I know that it has been said before, but it should said again, my husband has many similar characteristics to my father – or as us sometimes remarked, I married my father! Not least is his pleasure in seeing a steam train (utterly baffling to me). He was in for a treat today as we made a last minute plan to catch the miniature ‘blue toy train’ from Ooty to Mettupalayam where we’d be picked up for our onward journey to Kerala by Vaishakh. Sadly, it was not to be.

When I was planning our holiday I didn’t think we’d have time to travel on the miniature blue train while we were here so I’d not booked ahead (all our other train journeys have been booked months in advance). Unlike the UK where you can just turn up and get on a train (even if it means standing as it often does), here reservations are necessary if you want to guarantee a ticket, especially on the miniature train where capacity is limited.

Vaishakh picked us up early from our hotel, just after 7 to get us to the station to join the queue for limited on the day tickets that went on sale at 8am. He was slightly delayed as he came across someone in the road who’d been his by a bison! He drove them to a nearby hospital to be checked before picking us up. Bison attacks are not something we have to worry about in the UK thankfully. They are big strong beasts so you wouldn’t want to get into a fight with one. There are lots of signs warning drivers to go slow to be aware of wildlife crossing, but if you’re on foot (as this guy was) and an angry bison crosses your path, you’re in trouble. Thankfully Vaishakh thinks he’ll be ok, and will only have bruises – but safer to be checked out.

When we got to the station at Ooty there was already quite a queue but Vaishakh was hopeful we’d get two of the 50 or so tickets available. Unfortunate we were unlucky. People could buy up to four tickets and by the time we got near the front all the tickets for the 9.15 train had been sold. Ah well, at least Mike got to clamber over the tracks to see the train on display at the station (clambering over tracks is not permitted in the UK). We still have plenty of train trips to come including the Himalayan Queen that will take us up to Shimla – so Mike’s train fix will be satisfied!