Driving through Bandipur to Ooty

We had a great trip to Ooty, a city in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, mostly known as a tourist town in the mountains.  On the way to Ooty, we drove through Bandipur National Park, which is on the Karnataka side of the State line.  The Tamil Nadu state side is called Mudumali National Park.

 Our time restraints did not allow us time to take a safari, unfortunately.

 This local artwork is just a tease to get you into the museum, but we didn't have time for that either.

 This is a beautiful painting of an Indian Elephant.

 The trees are so amazing.

 I try to look for beauty in everything I see.

 We saw a small elephant family just leaving the watering hole.  

They were throwing dirt onto themselves.  It was funny to watch.

 I love the Black-faced Grey Langur Monkeys.

 'Therefore, with joy, shall ye draw water from the well...'

 This Grey Langur is just sitting there, resting, I guess.

 This monkey was booting it up the tree. I'm not sure what the hurry was?

 Now, these 2 photos are my favorite.  This guy looks so intense.

 On facebook, I made a comment that this guy looks like a grandpa.  

My cousin in England said, "Yes, and he looks like someone just nicked his wallet".
I thought that was so funny, as it is true!

 This is a different type of forest.

 I love the blossoms on this tree.  It is so gorgeous!

 We passed by some of the realities of life, washing clothes in the river.

 Momma with her baby.

We came upon a lovely Bull Elephant along the side of the road, foraging for food in the bush.

I got this close up photo as I had my big lens on.

The trees are changing and this forest is different from the last one we drove through.

Here is yet another view of different foliage we passed by.

I don't know what kind of monkey this is, but he was perched on a bridge railing as we drove past.

Elder Wigg was really impressed.

This is a field of tea hedges.  They pick the new, young leaves off the top of the tea plants.

Again, we see here another kind of forest, lovely lines of tall trees here.

Well, we have arrived in Ooty.  This is one of the city central squares close to our hotel.

We felt chilly walking around in the evening so we bought 2 hoodies from this shop.  

It is the first time I can remember feeling cold in India.

Of course, we bought some chocolate from this kiosk. Ooty is famous for it's homemade chocolate.

This is the Hotel where we stayed, the Hotel Ponmari Residency.  Our room was comfortable, but the wifi was only in the lobby so I had to go upstairs and sit there to skype the kids in the evening.

They were just next door to a stadium with a track, so I got to have a wonderful run on Saturday morning.  It was funny because so many people walking were wearing toques and mitts and scarves with coats, whereas, even though it was a little chilly, I wore only short sleeves for running.
The Ponmari had a great breakfast buffet of all Indian food.  It was really good and we liked it.