A getaway to the Blue Mountains

Coonoor which aptly means 'a village of hillocks' is a hill station in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, an hour’s drive from Ooty. Though Ooty is better known and more frequented but of the two Coonoor is the more peaceful one, not overrun by tourists and still maintains a quiet air about it ... something which one looks forward to in a hill station.

 The loveliness of this place starts with the climb to Coonoor, as lush green forests, give way to the dense green tea estates and the beauty of this area called the Blue Mountains engulfs you. We were totally taken in by its quaint charm which held a promise that our time spent here would be something to be cherished. At first sight Coonoor looks like a Colonial haven with old British style bungalows and heritage buildings dotting its landscape- relics of the Raj era with the sloping red tiled rooftops. New bungalows have come up but thankfully they merge in beautifully with the surroundings and don't stand out like an eye sore.

Colonial style bungalow

Unlike the hill stations up North, Coonoor doesn't have a Mall Road to boast of, instead it has the main bazaar (market) in Lower Coonoor ...a bustling area, the main bus stand is located there and that makes it  very busy. We were staying in Upper Coonoor which is around 3 kms above the town centre and at least once a day we would traverse down to the market. Going downhill was a cake walk but the climb up was sheer torture and one realized how unfit we city dwellers are. Coonoor is a small town so we could easily cover it in a couple of days and there was never a hurry to rush from one spot to another.

It seems that every second shop here is in the business of selling bakery items and there were umpteen number of them filled with yummy cakes - plum, chocolate, vanilla, cream puffs, and an assortment of cookies.Coonoor is a small enough place so one wonders how do so many bakery shops survive and whom do they sell to? A shop which we frequented for cakes was the Crown Bakery, a shop which has been around since 1880, on Mount Road in lower Coonoor. Their honey cake and chocolate vanilla cream cakes were truly delicious, spongy, with that melt in the mouth softness that is the hallmark of freshly baked stuff. Another unique feature in this part of the country is the 'Hot Chips' shops which basically sells savories (namkeen). They were always crowded and are very popular, especially for their local goodies like plantain and bitter gourd chips. Filter coffee is also a big fad here and people drink it at all hours - sidewalk cafes would be crowded with people sipping their coffee in tiny little glasses and munching bhajiya (an assortment of deep fried dumplings). Their coffee is definitely awesome and since, I too am a coffeeholic it was great fun, savouring innumerable cups of it throughout the day. 

The major attraction of this town is the 12 hectares Sim's Park in Upper Coonoor. It’s a botanical garden, a must visit destination for, the wide variety of flora and fauna it offers. The park is quite well maintained and has some unusual plants from all over the world. There is a separate play area for children, and a pond where one can do some boating.The glass house inside the park had some wonderful ornamental plants on display and everything was beautifully laid out.

The charming glass house

 The crowning glory in the park is undoubtedly the rare Rudrakash tree (from the Himalayan region), apparently one of the oldest in this region and one could spot the small beads growing on the tree.

Ancient Rudrakash tree in Sim's Park

Other touristy attractions are the Dolphins nose, Lady Canning's seat, Lamb's Rock - all these places are honestly speaking nothing much to talk about except the fact that  the route is through beautiful tea estates and they offer some spectacular views of the Nilgiris. Coonoor is also home to the Pasteur Institute which is a leading institute in the country in the production of Antirabies vaccine. The Nilgiris have always been known for its fine tea in the world and there are a number of tea estates here and coffee plantations too. Tranquiltea is one such estate which gives you a tour of their tea estate and also takes you through the whole process of tea manufacturing. They also have a tea appreciation tour to brush up your knowledge of the different varieties of tea grown in the Nilgiris -of course with some tasting of their gourmet teas thrown in - a great way to discover if becoming a tea taster is your calling.

Lush green tea estates

Since I have always lived in the Northern part of the country it was interesting to note the different lifestyle, mannerisms of the local populace. The people here are generally laidback and go about their everyday work in a very unhurried manner. Of course though this is true of most of the non metro towns in any part of the country, here it is reflected in the way they drive too - nobody seems to be in any kind of tearing hurry. No wonder our journey from Mysore to Coonoor which ideally takes around 4 hours took 6. People are in general helpful, most of the folks here thankfully understand English and can converse in it too but for this fact sometimes language here does become a challenge, particularly when asking for directions.

One of the local schools ST. Joseph's Boys' was celebrating its 125th year and over the weekend the town was filled with its alumni who came from far off places, some of them even coming down from overseas. A few of them were putting up in the same place as we were and they all had such happy memories of their years spent here - it’s a town that people relate to and feel a connect with and old timers loose no opportunity to revisit this place. 

Coonoor is known for its salubrious climate - very pleasant in summers, with the winters also being mild. This equitable weather throughout the year makes it an ideal retirement destination and a lot of people have preferred it over the bright lights of the city and made it their home. More on that in another post.

Mist laden Coonoor