- Where
- Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Mysuru, Srirangapatna, Ooty and Coonoor, India
- Travelled
- 9–16 March 2019
- Written up
- October 2026
- Parts
- 5
In March 2019, a few of us travelled to India for a colleague’s wedding. The laughter started on our flight from Singapore to Bengaluru and hardly stopped until we landed. The wedding took us to Vijayawada, followed by a busy day exploring Mysuru and a reception back in Bengaluru.
After the celebrations, I continued alone to Ooty. An early morning bus ride through the forest brought me into the Nilgiri Hills, where I spent the next few days exploring Coonoor by toy train, visiting a tea factory and travelling around the hills.
What began as a trip with colleagues ended as a solo adventure, with a few unexpected experiences along the way.
The stories, in order
Part 1 · 9–10 March 2019 · Bengaluru and Vijayawada
A wedding and plenty of laughter
A group of colleagues flies from Singapore to Bengaluru for a wedding, jokes the whole way, sits through a long traditional ceremony and waits more than an hour for a plate of mutton.
Part 2 · 11–12 March 2019 · Mysuru and Bengaluru
A day exploring Mysuru
A hired car, four colleagues and one very full day, from Tipu Sultan's Srirangapatna and Chamundi Hill to a wax museum, St Philomena's Cathedral, Mysore Palace and Brindavan Gardens, followed by a wedding reception in Bengaluru.
Part 3 · 13 March 2019 · Bengaluru to Ooty
The long road to Ooty
Travelling on alone, I take an early bus from Bengaluru through the forest to Ooty, check into a quiet cottage and get a fright when the lights go out on the first night.
Part 4 · 14 March 2019 · Ooty and Coonoor
The toy train to Coonoor
A day on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, riding the toy train from Ooty down to Coonoor and back, with a walk in Sim's Park and a full guided tour of the Highfield Tea Factory.
Part 5 · 15–16 March 2019 · Ooty, Pykara and Bengaluru
In search of the Bollywood hills
On my last day in Ooty, a hotel driver takes me to pine forests, open grassy hills and Pykara, the kind of scenery I remembered from 1990s Bollywood films, before the bus back to Bengaluru and the flight home.
