Ooty

Back to Tamil Nadu where I feel like some kind of minor celebrity. Perhaps they think I’m Ross Kemp doing a show on local gangs. The renewed popularity starts on the train from Cochin to Coimbatore. We get chatting to a trainee accountant chap who ends up buying us lunch at his favourite dosa place in Coimbatore.

  

Coimbatore is the jumping off point for a taxi ride to Ooty. Ooty is a town 2240m up in the Nilgiris hills. During the Raj days Ooty was used as headquarters for the Madras government in the summer. There’s lots of old British style buildings and nice parks; all this is surrounded by tea plantations. 

The road up to Ooty is very steep, has 19 hairpin bends, and takes three vomit inducing hours to clear. Unfortunately the taxi driver wasn’t particularly good at driving. He stalled seven times, sideswiped a lorry, went over a speed hump at 40, and got quizzed by the police for not using his handbrake at a checkpoint which led to us rolling backwards for some distance down a steep hill. Towards the end of the trip I was telling him what gear he should be in. Once we arrived at our hotel, he asked whether the trip had been comfortable, then held his hand out for a tip. We just walked away.

The hotel we booked is amazing. It’s an old colonial house perched on a cliff overlooking Ooty. The climate is pretty cold because Ooty is so high up. The hotel has fireplaces in each room which provide heat through the night. They have a fire lighting and water bottle providing wallah called Mr Shakur. He’s awesome, although he knocks on the door and comes in without waiting. We locked the door one night, and he was shocked, asking us ‘why did you lock the door’. Shejal couldn’t stop laughing; he couldn’t understand that either. 

We take a trip up to the Doddabetta Lookout. From here there are great views of Ooty and surrounding areas. The Ross Kemp factor is in full effect as everyone wants to have a chat, shake my hand, and pose for pics. I’m in the middle somewhere. 

Next up we visited the Botanical gardens. Shejal thought some of it looked like a garden centre, but it was pleasant enough. Not too sure what animals these are supposed to be though.

These chaps were so happy to see us they paid a professional photographer at the gardens to produce this.

We finish the day with a trip to the lake which includes an amusement park. It’s here we experience perhaps the crappest house of mirrors in the world. We find our way out in 20 seconds. 

 

The hotel and Ooty are so nice we decide to stay an extra day and visit nearby Coonoor (another hill station).