Ooty - Queen of the Hill Stations

After Mysore, we were headed for Ooty, which is a popular hill station in the Nilgiri Hills. Also known as the Queen of Hill Stations in India, it was the summer time retreat for the British during the colonial era.

View of part of Ooty... the hillsides are dotted with houses and farms or tea plantations.

From Mysore, our drive took us through the Bandipur National Park (a tiger reserve) and Mudumalai National Park, which was very relaxing and scenic. As the road ascended the hills (not too harrowing or with sharp corners), the view of the hills and the valley below got us all excited. Tea plantations started to dot the landscape, and there were small tea shops along the way. A good thing if you need a break or motion sickness gets to you, these stalls serve a mean cup of chai.

A motorcyclist riding through Bandipur Tiger Reserve... meals on wheels for tigers?

The view as we ascend the hill towards Ooty.

Tea plantations dominate the landscape as we ascend the hills.

We reached Ooty around 2pm local time, and headed straight for our accomodation, which isn't really in town (bummer... yeah) but located on the south-western edge of Ooty, west of West Mere. The place (Deccan Park Resort) has cottage like units surrounded by gardens and even has a tea plantation (sort of an unkept patch) that we can view from our balcony. You have to walk a short distance from the reception and dining area to reach your 'rooms' but the park along the path is cheerfully planted with flowers along the way. Couldn't resist in taking shots of the flowers around the place.

The 'cottage' like units.

From the 'tea plantation' looking back to
the units

View of the room, quite cozy
actually.

Pretty blue Lupins.

Orange California poppy to brighten the day.

The cool and fresh air meant it was a good time to go back to town to do some sightseeing and also to get a meal before heading back here for dinner. Now Ooty is well known for one thing... local made chocolates! in all sorts of flavours and sizes. Nuts or fruit, plain or dark, you name it, they got it... well, don't ask for Guylian or Lindt chocolates here, we are talking about 100% local stuff here.

One of the many many shops that sells chocolates in Ooty.

Other than chocolates... the sweets and cake shops are everywhere! Anyone on a diet and coming to Ooty, please beware. Either put a blindfold on or just give in to the temptation. The fun part is to try the various chocolates and then buy some... guarantee you will be full and would require no lunch.

There is even a shop that sells crisps (potato, banana etc) and Indian snacks. Try to buy when the crisps are fresh from the wok - delicious on a cool afternoon in Ooty.

Shop selling crisps and snacks.

What to see around Ooty town:

• Chocolate and sweet shops.
• The local stalls that sell flower, vegetables and snacks.
• The main market area - you can get anything here, vegetables, meat, fish and even macaroni.
• Shops along the street that sort of descend down to a small cramp space.

After a good walk, we headed back to our accomodation... where dinner was a surprise. The place is more of a health sanatorium, and the meals are fully vegetarian as they hold on to the healing principles of Ayurveda! The verdict - it was a good meal, even for a meat lover like me.

Chamundi Hills and Chamundeeswari Temple

The top of the imposing Chola style tower of Chamundeshwari Temple.

Chamundi Hills, which is located about 13 kms from Mysore, is the prime landmark of Mysore city, and is visible almost from anywhere in the city center. Most importantly, it is home to the Chamundeshwari Temple, with its imposing Chola style tower. This temple is not only known for its history and imposing architecture, but also believed to be one the powerful pilgrimage sites dedicated to Shakti, the mother goddess focus of Hinduism.

The goddess worshiped in the Chamundeshwari Temple is the Goddess Chamundeeswari, which is the fierce form of Shakti who vanquished the demon Mahishasura. The original shrine is thought to have been built in the 12th century by Hoysala rulers while its tower was probably built by the Vijayanagar rulers of the 17th century. In 1659, a flight of approx 1008 steps was built by the Maharaja Dodda Devaraja leading up to the summit of the hill.

Steps up to the top... or you can take a car or
bus up.

Besides the steps, there are roads that also leads to the top of the summit, and along the way there are little spots where one or two vehicle could pull over for the passengers to enjoy the spectacular view. As you come closer to the top, you will notice the trafiic picking up as vehicles go everywhere, trying to find parking or get out of parking spaces. A little before the temple, and close to the parking lot and the Chamundi bus stand is the colorful statue of ‘Mahishasura’, the demon that the Goddess Chamundeeswari (or Chamundi for short) slayed.

Stunning view of Mysore from one of the viewing points.

Everyone wants a selfie with the demon
Mahishasura!

There are many stalls selling flower and fruit offerings to the deity, as well as 'religious' men trying to sell you amulets and rosary beads outside the temple. Takes a bit to sort of get away from them, but they are common in many popular Indian pilgrimage temples.

Flower and coconuts sold as offerings.

Lady selling flowers with her children.

