Ooty

We are just about to leave Ooty hill station 2240 m above sea level, the former summer residence of the Madras government. We arrived on the 21st of January after a very bumpy 7 hours bus ride from Mysore, through the Mudumalai National Park with wild elephants and monkeys, through breathtaking beautiful tea plantations and the Nilgiri Hills. The first difference we faced upon the arrival was the chilly weather - during the night the temperature may fall to zero with frost, though during the day it resembles a strong late spring sunny day. So first time we could utilize our warm clothes and make our backpacks somewhat lighter! We settled in a guest house over the lake after some rumbling around to find our place and luckily and fast we scheduled a day track for the following day with some fellow travelers and a local guide. We got a jeep pick up at 9.30 in the morning bringing us 18 kms out of Ooty, from where we started our walk through an eucalyptus forest, followed by tea plantations and tribal villages with Toda people. We got to know that the tea plant lives for a 100 years and the fresh, light green leafs are harvested every 12 days all around the year. The villagers earn their living mostly from working on the plantations and the local tea factory - there is also an organic tea factory :). They are very friendly and cheerful with visitors (a flock of small kids were running to us with big smiles and screaming hi and by-by, especially if you have candies or cookies with you; ball pens are also highly treasured! We stopped for a thali lunch in one of the villages where only Tomek and I ate with our guide - the rest of course were prepared with packed lunches - but our reward was a delicious dish for 25 Rs - equivalent to 50 Euro cents - and acquiring the skill of eating by hands in the Indian way; do not think it is just so simple... We got back to our guest house by 5 pm and continued the evening with a delicious dinner in the company of a lovely Dutch couple Nicole and Lars. I hope you read us! Thanks for your travel hints and the excellent companion!!!