Coonoor in India, a little town full of smiles and colors. Nothing we knew about before getting there. We thought Coonoor must be another busy, chaotic and hectic Indian town so we were not very excited. But this small town turns out to be much more than we expected…

 

David and I had already been staying a couples of days in Ooty visiting the area by scooter and we had a day to kill before leaving the Nilgiri hills, famous for the beautiful tea and coffee plantations. David and I had zero expectation that last day when we decided to visit Coonoor, one of the three Nilgiri hill stations in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. We were going to Coonoor most for a so called Toy train, the popular way to travel around the hill stations.

 

At the first km out of the train station we were already overwhelmed by the honking, the traffick and the crowds. But we were not giving up exploring the town. Beyond the traffic we saw colorful houses up on a hill and start walking toward that direction.

Once we got up it was like we were completly on another world! It was so peaceful! And the air felt fresher somehow.

Under the 18th the Nilgiri Hill area where occupied by the British citizens therefore all the churches around. But among the churches there were aswell the hindu temples.

Notice all the laundry hanging to dry!

I think the day we were in Coonoor it happens to be the laundry day! Not only the buildings and houses were colorful, the clothes aswell.

Not a single moment did we felt unwanted.It was the contrary as we were invited many times for a chat and a cup of tea in peoples home but we kindly decline. Now many years later thinking back, we regret not taking the occassion to speak more with the locals.

Boyz of the hood…a bunch of funny old men!

After hours of wandering around the joyful neighborhood we decided to end our adventurous day with another adventurous thing; tasting something new from the local menu. I just can’t remember though what this was! Anyone can tell me?

 

Yes, Coonoor was busy and chaotic but we were so lucky to have see a brighter side of the town. So if you are nearby, please don’t leave without visiting the heart of Coonoor! It’s so unreal and seems so exotic thinking about it now.