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After our dawn trekking it was time to hit the road again. We took the 'Jungle Train' from Ooty to Mettapalayam. This was a really amazing 4 hour journey on a steam train through mountainous jungle. Unfortunately we only just made our train connection and had no time for lunch. So, as it happens sometimes we grabbed a bag of crisps each to keep us til our next meal. Fortunately, we were befriended by a lovely family who was sat in our carriage, and mum wanted to feed us because they saw we had only crisps for our lunch. They have also invited us for dinner at their house in Chennai, where we will go in a few days.
Later that night on the next leg of our beast of a journey we met more amazing people and made more friends. The next part of our journey involved us going from the train to a bus to the next city where we were making yet another journey from (there is a reason they call it travelling!). This was a swelltering local bus, with lots of locals making there way home from work, many carrying their water/rice/chickens. We where sat at the front of the bus, next to the designated ladies section, getting bashed in the face by some plastic flowers hanging from the Ganesh, Krishna and Shiva shrine. Halfway through our journey the bloody bus broke down. Claire being the pampered Westerner that she is, anounced calmly "it is ok, they will send another bus". The real plan of action taken by the local bus driver was to hail oncoming buses that were already jam packed and push people in. There was no way we would be able to manage this because we had our packs on. So there we were in the middle of a country road pitch black in the heart of Tamil land were English is not commonly spoken at all. Basically, up s***-creek with no paddle. We found a shop that had a phone and managed to communicate that we needed a taxi to the next town. One man had a number in a little black book and even tried ring one for us, because we had no idea of where we were or how to communicate this information. Then his neighbour came and introduced himself and asked the usual questions abot where we were from and what we did, wobbling his head all the while like a backseat dog. Then he suggested we drive in his car to the nearest town. He then invited us into his home, offered us drinks and introduced us to his wife and child. Then we all got into his car and drove off to the nearest town. They then found us a taxi, bargained the price with the driver and made sure we paid no more than the reasonable price he insisted it should be. Before our departure they also offered to buy us soft drinks from the shop to make sure we were comfortable on our journey.
After an incrediblely exhausting day, we could not travel any further and stopped in the next city for food and a sleep.
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