T-Bird checks out the Blue Hills

Here are some pics of the trip that T-Bird, Blandine and I took to the Nilgiris - No, not the supermarket of that name for the weekly shopping - the *real* Nilgiris - the 'Blue Hills'... This was the approximate route we took:   Mysore, Bandipur, Ooty, Conoor, Sultan Battery and Wayanad. Also a couple of pics of a trip to Coorg around the same time.

A Nilgiri Tea Plantation

T-Bird checking out a tea plantation. No, T-Bird doesn't drink the stuff, preferring for some reason  refined hydrocarbons and motor oil - but T-Bird doesn't mind looking at plantations of the stuff. Very soothing, says  T-Bird.

The hotel where we stayed in Coorg - the Green Hills Estate. A lovely old heritage building in the midst of a tea plantation. It used to belong to the Dewan of the Coorg Royal Family. Verry Old World  - read fungus on the ceiling and rickety grand four-poster beds that threaten to fall apart if you try monkey business. Just slightly done up to cater to the modern tourist - it's been left largely in the state it might have been back in the days when men were mustachioed. Transports you to another time.

T-Bird checking out the room where we stayed at the above mentioned hotel. T-Bird approved. Of course, T-bird wasn't allowed in. The hotel staff would have none of it, even though there was lots of room for T-Bird on the four-poster bed. But T-Bird didn't mind, preferring the open air. A nice change from the stuffy garage you usually shove me into, said T-Bird

A side-benefit of biking to Ooty is that you get to bike right across Bandipur  National Park, and see  our dumb chums right up close - it isn't quite the same if you're in a car or a bus. Here are some friendly spotted deer.

And here is a merry elephant, partaking of the midday meal. He went on eating, flapping us a courteous ear. We politely declined to join him, but I did feed on a bar of Snickers while Blandine took a long video of the lunch. No, I didn't drop the wrapper there - I took it along. We are eco-friendly travelers, we are.

Transportation, Bandipur style. 

An attractive spur of rock that looks rather like the rampart of a castle - on the way down the hill from Ooty. 

Same thing, another shot

An indescribably cute farmers cottage in Coorg. Somehow the cuteness doesn't fully come out in the picture,  but believe me, it was CUTE.

Another heritage hotel - this time in Ooty. King's Cliff, it is called, a former British planter's mansion. Blandine has a thing for heritage hotel. This one is more done-up than the one we stayed at in Coorg. More posh, more modernized. But it still has a distinct old-world charm, and the restaurant is amazing.

A Nilgiri Langur - snapped by Blandine on the way up the hill to Ooty.  A cousin of the Gray Langur found in many parts of India. Blandine has a thing for monkeys. Is that why she likes me?

A multi-hued plantation workers village - on the route from Ooty to  Conoor. Creates a lovely splash of color on the green hills. 

Another plantation - but not in the Nilgiris. This was on the way down  from Ooty,  on the way  to Sultan Battery. What was memorable about this particular plantation was that there was a tea factory attached to the plantation, and right outside it was a little tea shop where the workers have their tea - and the glass of tea we got there was simply the best I've ever tasted in my life. Delicately perfumed and full of flavor. Obviously, this was one chaiwallah who knew to make tea, and didn't murder it the way his brethren usually do. And possibly it was because this was tea fresh from the factory - just off the dryer. I checked out the name of the estate - it's a part of Parry's Estates and that tea gets into the Parry's brand of tea. Couldn't find it in Bangalore, unfortunately.
By the way Sultan Battery: yes, that really is the name of a town in Kerala. It used to be Tipu Sultan's armory and battery . It's supposed to be an historical town, but we didn't have time to check it out - T-Bird wanted to keep moving. It was on the route back to Bangalore from Ooty, via the Wayanad forests. I didn't want to go back via Bandipur - T-Bird hates taking the same route back.

T-Bird and Blandine taking a break along the way - the blue hills in the background.