OOTY & COONOOR
These two towns are hill stations (just 20 km apart) high in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats. Ooty (now officially called Udhagamandalam) is the famous hill station of the Raj period (often called Snooty Ooty). Coonoor is not as famous as its neighbour but offers much the same hill station/tea growing experience and is not quite as busy. Many people visit this area in order to ride the Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway. The ‘toy train’ is a narrow gauge railway running from the plains of Mettupalayam, through Coonoor and on to Ooty. Railway enthusiasts like to do the whole journey but many people are happy to travel between Ooty and Coonoor.