Riding the Toy Train

Today we got up at 4 am because our train left at 5.15 am. No time for breakfast, but Vishnu prepared a packed breakfast for us that we could eat on the train. We first had to take a train to Mettupalayam (2 hours) and then change to the Toy Train that rides up the mountain (2250m above sea level) at a speed of 10 km an hour. The trip takes about 5 hours, but there is never a dull moment as we swerved past waterfalls, deep abysses and towering mountains. This is definitely a high point of our trip, with all these romantic and spectacular views. The Toy Train in a steam train, so we observe from up close how the coal his used to power this old and beautiful engine.

Our Toy Train to Ooty_1

Every 30 minutes the train stops to cool down or to give us the opportunity to buy some food or drinks. And it is obvious that we are slowly climbing higher and higher, because the air is getting cooler. We left with 35 degrees, but with every stop the temperature would drop with a few degrees. Pretty soon we would be feeling cold for the first time on our trip.

Our Toy Train to Ooty_2

The higher we got, the rougher the landscape turned, but suddenly we saw tea plantations everywhere, with eucalyptus trees at the borders. After 5 hours we finally arrived in Ooty (real name Udhagamandalam) and we headed straight for the guesthouse Vishnu had booked for us : Reflections Guest House. The name was very well chosen because the guest house looks over the lake. At least it is a better name than some of the hotels we encountered. One was called "Anus Hotel" and boasted (honestly!!) a '24-hour room boy service'.

We checked into our room which was bright and reasonably clean and headed for the

Tourist Information centre (who don't have any maps, just a brochure about the surroundings of Ooty. Because Vishnu lived in Coimbatore (and not Kotagiri like we first thought) we had actually an extra day to spend in Ooty, so we did some planning while we ate lunch. So far our plan had been ambitious but very feasible, we were surprised ourselves. We only had to drop Thrissur from our planning.

Our Toy Train to Ooty_3

For lunch we had a combo meal of idly, dosa, pongal and vadai (deep-fried donut).

When we left the hotel it was cold and rainy, so we bought a raincoat for Claudia and walked around town looking for medication for her cold. Because it rarely gets cold in India, people don't have heating. The only place we saw was here in Ooty where some rooms have a fire place. But when we tried to find a restaurant that had a warm dining room, we were unlucky. Everywhere people were eating with their coats on.

We then decided to go to bed early, put on an extra big blanket under our mosquito net and dreamt about riding the toy train up the mountain again.

Our Toy Train to Ooty_4

Our Toy Train to Ooty_5

Our Toy Train to Ooty_6

Our Toy Train to Ooty_7