Scooting About Snooty Ooty

"L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you can adore"

L-O-V-E (1965) by Nat King Cole

I hate to inflict my travel stories onto you so I'll try to keep this short and sweet.

Welcome to Ooty.

Picture this: a colonial hill station established during the time of the British Raj tucked away in the Blue Mountains of the Deccan Plateau at about 7500-feet above sea level where backwater Hindustan collided colourfully with English quaint. The temperature barely kisses 20 ºC at its most summery times but drops frequently below 10 ºC at its chilliest. Tea, pony rides and homemade chocolates seem to make up the preponderance of Ooty's industries. Purveyors of knickknacks, teahouses and cafés line the town's narrow streets and alleys, hostile to any vehicle bigger than a bicycle. It's a pedestrians' world, Ooty is. The clock is set about 50 years back in time hereabouts and the people are still ruled by the dictates of bus and train schedules. We planned to spend 4 days there. We liked it so much we stayed for a week.

A week in Ooty with my favourite backpacking partner in the whole wide world - imagine that. Sigh. Anyway, Snooty Ooty is a sort of endearing nickname the locals have for this highland province. It's short for Ootacamund but on paper, it has the official ultra-Indian name of Udhagamandalam.

Now, I'll just go right into the pictures. This is the guesthouse we lodged in. It's a homestay with a beautiful garden run by an elderly lady. I remember the huge, comfy beds and warm, hand-sewn quilts,

See if you can spot Phoeb's butt in 5 seconds or less.

And this is the lake the guesthouse overlooks,

Pretty kick-ass view, huh?

This is the chic little café where we had most of our meals and nursed many hot beverages.

Beware of mice, roaches and babies.

There was no shortage of diversity when it comes to eatables. You can easily find Western, Indian and even Chinese cuisines in Ooty,

Check out how freakishly long the grains of Basmati rice are!

This is the road to St. Stephen's Church. That is a pony's ass.

Phoebe, waiting for a bus at the outskirts of town.

One of the things I like most about Ooty is how beautiful flowers seem to grow just about everywhere,

Did you know that flowers are essentially plant gonads? Still think they are romantic?

Looking at them just makes me happy.


Are you bored yet?

Closeup!

With my final exam looming ominously in the very visible future like the sword of Damocles, I feel slightly embattled. I have this feeling that I am not living the way I'm meant to. There's nothing I'd like to do more than to just go away to someplace like Ooty to rest, relax and recuperate for a month or two, you know what I mean? But alas, life isn't so obliging at the moment.

There's a very Wonderland feel about it, don't you think?

Needs a vacation, stat,
k0k s3n w4i