Coonoor to Mysore

Coonoor - Jan 28 & 29

 We left the warm weather of the coast and started our climb into the cooler hills, or Ghats, which run down the spine of Southern India.  After a long drive, we arrived at the Kurumba Village Resort, which was actually a few miles outside Coonoor. The resort was built on the side of a a valley and consisted of individual bungalows, with the reception and restaurant at the top and the bungalows along a footpath leading to the valley floor.

 When we arrived, we were allocated a bungalow near the bottom of the valley, with a pretty view of the river and a small waterfall, but Kristine threw a small wobbly about the climb and after a few minutes we were given another, larger bungalow nearer the top. The poor luggage guy had to carry all our luggage back up the hill.

Although it was a very pretty spot, there wasn't much to do and we didn't have internet, but it did give us a chance to catch up on our reading. We would have gone for a walk, but the hotel told us that there were wild elephants nearby and we shouldn't leave the property !

Ooty Jan 30 to Feb 2

 The journey to Ooty on the miniature train is spectacular, if a little cramped. There is only one train a day, so we left the hotel at 5:45am for a 7:10am departure. When we arrived at the train station it was pouring with rain and it turned out we didn't have reserved seats, but fortunately we managed to find seats in the unreserved section. This is one of a small number of trains in India which is still steam powered, which made it all the more exciting. 

Hills and valleys:

 and wild flowers along the side of the tracks:

 and waterfalls on both sides of the train:

Ooty was once South India's most famous hill station and was the seat of the Madras government during the British Raj. It's lost most of it's colonial charm since then and now looks like any other busy and overdeveloped town.

While in Ooty, we stayed at a fairly modern hotel, the Fortune Sullivan Court, and although the days were warm and sunny, once the sun went down, it got quite cold and the hotel wasn't really designed for cold weather, so we were a little chilly. In addition, Paul had a touch of flu, or a cold or something, so he spent a day in bed and even had a doctor check him out, but she didn't seem to think he was seriously ill. And the housecall only cost $12.00 !

 So the next day, we took a quick tour of Ooty. First the Botanical Gardens. Although they were very pretty, it was still very early in the season and most of the bedding plants were still missing.

 Then on to St Stephens Church, built in 1829

 We liked the name of the founder:

And the rather understated interior of the church:

Wayanad Feb 3 to Feb 6

 Wayanad is a district within Kerala which includes some very pretty countryside and is obviously a popular resort area for locals from the major cities. We stayed at "My Garden of Eden" for three nights, a small retreat contained within a working plantation. There are only seven cottages and they are built on the steep sides of a deep valley with a river running along the bottom. 

On our second day, we took a tour of the "local" attractions, which turned out  to be a couple of manmade lakes, but they were a lot further away than we had anticipated and we spent most of the day in the car.

The next day, we had planned to stay around the resort all day, but we were persuaded that a nearby waterfall was worth visiting and indeed it was. It was actually a double waterfall and we walked down the side to get the best view.

We spent the morning at the waterfall and then relaxed back at the hotel for the rest of the day.

Bandiphur Feb 6 to Feb 8

 As we left the resort in Wayanad, we passed through a small village just down the road and celebrations were in full swing. Apparently, it was a Muslin Festival and the whole village was out in force. Many of the men and boys were parading through the village and from time to time would stop and a group of young boys would perform a dance.

   One group would  stop and dance

There were several more dance groups behind this one, but we decided we couldn't see all of them and set off on our journey to Bandiphur.

Bandiphur is actually a Tiger Reserve, something like a National Park, I suppose, but they don't call it that. We stayed at WindflowerTusker Resorts, which was on the edge of the reserve. As in other places we had stayed, the accommodation consisted of individual cottages, in this case clustered around a central copse of trees.

The main reason for being in Bandiphur is to go out into the reserve on "safaris" in four wheel vehicles, much as we had done in Africa some years ago and the animal eveyone comes to see is the tiger - it is a tiger reserve after all. However, we didn't get to see tigers or leopards, the animals we most wanted to see. We actually went out three times (two evenings and one chilly, damp morning) but no luck. We did see elephants on one trip but that turned out to the highlight of the stay. There were other animals to be seen, however.

  We saw:

But no tigers !

So after three very pleasant days, we packed up - again - and moved on to our next stop - Mysore.

Mysore - Feb 8 to Feb 11

It's only a short drive from Bandiphur to Mysore but our driver, Sreeni, who we hadn't seen for the three days when we were in Bandiphur, surprised us by announcing that he had a badly infected leg and needed to return home to Kochi. So after we arrived in Mysore, we said our goodbyes and Sreeni took off - leaving us in Mysore with the promise that another driver would meet us the next morning.

In Mysore, we stayed at the Windflower Resort, which was very close to the racecourse and the zoo.

We even played a game of outdoor chess at the hotel, which was unusual for us - we don't usually play chess

Next day, with a new driver, Parveen (I think that's how it's spelt !) and a new car, we set off to see Mysore. Our first stop was the colorful Devaraja Fruit and Vegetable  Market, which has a lot going on.

Next stop was the top of Chamundi Hill. It was rather misty so we didn't get the views we were hoping for. At the top of the hill are two temples, one of which, the Sri Chamundeswari Temple is the most popular and impressive

The next stop on our busy day was outside Mysore at the Summer Palace of Tipu Sultan. Tipu Sultan was another local ruler, a Muslin (hence "Sultan") who allied himself with the  French against the British, with some initial success. However, in due course the British  returned and killed Tipu Sultan a few miles away in 1799. His main palace was totally destroyed but his summer palace survives. Interestingly, the British were led by  Arthur Wellesley who later became The Duke of Welington who beat Napoleon at Waterloo.

Our next stop was the Maharaja's Palace, designed by an Irish architect, Henry Irwin and built in 1912 at enormous expense. The Maharaja (literally "great king")  ruled the area and retained his power until 1971 when Indira Ghandi stripped all the Maharajas of their power and most of their wealth. 

No photographs were allowed inside the palace, but it was as opulent as the exterior might suggest

Our last stop on the way back to the hotel was originally the British Resident's house (rather like a local embassy in it's day) which is now a guest house for visiting government officials and guests. Looks a little like The White House to me but the books say it's built in "Tuscan Doric" style ! 

Next day, we headed out without a tour guide to see a few things on our own. We stopped briefly at St Philomena's Church, but couldn't take pictures inside. It was built between 1933 and 1941 in neo-Gothic style and is one of the largest in India

Kris wanted to buy some silk scarves so we headed back to the main shopping area. We saw a lot of scarves !

Then off to the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel for lunch. It used to be a Maharaja's Palace, but is now a rather grand hotel. 

 And then our final stop for the day, the Mysore Zoo. The tigers were having an afternoon siesta and we didn't get to see them, but some of the other animals put on quite a show for us - especially the lions.

But the birds weren't paying any attention. They were too busy preening themselves.

And after all that excitement, we headed back to the hotel. Next stop  (and a new page in the blog ) - Hassan.