We're on the Road to Ooty

Must be sung to the tune used by Crosby and Hope in their old Road movies. Too young to know them? Sorry.

Our Magnificant 7 have been dying to get us out of the city, to see more of their beautiful country. Now that KJ has settled in, we decided to sample some of the close to Bangalore sights. Ramesh drove us to Ooty today. This is a 7 hour drive. Why 7 hours? The road. You will not believe what an experience it would be to drive this route. Fortunately, Ramesh is unflappable. He has driven up here often and knows the ins and outs of the route. Some of the road is free and open. It is amazing after the heavy traffic of the city to speed through the country-side. Lots of rice paddies, sugar cane fields and orchards. Lots (but many fewer) people going about their daily lives.
At one point we saw 20 or 30 women walking down the street, looking beautiful in their saris. Ramesh said they were going to work or school. They walk purposefully, but it's difficult to see exactly where that number of people would be going. We saw women washing their saris, at one point I saw 6 saris, in any little body of water, then lying them out on the ground. KJ and I decided that it would be easier to brush off the dirt when they are dried.

Then the road dwindles down to one lane. The Indians are always polite, even when battling for space on the road. I asked Ramesh if they never wanted to use a hand gesture to express their feelings about a road hog. This did not compute. It may be up to me to do the obscene, but I will control myself. But this is not the worst part of the road. If finally is filled with switch backs. Ramesh sounds his horn at every turn, alerting speeders coming down from our mountain destination.

Along the way we drove through Bandipur, a wild animal preserve. We see only deer and little monkeys and one tamed elephant deep in the wood. This is okay. A few tigers live in the woods and you can see elephants walking across the road if you drive late at night. Probably won't happen. We stopped a bit later and saw some monkeys up close. KJ got some great shots. Mine were more timid. So happy that KJ the bold is here.

Ooty is at the top of the mountain. It is so peaceful and beautiful. And it started to rain the moment we got into town. That was no problem. Ramesh wanted to show us some of the sights, but at this point we wanted to get into the hotel. The sights are primarily outside. Want to go boating? Um, in the rain? Not so much so. Want to visit the rose garden? Um, probably not. The joy of being away from the city in the midst of such beauty was good enough for us. And we are going to visit a tea plantation early tomorrow morning. The hotel is a Holiday Inn. It is set at the top of one of the hills. I will take more pictures of my view tomorrow morning. And I will post many of the pictures on Monday.
For now, good night from the peace and beauty of Ooty.