Note ... India is famous for losing power so we are having difficulties today uploading the pictures. Stay tuned tomorrow for today's pictures and more.
We woke this morning to a wonderful day with blue sky and warm air. We toured the beautiful grounds of the Savoy Hotel, had a great breakfast, and then bused across town to the Ooty Botanical Gardens. This magnificient garden on the hillside, is famous for its monumental trees of all kinds. The Ooty Gardens were established in 1847 and consist of 22 hectares of genius landscaping. The horticultural department of the state maintains the gardens. There are over 650 species of plants and trees. All of the trees were very tall and some of our favourites were: “the monkey puzzle” from Australia which had very prickly leaves; “the frangipani” from Australia; “the bottle brush” from Australia; and “the cabbage tree” from New Zealand.
Since Ooty is a resort town in the mountains, they have a lake which is very popular for tourists to enjoy boating. Our group was motored around the lake for 45 min., enjoying a beautiful day chatting about education in India and Canada. In order to get a decent education in India, you would have to attend a private school.
Before we left for the tea plantation about 15 km through the twisty roads of the Western Ghats, we stopped for lunch at an old Raj hotel. Even though the property was very picturesque, we ate inside to so the monkeys didn’t steal our lunch. The High Field tea plantation was our next stop. We were given a very informative tour of how tea is produced. Here are the simple steps that we learned from one of the workers ...
- The tea plants are about 3 feet high and are picked and placed in baskets.
- The tea is bagged in nylon bags and placed on a conveyor belt.
- The tea travels into a factory and is dried.
- The workers drop the dried tea through holes in the floor and it passes into the lower room in the factory where it is chopped.
- After it has been chopped, it is roasted.
They produced black, green, and white tea all from the same plant. The white tea, which comes from the tiny tips of the new leaves, is used to treat cancer and heart disease. It is very expensive!
The afternoon ended with another rollercoaster ride back to Ooty with Milla and Kathy in the front seat of the bus helping the driver navigate the narrow road, high cliffs, and wandering cows. Kathy, Robert, and Milla were suppose to have a spa treatment at 5 p.m., but because we arrived later, there was only time for Milla's massage.
This evening, we celebrated "Ann's" birthday with a cake, cocktails, and a wonderful meal with fish that was mouth watering and lots of Indian dishes.
fragapani
beneath the monkey tree
on the mountain road
boat ride around the lake
the fine tea is added to chocolate
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