[Image]Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway We took a 5 hour bus ride through some crazy mountain jungle between Mysore and Udhagamandalam (Ooty), and then jumped on the Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway which is such a famous rail-line that it has been declared a historic site by UNESCO. It is quite a neat contraption - the engines use a cog-driven system to climb and descent a ladder between the rails, up to gradients of 1 in 12.5. I'm not entirely sure what this should tell us, but I can tell you that the train was definitely on a serious angle going up and down those mountains.
Also, it is a steam engine because of the unique design. The end result of this is hot, humid steam air and the occaisional ember flying into the windows.
I have to say though, that being a tall man on this train was not easy, as the seats are clearly designed for children so I had to sit nearly across the bench seat, not leaving much room for Leah. I tried various positions but eventually I just gave up on comfort for four hours.
The views from the train were indeed tremendous, as the railway clambers through some very high mountain passes, and it goes through something like 16 tunnels which the local boys love screaming and chanting in as we pass through.
"The Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway"
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