Udahagamandalam, Tamil Nadu

No wonder the name of this hill station is shortened to Ooty! Photos from July 2005 by Ian McAllister.

The bus from Mysore passed through a few National Parks Ooty is a hill station about 2200m. Changeable weather in the monsoon A fruit vendor on a clear afternoon A typical hillside with local and holiday homes Resting from a busy day? The scenery in town is lovely; this is on our way to the bank A squatter's settlement near our hotel Cows wander where they like Our bungalow at the YWCA Two rooms, four beds nice setting and bloody cold one night The first day was wet and very cold, the next was gorgeous Walking into town from the Y Big monsoon storm brewing hours later the weather broke Raj era hill stations often have many lovely churches Cutting the lawn in the Botanical garden with scythes Not as good as the one in Kandy but still pleasant Indian men and children tend to use the streets as toilets Rosie needed a quick sandal repair The World Heritage Train. Formerly the Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway Tea. We had a lovely 3 hour trip for US$2.50 for four people Tea pickers. The slow narrow gauge steam train offers great scenery. Nice couple in our compartment How could I resist? So shoot me! Meter gauge, steam powered, magical ride We dropped from 2200m to a few hundred We had a tea and coffee break in Hillgrove Funky wooden carriges Enjoying the rest stop Ruth grabbed a coffee Building the steam pressure up before we start off again Heading into a tunnel; see ya!