Ramesh took us to the train station at 8:30 for the historic train to Coonoor. Karen wouldn't ride the train, so I was alone. And what a wimp. There were hundreds of people queueing for a ticket and then standing in line for first come, first served seating. I told Ramesh I wouldn't go. He paid some money and got an assigned seat for me. All the station hands took pity on this pathetic woman and got her where she should be. KJ rode up the hill with Ramesh.
Do you know that I have blond hair and am white and am pretty darn big (and obviously from out of country?) I don't know which of these things catches people's fancy here. First thing I had to do was take a picture with a lovely family. This is not the first time this has happened, nor was it the last today. I had my picture taken an additional 5 times today. The fact that I would never see those pictures was comforting. The family insisted that I wear my big white hat. Yep, chic.The ride was amazing. I used up my camera battery taking pictures of the tea plantations and
farms houses and people along the way. Oh my, it was amazing. Pictures here after I get home after midnight tomorrow and load them to the laptop. I also took a "movie" of the people yelling in the tunnel. The one I got was pretty mild compared to the first. The woman behind me just screamed. I guess it's a tradition because bridges were sort of an escalating mild whoop. So I had assigned seating, but not all people in the car had assigned seating. Not all in the car had seating. That had been my concern. Some sat 3 to a seat. My seat partners kept switching so they could slyly snap a picture. I guess that is more than 5 times.
KJ and Ramesh were waiting for me and we went to the Dolphin's Nose photo opportunity site. Oh, the roads. Single lane, pot holed (big), rutted. Ramesh was amazing. I have no pictures of this, but KJ will give me some of hers. This was worth the trip. Lots of pictures with people.
Then we stopped at a tea plantation. The guide was the driver from another car. His father used to work there. Who knew. He seemed knowledgeable, but I only caught every 3rd word. We drank tea afterwards and two of my new best friends (photo op) emerged from the tea factory. We had a nice chat and then we bought tea.
Ramesh suggested we go to the highest mountain by Ooty. It was okay. More pictures with strangers, pretty scenery, no pictures taken by me. But, man, did I need a restroom. We overpaid (4 rupees instead of 2) and got to squat for the first time. Have I mentioned my arthritic knees. They are the oldest part of my body. Squat. Modified squat. A plea to the gods to have all that needed to be in the hole go into the hole and no place else. Prayer works. Happy camera wasn't working, or you would be seeing a picture of that hole pre-Peggy. Women rushed in after me to make sure I hadn't done anything sacreligious. Didn't they know I was praying? And I know how to pour water from the faucet down a hole.
So, it was off to Mysore to see the lights at the Palace. It was pretty late to start out. Bad road, switchbacks, bad road, then open highway. But wait... there's more. Seems there was a traffic death recently on the Mysore Highway so residents decided to close the road. We were detoured into a town with no futher instructions on how to proceed around the problem. Sorry, all of India. All I could think of was a detour with the cars, buses, motorcycles, and bicycles being driven off a cliff. Everyone was helpfulish, but how did we know for sure? I don't know how long it took, but we eventually found the way out of this mazelike village. We saw bunches of pigs, goats, cows, horses, bicycles; they all knew where they were going. Home.
When we got to Mysore, I was exhausted from the stress. The spot in front of the palace was jammed with people. I don't do well with people jams, even if I've had a perfectly calm day. Even if I've had lunch. We were okay with no lunch until we got to the hotel. Then it was all about food. And beer.
When we were leaving the tea factory, we saw an altar to the god Ganesh. He is the elephant god. I always call him Ramesh. So our driver Ramesh became our god Ramesh. He took care of us always. He has become a friend. When we were stuck in the village behind a truck that wouldn't move and all the villagers had to come see the big blond listening to her Ipod, he got out of the car and went to the trucks. I didn't see what he did, but soon the trucks parted and we moved on. I don't mean to be flip about a Hindu diety, but I'm pretty flip about a lot of things. This would have been a lousy day without Ramesh to guide us and to part the trucks. As it was, I thank the gods that we got to see all we saw. This is one beautiful country, filled with amazing people and sights.
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