train takes five hours. The train is bright blue and red and looks like a toy, blowing off steam every few minutes. Ooty is a big Indian honeymoon destination so the train was full of newly weds
who seemed to bring their families with them. No food item is not travel-friendly for Indians so anytime of the day or night they will begin unpacking their hundreds of bags filled with packets of rice, smaller packets of sauce and gravies and will tuck in, filling the train with curry aromas.
We pushed onto the train with the rest and got great window seats on the left hand side of the train (as recommended by the lonely planet) as you got to see waterfalls etc. On our train to Mettupayalam we met Brando, another traveller. He said his mother named him after Marlon Brando. He is from America but moved toRussia and is a twenty two year old that has been travelling for 16 months. His budget is a 100 dollars a month! He told us weird and wonderful stories about how he pitches his tent on building sites in different towns in India, buries his backpack so that he can go exploring, visits national parks and gets removed by rangers for not paying entrance fees, avoids train charges and regularly gets kicked off.... a crazy and wild kid that we called Frodo from Lord of the Rings. He looked exactly like him. We also met a German woman who was going to Ooty to work with disabled children.
As the miniature train steamed upwards you can feel the air getting cooler which was great after the 36 degree humidity in Cochin. Arriving in Ooty we joined the Geramn woman in looking for a guesthouse. The auto-rickshaw drivers constantly try and convice you to take their suggestion of a guesthouse as they cut some cash out of the deal from the guesthouse owner. So after seeing five dirty places, we found one that we liked, Maruthi Cottages. It had a great tv and they put the Hindu Times under your door every morning. Ooty has lots of tourists so we ate delicious brown bread, pizzas and salads, which you ususally can't find anywhere else. Ooty is famous for homemade chocolate and every shop sells mounds of different kinds of homemade choc. Oils like Eucalyptus, Lemom Grass and so many others are made here so there are lots of little shops selling teas, masala, cinamon, chocolate, ginger, and oils for different things. After seeing the tea plantations in Munnar we decided we wanted to do more jungle and forest trekking in Ooty and would need a guide.
The LonelyPlanet recommends Mike Dawson, from Europe but that has lived in Ooty for most of his life. He told us on the phone that the jungle has been comparedto Africa and is amazing but has recently burnt down. He was taking a dutch couple that we met on a trek which he called a 'lunar landscape' due to the trees still burning from the fire. We decided against this. We asked him if there were routes we could do on our own. He told us of one but that at the moment there were charging bison and that he avoids this area by going off the track and into the trees. Charging bison! We decided that we'd definetly need a guide. We went to Reflections Guesthouse in searach for another guide and heard not such good things about their guide and his treks. An Israeli couple told us that the house guide, Anthony, was disinterested in the walk and was miserable as his daughter had recently got engaged to a muslim and his family was Christian so this meant that his daughter was going to convert. Several days later other travellers did his walk and said that he was still miserable.
After our visit to Refelections Guesthouse we decided to move there, great outdoor area and more chilled. We chatted to a few other travellers about trekking
and looking for a guide and eventually got a small group. They had heard of a guy called Seni, referred to in The LP, who you had to meet at 8am outside a certain bakery. At 8am a tall man arrived and introduced himself as Seni. None us were sure he was Seni as very frequently in India, tips and names from the LP are used to create business. Seni then shows us his friends travel guide badge and we all laughed. He said he was going to change into better shoes and would return with his badge. The group consisted of Hugo from Oxford (UK), Sam from Liverpool but lived in Reading (UK), Rhea from California, Andreas from Arizona but born inSouth Africa, and Ant and I. Rhea and I were the only girls. She is a chiripractor that has just spent a month in an ashram doing volunteer work. Seni, our guide, returned as he had said and showed us his badge and he was the Seni Appen referred to in the book. He ialso returned wearing his hiking shoes - known in the western world as school shoes! We told him how hard it was to find him and that you never know who anyone is in India.
Seni, a tall, really dark, thinly built man. Ant told Seni that he looked more like an African than an Indian. He has this great gentle way and would ask us questions, like names of flowers on trees, and gather us up in a group to tell us one of his hundreds of interesting stories. The day began with a 9am local bus higher into the hills. He made sure the two girls had seats
on the bus while the boys stood. The trek was amazing, through forest and jungle, past lakes and waterfalls and toda houses and villages. Todas are the tribes that inhabit the Nilgiri Hills. He showed us their round wooden dome-like homes and some tribal people making embroidery. We stopped at the lake and Seni shared out biscuits he had brought for us. We shared our Marie biscuits as well. Who would have thought the good old Marie would be international. They have been a saviour for us and lots of different stages of our travelling.