The tall gopura (tower) of the temple.

As you walk towards the temple, the tall gopura tower immediately catches your attention. When we were there, they were working on giving the tower a new coat of paint. Photography is not allowed in the inner sanctum, and we didn't get a chance to glance at the inner sanctum, as at that time, the place was filled with devotee.

On the journey down, a must see is a collossal Nandi (the mount of Lord Shiva, Shakti's consort) located on the 800th step on the hill. This Nandi is over 15 feet high, and 24 feet long. It was created during the reign of Dodda Devaraja, who also built the steps leading up the hill. By vehicle, you will have to ascend to the Chamundeeswari Temple and then take a detour road that comes down the hill to get to this Nandi, or you could take the seemingly never ending steps down the hill.

Nandi the Bull (Lord Shiva's mount).

Summary:

• Lovely view points all the way up and down.
• Stunning temple, especially the inside.
• Very interesting to watch people pray at Nandi (the Bull).
• Watch out for the monkeys at the temple.
• Many stalls selling identical souvenirs/trinkets so try to get the best price out of them.

Going Up Taipei 101

Taipei 101 - taken on a Thursday - so the lights
are green!

Taipei 101 was the tallest skyscraper in the world (until March 2010) at the height of 509.2 m. Despite no longer holding the world record as the tallest skyscraper, it is still worth it to go up the observation deck.

The design of Taipei 101 is made to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors that are common in that area of Taiwan. The tower takes inspiration from the pliable but strong bamboo. The tower lights are coded according to the day of the week:

• Monday - Red
• Tuesday - Orange
• Wednesday - Yellow
• Thursday - Green
• Friday - Blue
• Saturday - Violet
• Sunday - Purple

The elevator travels at the speed of 60.6km/h, taking only 37 seconds to reach the observation deck at 89F. When you are in the elevator, keep an eye out on the timer on the display, and do notice how smooth and silent the ride is. The staff inside the elevator does a good job in guessing what language you comprehend and gives an intro about the tower in those languages. When we went up, he did Mandarin, English and Japanese, all by the same person! I guess we were easy as we were talking in English as we entered the elevator.

Once you reach 89F, you can get a good view of the surrounding area behind glass from this floor. Do not look straight down if you suffer from vertigo!

The elevator display shows you how long
the ride takes to the 89F.

The 91F outdoor deck will only open if weather conditions are good. If the 91F outdoor deck isn't open, go to the 88F and marvel at the 'Golden Ball', a 5.5m diameter, 660 ton weight (tuned mass damper) suspended within the building to offset the force of wind that frequently buffet Taipei 101. Under strong windy conditions you can actually see with your own eyes the ball moving to offset the sway of the building.

The tuned mass damper ball viewed from 89F onto the 88F.

Besides the tower, there is nothing much to do at Taipei 101, unless you are into shopping at high end designer branded shops (very much like KLCC, Malaysia). However, the lower floor has a decent food place that is worth your money and you can also do some shopping for Taiwan products there at a reasonable price. So do check it out down there.

The Streets of Jiu Fen - walking through Miyazaki's Inspiration

Jiu Fen is a popular tourist attraction located in the northeastern coast of Taiwan. As a little village on a windy road up the steep hillside, the old street of Jiu Fen is quaint cobblestone path that is lined with shops, temples, guesthouses and viewing platforms. Notably, there are a large number of food stalls, and you can get almost any kind of Taiwanese food here, from noodles to taro balls to grilled sausages.

Part of Jiu Fen's old street.

Jiu Fen rose to greater limelight after Miyazaki's Spirited Away was released, for scenes of the shop leading to Yubaba's bath house are supposedly inspired by the old street of Jiu Fen, and Ah Mei's tea house bears an uncanny semblance to Yubaba's bath house.

Most tours will drop you off at the 7-Eleven, where the entrance to the more popular section of the cobblestone path lined with shops starts. Depending on the time, it could be jam-packed with tourist or it could be an easy walk up the cobblestone path.

Houses and guest houses along the path.

Curio mask shop in the old street of
Jiu Fen.

Tea houses with lighted signboards
and lanterns.

There is a temple just below the 7-Eleven entry point to the old
street of Jiu Fen.

Do:

• Walk all the way to the top, there is a temple and school at the end of the street at the top of the hill.
• Explore the various parallel paths and side street. Do not be afraid to get lost, the locals will happily point out how to get back to the old street.
• Enjoy the view, it is free.

Negatives:

• Tea houses are a bit 'touristy'.
• Food here isn't as good as other places in Taiwan, in my opinion. Feels more like a touristy trap, but you can eat your way to the top.
• Can be a very muggy and sweaty experience if there are many bus loads of tourist all trying to get onto the cobblestone path.