What goes up must come down!

The A long and technical day in many ways today.  Not all of it requiring much pedalling, but plenty of consentration as we can down from Ooty.

Need I say it was a lovely morning...again??  

The long haul trucks of India are lovingly decorated in bright cheerful colours and images.  But trick to photograph whilst I or they are on the move,

but I made the most of a traffic jam and tea break stop today, so you too know what they can look like.  Think I have missed a rich photo opportunity here.  So will try to capture some more if I can later.

All the time we come across gems of photo opportunities, everyday life but still worth capturing never the less.

Tea stops provide the perfect opportunity and also plenty of amusement for the locals - adults and children alike.  They must hink we are totally bonkers, but it doesn't stop them from running over to chat, raising their hand in greeting or shouting out 'hello, what's your name, where you come from??'

And then sometimes I just abandon my bike for no other reason at all but to capture the moment.

Tea plantations and brightly painted village houses clinging to the hill side.

Every stopping place becomes a retail / snack opportunity!

Gradually we work our way down the mountain, twisting and turning the narrow roads.  It was very cold when we set off, extra sleeps and jackets were needed and still our teeth chattered.

But gradually the air temperature stated to warm so by the time we stopped to watch the tea packers at work we could think about peeling off some layers.

It's a bit of a thankless task harvesting that much needed cuppa for you.

Tea plantations have way to

Magnificent eucalyptus forests,

Look how tall and slender those trunks are.

The road was far from perfect to say the least.  Some areas are so full of potholes it really is a travesty to call it a highway!  Still some effort was being made to repair the damage wrought by the huge trains India trucks, but that in turn caused chaos because of the sinful line of traffic.  Still no road rage was evident, but I did have sight of 6 traffic comes...the only ones I have seen in the whole of India!

Down we came, the huge vegetation proving much welcomed cover for the hot sun.  Soon the trees had given way to massive bamboos 

Down off the mountain we cycled through small towns and villages.  I noticed this bank sign

So proud of being an ultra small branch!

The ride ended at lunchtime after we had ridden 86km (52 miles) which was a blessing because it was getting so very hot. I was a relief to go into the air conditioning to cool down and have a much welcomed lunch of....curry! 

The bikes were then loaded up on a truck and we had a 3.5hour bus transfer to our next hotel in Guruvayoor where we are staying for the next too nights.

Climb every mountain again, with a little help?

With the afternoon free from cycling as a group we decided that we needed to climb the mountain again, only this time in a little more comfort!  So we arranged to go on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, one of the great train journeys of the world.

We took a bus down the line to Coonoor and bought tickets back to Ooty from there.

Whilst waiting for the train we were once again accosted by curious Indian families....for a photo opportunity! Us with them and them with us, it's very hard to refuse as the request is always so charmingly made.  The little girl had been very shy at first, but once I'd shown her the photograph she was very happy to smile along!

All the first class tickets were presold, so we had to slum it in second..  No great hardship.  I spent most of my time hanging out of the window anyhow.  I liked the idea that suggestions were encouraged....

We stopped at several small stations on the way, all brightly painted in blue and creamy yellow.

The track is a rack and piston (?) because of the very steep incline as the track climbs up the hill to Ooty.  Through tea plantations

Which are green oasis in the landscape 

I think we shall be seeing a lot more of these before we are done!

On the way back up to the room I spotted a friendly sign...

A lovely memory the world over.

Climb every mountain...

A very early start again today,

and once again we witnessed the sun rising.  Always a beautiful sight.

Which is more than can be said for the cautionary signage at the bottom of today's climb.  Not a long ride today but it's a 13 km hill climb up 36 hairpin bends gaining 1251m ( climbing from 926m to 2202m)

We 4 hadn't planned on riding up, just to the start of the climb.  On a road bike maybe I'd give it a go, but on a cross bike I knew there was no chance I'd make it to the top this side of Christmas.  So the bikes were popped into the back of the van and we had a 'stroll' up.  It was still tough, given that I was wearing off-road shoes and cleates, and it turned out to be a very hot day.

Once we'd got the hand of reading from the bottom to the top the road art was quite amusing 

and we entertained ourselves chatting, laughing and photographing our way up.

The views were breathtaking, but we kept seeing huge piles of elephant dung, which was a bit worrying !

The higher we climbed the scenery started to change and soon we were seeing the tea plantations.

There was also plenty of entertainment on hand too...

The flora was bright and colourful -

But so were the signs.

Joseph met us at the halfway tea shop.  The dahl fritters were tasty and the newspaper interesting, but the tea was sweet.

Only 15 more bends to go and we can't tell if this sign is joking or not.  But we are grateful that we decided not to ride.  Very hot now.

Indian electricity is somewhat primitive at times, but an excellent recycling project all the same.

There are still small settlements up at this hight,

although I am left wondering how clean the laundry will be after it has dried stretched out in the fields!

Many trucks, scooters and even tuctucks pass us on the way up.

and the road to the top seems very long.

but thankfully the bends are counting down until

we reach the summit  and a Mexican wave from those cyclists who got to the top before us!

And to celebrate? - Indian style coconut cake!

It was only a short hop to Ooty and the next hotel where a welcome shower and lunch awaited.  But so cold!  We needed to put the heater on, now I can see why the colonial families came here to escape the summer heat.