Ooty-liscious

Just to the north of Coonoor is India's "most famous hill station", Ooty. The official name for Ooty is Udhagamandalam. Like most Indian towns it seems, Ooty also has a British name that is no longer official but everyone still uses. For Ooty, that name is Ootacamund. Ooty it is.

Ooty is on a windy road further up into the Nilgiri Hills. The trip only takes about 45 minutes, assuming no mudslides or stubborn livestock on the road. Like anything in India, it's still a bit of an adventure as your driver navigates the many obstacles of Indian driving while maintaining an adequate safety buffer of sixteen inches from the edge of the road and a 400 foot roll to your excruciating death at the bottom of the hillside.

Ooty used to be a swanky British hill resort. While the setting is still beautiful, the city itself has grown into a fairly typical bustling Indian urban area. Despite that, Ooty is a nice break from the Wellington area and has a few additional shops and restaurants not available further down in the Hills.

Jeff, Jazna and Jose from Chile, me, and Alex from the UK at the Ooty Botanical Gardens