Nahar's Nilgiris Hotel Ootacamund

... what it means to be a TCK, and prepare them for a different world, not &#8216;the real world&#8217;&#8221;. Ideally this year&#8217;s graduating class will carry their distinctions into adult life, into the &#8216;different&#8217; world, finding others like them and feeling empowered by who they are. <br><br>They will soon leave the bubble, full of ambition, anxiety, and as well prepared as possible. &#8220;Like everything Hebron has its troubles,&#8221; Ruthie offered. &#8220;But ...

... to Ooty and running their businesses from here to get their kids into the school.&#8221; <br><br>Not that such a move would help. Hebron accepts one in every three applications, and priority is given to expatriates and Non Resident Indians doing humanitarian or missionary work in remote areas of India and Southeast Asia. Hebron is also part of the larger Nilgris region, a hub of 35 boarding and international schools. The others are more conventional institutes run, I was reliably told ...

... peak in south india. Brought niligiri tea leaves and pineapple chocolates. Visited king cliff hotel. In the evening went to botanical garden , commercial street. Had coffee at kuruniji hotel. Had Garam pakoras at Willow hill restaurant. <br><br><br>DAY 4 - 30th Sept 09 WEDNESDAY -<br><br>Had a joy ride in Niligiri express which leaves from ooty to coonor. Saw sim's park at coonor ...

... Reserve. Spectacular views teamed with no rain and warmer temperatures gave us a wonderfully relaxed few days. We took a morning safari into the reserve hoping to spot wild elephants, we returned having seen only spotted deer in the wild and captive, working elephants at the mahoot camp. We enjoyed fantastic food, cold beer and excellent service, almost forgetting we were only two hours away from chaotic Indian city life. <br><br>It was on ...

... we made our way down hill &#8230;ooohhing and ouching our way. <br><br><br><br><br>What greeted us was raw beauty&#8230;water over rocks and boulders making its merry way and gurgling away on its course&#8230;tall fir trees falling over themselves to get near the water&#8217;s edge&#8230;. trying to beat the grass in some hidden race. And to mar it all were half naked banyan-lungi clad portly ...

... guys pulled the red hot embers from underneath the engine onto the tracks. The engine, inside and out, was sooty black. The next time you go to your air conditioned office and sit at your squeaky clean, ergonomically assessed desk, think about the meaning of the word 'work'. By the way, it costs 9rps (approx 12pence) for the 5.5 hr journey, The carriages, on the other hand, were squeaky clean and with blue and cream livery ...

... then the next day I forget I've seen it. On the whole, food in India has been excellent and it must be an absolute dream for pure vegetarians, who I know struggle in other parts of Asia. I don't have a sweet tooth so I'm not really tempted to try the Indian sweets, but they are a bit of a mystery to me (us) we have no idea what they are made of and what they might taste like, but they do come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Yesterday we saw an old Morris ...

... at a small teashop to have a tea. I could have continued on to Avalanche, another beautiful place. However, in view of the road conditions and given the fact that I did not have the 4WD, I decided to come back to Ooty. Went to Annapurna and had lunch. The Chicken Biriyani was good. Left for Doddabetta after lunch. Doddabetta is the highest peak (2638m) in Tamil Nadu State. It is around 10Km from Ooty. The last 4 ...

... including Mudamalai Wildlife Sanctuary. As the conversation with the other passengers lulled I began to observe the landscape outside the window and found myself suddenly gripped by a deep sense of happiness as I reflected upon the last few weeks of the trip. India has such a power to evoke a strong emotional response and although the balance thusfar has substantially favored such emotions as frustration and anger at that ...

... evening and go early to bed. A hot shower in the morning! What a delight!!! In the costs for the hotel are two buckets of hot water included! It is an Indian shower: a small bucket, a tap with freezing water and these 20 liters boiling water! I enjoy it! In this way prepared for the new day I am brave enough to enter the city with the bike. A short trip to the botanical garden is nice but I am sure that the surroundings have more to ...