Pictures from our trip to Ooty and Coonoor in July, 2007. While we went to Ooty by bus, we returned from Ooty (Udagamandalam) to Mettupalayam near Coimbatore via the Niligiri Passenger Train (NMR). It was sheer joy to travel on the meter gauge steam locomotives which is one of the oldest mountain railways in India (since 1899). Nilgiri (Tamil : நீலகிரி means Blue Mountains when translated into English) range of mountains spread across the states of Tamil Nadu as well as Karnataka and Kerala. They are part of a larger mountain chain known as the Western Ghats.

In July 2005, UNESCO added the NMR as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. More details at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_Mountain_Railway/