The Nilgiris Mountain Railway

After just a day and a half in Cochin I was ready to leave. It was to hot, too humid, and it was way too touristy. It was nice spending my time there with Mark--having the same conversation with Indian teenagers over and over again gets a little repetitive! But, things got wierd between Mark and me on the last night when he asked me if I wanted to keep things platonic. When I said yes, he got really embarrased and started acting really insecure. Oh well, whatever. We went our seperate ways; I headed back inland for the hills and he went south.

I only made it as far as Mettupalayam where I stayed for the night. Thismorning I caught the Nilgiris Mountian Railway to Ooty. I showed up to the train station without making a reservation figuring I could just hop on and buy a ticket once onboard. Wrong. The train was jam-packed by the time I arrived, but I managed to squeeze myself on and wedge myself amongst a group of boys all wearing soccer jerseys. Because I didn't have a ticket, I wasn't supposed to be onboard, and risked a hefty fine if I got caught. But luckily I never got questioned. Before too long I was chatting with the soccer team, singing Tamil and American folk songs, and sharing snacks. I even got to rest my legs after two hours of standing when one of the boys insisted that I take his seat.

The Nilgiris Mountain Railway is Asia's longest meter-gauge railway. Over the course of 45km it traveses some fo the most treacherous and spectacular terrain ever covered by rail. The railway was started in 1891 by the British to transport supplies to an ammunition factory in Ooty, but today carries tourists and railway buffs from Mettupalayam up to Ooty. The 45km took 5 hours to cover...that should give you an idea of truly how steep the terrain was and how slowly the train clawed its way up the mountain!