Anyway, like most Indians Seni wanted to know our professions, earnings etc. He then asked me what the difference was between lithium and tranquilisers was. I said that a doctor would bethe best person to ask and that I was not a doctor. I asked him why he wanted to know and he told me how he was locked up in a mental health institution for 10 months. He showed me the scars on his wrists from the handcuffs he had to wear everyday and how others bit and tortured him. He said that he still takes Lithium and took the pills out of his pocket to show me. He explained how 'he smokes, gets upset and has to go to hospital'. He'd had some traumatic experiences, and went on to tell us all about his heart attack as well.
His knowledge of the land, the animals and the people was amazing and each time he would gather us up for a story, I'd wait excitedly for what he had to say. They were stories of when he saw the tiger cubs eating and he ran to get away from the mother. He said that he had seen only 5 tigers in the last 6 years. He explined the land and how it changed over the seasons and how the tribes inhabited its different parts. Seni would stop to show us the scratch marks on trees
of different animals and the faceces and who they belonged to, as well as the track marks. He warned us against taking porcupine stalks out the forest as it meant that you would fight with a friend. Seni shared lots of these kinds of stories with us. At one point he gave us all a big stick to walk with and to smack on the ground if any animal were to charge.
We stopped at a local village Indian restaurant for lunch and were all starving by this stage. We then made our way past the waterfalls and towards the bus stand to catch the bus back into ooty town again. Seni wanted to take us for chai in his local chai shop before we left him. We went into this dark tiny little chai shop and sat in the corner. He asked us all to write comments in his notebook which he shows other potential trekkers. It was 7pm so we ate little samoosa type things called 'pups' that were filled with potato and spices. We then said goodbye to Seni and walked back to our guesthouse, all glowing with the days experiences.
Ooty was cold at night so we fetched long sleeve tops and all went for supper together and spent ages talking about Seni and the day. Andreas and Rhea left the next day and Sam the day after that. We were happy chilling, reading our books but when the day came when we planned to leave, an Indian strike. This hit all of Tamil Nadu and pretty much everything in Ooty was closed, every shop, market , restaurant, station etc. We ate at our guesthouse but the owner later told us she wasn't supposed to provide us with food. The strike was for the government to provide better opportunities and education for the poorer classes. The following day we left Ooty refreshed, chilled out and heading towards Hampi . . .
We went to shul again on the Friday night which was a good thing as there were exactly 10 men including Ant. Ant wore his own pants this time . They asked us for shabbat supper but we needed to find somewhere to stay etc so couldn't join them.We left Cochin by train for Coimbatore where we spent the night in a dirty, old hotel. Its a bustling duty Indian town that is simply for passing through. Our train to Mettupayalam left Coimbatore at 5.15am so we just needed somewhere to shower and sleep for a few hours. The train to Mettupayalam is two hours and there we got on the miniature steam train to Ooty.
The train travels through the Niligiri Hills and could take 2 hours but in the steam train takes five hours. The train is bright blue and red and looks like a toy, blowing off steam every few minutes. Ooty is a big Indian honeymoon destination so the train was full of newly weds
who seemed to bring their families with them. No food item is not travel-friendly for Indians so anytime of the day or night they will begin unpacking their hundreds of bags filled with packets of rice, smaller packets of sauce and gravies and will tuck in, filling the train with curry aromas.We pushed onto the train with the rest and got great window seats on the left hand side of the train (as recommended by the lonely planet) as you got to see waterfalls etc. On our train to Mettupayalam we met Brando, another traveller. He said his mother named him after Marlon Brando. He is from America but moved toRussia and is a twenty two year old that has been travelling for 16 months. His budget is a 100 dollars a month! He told us weird and wonderful stories about how he pitches his tent on building sites in different towns in India, buries his backpack so that he can go exploring, visits national parks and gets removed by rangers for not paying entrance fees, avoids train charges and regularly gets kicked off.... a crazy and wild kid that we called Frodo from Lord of the Rings. He looked exactly like him. We also met a German woman who was going to Ooty to work with disabled children.
As the miniature train steamed upwards you can feel the air getting cooler which was great after the 36 degree humidity in Cochin. Arriving in Ooty we joined the Geramn woman in looking for a guesthouse. The auto-rickshaw drivers constantly try and convice you to take their suggestion of a guesthouse as they cut some cash out of the deal from the guesthouse owner. So after seeing five dirty places, we found one that we liked, Maruthi Cottages. It had a great tv and they put the Hindu Times under your door every morning. Ooty has lots of tourists so we ate delicious brown bread, pizzas and salads, which you ususally can't find anywhere else. Ooty is famous for homemade chocolate and every shop sells mounds of different kinds of homemade choc. Oils like Eucalyptus, Lemom Grass and so many others are made here so there are lots of little shops selling teas, masala, cinamon, chocolate, ginger, and oils for different things. After seeing the tea plantations in Munnar we decided we wanted to do more jungle and forest trekking in Ooty and would need a guide.
