About Roses and Tea and a Memorable Train Ride…

As we walked down the steps into the garden I wondered how it was possible to have so many varieties of roses and No, I didn’t get an answer to that question! :-) We were at the Rose Garden in Ooty – one of the must see spots over here. As we made our way through the garden, we saw a variety of roses, in a variety of colours and sizes. I noticed that most of the roses were named after a person and wondered if they were instrumental in coming up or discovering the particular rose.

The roses ranged from different shades of red to different shades of pink and from bright yellow to a mellow yellow colour, there were some which looked like buds and others which greeted the clear blue sky in all its bloom. We came across a board which informed us what each colour of a rose stood for – have put it up for you to see and learn! I came across a very interesting named rose – check it out… ;-)

Wah Taj! We have heard this common phrase as we grew up and immediately associated it with a cup of tea. Tea - the staple drink of a lot of people all over the world. We got a chance to visit a tea estate and factory at Coonoor – a lovely experience. It was spread over 2000 acres boasting a strength of 150 workers out of which 50 were only tea leaf-pickers. The air around us was cool and icy. As we stepped out of our car a guide came up to us and started our tour of the tea factory. We learnt quite a bit that day! Did you know that tea leaves are picked every 15 days? And that only the top few leaves are useful? The other larger and dark green leaves are considered a waste! After the leaves are picked they are kept in large trays while air is blown through them, this dries the leaves which are then sent down a chute to a machine where the leaves are chopped finely and then sent to a huge roll where they are fermented for a couple of hours. The tea leaves are then cooled and they come out as the brown tea leaves that we use.

Our visit to the tea estates ended on a high when we were allowed to go into the tea estates and see the tea bushes up front! As we were leaving we were invited to taste the 3 different types of teas available at the factory - Masala, Chocolate and Regular. Did you know to make chocolate tea they add few well ground cocoa beans to the tea leaves? And all the flavouring to the tea is done after it has been processed? Interesting! We bid farewell to the beautiful estates after purchasing our tea pouches.

The Nilgiri Express. The mini train ride from Coonoor to Ooty started off amidst cheers and yells from the children in front of us. One thing I should mention is the different ticket prices for the train - the 1st class tickets were Rs. 76 while the second class tickets were only Rs. 4! As the train wound itself onto the tracks the weather became chillier and the surroundings alternated from green trees next to us to greener valleys away from us. As we chugged our way on we suddenly felt and saw droplets of water falling on us - it was drizzling! :-) With the drizzle the temperature dropped even more and we relished the change in the air around us. On the way, we halted at a station with a very quaint old English name – Wellington! This took me back in time and I imagined the station being scattered with well suited, well trimmed mustached gentlemen with pipes in their hands accompanied by ladies in colourful flowing dresses holding their parasols to shield them from the bright sun. I was snapped back to the present when I spotted this amusing sign on the tea stall at the station "Combined Fruit & Vegetarian Teastall" and I just had to take a pic of it for you!

The experience of the train ride was made more enjoyable by watching the motor guards waving their red n green signal flags alternately as we passed through tunnels and stations! All in all a really enriching and very memorable experience!!