Hill stations in South India

3/2-3/12

We visited two of the major hill stations in Southern India, Kodaikanal and Ooty (Ootacamund). One of them was great, the other not so much.

Just getting away from Tiruchirapalli we had a great experience. Wandering around the bus station, unable to find the right bus, ticket counter, or anything of use, we got waved into the station manager's office and treated to tea and a long chat about marriage and romance.

Since we always claimed to be married to avoid hassle a lot of Indians were interested in our 'love marriage', it being different from the usual 'marriage' arranged by relatives. In the station manager's case he only saw his bride-to-be for 2 minutes before their wedding. His colleague's childhood love was married off to another guy, which seemed a funny thing for a middle-aged married man to be talking about with strangers.

They seemed totally unconcerned about actually getting us on a bus, so eventually with only five minutes left before departure we excused ourselves from the office and one of the khaki-shirted guys showed which one to get on.

After a very scenic ride up the mountains and a nervous moment at a rest stop when the bus started rolling forwards with Hozumi nowhere to be seen we arrived in Kodaikanal.

A lugubrious tall old guy with a practised, long stride followed us from the bus station and dissuaded us from checking out the guidebook accommodation. Instead I followed him around to some cheaper lodging, eventually settling on a place with a fantastic view, but only limited lukewarm water between 6 and 8am.

Freezing cold nights, even with our sleeping bags and all the blankets! And the lugubrious old guy kept buzzing us to ask if we wanted to go trekking, but with Hozumi down with fever she was in no state for long treks. Instead we went for walks around the lake and town, ate momos in the Tibetan restaurant and relaxed while wrapped up in blankets.

 Funny place for an advertisement.

I did go on one longer hike by myself, to see 'Pillar Rock', but I forgot the camera. Cars and bikes rolling downhill while I hiked up it invariably had their engines switched off to save on fuel. I saw tourists being ferried around in jeeps and taxis dropped off at dull-looking spots like the pine forest I passed, which was literally a pine forest. Must be unusual in India. After about 7 kilometres a man with his son offered me a lift. The conversation went something like this:

"What god do you belong to?"
"I don't, sorry, I'm not religious."
"You are not a Christian?"
"No."
"I am a Christian."
...
"When you look around at this wonderful world God has given us do you not wish to thank him for this wonderful world he has given us?"
"It is indeed a wonderful world."
...
...
"Jesus says we must be kind to one another. That is why I am being kind to everyone and meeting you like this."
"Thank you, you're very kind."
...
...

He later picked up his family and I steered the conversation to his business, which didn't help the awkward silences, but was less confrontational. In India you can 'belong to' any god you like, but people get a bit freaked out by atheists, especially those that assume all white people are Christian!

Pillar rock itself was OK, very misty. Families and photographers flocked to it whenever the clouds cleared enough to take pictures.

I met and walked around a few more totally nondescript sites with half-a-dozen students, a talkative guy from Delhi and his friends from Tamil Nadu. They said the sites had some religious significance which was lost on me.

Starting to walk back another car stopped and despite the small car being squashed full of large guys they offered me a lift back to town that I gladly accepted. Lots of photo-taking.

Lots of marriages going on in town. Big banners featuring film stars, doorways fringed with palm leaves and loud music everywhere.

We saw a cricket game on the best ground ever. Washing lines, a stream, grazing llama and some very publicly drunk Indians.

We heard from a private bus company that the more direct road to Ooty was blocked by a landslide, but instead of selling us the alternative route that just encouraged me to try out the landslide. Very glad we did. Only downside was that when we got off the first bus before the ruined road section Hozumi was very nearly crushed back into the bus. Her backpack sandwiched between people surging onto the bus and her satchel dragged behind and strangling her. Luckily some women pulled and pushed her out of the crush.

The second bus waiting beyond the landslide took us Palani, where we caught a third to Coimbatore, a fourth to the 'new' bus stand in Coimbatore where a hyper-aggressive conductor screamed intelligibly at everyone, and finally a fifth bus to Coonoor.

Three nights at the unfriendly Venketeshwara hotel with the really friendly restaurant then we caught the single-gauge Nilgiri mountain train to Ooty. A fancy rack and pinion system enables the old steam trains to slowly wind their way up the steep gradient. Very picturesque. Before we even set off, though, a gaggle of girls wanted their picture taken with the beautiful Hozumi.

Despite being much more famous, Ooty wasn't as nice as Kodaikanal, but did have a pleasant botanical park. We asked a bunch of guys watching TV in a bookshop if they had any in Japanese, to which they responded "You are Japan? Look, Japan!" and we saw the first images of the tsunami wrecking the North East coast.

We contacted friends and family easily enough, but couldn't reach, and still can't, the Ito family in Sendai. A forlorn hope, but we hope they're OK.