The Niligiri mountain railway train between Ooty and Coonoor takes 45 mins through the tea plantations and tribal villages. It was built in 1886 and the Ooty – Coonoor link completed in 1908. Very little has changed since this time – hard wooden carriage seats …. and a bargain of a ride at 3Rs. At it’s steepest there is a gradient of 1:12, Ooty is 7728 ft above sea level.
We are joined in our carriage by a group of women from Bombay they tell us on a girls holiday…they are dressed in heavy scarves & thick shawls matching their outfits. They are a jolly bunch, shrieking and giggling when we go into a tunnel when one of them is leaning out the window to take a photo…. There is some discussion as to whether they are with a religious group….
We cross several National Park and our driver registers and pays the van entry fee. Often at these stops, the monkeys gather to peer in at our windows and we have to be careful as they jump on the roof and we even had one trying to slide back the window…
Boy were we glad to arrive at Tall Trees, we awake to the sounds of birdsong a really beautiful setting in amongst the tea plants.
Location:Ooty – Connoor – Munnar 270km’s
