I would have written this post a while back but unfortunately between a server transfer and some library upgrades, my photo gallery wasn’t working and I think the photos from this trip are really something. Probably three weekends ago now, I had the pleasure of staying in Ooty, one of the famous hill stations of India. Hill stations show yet another side to the ever complex Indian landscape, this time full of mountains, lush green trees and a refuge from the heat (at least in summer). The British first developed this particular hill station after taking it over. One of their legacies, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is now a World Heritage site. An hour long train journey winds through some of the hills and despite its tiny one metre gauge and overcrowded carriage seating, offers some of the nicest and most varied scenic views of the area.

Ooty is also famous for its vast number of tea plantations and many of them offer a tour of their operating facilities and very cheap tea. I highly recommend trying all the teas on offer. Chai is absolutely divine here and the tea plantation we went to offered another sweet Chocolate infused tea.

Getting to Ooty ended up nightmarish with a 13 hour bus ride up in almost torrential rain for the last four hours. The path leading up to this hill station was horrible with so many pot holes and sharp curves meaning a snails pace with the less than ideal weather conditions. Contrasting this with the return journey to Bangalore that only took about 7 hours back. We also stopped fewer times and I think the conscious effort to get back much quicker meant we also stopped for less time when we did.

Lake Ooty also offers a different experience though its water are brackish and appear blue green from the algae that seems to float all around. We didn’t notice that many birds and doubted the existence of plenty of fish given the rubbish and state of the water, though the surrounding trees helped to make it feel like a much nicer place.

I would have to highly recommend visiting Ooty, or any of the hill stations, if you visit India. They’re not only a great escape from the hustle and bustle of many of the other cities and offer just that extra different perspective to India you just don’t get to see that often. Check out the rest of the photos here.