Day 24: Mudumalai wildlife reserve

We drove on to another state, Tamil Nadu, Ravi's home state. On the way, he told us about certain Southern Indian Hindu customs. Auspicious months for weddings are connected to the harvest cycle and weather. A not-good-enough person may not have women coming to cry at his wedding so the funeral director will hire women whose profession is to cry at weddings (seriously!) to help the deceased get onto the next life.

We drove through tea plantations and the weather was pleasant and not so hot here. We stopped for photos of the tea plantations and the colourfully garbed women tea pickers.

Tea pickers

Tea pickers delivering tea leaves at the collection point

We arrived at the Tiger Paw resort before lunch. We had a nice resort with a veranda looking onto the Nilgiri Hills, part of the larger Western Ghats mountain range. Shame we were only staying one night here. We had lunch, a girlie chat, and a swim in the small pool/oversized tub.

View of Nilgiri Hills from Tiger Paw resort

Pool at Tiger Paw

Then it was on to the Jeep Safari as we drove to the Mudumalai (old mountains) nature reserve in 2 jeeps. We spotted white-spotted deers and peacocks. We saw a peacock fly-glide across the road. It was the first time I've seen a peacock fly. We also saw a herd of bisons, big black much stronger versions of a buffalo. A pretty magnificent sight. We got quite close to a bison and could see his rippling back muscles. As we were heading back, I saw some funny looking, black-faced monkeys called langurs and their babies. All in, a good safari haul, although we didn't see any elephants or the elusive tiger. The jeep driver said he has seen a black panther before. It was beautiful landscape, probably the most beautiful (bar the mountains around Shimla) I have seen in India so far.

Rippling muscles on a bison

3 langur monkeys and their babies

Dinner was a tasty buffet. I had only a just-enough portion tonight because I had stopped eating as if I don't where my next meal is coming from. The hotel staff built us a campfire that night. We had stopped at a special liquor store that day - the store was well-secured behind metal bars. Some of the others bought beer and vodka. The stars were out but were not so bright that night. We had a lovely time chatting around the campfire.