Mountain Biking in the Nilgiri Hills of India

Mountain Biking on the Nilgiri Hills of India

A brief snippet of my experience participating in the National Western ghats Mountain Biking Expedition in Ooty with YHAI (Youth Hostels Association of India) 2017 December. 

With intent to explore and experience the diversity of cultures and the blissful nature, this year I decided to participate in the Mountain Biking Expedition with YHAI starting at Ooty (also known as Queen of Hills,  Udhagamandalam, OttakalMandu – which derives its name from the Toda tribes meaning single stoned hut).

Ooty Base Camp

The lush green tea estates, tall green eucalyptus trees amidst the Blue Mountains (Nilgiris) makes Ooty is a unique destination for tourists and nature lovers. No wonder, the journey offered a lot more adventure and surprises than I could imagine. It varied from witnessing about four large dams to sniffing scintillating scent of eucalyptus oil, savoring the traditional tea and snacks, appreciating the pluralism and peaceful co-existence among communities, benefiting from the fragile economy built on tourism, agriculture and small processing plants and breath taking views. No wonder, the British fell in love with this beautiful town. 

Preparing for the start

22 nature and cycling enthusiasts from across the country, ranging from mallus’, to marathis’, to gujarathis’, to Punjabis’ to tamilians and of course the lone Kannadiga set of on this expedition. The anxiety of cycling in the mountains was high for many who were pressing the pedals on the firefox bikes after ages. However, the cold climate, scenic landscapes, vibrant atmosphere, clean environment made everyone gear up and warm up for the long ride. The base camp at Ooty, YHAI is located on the Missionary hills, (slightly off from the city centre) providing a scenic view of the town on one end, and view of chain of mountains overlooking the town on the other end.  

Cyclists all set for the start

Although day 1 activity was to acclimatize to the local environment, by riding on the uphills of the missionary hills, many found it hard to push themselves through the hills, however it did not stop one from  setting out to capture the tenderness of the hill culture. The ride was spread across 5 days, with each day covering about 25 - 30 kms, and the last day about 40 kms. Although the distance was not a challenge but the uphills of the mountains strained the muscles in the calf's and the thighs.  All the cyclists' set of with great excitement to our first destination that is Manjoor, a small village town in Coimbatore district, which is about 30 kms from Ooty. The tea gardens on both the sides with labourers plucking the tea leaves, and packing them in large clothes is a common scene during the ride. Mr. Ramappa, a tea estate was gracious to interact with us and explained his 30 year long journey in growing tea in his 2.5 acres land. According to tea coffee spice of India the weather conditions of Ooty provides Nilgiri tea with exceptional fragrance and exquisite flavour. Nilgiri tea has also been registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) in India, and around 92 million kg of this tea are produced every year - around 10% of India's total tea production. However, Mr. Ramappa said, off-lately there is severe shortage of labour to pluck tea leaves. Although traditionally leaves

Tea leaves cutting using sickles

are plucked by hand, currently the labourers are resorting to use of sickle to be able to gather more leaves in limited time. The leaves are sold to processing plants for about INR 35 per kilogram. Throughout the region there are numerous tea processing centre, and one prominent destination is the Chamaraj Tea
processing centre. It also has a tea tasting and a purchasing store, which serves unique choices of tea including lemon tea, peach tea, tulsi tea among other flavours.

During the course, we witnessed the Lovedale toy train station which is part of the Nilgiri Mountain Railways(NMR). NMR is one of the oldest mountain railways in India. UNESCO has declared it as a world heritage site in 2005. It is popular for it breathtaking views amongst the valleys, tunnels and bridges in the hills. Lovedale train station, with its traditional outlook and ancient architecture provided tinges of colonial history.

Mr. Ramappa, Tea estate owner explain art of growing tea

Lovedale toy train station

Chamaraja Tea Centre

The hill region has been very well planned to capture and the running water flow, and address the water scarcity in the region. We were fortunate to witness 4 large dams, and enjoy resting and playing in the backwaters of the dams. Dams were mainly the Emerald dam, Avalnche dam, Pykara dam and Kundah dam. We were lucky to get access to one of them and have a closer look at the gates. 

The whole trip was a paradise for tea lovers, as tea/coffee shops were available at regular intervals which served tea made from the home grown tea leaves. Emerald village also offered us a soya manchurian dish which is unique to the region. Of course, other healthy locally grown vegetables like carrots, raddish and other roots vegetable were available throughout the journey for consumption. 

