HAIL THE MIGHTY HILLS

Date and Duration of travel- 16/3/12 to 18/3/12= 2days and 3 nights

Mode of travel- By road 

                          

16/3/ 2012 (6 pm) After a frustratingly long wait for the bus caught up in an election rally,we finally boarded our minibus. Thrilled with the anticipation of the drive that lay ahead and fuelled with a fresh supply of junk food, everyone was ready to go.

We had learnt some new Tamil words like Vanga, Sapidunga out of curiosity and most importantly for primary survival if by any chance any of us is in a SOS situation.

Upbeat music, an enjoyable game of charades and antakshri didn’t allow us to notice that we had reached Puttur, the Chocolate City, which gave us a welcoming treat of  a decent dinner.

We passed The Bandipur national park and  the Mudumalai national park, the tiger reserve.  A gush of nostalgia passed as happy childhood memories came back as we stood in the bus pointing at anything that we could make out like excited little kids- peacocks, wild boars, deers and elephants

 17/3/2012

9 hours later we found ourselves at the border post of Ooty. We were greeted by the most breathtaking view of a meadow with grazing horses, this sight having been deeply embedded in my diary called memories.

On reaching the main city, we procured the services of a local guide, who also helped us locate our accommodation at a well furnished  homestay for 1 night, having 5 rooms and 1 hall.

After  refreshments and a filling brunch at a restaurant, we left for the Doddabetta peak, the tallest peak in Ooty. Here we tasted the most exquisite lemon tea costing 7 bucks.   

The next thing I remember very vividly is how I had very unpretentiously gone to throw my cup of tea at the Doddabetta and how I had to chase behind the bus with all thoughts running in my head as the future bond I would have had to make with Ooty as my fellow 18 friends had forgotten of my existence and left me stranded there!

Then we reached the Tea Factory,making the finest tea. We saw the entire processing on an elevated platform, after which we were given complementery  cups of nilgiri tea and suddenly there was the most blissful,fragrant aroma around. Board directions brought us to the much awaited chocolate shops. The peculiarity was that the chocolates were home made ranged from rs. 50 to rs. 100 and tasted something very different from the everyday packed chocolates that I usually drool for,so this definitely should not be missed. After buying packs of them, there were other little shops that we became aware of, selling fragrant tea and herbal oils known for their own medicinal values.

A modest shopping and a little walk brought us to the Botanical Garden and the Flower Garden. The botanical garden was built in 1847 over 55 acres, having an abundant number of tree species. In the gardens we found an eye catching semi-oval architecture of the Toda huts, the Todas being the native tribes that originally dwelled in Ooty.

Then we left for the Wax World, having life size statues displayed in a 142 year old bungalow.

Later we were supposed to go to the pykara lake but it was too late and we decided to ride horses! A very new enthralling experience for the ones who never got the chance to ride it.

The thread Garden branded to be the first of its kind in the world . The attraction behind it was, that it was an innovative indoor display of flowers, plants and lawns fabricated entirely from thread, canvas and wire and completely hand made.

18/3/2012

Next morning , we had to get up and drag the lazy ones out of bed to be able to catch the toy train called the Mettupalayam – Udagamandalam passenger train. This is one of the seven toy trains of India and is otherwise well known as the “Chaiyya Chaiyya” train from the film “Dil Se” which was shot on its rooftop. The stops had catchy names like Lovedale and Wellington which made me think whether I was still in India or not.

The Ooty lake was where we did boat paddling costing  100rs per head,trying to race, holding on to the other boat to slow them down.It was quite relaxing but later weared the ones who were paddling for an hour.

If that wasn’t enough we went to the games arcade. But before that we rejuvenated ourselves with glasses of fresh sugarcane juice. There were the Bumper Cars, the Trot, the breaking dance and most exciting of all was the mechanical bull ride, which almost everyone tried or uhm, wished to.

Then we had cotton candies which I had longed for so long.

Thoroughly exhausted but nostalgic as our time to leave drew closer, we stopped at a restaurant for one last meal after which we set off  on yet another long drive ahead of us peppered with stops at picturesque locations for those last few pictures, games and impromptu disco sessions and ghost stories .This weekend was one I would never be able to forget.