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Other entries in Ooty

It's freezing here!!

A mad journey from Mysore, in a ramshackle bus with 10 other Indian tourists on a day trip to Ooty. THe road is terrible, but still our driver does his best Schumie impression. The scenery is great though. We drive through 2 national parks, Bandipur and Mudumaiai. There are tigers there but we only see some barking deer, four-horned antelope and monkeys. We drive high into the Nilgiri hills to Ooty at over 2,000 metres. Its very cold and we need to put on our fleeces, trousers and thick socks. The first time since Kili, I think. WE scout around for our accommodation finally settling on Glengarth. a) for its name, b) for the old colonial style house, and c) for its beautiful location. But it is expensive at 1,500 R per night. Ooty is surrounded by beautiful mountains, covered in tea plantations and lush forests. But the town itself is overcrowded and noisy, like almost ever town in India. Still its quirky and we liked wandering around. We walked down by the lake along the railway line and through bits of town. Allan arranged to play golf and we settled into our first night in the house. The staff are very friendly, they wait on us hand and foot. We feel a little like embarressed. In the evening they light wood fires, one in the study and another in our bedroom. It might be cold outside but its toastie in the house. Next morning golf. Claire came too as official photographer. 2 pounds 50p for the round and 1 pound for the hire of clubs and I tipped the caddie 1 pound and my 2 balls. Not bad really, I even scored quite well, for me. When we came back to Glyngarth the owner and his son were waiting to meet us. they had heared 2 Scots where staying and they wanted to talk and tell us of their trip to Scotland the previous year. He was a very nice old man and i think Claire would like to take him home with her. They told us of a nice new cafe/restaurant in town called the Sidewalk that did good pasta and pizza, and gave us a lift where we had lunch and diner as it turned out. Ooty was nice and we liked it, but its time to go back to the sea and improve the tan. The next afternoon we caught the Blue Mountain Railway train to Mettupalayam. A great journey from 2,000 metres to 300 metres, with wonderful views done at a snails pace. Ahead of us is a 15 hour journey overnight to Kochi in Kerela. Will catch up with you all there.

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