enchanting ooty

one of my favorite spots from the whole trip was ooty. ooty is known as the 'queen of the nilgiri hillstations.' we didn't visit any of the other hill stations, but i hear the are all amazing. ooty, also known as udagamandalam (check you maps), is high in the western ghats. our elevation in town was around 7350 feet. like so many high elevation spots, the air was crystal clear and all the colors were so sharp! india is a colorful frenzy compared to gray, industrialized china, but all the colors were even more pronounced in ooty.

the bus trip up to ooty was one of the most stressful of the entire trip, but also one of the most interesting. before we left for ooty we read that ooty was a resort town, kind of like aspen, and a favorite of european vacationers during colonialism. we forgot all of this when planning our trip. apparently there is a really nice scenic railroad. it is a miniature railroad, too, which would have been neat. when coming up to the mountains from the west, they rise straight out of tropical coconut palm forests. we were weaving back and forth on roads with hairpin turns, driving straight up the side of the mountain. one of the most fun things for me was to see the changes in our environment as we gained in elevation. we passed from tropical forests to bamboo forests. it was the thickest and tallest bamboo i have ever seen. we came through southern china on the train on our way back, and all the bamboo here looks so puny! i bet it is bigger in yunnan province, where i will spend the may break (with duff, AND katie lennard, AND (hopefully) lindsey and blayne, too!!!). ummm...oh, and then we drove through beautiful tea and rubber plantations. at the highest elevations were either no trees, just grassy hills with sheep and cows grazing, or eucalyptus forests. we had a wonderfully scented bus ride. especially when the bus (the road wasn't wide enough for two busses) had to swerve dangerously to the side of the road to avoid oncoming traffic and hit branches, knocking fragrant leaves into the bus. before arriving in ooty we passed through many small, sun-drenched, brightly-colored towns. the humidity was gone, and people were out enjoying the cool sunshine. in the grassy hills, occasionally, there would be a very distinctive dr. suess-looking tree.

in ooty we got off the bus and thought we were in the most remote place we had ever visited (we forgot about ooty being a resort town). we checked into the cheery raja hotel (a roach resort, we discovered, when the lights go out. they literally climbed out of the walls, and down from the ceiling) and started to walk. people come to ooty to go trekking, we didn't have enough time to trek, so we planned to walk. hiking, or, like the irish say, hill walking. both days we were in ooty, we grabbed some water, walked to the edge of town, and wandered all day in the hills. we were completely free, we didn't follow a map, we just went. it was the most amazing feeling. the first day, we walked up into the hills, and on our way back in found the tourist center of ooty. it was completely shocking to me. i thought we were in a tiny town in the hills! oh, well.

the second day provided the most interesting walking. under brilliantly blue and cloudless skies we walked through small towns and villages. the roads were so dangerous we left them completely and walked on the foot paths that connect the villages. we got to see, close up, the lives of the people of the nilgiris. most everyone was farming, we saw a LOT of carrots being grown. the hills are terraced, and we wandered in the maze of houses and fields. the houses were all brightly colored. mostly white, and light pastel blues, yellows, purples and pinks. chinese small towns that we have seen are gray. the hills were just beautiful, and we got some great views. at one point, we walked up a hill, passed through the village, and entered the forest. there was practically no underbrush. the canopy consisted almost exclusively of eucalyptus trees. we met some boys, playing on the bikes and celebrating republic day. they were flying flags and gave each of us a little indian paper flag. we talked and played with them for a bit. we have discovered that indian kids love the digital camera. love it.

in the afternoons, we saw women laying bright saris out on the grass in the fields to drive. they also laid them on their roofs. every available surface was covered with vibrant clothing drying in the sun. duff and i went photo crazy, once i get a photo site, we will be able to share these better. we walked by a dozen or more churches, and a number of graveyards. animals grazed everywhere, and we saw a giant herd of sheep working their way through the tombstones in one graveyard, nibbling grass as they went. we saw a few people riding horses. we had come to ooty with the intention of riding horses, but i have become an overly cautious traveler (not a good thing), and i didn't find a place i really trusted. so we walked.

oh, all through the nilgiri hills, there were signs requesting no one bring plastic to the area. it was really neat. i am not sure how much people follow it, water in plastic bottles was sold everywhere. but we did notice a lot less plastic, and a lot less litter and trash.

in the town, we enjoyed wandering the streets and alleys. every shaded alley had a bright ending, a colorfully painted doorway, or laundry blowing in the breeze. we passed one amazing three story building with balconies. we could see none of the building's facade because of all the huge pieces of cloth hung to dry. the tea in ooty was better than anywhere else in india, that we tried, and the food was excellent too. at night, it got really chilly, and it was fun to see everyone bundling up against the cold. the indian answer to cold, at least in the nilgiri hills, is just to wrap more and more fabric around one's self. saris were covered with more and more wraps. and hats. everyone had really cute woolen hats.

our time in ooty was far too short. we left and took off for mysore on a bus just 2 days after arriving. the bus to mysore was just as incredible as the bus to ooty. we passed through a number of wildlife refuges, and saw a lot of wildlife. peacocks, especially. immediately after leaving ooty, we passed through an area of grassy hills, like those backing the badger pocket bison ranch (one of my favorite places in the world!). we went through scrub and brush areas, like in central washington. then, we dropped down into forests and streams, and eventually, back to coconut palms and banana trees.