Ooty is quite unlike any other Indian town that I have visited. I think the reason for this is that it was, from its origin, a European town. Its founder, John Sullivan - I am staying in a hotel named after him, Sullivan's Court - bought up all the land (dirt cheap of course, roughly the same terms as when Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan) and from the beginning European style houses were erected. Many of them look vaguely Swiss, although it may just be that I have Swizerland on my mimd because of the story about the woman the elephants killed. There is relatively little traffic here even through the centre of the town, which is known as Charing Cross. I couldn't see either a railway station or a cross there, though, but there is a
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