Ooty and Mudumalai

For a few days we escaped the noise, pollution and chaos of Coimbatore and headed to the Nilgiris Mountains. We went to Ooty, a place full of rolling hills covered with tea plantations and eucalyptus trees. By car, it takes about 4 hours from the city to get there. 

The colorful houses and rolling hills of Ooty

As we began to climb the mountain, I hopped on the back of his nephew's motorcycle, which was quite the thrill. Once we arrived, we had a nice lunch at Nahar Restaurant with some of Senthil's family.

@ the Nahar Restaurant

After lunch we headed to Ooty lake, and rented paddle boats to explore the lake. That night, the family headed back to the city, and we stayed for two nights at Hotel Lakeview (Lake view meaning just a small portion of the lake is visible in the most expensive rooms). We decided it wasn't necessary to have one of these "lake view rooms", but having a fireplace certainly was =) It seemed kind of silly with it being the middle of September and all, but when you are used to 95 degree weather with 95 percent humidity most of the time, nights below 50 degrees are certainly enjoyed by a fire place :)

one of the view points in Ooty. It was a bit cloudy.

We spent two days walking around the hilly terrain, soaking in the misty mountains, exploring the wooded paths, and driving to the top of view points.

A street side vendor selling carrots. Since we were her first customer she said a little prayer after selling to us.

Our next stop was Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. At this point of the trip we paid for someone to drive Senthil's car, so that we can enjoy watching the wildlife together. From Ooty, we headed down the mountain along the 38 hairpin road to the dry valley below.

Monkeys raiding the dumpsters

When we arrived we took a 45 minute safari on a bus. We saw many spotted dear, a large herd of gaur (Indian bison), monkeys, peacocks, boar, and one elephant in the distance.

Indian bison

The deer along side the road are not bothered by the people

 Later that night, our driver drove us around where we saw at least a dozen elephants along side the road  throughout the drive. It was night time, so we weren't allowed to take any pictures. We also saw a cheetah which took its good ole' time walking by our car before heading into the jungle.

In the town of Mudumalai

That night we stayed in the Hornbill Resort. I knew it was going to be a great place to stay just based on the drive there. The deeper we drove off the beaten path, the less prevalent the signs for the other resorts came. There was never even a sign for this resort until the very end where it was just a sign of a bird (a horn bill) with an arrow. We arrived at this cute little place full of bamboo and colorful birds.

The tree house where we stayed

We were greeted by their dog (we later learned the other dogs were sadly eaten by leopards) and the wonderful owners. We stayed in a tree top house which was a fun experience despite feeling like it was going to blow over with every gust of wind. Also, the whole place shook every time someone walked up the steps, so it was nice to have the place to ourselves. It was a relaxing stay; the hollowness of the bamboo creating flute like music and the rustling of the bamboo leaves creates for a very zen like atmosphere.

An afternoon siesta

 The whole place in itself is peaceful; lying here in the hammock watching the sunlight dance it's way in between the bamboo leaves. Birds of all colors (blues, reds, yellows, etc.) fly from one branch to another. Butterflies dash about on the breeze, not seeming to be going in any one direction.

Hiking through the villages and mountains of Mudumalai

It's moments like these that take you to such a deep state of peace. It's moments like these where you feel so connected, living in unity with everything around you. The monkeys that swing from branch to branch, the cheetah that could essentially tare you to pieces, the elephants standing along side the road eating grass. You feel a part of you is in them; feeling interconnected and compassionate towards everything in life. You are not part of the universe, you are the universe.

A peacock crossing the road. The peacock is the national bird of Indian, so you see many in the wild.

The following day we took a hike up the mountain. We went with a few local tribal people (tribal is the term they use here for indigenous populations). As there is no clear path, we spent a lot of the hike bushwhacking and climbing rocks while keeping a close out eye for any wild animals. Near the end of the hike we did see a dhole (a wild dog), which was running towards us until we put a stick up. That was quite the adrenaline rush.

This is the house of one of the guides from our hike

Next stop: The backwaters of Kerala