Kundah Dam

In the present scenario communal disharmony, the villages of the region provides a lesson for rest of the nation. Witnessed multi religious people residing in hamlets living in harmony by mutually respecting each others customs and practices. Churches, Mosques and Temples are located in close proximity, however human values superseded the communal difference leading to peace and harmony. We were blessed to witness the festival preparation at the emerald village which was gearing up for their annual festival. 

View of Hut preparing Eucalyptus Oil 

The economy of the region in predominantly based on agriculture, tourism and small processing industries. Walking down the lanes of Ooty one can witness numerous homemade chocolates, tea and eucalyptus oil selling stores. But much more exciting was watching the process of preparation. During our stay at forest at Governor Shola, we could view large quantum of smoke coming out from a hut at the foot of the hills. We climbed down the hill to witness the hut made from  leaves of Nilgiri tree, and inside two people working in a den cladded with smoke with strong aroma of the eucalyptus oil. It’s prepared through the process of boiling the leaves with water and capturing &  condensing the steam and later separating the oil from the water.  The local traditional knowledge is significantly rich in the region and capitalizing on them could  be a step in uplifting the rural population. 

Smoke Clouded Hut to prepare Eucalyptus Oil  

The ride amongst the hills wasn't a easy one. Cutting through 34 hairpin bends, and uphills National Mysore-Ooty Highway, dirt roads of Governor Shola reserve forest tested one's endurance and sturdiness. Intense heat in the noon, made all of us sweat and tan our skins, however the shades of the tree provided pleasant and cool breaks during the ride. The region also hosts a diverse fauna. Best moment was the Nilgiri Langur's jumping from tree to tree across the road in the forest, and trying to escape from the urban animals riding on their cycles. 

ride through the forests

ride through the forests

Although Ooty has originally inhabited by the Toda tribes, however with urbanization the traditions of the tribes has undergone metamorphosis with other customs. However, the tribal welfare museum has artistically captured the essence of tribal life of Toda's, Kota's, Irula's and other tribes of the region. The artifacts, model huts, images and pictures has beautiful captured the diverse traditions of the inhabitants. The footfall of visitors to the muesum is quite low, however, its exciting for those who appreciate multiple cultures of the remote lands. 

Government School of Manjoor

Capitalisng the public assets for multiple purposes is the current norm. This time we spent 2 nights sleeping in government schools at Manjoor and Emerald village respectively. Being in the education sector, the view of the government school in Manjoor took me by surprise. The well kept, neatly maintained school with mid size playground, and computer training room was no lesser than some of the leading private schools located in cities. It was astonishing to hear from the teachers that the school was able to scale and provide good amenities to the children, by garnering additional support from the teachers and the local villagers in form of funds to manage, maintain and run the school and facilitating child to learn and perform. This is a classic example of crowd funding by community, and ensuring accountability of government teachers to the community. Collective responsibility is the ideal method to manage the public assets and resources, and will help truly live the spirits of our vibrant democracy. Of course the best part of the trek was our stay in the community hall of the reserve forest. The shivering cold, view of the tea plantation on one side, and tall Nilgiri trees on the other, and small hamlets in the hills, and sipping warm tea and feeling the glitters of early morning sunshine on the cold skin was eternal. One could only beat the cold with camp fire on.

Camp Fire Time

The hardest of the expedition was the last day, covering a total of about 40kms, with the forest range of about 8kms, and rest cycling down the Mysore-Ooty National Highway covering the shooting spots, tea park and reaching the popular Pykara Falls. Promoted as a eco-tourist spot, the the waterfall although shorter in height, flows down the red stones providing a colourful and serene view and an ideal picnic spot for tourists and travellors. The last segment of the ride amongst  the busy highway back to base location was the hardest as the uphill with high density of vehicular traffic, straining the tired calf muscles.

Early morning rays with tea 

In a nutshell, it was blissful experience along with the gift of mother nature. Above all, best part of the expedition, is the altruism of local people who were extremely generous and guided us throughout the journey, and their eagerness to understand and help us. The curiosity amongst the kids to have closer look at the cycle and wave their hands was a pleasure to all of us. I must admit the greater consciousness amongst the locals to keep the environment clean, was evident throughout hill region and is a lesson for all of us.  For nature lovers, or fitness freaks this ride definitely provided great experience and exploration in the wild. The whole experience rejuvenates one's mind and soul and provided the much needed break from the urban jungles. 

Picture with few tourists from Italy

A small view of the Emerald Lake 

At last, the scent of the eucalyptus trees, the pictureseque landscapes, and aroma of the tea estates, chillness of the climate will continue to reside in the memories for a long long time. 

and thats me :) 

Disclaimer: Not a great writer, but trying to become one.