On the road to Ooty.

9/2 - Tea, toast and hit the road. Got a rickshaw to the bus station. Bartered him down from Rs30 to Rs20. Another 12p saved. Why bother? Because this is India.
Asked 3 different officials at the bus station for the time of the next Ooty bus. They were consistently different. I don't know why I asked, it will come when it comes, that is how it works.
Boarded and off. Once we get into the mountains, this is a new India. We stopped at the services, a roadside cafe and afterwards the views just get better and better as the road got worse and worse. At one point there was an Indian standoff between our purple chariot and flash white coach that looked to be carrying Yanks, tables between seats etc. The road was not wide enough, so someone had to back off. After about 10 minutes banter and a lot of gesticulating, much to the amusement of both sets of passengers, our purple charioteer won. Go on you Purples!!
This is tiger country now and I was wondering what they eat up here, then I saw a peacock perched in a tree. "Tiger snack"
Then a herd of Bambis. "Tiger main course"
I suppose there is always the odd human for pudding too.
Saw my first tea plantation. How can anyone get excited over a tea plantation? But I did. As we rose up the mountain there were lots of tea plantations and I still got excited. They made me think of my Mam for some reason. Work that one out siblings.
It has rained for a good bit of the journey and the bus has sprung a leak, just were I am sat, so am a bit damp, but loving the ride too much to care.
At first glance Ooty is not as nice as the journey up, but there is not so much hassle here, still the same noise though. It is nice to walk around with a fleece on for some reason. I had a jumper too to start with, but it is definitely not that cold, especially wandering around.
It is a busy little place in a beautiful setting in the hills, with a racecourse and a sports stadium. The stadium is open, so I had to wander in. Come on I'm a gladiator at heart.
There was quite a few of the older locals doing laps around the athletics track and the younger ones chasing a football around on the pitch in the middle. It is bouncing like a superball. Took a wander up to the botanical gardens, but it is dusk, so just gave it the once over. It looks like a posibblility for tomorrow, a good place to chill and there should be some serious people watching as it is Sunday.
Had tea in the sidewalk cafe. It serves Western and some eastern food. I went for the Thai fried rice with green curry. "Sorry sir, only fast food". So I had the Popeye pizza and where is bloody Olive Oil when you've just had your spinach???? I did get a nice smile from a tall blonde lass in there, no I wasn't dreaming again. I think she was missing her Grandad.
Ooty is surprisingly easy for me to get around, nice wide roads and the pavements are not too high. I will check out the lake tomorrow and see if I can find some difficulties there. I was going to move onto the nature reserve, but think I will give Ooty another day.
I am going to have to miss out Kerala, which is a highly acclaimed State by everyone, but I would have to rush it and so not do it justice. Again it leaves the door open for a return holiday. Pramod and Mahesh wont be happy, 2 old work colleagues, it is there home State.
Off back to hotel, which I forgot to tell you about. Hotel Mountview. I would have bartered for the price, but when I saw the size of the room I was too gobsmacked. The bathroom is bigger than most of the rooms I have stayed in. It has a telly too, so I am off for a footy fix.
The room is a bit cold, so I will keep the fleece handy I think.
And that is my first day up a height in India.