I write this post sitting on the lawns of an old colonial hotel in Coonoor; a hill station and once outpost of the British Raj surrounded by tea plantations in Tamil Nadu. The air is fresh and clear, the climate akin to a perfect English Summer's day, the landscape gloriously verdant and rolling, and the drink of choice is tea. Unsurprisingly given these attributes, a trip to the Nilgiri hills has been high on my priority list for some time, and it has not disappointed me.
Relaxing with a brew while Phil is out running
The view from my table.
Shortly after uploading the photographs above, Phil returned from his run which led to an inevitable urgency to go inside for breakfast, and we're now back in Mumbai which feels like a world away from Coonoor.
It was Indian Independence Day on Friday (and a day off work) and we travelled to the Nilgiri Hills for a long weekend in a cool(er) climate. It's a two hour flight from Mumbai to Coimbatore, where we stayed on Thursday night, before driving up into the hills on Friday morning.
The biggest hill station in the Nilgiris is Ooty, which sits 8000ft above sea level and is famous for the narrow gauge steam train which meanders from the base of the hill up to the town. We decided not to stay in Ooty itself on the basis that Coonoor looked quieter and less spoiled by mass tourism, but went to have a look on Friday with the plan to catch the 2pm steam train back down the mountain from Ooty to Coonoor. Unfortunately, the waiting list for the train didn't go down quite fast enough so we missed out on this journey, a good reason to return in future!
In Ooty, we visited a tea factory and tea museum, which was full of tourists ignoring the interesting exhibits and buying lots of tea. I loved watching the tea making process; from the collection and drying of the leafs, then the CTC (Crush, Turn & Curl) process, followed by some spinning, heating, general oxidising and, finally, packaging and drinking. The process in itself is very simple and fairly old fashioned - I've learned a lot about tea over the weekend.
We drove up to Doddabetta Peak, the highest peak in the Nilgiris, though underestimated the extreme nature of the traffic on Independence Day in an area with narrow roads and a large number of buses and oversized tourist vehicles. We couldn't see much from the peak but it was all very jolly with families enjoying a trip out to celebrate the holiday. After a visit to the Rose Garden, Lake (artificial) and a super-size biryani lunch, our driver hurtled back down the winding roads to drop us at our hotel in Coonoor.
Coonoor is the second largest hill station in The Nilgiris and is famous for its tea plantations. We stayed in a hotel which used to be a vicarage; and now sits next to the quaint church in a picturesque corner of Coonoor. The hotel is the first time I have been in India and could have easily believed that I was in an English country garden in summer. The hotel's history in itself is interesting; it was converted into a club / hotel in the late 19th century although Indians were not admitted unless they were royalty or similarly esteemed, a worryingly familiar story which doesn't give me great pride in my country...
We were expecting a wet and misty weekend in the monsoon but discovered that Ooty and Coonoor, despite being only 20km apart, have different weather patterns and only Ooty gets the early monsoon. Coonoor will be dry(ish) until October.
We spent Saturday exploring the Coonoor area including Sims Park, a beautifully kept botanical garden in the town. We went for a long walk visiting a tea plantation, local village, temple complete with impish children and a popular view point called Lambs Rock. Our walk was around 20km in total and very peaceful until the last few kilometres when we hit the wall of traffic stuck on the narrow road between Coonoor and Lambs Rock which was clearly not wide enough for large tourist vehicles on both sides of the road. We strolled past the gridlocked traffic, much to the amusement of the car passengers who found it unfathomable that anyone could have walked to the view point. On this occasion, walking was a lot quicker than travelling there and back by car! We were back at the hotel in good time to catch the first session of the cricket, not a popular topic of conversation in India at the moment...
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My legs were pretty achey by the end of the day as Phil and I went for an early morning run, not usually a successful joint activity as we have different ambient speeds...Phil is convinced that I'm not trying when I'm running at a speed comfortable for me so I always end up going too fast and getting tired out which happened again here, not helped by running up a massive hill at the start of the route! On Sunday morning, I elected to read my book with a cup of tea in the sunshine instead.
On Sunday, we visited a tea plantation called Tranquilitea which produces gourmet tea and runs tea tasting sessions. We were originally told that these sessions were fully booked for the weekend, but I kept calling and the owner kindly fitted us in on Sunday. This was amazing. The plantation is perched on top of the highest peak in Coonoor and is very peaceful. We had a thorough and fascinating tea tutorial and enjoyed tasting a range of the teas produced by the plantation. I cannot recommend this experience highly enough. Anyone interested in tea should stay at Tranquilitea if possible and try to book the tea tasting session in advance if not.
Afterwards, we explored Lower Coonoor which is more like a typical Indian town; not the cleanest but full of life and quirky things to see. Phil needed fuel after a long morning run and a 100 rupee (less than £1) thali at a local pure veg restaurant did the trick.
It was Indian Independence Day on Friday (and a day off work) and we travelled to the Nilgiri Hills for a long weekend in a cool(er) climate. It's a two hour flight from Mumbai to Coimbatore, where we stayed on Thursday night, before driving up into the hills on Friday morning.
