Whistle Stop Tour of South India (Hampi, Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Coimbatore, Munnar, Periyar, Fort Cochin)

We've finally left Hampi and it was a happy/sad leaving. We'd met so many wonderful people, many of whom have become friends, who made our time in Goan Corner so memorable. We really hope to meet up with many of them again. But it was time to go and move on to new adventures. So, we caught the night train to Bangalore and onto Mysore. The trains in India cater for all budgets - and as it was our first night train we decided to go 2AC (the trains in India are divided into 5 classes, 1AC, 2AC, 3AC, Sleeper & Chair) which was surprisingly comfortable and we managed to get a fairly good nights sleep. We arrived in Mysore at about midday after a brief stop in Bangalore for breakfast and to say goodbye to the last of our Hampi friends. Mysore is the city of sandalwood and the main attraction is the palace. We were not overly impressed - the palace itself is very opulent (Andrew's fancy word!) and grand, but having spent some time wandering around the palace in Bangkok and having come from the ancient temples in Hampi, it really did not compare. 

Mysore Palace

Happy Us in Mysore

Next stop was the hill station of Ooty. Dating from British rule, it was established in the early 19th century as the summer headquarters of the then Madras government. Andrew had picked out a very nice guest house to stay in but we learned that the scale on the Lonely Planet maps is really not to be trusted! After walking around for well over an hour and a half with the guts of 20 kg on my back and 10 kg on my front (damn climbing gear!), I put my foot down and suggested we get a rickshaw :) The guest house was worth the wait, it was perched at the top of the hill over looking Ooty, a nice clean room (it was actually clean – not Indian clean!) with its own private garden and had plenty hot water (I felt like I was in heaven). The main attraction of Ooty is the miniature train, which is romantic in itself and the scenic views of the mountain pass are stunning. Unfortunately, the train was only running half way and instead of getting it the whole way to Mettupalayam, it stopped in Coonor where we met a German diplomat and shared a taxi the remainder of the way down. This was good though as we had the opportunity to stop and take in some of the amazing views. 

Looking out over Ooty Hills

Minature Train in Ooty Station

The journey down

The next part of the journey we did as local as possible, with local buses, which although are rickety and at best uncomfortable and crowded, they leave as soon as they fill (and with a country of population of around 1.2 billion, this happen rather quickly!). From Mettupalayam we got a bus to Coimbatore and a rickshaw across town where we stayed the night. The following morning we got a bus to Uddamalpet and from there a bus to Munnar. Munnar is a sea of luscious tea plantations, hill upon hill of rolling spongy carpet. We spent a good long morning just wandering around high up in the hills away from the hustle and bustle of the local town and sound of horns.

See spongy carpet :)

Spongy Munnar Tea Plantations

As our time in India was rapidly running out (more quickly than we'd realised... somewhere we lost a day thinking that Monday was Sunday! - but luckily figured that one out before trains and planes were missed!) we decided to get a taxi from Munnar to Periyar. In the grand scheme of things the taxi ride was reasonably cheap, only about 40 Euro, but considering the same journey on local buses would have cost no more than 2 Euro each it was a bit extravagant, but so much more comfortable and quicker. Periyar is a wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats. We found a quaint little castle like guest house to stay in that is furnished in antique furniture. In the hope of spotting some tigers (wishful thinking!) we got up early and joined a early morning nature walk. Unfortunately, no elephants or tigers, however we did see some bison, wild boar, mongoose, saba deer, monkeys, an array of birds (kingfisher, storks, herons and woodpeckers) and an awful lot of poo (very large very fresh elephant poo, porcupine poo, sloth bear poo... and a monkey almost poo'ed on us!). The highlight of the day, however, was on the boat trip later in the evening when we saw a herd of elephants grazing in the wild, it was beautiful!! 

Early Morning Nature Walk

Beautiful Wild Elephants in Periyar Wildlife Reverse

We followed our day in nature with a day on the bike, my idea I will admit, though maybe not my best idea in the world, I will also admit. Indian bicycles are not by any means equal to either of our bikes at home (but at least they had brakes unlike our previous attempt at a bike ride in Hampi). The tires were so bald that the bike would slide even when I was standing still. They had extremely "weird" geometry, my feet could barely touch the ground, no gears and extremely heavy which made the uphills fun as we'd to push them. Anyway it allowed us get out of town on our and for a bit of “fresh air” and countryside. 

Tea Plantation Pickers in Periyar

From Kumily we headed straight for Fort Cochin, which is a lovely little peninsular town just off the coast of Erunakulam. There is not much to see and do here, but its quiet and peaceful (relatively speaking) and has a few really good places to eat. The highlight, tourist wise, are the Chineese fishing nets along the waterfront and it is the gateway to the "backwaters" which hopefully we will experience tomorrow - todays attempt failed miserably when the tour we booked on failed to pick us up. Ready and posed for a fight to get our money back we were pleasantly surprised when the lady we booked with was so apologetic and gave us an immediate refund. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a little more success! 

Chinese Fishing Nets in Fort Cochin