The LonelyPlanet recommends Mike Dawson, from Europe but that has lived in Ooty for most of his life. He told us on the phone that the jungle has been comparedto Africa and is amazing but has recently burnt down. He was taking a dutch couple that we met on a trek which he called a 'lunar landscape' due to the trees still burning from the fire. We decided against this. We asked him if there were routes we could do on our own. He told us of one but that at the moment there were charging bison and that he avoids this area by going off the track and into the trees. Charging bison! We decided that we'd definetly need a guide. We went to Reflections Guesthouse in searach for another guide and heard not such good things about their guide and his treks. An Israeli couple told us that the house guide, Anthony, was disinterested in the walk and was miserable as his daughter had recently got engaged to a muslim and his family was Christian so this meant that his daughter was going to convert. Several days later other travellers did his walk and said that he was still miserable.
After our visit to Refelections Guesthouse we decided to move there, great outdoor area and more chilled. We chatted to a few other travellers about trekking
and looking for a guide and eventually got a small group. They had heard of a guy called Seni, referred to in The LP, who you had to meet at 8am outside a certain bakery. At 8am a tall man arrived and introduced himself as Seni. None us were sure he was Seni as very frequently in India, tips and names from the LP are used to create business. Seni then shows us his friends travel guide badge and we all laughed. He said he was going to change into better shoes and would return with his badge. The group consisted of Hugo from Oxford (UK), Sam from Liverpool but lived in Reading (UK), Rhea from California, Andreas from Arizona but born inSouth Africa, and Ant and I. Rhea and I were the only girls. She is a chiripractor that has just spent a month in an ashram doing volunteer work. Seni, our guide, returned as he had said and showed us his badge and he was the Seni Appen referred to in the book. He ialso returned wearing his hiking shoes - known in the western world as school shoes! We told him how hard it was to find him and that you never know who anyone is in India.Seni, a tall, really dark, thinly built man. Ant told Seni that he looked more like an African than an Indian. He has this great gentle way and would ask us questions, like names of flowers on trees, and gather us up in a group to tell us one of his hundreds of interesting stories. The day began with a 9am local bus higher into the hills. He made sure the two girls had seats
on the bus while the boys stood. The trek was amazing, through forest and jungle, past lakes and waterfalls and toda houses and villages. Todas are the tribes that inhabit the Nilgiri Hills. He showed us their round wooden dome-like homes and some tribal people making embroidery. We stopped at the lake and Seni shared out biscuits he had brought for us. We shared our Marie biscuits as well. Who would have thought the good old Marie would be international. They have been a saviour for us and lots of different stages of our travelling.Anyway, like most Indians Seni wanted to know our professions, earnings etc. He then asked me what the difference was between lithium and tranquilisers was. I said that a doctor would bethe best person to ask and that I was not a doctor. I asked him why he wanted to know and he told me how he was locked up in a mental health institution for 10 months. He showed me the scars on his wrists from the handcuffs he had to wear everyday and how others bit and tortured him. He said that he still takes Lithium and took the pills out of his pocket to show me. He explained how 'he smokes, gets upset and has to go to hospital'. He'd had some traumatic experiences, and went on to tell us all about his heart attack as well.
His knowledge of the land, the animals and the people was amazing and each time he would gather us up for a story, I'd wait excitedly for what he had to say. They were stories of when he saw the tiger cubs eating and he ran to get away from the mother. He said that he had seen only 5 tigers in the last 6 years. He explined the land and how it changed over the seasons and how the tribes inhabited its different parts. Seni would stop to show us the scratch marks on trees
of different animals and the faceces and who they belonged to, as well as the track marks. He warned us against taking porcupine stalks out the forest as it meant that you would fight with a friend. Seni shared lots of these kinds of stories with us. At one point he gave us all a big stick to walk with and to smack on the ground if any animal were to charge.We stopped at a local village Indian restaurant for lunch and were all starving by this stage. We then made our way past the waterfalls and towards the bus stand to catch the bus back into ooty town again. Seni wanted to take us for chai in his local chai shop before we left him. We went into this dark tiny little chai shop and sat in the corner. He asked us all to write comments in his notebook which he shows other potential trekkers. It was 7pm so we ate little samoosa type things called 'pups' that were filled with potato and spices. We then said goodbye to Seni and walked back to our guesthouse, all glowing with the days experiences.
Ooty was cold at night so we fetched long sleeve tops and all went for supper together and spent ages talking about Seni and the day. Andreas and Rhea left the next day and Sam the day after that. We were happy chilling, reading our books but when the day came when we planned to leave, an Indian strike. This hit all of Tamil Nadu and pretty much everything in Ooty was closed, every shop, market , restaurant, station etc. We ate at our guesthouse but the owner later told us she wasn't supposed to provide us with food. The strike was for the government to provide better opportunities and education for the poorer classes. The following day we left Ooty refreshed, chilled out and heading towards Hampi . . .
