Day 61, Coonoor [Saturday 2nd February 2008]
Next day: Day 62, Coonoor Coimbatore Trissur [Sunday 3rd February 2008]
We get a breakfast in Bedford (which is the area we're in — upper Coonoor) o dosa and coffee, and write home using some hand-painted cards we got in the Green Shop. After posting the cards and the box of goodies for Danny and Laila we visit Sim's Park, a lush botanical garden laid out in a steeply inclined natural basin. When we visit there are more workers than visitors, employed in those most Indian of activities — picking weeds from the grass and sweeping the leaves form under the trees.
It's a lovely park, with winding walkways leading downhill to a lake. Trees from Australia, Japan, America and India are all here and well signposted. Dozens of schoolchildren run around, waiting for the lunch tiffins to be opened by teachers. The climate here is so refreshing — bright sunshine and a cool breeze. You need a jumper. Back at the bungalow we have to swap rooms because of a prior booking. Our new room has one completely glass wall, like a conservatory.
We set out on a walk to the viewpoint called Dolphin's Nose. We walk through the smooth Astroturf landscape of manicured tea estates. Views of the sweeping valley on one side and misty mountain peaks on the other. Occasionally we pass settlements created for the tea estate workers. They are housed in small, one roomed dwellings, which invariably have women outside washing metal bowls and utensils. We stop at tea stalls for some intense, fresh masala chai. There's a strange sensation from walking amongst undulating hills whose surface is so pristine and ordered. This is the neatest place we've seen in India. It's like walking through Super Mario World. A couple of hours later, walking down silent tarmac-ed roads with the occasional bus thundering past, we get to Dolphin's Nose. We drink some more tea, then get the us back to Coonoor. We put our feet up for a while at the bungalow, and watch Bride And Prejudice on the TV, which is a lacklustre 'internationally produced' Bollywood retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Despite starring Aishwarya Rai, it's a bit duff, with forgettable songs and a cynical eye on international markets.
There being very few choices of place to eat in Coonoor we have dinner at Quality Restaurant again, whose food admittedly does bear some some of the characteristics its name suggests.
Next day: Day 62, Coonoor Coimbatore Trissur [Sunday 3rd February 2008]