The Blue Mountain Railway

Ever had the chance to ride a steam engine across lush blue and green mountains covered by tea plantations in the crisp autumn morning? It beats the sub-surface Eurostar experience and the 250km/h German ICE marathon. For the few brief hours that the iron coated snake winds its way from Mettupalayam to Conoor and Ooty, travellers genuinely feel like being transported back in time rather than up the hill towards the former British holiday resorts and tea estates. While there is little left to experience in the mountain towns in terms of the luxurious life of former colonial times, a hike along the silent, narrow roads of the Niligiri mountains offers yet another unlikely gem of this diverse nation.
[below snaps from the trainride, the latest fashion in Ooty and a hut for distilling eucalyptus oil - something of a local Turkish sauna]




Times could be better for local farmers: the market price for tea is around rs 6 per kg, and the price for pepper even less. I dare not think what the ladies picking tea leaves on the steep hills might earn for an hour’s work, but down at the commodities exchanges in cities at sea level, low prices yield an appetite for active futures speculation. But as ever, like a surprise visit to a local tea factory showed us („yes sir, welcome, the boss is back only in two hours“), life goes on at the grass roots, and mishaps are best tackled with a wide, toothless smile.
[below images from a tea factory in the hills, its green surroundings including a little temple, and a trader at Pepper Exchange in Kochi]