Ooty is a hill station way up in the mountains of southern India. Hill stations where were the British used to come during the summer months to escape the heat. They are also home to some of the country's biggest tea plantations. We started our day in a muggy, hot, tropical climate driving through a jungle nature preserve. By the end of the day, we were passing pine trees and vegetation that sort of reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. The drive up was absolutely amazing! We climbed up the valley in jeeps the road was steep and twisting and there were signs at every hairpin turn reminding drivers how many people had died there in previous years. The views were stunning we looked down on the lush valley and up at bare, rocky, craggy peaks mostly hidden by the clouds. The road was carved into the steep slopes and there were trees hugging the rocks along the mountain side. We passed villages and single homes built into terraces that were very close to what I imagine the South American villages up in the Andes look like. When we left the mountain side and drove through valley was when the vegetation turned from the scrubby, rock hugging trees, to tall ancient pines and ferns. The weather was perfectly cold and the air felt so pure and clean. (sorry about the quality of the pictures for some reason this time they didn't upload in the best quality)
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