A TRIP TO OOTY ALSO CALLED A STUDY IN VOMITTING IN THE MONSOON

I felt extremely lucky to have joined a new company and get a chance to go on a team trip almost immediately, but by the end of the trip, I felt foolish and this post will explain my feeling foolish and nauseated. The trip was to the Queen of the Hills-Ooty.

An entire coach was booked on the Nilagiri Express and about 60 employees and five or six kids boarded the train at Chennai Central on June 30, 2007, the entire team looked as if the members had returned to school, there was total confusion and we finally found our coach S-10 and got into it. My first shock was that there was no ticket in my name, I was a replacement for someone else who ahd backed out after giving his name. So I assumed a false name, (was really frightened thinking that good old T.T.E. would catch me). Then the train left half an hour late and the party started, a full fledged TASMAC shop was on show as a group decided that it was time to make merry and I believe alcohol flowed till about 1 A.M., on another end Antakshari(song-fest) was in full swing. I left my berth, found one berth belonging to a reveller and shut my eyes and slept.

July 1, 2007-Sunday-Coimbatore Railway Station-4:30 A.M.

I had woken up at around 3:30 A.M., so I had brushed my teeth and was awake and alert. We reached Coimbatore, and a representative from the resort where we were staying met us and took us to a couple of luxury buses. There was a pale yellow coloured bus and an orange coloured bus. I chose the orange one, put my stuff in the luggage compartment and sat in the comfortable cushioned seat. The buses started and stopped after fifteen minutes to fuel(Bloody drivers couldn't they fuel the bus before they reached the station), then we stopped in front of a bakery cum tea shop, where I had some bread and coffee. Finally we started moving at around 5:45 A.M., the sun had risen and there was a cool moisture laden breeze that accompanied us.

I took some snaps with my camera mobile(have to find a way to upload the images onto the blog). The bus left the plains and climbed the hilly roads and we crossed the breathtaking beauty of the Nilgiris travelling through Coonoor and Mwttupalayam. The bus finaly reached Sterling Resorts, Fernhill, Ooty at a round 10 A.M.

To be continued...