Coonoor

Ootacamund is polluted and congested. Denuded of tree cover, it has become a highly commercialized concrete jungle. The Ooty lake (No! the Ooty pond!) with its amusement arcade and food stalls completely covering the lake front is a parody of the place I enjoyed visiting as recently as in the late eighties or even early nineties. The Botanical Garden retains and reflects a little bit of the former splendor possibly due to its protected position behind walls.

For the discerining traveler to the Nilgiris, Coonoor is a better option. Coonoor, which was formerly the commercial and trading centre is now emerging as a viable alternative to Oooty as a hill resort. The pleasant town built on the slopes of the surrounding hills is similar to Shimla or Kohima where scenic beauty and day-to-day commercial life go hand-in-hand.

For those of us who decide to eschew the beaten “tourist” track to Ooty, a good idea is to take the toy train from Coonoor to Ooty and back. This historical track was laid in 1897 by the British. It is, today, a museum piece. The stations are preserved almost in the same condition in which they were originally built more than a hundred years ago. The route cuts across valleys and runs thrugh tunnels which cut into the intervening hills. The stations between Coonoor and Ooty are Wellindon, Aruvankadu (there is a cordite factory here), Keti (the famous last scene in Moonram Pirai was shot here) and Lovedale.