My motivation for getting me through the busy weekdays at work was that I could imagine myself in the calm and serene hills of Nilgiris during the weekend. Taking the scenic train ride through the Nilgiri hills was something on my bucket list.
It was Friday! The day had come.I packed my clothes,umbrella,power bank,updated my playlist on phone and was all set to escape from Bangalore to the Niligirs. I had my favorite travel partner with me on this journey.
Since the plan was made last minute, took a KSRTC bus from Majestic to Ooty through Mysore.
It was night journey and with every hour passing,I could feel the air getting colder and myself disconnecting from the usual hustle-bustle. I could see the tall trees of the Bandipur National forest on the way, and some homes in between them.
It was early morning when I woke up, and it was all misty on the windows.Peeping through it I could see the landscape of Ooty.
Toy Train: Udhagamandalam to Coonoor
There was lot of spare time for the train ride as we reached early. Took a stroll in the city, had hot steaming breakfast and tea from local stalls. Shops stared opening early in the morning so I checked off Shopping from the to-do list.
The railway station itself is a not to miss place. It looks as if it has come straight from a children's story book. This UNESCO heritage site with blue painted seats, the steam train model and the museum in the station was a delight.
Finally after the wait, train arrived and it was majestic by itself. Every tourist gleamed with joy at this moment ,especially the children.
The journey started and it was splendid. The different landscapes of the Nilgiri hills- trees, homes,lakes, bridges,tunnels and what all!
I was counting the number of tunnels and arrived at 16 being the count but it was debatable as I heard other passengers saying 14,15 and even 20.
The destination was itself a beauty in itself but I didn't want the ride to end. It was that mesmerizing. Coonoor railway station also is a UNESCO heritage site and isn't less of beauty.
The trip goal was to relax and hence I decided to book the stay in between the tea estates. From the station, we headed straight to Stanley park, where we were staying.
Lazy day in!
All that was on the itinerary was to relax,enjoy the weather and take a walk in the nearby tea gardens. It wascloudy and the weather was just incredible. Perfect for a 'lazy day in'!
Exploring Coonoor
The next day we woke up early, hoping to catch the sun-rise and do some of the sight-seeing. To our bad luck, the sun was playing peek-a-boo and we couldn't see the sunrise. But the weather was just lovely and made up for all the loss.
For sightseeing we called an auto-rickshaw. There was mist everywhere even in the afternoon but that made the landscapes more beautiful. We did miss a lot of view points as nothing was visible but more than the places I was enjoying the roads more than the tourist spots.
We visited the Dolphin's nose, Lamb's rock and Sim's Park. We also saw the process of oil making,tasted varieties of tea for free from a store on the way. We visited a chocolate store where we witnessed chocolate making process,tasted chocolates and even bought some chocolates for the journey.
It was raining by the end of the day and was feeling smart for packing umbrella. Enjoyed the rain by sitting in the sheds inside Sim's park having conversation with my friend and anything and everything(as usual).
A feeling of 'Smonday' started creeping in. We stared our journey towards the bus stand early as the locals warned us about roaming of Bison during late in the evenings. We had our dinner and waited at the bus stop for our journey back to Bangalore. And what is real is 'post travel depression' but all I thought was next destination on my bucket list; and that did bring a bit of relief.
Checked off Toy train ride from my list! #BucketList2019 ????