Wow! The cool day breezes and the chilly nights are indeed a refreshing change after the monotonous hustle and bustle of daily city life. Ootacamund or Ooty provided a necessary diversion for my soul, which was knotted up in affairs of modern teenage city life.
26th, MAY
We bid a temporary adieu to B'lore, and set out towards the hill country. An endless journey through traffic laden streets........and almost five hours later, we rose through the pollution and met the clean environment of Ooty (that's still a relative statement!!!!)
The usual boat rides and trips to the botanical gardens followed.The water in the lake was unexceptionally filthy but the botanical gardens were unusually clean.
If this was the difference I don't know, but, every part of the lake was open to us Homo sapiens, but a lot of the gardens was not!!!
But the bright side to all this was:
Plastic/ polythene and all it's variations is banned in this hill station ......and what's more surprising is that it is actually implemented(except by ignorant visitors). So except for that 'accidentally dropped' bottle of mineral water or chocolate wrapper, this place isn't coated with plastic(again, this is a relative statement).
26th, MAY
We bid a temporary adieu to B'lore, and set out towards the hill country. An endless journey through traffic laden streets........and almost five hours later, we rose through the pollution and met the clean environment of Ooty (that's still a relative statement!!!!)
The usual boat rides and trips to the botanical gardens followed.The water in the lake was unexceptionally filthy but the botanical gardens were unusually clean.
If this was the difference I don't know, but, every part of the lake was open to us Homo sapiens, but a lot of the gardens was not!!!
But the bright side to all this was:
Plastic/ polythene and all it's variations is banned in this hill station ......and what's more surprising is that it is actually implemented(except by ignorant visitors). So except for that 'accidentally dropped' bottle of mineral water or chocolate wrapper, this place isn't coated with plastic(again, this is a relative statement).
THE TOY TRAIN
This was without doubt the best part of the entire trip. This 80 odd year old train, chugs along an ancient mountain trail leading hundreds of tourists along a magical path, revealing all of nature's assets. As steam bellows from it's belly, this friendly monster makes around four trips daily as it chugs along from Ooty to Wellington to Coonur and then onto Mettupalyam.
My journey from Ooty to Coonur left me enchanted! The pure countryside, fresh, cool air and the magic of the surroundings caste a spell on me, I was in a trance, and my mind flew to the somewhat similar stories written by Ruskin Bond about his sojourns through the Himalayan Valleys.
Thus, the Blue Mountains, very aptly christened, with frilly white clods on the top and coated with lush green grass,presented the perfect picture for the eye which was ill and sore with the city.
Ooty with all it's beauty, is the perfect example of how natural beauty can be salvaged, despite the Homo sapien having played spoil sport. Let's not just hope but also try to revive some of the beauty hidden behind the monstrous sky scrapers, fly overs and all such eye sores which surround us.
So, as long as we can let's preserve what's left of nature. Ooty may not be Mother Nature at her best but it still filled me with a rapturous thrill. Kudos to Nature!
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