So, the next leg of our Southern sojourn took us from Wellington/Ooty/Coonoor to Kodaikanal.
I had always wanted to visit Kodaikanal and this finally was ticked off my list, though I must say that it is one of few places where I'd like to go again and some of it has to do with the amazing cheeses, spices and chocolates that you get there.
DAY 4
Ooty to Kodaikanal
We started at 5:30 in the morning and watched the day break, which was such a perfect start to this leg of the journey.
We went down the hill from Coonoor, came to the plains and started the climb up another hill to Kodaikanal.
Once you cross Coimbatore and get close to Udumalaipettai, you are greeted with windmill farms panning all the way across to the horizon.
It is so fascinating. This was the first time that I had seen wind farms. They went on for miles and not once did I want to take my eyes off off them.
You're too good to be true, I cant take my eyes off off you!
We stopped for some breakfast and had a propah South Indian fare of Idli, Dosa, Sambhar, Chutney and of course the cuppa of filter coffee.
Soon the drive up the Palani Hills starts and at this point I am falling short of words to describe how scenic the route was.
Thank God that a picture says a 1000 words...or does it!?
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| Palar Dam in the distance |
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| Butterfly Photobomb |
So, we crossed this board which said Perumalmalai without paying any heed to it.
In fact, this picture was caught incidentally and I was surprised that I had clicked it.
Little did we know that Perumalmalai would be a name worth remembering.
Also, it did not stop at this. We even crossed the following sign, which informs that Kodai is a mere 12 km away.
And we even entered the official entry gate to Kodaikanal.
Unknown to my family, I had booked ourselves into a jungle resort, Elephant Valley Eco Farm, because it looked so perfect on the web.
It was only after we called them to check where exactly in Kodai the resort was, that we realized that we'd have to go 17 kms back the way we had come to get to Perumalmalai
We backtracked and started the descend to the valley floor, which is where EVEF is located.
The family was not happy.
But I was on a HIGH. I loved it.
I am a total sucker for wilderness nature-haven sort of places and this was looking so good.
Forest, Hills, Dirt Road - it all looked like a fantasy coming alive.
A small village lies just outside the reception area of Elephant Valley Eco Farm.
I had booked a tent for the hubby and me and a jungle cottage (Peninsula) for the family.
Set up in a space of 100 acres, the EVEF is located on an old elephant migration route next to the border of the national forest which extends into the wildlife sanctuaries of Kerala.
I LOVE elephants. If there is one animal that I feel for deeply, other than a dog, it has got to be mighty gentle giant.
A couple of years ago I followed this documentary on an elephant matriarch called Echo that cemented this love further. When Echo died in the documentary, a little piece of my heart had broken and the husband was taken aback at how much this had affected me. I still think of her.
Anyways, a pathway leads out from the reception area and takes you to the property ahead.
Cobbled pathways on the sides lead to cottages/tents.
The view opens up once you walk to the dining area.
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| Dining Area |
The dining area a large thatch covered, open from all sides round structure, with the bar at one end. Opposite it lies a large open pasture.
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| Dining Area - Inside |
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| View from the Dining Area |
The recreational area houses some game sets and a TV set.
The true gem of this space is the seating space at the back of the structure.
It’s a small space, good for 2 people to sit and enjoy the flowers in bloom, the farm to the left and the mountains far ahead.
The pathway leads ahead and you come to the farm, opposite which is a shed for the animals -chickens, horses, goats, geese etc.
Once the formalities were done, we realized that the jungle cottage was about a km away, through the coffee and pepper plantation, across a rope bridge, and the jungle thereafter – it is adventurous!
The family decided to stay in the tent since it was much closer to the dining area etc.
So we were indeed lucky to get the jungle cottage, called Peninsula. I would have been heart broken had it not all worked this way.
But first we got the family settled into the tent.
Note: Image of the tent is off the web.
Anywho...
We started the walk towards our cottage in the jungle and what a walk this was!
It starts with the pathway getting broader and going through coffee and pepper plantations.
I did not know that pepper grows on a vine. I had always imagined it to be a bush.
Cardamom incidentally grows on a bush.
Going through the open pasture, we saw a horse grazing amidst the jungle around and mountains beyond. Lucky tattu.
It gets more raw after this.
We got to the river and the 2 boys who were walking with us, went across the river on foot.
This is a very very very easy crossing. It is shallow and only your feet get wet but it is freaking slippery.
