Southern India - 14 February 2012 (1)

Train to Ooty - before departure

I woke up at 0300 as it was so hot, but stayed in bed until 0430, when I had a cold shower and got ready.  Jen woke up with the alarm call at 0530.  When we were ready, we headed to reception, where we were given a packed breakfast.

Steam Engine on Train to Ooty

Steam Engine on Train to Ooty

At 0620, we set off to the station where the Ooty train was already in and boarding.  We had 1^st class seats, which meant just four people to each padded bench.  There were two facing benches to each compartment and the compartments were only partially enclosed, being separated by the benches and a painted glass panel.  It was low enough that even I could see over into the next compartment if I stood up and leant over.  Someone had gone to some trouble to beautify the carriage.  In addition to the painted glass, I noticed that the wooden door frame was carved with a chain of flowers.

Decorated Panel Dividing Compartments

Decorations on Door Frame

The group was split across several compartments.  I was with Jen and Steve.  Even with the additional space of 1^st class, it was still a squeeze.  Fortunately, we didn’t have our luggage with us (that was on the bus) but there wasn’t even room for our day packs.  The spaces under the benches were already taken up with the luggage of the other travellers.  Two of the other travellers in our compartment were called Nazareth and Tirupathi.  They were part of a group who all worked for Indian Railways and were off for some first aid training with St John’s ambulance.  You would have thought they were off to learn how to be doctors, the amount of luggage they were carrying!  Also in our compartment were Prasad and Rama.  They were a young couple, off for their honeymoon in Ooty.

Prasad & Rama by Guard's Van

Nazareth & Tirupathi

The final person in our compartment was a large man who had fallen foul of the ticketing system.  He was travelling with his wife and they had tickets through to Ooty, but no reservations on the train.  They had sat down in one compartment, which created quite a row when the people with reserved seats turned up.  Half the Indian passengers joined in the argument between them and the guard, so that the disturbance could be heard halfway down the train.  Eventually the guard found seats for both of them, but in different compartments.  Still the man didn’t let the complaint drop and continued to moan and flourish his tickets long after the train had set off.  The other Indian passengers in our carriage started to look a bit annoyed at him.  It didn’t help that he sat with his legs wide open, taking up far more than his fair share of the bench opposite.

Bustle on Mettupallam Station

Alighting on Train to Ooty

Before the train set off, I joined many of the other passengers and wandered along the train taking photos.   The steam engine was popular, but I also liked the bustle of the station platform and what was going on inside the train, such as people were eating their breakfast curry from metal bowls.  I looked in at the others happily sitting in their compartments as I walked down to the front (the engine was to the rear of the train).  Crows were perched on the rails, on the lookout for scraps from the packed breakfasts.

Waiting for Breakfast