Ooty

Udhagamandalam was the Toda people's land long before it was anyone's hill station. The Todas kept buffalo on the grasslands of the Nilgiris, living in barrel-roofed huts called munds, and the Badagas farmed the slopes below. In 1819 John Sullivan, the Collector of Coimbatore, rode up, liked what he saw, built himself a stone house and dammed a stream to make a lake.

Within a few decades Ooty was the summer capital of the Madras Presidency, with clubs, a botanical garden laid out in 1848, and an English church. The eucalyptus and wattle that the British planted have spread across the hills, and the tea that followed now covers much of the district. What remains of the original shola forest and grassland is on the higher ridges, and it is worth seeking out.

The great survivor is the railway. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway climbs 46 km from Mettupalayam, using a rack-and-pinion section to grip the steepest gradients, and takes about five hours to reach Ooty; it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. The best part is the climb to Coonoor through tunnels and over bridges in the forest.

The hills are still home to the Todas and Badagas, and Toda embroidery — red and black on white cotton — is sold in a few cooperative shops. The food is plainer than the plains. Ooty varkey, a flaky baked biscuit, comes with tea; homemade chocolate is sold in every street; and Nilgiri tea, from the factories, is the thing to take home.

Book the toy train weeks ahead, take it up rather than down, and sit on the left for the valleys. Skip the crowded lake on summer weekends and go to Avalanche or the high road towards Emerald instead. Doddabetta, at 2,637 m, is clearest at dawn. If you are driving, get the e-pass online before you set off — the checkposts turn back vehicles without one, and weekend quotas fill. Coonoor is a better base than you think.

The Nilgiris is a biosphere reserve, and the district has strict rules on single-use plastic, including small water bottles; carry a refillable one. Do not stop for wildlife on the Gudalur and Masinagudi roads. Visit Toda settlements only with an introduction, and buy embroidery from the cooperative, not a reseller.

From the Nilgiris the road drops north through Mudumalai and Bandipur forests to the plains of Karnataka. Mysuru, four or five hours away, swaps cool hills for palaces, silk and a Dasara that fills the city with light.