Ooty

English - Time to put a few miles on the clock! We left Cochin at 7am by ferry to catch a 5 hour bus in-land to Coimbatore before changing buses and catching anoither for 1 hour to a place called Mettupalayam. This is the start of the Nilgiri Hills and we stayed here for one night in the train station. They had a bedroom by chance because some inspectors had just left. We got up at 6am the next day to catch a steam train for 5 hours up near verticle hill sides. Distance wise it was about 50Km but it took ages! However, it was the best train journey so far, being pushed up by a 100 year old steam engine, huffing and puffing the whole way. We had to stop a number of times to fill up with water, a welcome break for the bum and legs! The whole journey cost about 15p each in cattle class. As well as the two rails there was also a 3 jagged rail in the middle for the steep bits which the engine used for grip. I am sure the landscape and journey has not changed at all in 100 years. We were also treated to some great views on the way. We are now in Ooty, an old colonial hill station for the plantations, complete with horse race course, botanical gardens (with a 1 million yr old tree trunk), a great market and lake. It is a lot colder up here (2500 metres) at night so jumpers and sleeping bags required for the first time in India. This morning we hired a motorbike and have spent the day winding hour way through the mountains taking in the scenery..FANTASTIC! Tomorrow we head for Mudumalai national park to chill in a lodge for a few days and hang out with some tigers!

Alex hills

Czech - Huraaa, konecne do hor. V 7 hod. rano jsme opustili Kocci, a s nasimi prateli jsme naskocili na bus do mista zvane Coimbatore a 5 hodin jsme ztravili na silene drncave ceste/takhle velke diry na silnici jsem jeste nevidela a natoz jet prez ne 80 km rychlosti:]]], V Coimbatore, jsme vymenili bus do mesta zvane Mettapulayam, ktere bylo pro nas jen nocni zastavkou do Ooty, nasly jsme vyborny ubytovani na nadrazi, jen za 100 rp, a hned druhy den rano jsme nasedly na parni vlacek do Nilgiri Hills, cesta trvala 8 hodin, jelok parni vlacek 100 let stary jenom prece nejel tak rychle, ale projizdet horamy s krasnym vyhledem byl zazitek.Do Ooty jsme dorazili v 12 h.a nasly jsme krasny hostel z vyhledem na hory.Podnikli jsme vylet do Botanicke zahrady kde jsme mohly videt milion let stary kmen stromu.Ted jsme stale v Ooti, a dnes jsme podnikly vylet na motorce na cely den po horach, k vodopadu, ale bohuzel bez vody, jelikoz je sucho. Ale pro nas byt v horach se stalo prijemnou zmenou, jelikoz je tady chladneji a to tak ze v noci musime spat v nasich vibornych spacacich-diky mami a tati za ne:]]],Zitra se chystame do narodniho parku Mudamalai.Uz se namuzeme dockat videt tygry a vsechny mozny zvirata.

Botanical Gardens

ferry

fire wood

Green peace

hill village

holy cow

Klarka

landscape

local kids

Mmm Flowers

Nice bed

Niew view

out on the bike

out trecking

pest control

Phileas Fog

plantation

Race course

rail room

Steam train

stinky river

We are here