In India: To Mysore, Friday 2012 January 27

---

Before leaving Ooty we visited two gardens – the climate is especially good here for gardens. The Government Rose Garden is built into the side of a cliff, so that we entered at the top and discovered more paths and beds as we descended. There were 2850 varieties of rose plants, with only a small proportion still in bloom. Some were red or pink, most were white; the most unusual to me was a large lavender rose. The Botanical Gardens were mostly green – trees from many countries. Near to the greenhouse with the cultivated flowers sat a group of women sorting some sort of frond-like branches to be used to cover plants at night in the cold. We also visited a nearby tea factory to buy Nilgiri tea, a highly prized tea. Cheap at the factory: 100 rupees for 226 grams of green tea. Without a lot of time, we took the taste on faith and bought tea.

Then we settled down for a serious drive – four hours until lunch. Our route was down “the other side” of the mountain: much less rugged, precipitous, and rough. Better road and less traffic. More farms and larger villages.

Close to lunchtime, we entered a national wildlife reserve. To our joy we saw two elephants at a watery place, getting into a mating mood. Great photos, until the park police chastised us for stopping our vehicle. Saw one and then several “Barking Deer” and lots of monkeys.

Lunch was thin. L___ disapproved of the buffet because the dishes were lukewarm and could have been sitting outdoors for any amount of time. So most of us ate the hot, delicious chapattis and drank a glass of beer. Actually I wasn’t very hungry after a large breakfast and my share of chips on the bus.

Less than the planned two more hours, we were at our Mysore Hotel, Fortune Park JP Palace. For the first time there were computers for guests, so I emailed Meena in the hopes we might meet in Mumbai. Swim. Then our third birthday dinner, for J__. (The second was for T__ on January 19.)

---

Photos

Ooty
Town of Ooty from the rise of the Government Rose Garden.

Wildlife Park
Frisky elephants paid no attention to us!

Botanical Gardens
Preparing coverings for the cold nights

On the way down
The other side of the mountain

Barking Deer
Small and beautiful