A South Indian breakfast at our hotel room in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, to get us into the southern vibe
The biggest hill station in the Nilgiris is Ooty, which sits 8000ft above sea level and is famous for the narrow gauge steam train which meanders from the base of the hill up to the town. We decided not to stay in Ooty itself on the basis that Coonoor looked quieter and less spoiled by mass tourism, but went to have a look on Friday with the plan to catch the 2pm steam train back down the mountain from Ooty to Coonoor. Unfortunately, the waiting list for the train didn't go down quite fast enough so we missed out on this journey, a good reason to return in future!
In Ooty, we visited a tea factory and tea museum, which was full of tourists ignoring the interesting exhibits and buying lots of tea. I loved watching the tea making process; from the collection and drying of the leafs, then the CTC (Crush, Turn & Curl) process, followed by some spinning, heating, general oxidising and, finally, packaging and drinking. The process in itself is very simple and fairly old fashioned - I've learned a lot about tea over the weekend.
Huge trays of tea leaves,handpicked and currently being dried by fans underneath the trays
The CTC machinery
We drove up to Doddabetta Peak, the highest peak in the Nilgiris, though underestimated the extreme nature of the traffic on Independence Day in an area with narrow roads and a large number of buses and oversized tourist vehicles. We couldn't see much from the peak but it was all very jolly with families enjoying a trip out to celebrate the holiday. After a visit to the Rose Garden, Lake (artificial) and a super-size biryani lunch, our driver hurtled back down the winding roads to drop us at our hotel in Coonoor.
One of the thousands of roses in the pretty garden, with an amazing range of names that I had no idea had been given to roses!
This highlights the importance of careful thought when selecting a bunch of roses as a gift; the recipient could have read this sign.
The "Jennifer" rose. Sadly we couldn't find a Philip rose although wikipedia tells me that a "Philippe" rose exists, and that's close enough for me.
Coonoor is the second largest hill station in The Nilgiris and is famous for its tea plantations. We stayed in a hotel which used to be a vicarage; and now sits next to the quaint church in a picturesque corner of Coonoor. The hotel is the first time I have been in India and could have easily believed that I was in an English country garden in summer. The hotel's history in itself is interesting; it was converted into a club / hotel in the late 19th century although Indians were not admitted unless they were royalty or similarly esteemed, a worryingly familiar story which doesn't give me great pride in my country...
Our hotel in Coonoor in the heart of India
We were expecting a wet and misty weekend in the monsoon but discovered that Ooty and Coonoor, despite being only 20km apart, have different weather patterns and only Ooty gets the early monsoon. Coonoor will be dry(ish) until October.
We spent Saturday exploring the Coonoor area including Sims Park, a beautifully kept botanical garden in the town. We went for a long walk visiting a tea plantation, local village, temple complete with impish children and a popular view point called Lambs Rock. Our walk was around 20km in total and very peaceful until the last few kilometres when we hit the wall of traffic stuck on the narrow road between Coonoor and Lambs Rock which was clearly not wide enough for large tourist vehicles on both sides of the road. We strolled past the gridlocked traffic, much to the amusement of the car passengers who found it unfathomable that anyone could have walked to the view point. On this occasion, walking was a lot quicker than travelling there and back by car! We were back at the hotel in good time to catch the first session of the cricket, not a popular topic of conversation in India at the moment...
Beautiful
Part of Sims Park although it's really much nicer and more impressive than this photo suggests
Highfield Tea Factory, where we had another factory tour
More hills - we couldn't get enough of them
We stumbled across a group of children playing with tyres and sticks near a temple. They were very friendly and taken with Philip as he gave them a tutorial on Google Maps on his tablet.
The ladies of the family came out and kindly fed us sweet tea and bread for lunch! This girl, Gayatri, is around 17 and was charming, with good English. She wants to study maths.
Tea pickers
Looking out over Lambs Rock
A group of boys were playing cricket outside a children's home and invited us in to bat and bowl. Phil is showing off his silky bowling skills above...
..and I did a respectable job batting below
My legs were pretty achey by the end of the day as Phil and I went for an early morning run, not usually a successful joint activity as we have different ambient speeds...Phil is convinced that I'm not trying when I'm running at a speed comfortable for me so I always end up going too fast and getting tired out which happened again here, not helped by running up a massive hill at the start of the route! On Sunday morning, I elected to read my book with a cup of tea in the sunshine instead.
Having a short break to admire the view
On Sunday, we visited a tea plantation called Tranquilitea which produces gourmet tea and runs tea tasting sessions. We were originally told that these sessions were fully booked for the weekend, but I kept calling and the owner kindly fitted us in on Sunday. This was amazing. The plantation is perched on top of the highest peak in Coonoor and is very peaceful. We had a thorough and fascinating tea tutorial and enjoyed tasting a range of the teas produced by the plantation. I cannot recommend this experience highly enough. Anyone interested in tea should stay at Tranquilitea if possible and try to book the tea tasting session in advance if not.
Loving my tea at Tranquilitea
The teas lined up ready to taste. We were tutored in the difference between flavour and body; and I now know my Silver Tips from my Pekoe, Green and Oolong.
Afterwards, we explored Lower Coonoor which is more like a typical Indian town; not the cleanest but full of life and quirky things to see. Phil needed fuel after a long morning run and a 100 rupee (less than £1) thali at a local pure veg restaurant did the trick.
Lower Coonoor - Bustling and more typically Indian than the hills
Phil's monster lunch. I had the mini thali which I think was a children's meal as it was all non-spicy and rice based, which suited me fine.
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