Getting high up...Meta Level...looking for a clear view...

in the beautiful Nilgiri mountains and valleys, just a few hours away from Coimbatore.

Going from Coconut groves to tropical forest ending in Tea plantations...

And this amazing locomotive, 80 years old, maintained by the... french government since 50 years... taking you for 4h30 from Metupalayam to Coonoor!

Leaving at 7:15am arriving at midday up-there, 

in the middle of an ocean of ...Green

The Water man and the Key man of the steaming locomotive looking after the whistling lady every hour or so...

Bringing me back almost 40 years ago when my parents took us from French Polynesia to a trip in Sri Lanka, at the time very peaceful.
Same fresh air, beautiful lines of tea plantations...

 

And the sand man as one of the key men for getting high! putting some sand on the tracks to help the grip of the old lady, climbing her duty every day in tourist season!

Now mostly indians looking for air, fresh air, and less humid rain!

Old english mansions now transformed into B&B ... for my pleasure and peaceful stay!

Local women packing the best tea leaves over their heads in baskets with their agile fingers....

Touching small temples where the loco driver lid a candle on the way.

Always a sense of divinity in the simplest places... moves... rites....sincerity.

Unfortunately getting only clouds and fog that weekend!

and some oldies in the streets of Coonoor, from Cadillacs to Ambassadors...

My favourite stands of flowers, of fruits.

And the kites surfing around of St Anthony Cathedral on a cloudy sunday morning after mass.

Now here is a key discovery for me: this is called jugaad in India: DIY, pro-poor innovation by local people: one tire is starting to peel off, the driver stops on the side of the road by a timber workshop he spotted, gets a blade and cuts off the part that was banging the bus structure...
and off we go again!
Some 10 kms further, the tire explodes for good, and we simply wait 'for some time' for another bus to come from the same company...

Nobody moans. I have never seen a country with such a level of resilience... french would have shouted, started to strike, brits queued but protested, italian would have agitated their hands...

Here, they simply smile... happy to be alive!