Given my propensity for falling, despite my heart saying yes, I opted to go across the bridge.
It sure is a much longer route but certainly safer.
The bridge looks so beautiful, right out of a Ruskin Bond story.
We crossed over to the other side (deeper meaning), and carried on transcending.
Finally we got right under the tree-house that could be seen from across the river.
We were out of the thicket and next to river again.
The greenery that the tree donned was the psychedelic kind, though the horse poo on the path does a decent job to keep you from spacing out.
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| The Honeymoon cottage can be seen from across the river |
We were finally there!
The cottage has just 3 rooms (which is 2 rooms too many) and jungle all around.
It is the most perfect spot if you are looking for some peace and quiet.
Yes yes, I was looking for them both!
We chilled there soaking in the silencio and then went walking around.
The jungle was aglow in this gorgeous light. It was an overcast day and the sun only peeped from time to time.
The sound of the river is all pervasive. A mellow background reminding you, you are not alone, which is great since I did freak myself a tad, even though it was as beautiful as it was.
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| Bridge from across the river |
Though they do not prefer to provide any room service to these cottages across the river, they did heed my request for a hot cuppa chai.
We walked across to the other side for lunch and enjoyed a basic meal of some daal, rice, sabzi, since we had not placed the order before.
We were advised by the management that since it was already 4 PM by the time we had finished lunch, it was not advisable for to venture out for any sight-seeing, since the taxi driver do not prefer plying on this route for fear of wild elephants post evening.
So we did
what we do best and walked back to our cottage since the family wanted to nap too.
Since this was the perfect time to spot birds, and spot them we did, going nuts click click clicking.
And then is was dusk & with it the forest looked different. The aura seemed to change..but all in a good way :)
I just realized that I have not put any pics of the room, so here goes -
The room in the cottage has a very comfy deep-cushion bed.
The window on the side wall gives you a glimpse of the forest outside, lest you forget.
A wooden staircase leads to a mezzanine above, which has a comfy mattress for one to sleep in, or two if you want to be cozy.
The lighting is warm and inviting. Perfect to read a book in.
An old style wood burning heater stands in the corner, adding a charming old world touch.
The bathroom is large and done in shades of green.
The shower on the high ceiling throws water straight down from the ceiling and not slanting and this somehow was something I found fascinating enough to write of. Well, it had a waterfall sort of effect.
Hot water available only between 6 – 9 PM and the same time in the morning.
We had a nice hot shower and got all squeaky clean, shedding the travel & day grind!
At about 8 PM 2 men came to get us since it had gotten dark.
Though we could have walked on our own, we had no flashlights on us. Anyways, I will admit, I was kind of skeptical walking in the jungle and taking the elephants lightly.
So a man walked ahead of us and one behind to escort us. This walk was pretty okay. Barring the darkness, it was all cool. We reached the dining area soon enough
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Hot water available only between 6 – 9 PM and the same time in the morning.
We had a nice hot shower and got all squeaky clean, shedding the travel & day grind!
At about 8 PM 2 men came to get us since it had gotten dark.
Though we could have walked on our own, we had no flashlights on us. Anyways, I will admit, I was kind of skeptical walking in the jungle and taking the elephants lightly.
So a man walked ahead of us and one behind to escort us. This walk was pretty okay. Barring the darkness, it was all cool. We reached the dining area soon enough.
We had a couple of beers. We had not had this beer before. It was the British Empire. Aaaaa Ha!
It was an extra strong beer but believe me, not so really. It was a crisp and medium strong beer. Puuuurrrrfect!
The dinner was delectable too.We enjoyed an appetizer of crispy chicken with a creamy sauce (I forget the name of the dish), and the main course of Chicken Schnitzel and an Funghi Poulet dish.
The full name of which I forget too but hey I know it had Mushroom and Chicken and hence I could remember the Funghi Poulet bit.
For dessert, we gorged on some Chocolate Mousse. It was a happy meal.
We were ready to go to out cottage by quarter past 10 and the same 3 men escorted us.
The walk starts okay but soon as you reach closer to the river, the aura changes - of the jungle and the men - yup, the same aura I spoke of earlier was donning darker clothes.
The jungle was alive. The hoots and crunches just a tad loud and ironically the silence was deafening.
The men were shining their torches into the jungle at every curve and as we neared the other side of the river, this was done more frequently.
They whispered that 15 elephants have been roaming the area and visit the water site almost every night.
