Getting warm again in Ooty.

10/2 - The room wasn't cold, it was chuffing freezing, well cold enough for me to keep my socks on and throw my fleece over me in the night, but the shower was red hot, so I soon thawed out. I am off to Mudamalai National Park I reckon tomorrow for a few days break. It is a bit expensive, relatively, Rs1400 a night and meals on top, which are expensive too, as you are trapped at the resort, but it is still only 150 quid for 3 nights, so what am I griping about.

I was going to get the train tickets sorted for the days after that to Chennai, but I forgot it was Sunday and the office shuts at 14:00. THat would have been too organised anyway.
Thought I'd have a wander to the lake and sit and read my book, as I'm getting a bit weary, so wandered off, past the young kids amusement park and onto the lake, which is really Indian for rubbish dump. There is all sorts floating in it, unusual for this part of Tamil Nadu, as they are trying to make it tidy. I have seen a few rubbish bins here. It was not quite how I imagined, there was a bit of a theme park and pedalos and lots of teenagers screaming, so I did an about turn and headed back to town.
Ooty is a bit of a hill station Blackpool, it attracts the younger adults. Nicolas Cage is on at the pictures too.
Off to the botanical gardens instead. Rs 10 to get in and an extra 30 if you want to use your camera. Work that out. I don't understand the logic there.
It is nice in there. Huge trees and lots of lawn space, it is well kept up. I wandered around a bit then found a quiet spot on one of the lawns to read my book. I got about 2 paragraphs read and a shadow appeared. About 8 kids were hovering over me. I had said hello to a couple of them earlier and they returned with their mates. It was photo time again, as more kids turned up. The gist of the first group was a couple of the lads told the girls they could speak English, trying to impress I guess. The girls burst into laughter when it turned out the lads only knew Hello and Where you come from?
One young girl asked my name so I told her and asked hers and then went to shake her hand. That seems to be the routine. She nearly wet herself when I went to shake her hand. Some people look at me as if they have never seen a Westerner. I don't know if it is a religious thing or what, so I take it easy. She stayed to natter, so I don't think I offended her.
The fuss died down, so back to my book.
It gets chilly up here in the evening, so on with the fleece and off for a wander around the Tibetan market. I am glad I visited the gardens.
The market has about 20 stalls and sell pretty much the same nice clothes, mostly for kids. Some of the Tibetan ladies are stunning.

Set off for some snap and bumped into Rose and Nathan from Hampi and Mysore, the 2 Californians. They are a smashing pair, not a couple though. They are always laughing and joking.
Phone the kids, snap, blog bed.
Another day bites the dust.