From here, our cottage is just about 200 mts and we could not get there soon enough.
Once we were safely inside, we were told to stay in and not go venturing out in the night. Well, what if the elephants knock..you don't wanna be rude now, do you?!
I told them to walk safely and meant it.
This was just so adventurous. We did not see anything or even close to some weird noise, but the adrenaline was rushing.
We were so tired, what with all the walking back and forth, that I literally could not have slept better. No dreams, no moving or tossing and turning.
DAY 5
Kodaikanal & Caroselle Cheese at Skambha
We woke up early at around 6:30 in the morning and sat enjoying the day break and hey, of course the birds. I went here, there and everywhere to catch them on my camera.
WHAT MAD BIRDS we saw. It was crazy. A separate post on the birds of South India will come up soon.
We had planned to go for a mini trek to the waterfall nearby, but at 9 we realized that we had tired ourselves with all the walking around since morning and were not really in the mood to go.
The family went ahead to Kodaikanal, while we took a tour of the farm land on which they are growing some amazing stuff.
There were herbs like Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, Coriander, and there were leaks, carrots, some gourd like vegetable, and much more.
Wild hens roamed the farm area, keeping a check on this.
After this we headed to the small factory setup to process coffee and I think I smelled of coffee after being there for 1/2 an hour.
From here we decided to head out to Kodai because we were very keen on 3 things -
1. Buy loads of locally produced cheese
2. Buy loads of locally produced chocolate
3. Buy loads of spices, since Southern India is the hot bed for these - and hey, it would be wrong to not get spice. After all the Dutch, Portuguese and the English came all the way invading us for these.
Senthil recommended that we get the cheese from Kodai Dairy, which is the most famous cheese shop in Kodaikanal. For the chocolates and spices he guided us to Cocoa Bean, which again is the most popular place. And this also matched my research, so all was good.
I did ask him about Skambha Cheese, of which I had vaguely heard/read somewhere that a Dutch lady has a cheese farm in the Palani Hills, specifically Perumalmalai. And hey, he did know of the place, though he had not been there. He told us that we should visit that place on our way back, since one has to take an appointment with them and that it falls on route to and from Kodai.
So loaded with information, we headed out to Kodaikanal.
We straight off went to the Cocoa Bean, where the family also met up with us.
And we shopped.
I got chocolates for my colleagues, friends, in-laws and ourselves. I got spices for the self and the in-laws. I got Red Oil for one of the aunts. For myself I got Vanilla Extract, Sandalwood Powder, a bottle with multiple herbs to which coconut oil had to be added and then applied to hair and some other things too. Yes, I went loco.
From here we headed to Kodai Dairy.
Here again I continued on my loco streak and bought tons of cheese.From Parmesan, Grana Padano and Feta, to Smoked Gauda, Triple Layer, etc and even some fresh mustard paste and pesto.
The mustard and pesto are to die for. If you are into continental cooking, oh man, go get these NOW.
Right next to the Kodai Dairy was this small family run restaurant, which was empty.
We were tired and quite hungry and so decided to eat here and not go looking at other places.
It turned out that for the veg fare, they only had idli-sambhar type of fare and hence the family decided to go to some other restaurant. We meanwhile, gorged on some local Biryani and ****, it was tasty AF. It totally beat the very amazing biryani we had had at De Rock in Coonoor. Chunky chicken pieces, very very flavourful rice, correct spice and the black pepper shining through. Damn!Very satiated, we all decided to head back, since by now it was already 4 PM and we had to visit Skambha cheese, which closed at 5:30 PM.
Our driver knew where this was but what we did not know was a mini trek down the hill takes you there.
Skambha is located in the Palani Hills, only 3 kms from Elephant Valley Eco Farm and a car does not go all the way there.
Since this was such a 'separate' experience from the rest of the trip, I have put it up separately. So we visited the cheese farm and got more than cheese out of the experience.
We got back and relaxed at Elephant Valley.
We were heading out to Munnar the next day at 8 AM.
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| Coffee |
Hot Water Availability at EVEF is only twice a day
Carry Flashlights
Carry decent footwear
There are no phones in any of
the cottages/tents – you will be using your phone to contact the reception for
anything that you might need
Always ensure that you are
carrying water with you while going to the cottage – since once you get there,
it is a task for someone to get it for you – not to mention, water+waiting are
not a good combo – they make me go cuckoo
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| Coffee |
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| Pepper |
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| Pepper |
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