Tears at breakfast, Ambush in the afternoon.
Within 10 minutes of us having checked into our hotel room the night before, we knew we could not stay for more than one night.
The hotel was located at the edge of the Nilgiri forest, in a stunning wooded valley, however our room looked out directly into a tree canopy, so we had no view at all. There was one other sitting area outside, close by the swimming pool, which had some uncomfortable wooden benches, and otherwise there was nowhere to sit apart from the restaurant, or a dark reception area.
We tried to go for a walk, but the walking track was closed (as it was Jack Fruit season there were a lot of elephants around, so it was not safe to walk), so it all felt quite claustrophic.
One other problem (which should have been obvious to us before booking!), was that as the hotel was a few miles downhill from Coonoor, we were out of the tea plantation altitude, and we had come to Coonoor specifically to see tea plantations.
Happy days! We had not paid in advance, so the hotel staff kindly accepted that we could just stay one night instead of two, and we booked into the Taj Gateway in Coonoor for the next day, (which actually was cheaper than where we were, and we loved it).
Therefore, at breakfast the next morning I think I was a bit emotional due to feeling a bit guilty about moving out, and maybe even by having disturbed a sleeping black snake on my way to breakfast, and watched him slither into a swimming pool drain hole. So when I had the delightful and humourous conversation with the waiter about the identity of some of the breakfast dishes, I was moved to tears when I got back to the table. There we were, kicking up because the hotel was 'not quite up to our liking', and we meet so many Indian people who have so much less material wealth than us, but have a dignity, happiness and grace that we don't often see in the 'West'.
After breakfast we moved out and started the steep curving ascent into Coonoor. As per the previous evening coming down the mountain, the traffic was a bit crazy, as all the lorries and buses had to take up the whole road to turn the hair pin corners, causing lots of traffic queues on the narrow roads. As we watched some cars drive the wrong side of the road trying to overtake, our driver who is from Kerala rolled up his eyes and muttered 'Tamil drivers'!
The final part of our short journey back to Coonoor brought us back to the stunning landscapes of the tea plantations. They are the most beautiful landscapes, as if exquisite rich green velvet has been draped over the hills and mountains.
After checking into the Gateway hotel, (complete with welcome drink and flower garland, and lovely room with fireplace (as this is Indian hill country where it can be quite cold in winter)), we headed off for a walk to Highfield Tea Plantation via Sims Park.
Sims Park was pleasant, with an astonishing variety of tree types (apparently over 1000 different species). We thought that only the British could have planted such a park, as it included trees from all the countries of the British Empire, I am not sure what other entity would have had the resources to plant this over 100 years ago. While we were sitting enjoying the park, a few members of a family picknicking near us came over to ask us where we were from etc. They were nice, one of the girls was studying in Coimbature University. One odd thing happened as we passed them when moving on, the grandmother of the family held out her hands to beg from us. It was so surprising, as seemed at odds with the relatively sophisticated conversations we had just had with her grandchildren.
We then wandered along the quiet country road to the tea plantation factory. On the way a car stopped to ask us for directions, then suddenly 4 burly men jumped out. In any other country that would be terrifying, however as this was India, they just wanted their photograph taken with us. They were very jolly, told us they were on holidays from Kerala, established that we had been married for 20 years but did not have any children, took turns to have their photographs taken with us, then jumped into their car again and off they went. All in the space of a few minutes, a very Indian moment.
Highfield Tea factory was good, so interesting to see the tea leaves being processed. It was fairly dusty with antiquated machinery, however as I had never been to a tea factory before I don't know what other ones are like.
Within 10 minutes of us having checked into our hotel room the night before, we knew we could not stay for more than one night.
The hotel was located at the edge of the Nilgiri forest, in a stunning wooded valley, however our room looked out directly into a tree canopy, so we had no view at all. There was one other sitting area outside, close by the swimming pool, which had some uncomfortable wooden benches, and otherwise there was nowhere to sit apart from the restaurant, or a dark reception area.
We tried to go for a walk, but the walking track was closed (as it was Jack Fruit season there were a lot of elephants around, so it was not safe to walk), so it all felt quite claustrophic.
One other problem (which should have been obvious to us before booking!), was that as the hotel was a few miles downhill from Coonoor, we were out of the tea plantation altitude, and we had come to Coonoor specifically to see tea plantations.
Happy days! We had not paid in advance, so the hotel staff kindly accepted that we could just stay one night instead of two, and we booked into the Taj Gateway in Coonoor for the next day, (which actually was cheaper than where we were, and we loved it).
Therefore, at breakfast the next morning I think I was a bit emotional due to feeling a bit guilty about moving out, and maybe even by having disturbed a sleeping black snake on my way to breakfast, and watched him slither into a swimming pool drain hole. So when I had the delightful and humourous conversation with the waiter about the identity of some of the breakfast dishes, I was moved to tears when I got back to the table. There we were, kicking up because the hotel was 'not quite up to our liking', and we meet so many Indian people who have so much less material wealth than us, but have a dignity, happiness and grace that we don't often see in the 'West'.
After breakfast we moved out and started the steep curving ascent into Coonoor. As per the previous evening coming down the mountain, the traffic was a bit crazy, as all the lorries and buses had to take up the whole road to turn the hair pin corners, causing lots of traffic queues on the narrow roads. As we watched some cars drive the wrong side of the road trying to overtake, our driver who is from Kerala rolled up his eyes and muttered 'Tamil drivers'!
The final part of our short journey back to Coonoor brought us back to the stunning landscapes of the tea plantations. They are the most beautiful landscapes, as if exquisite rich green velvet has been draped over the hills and mountains.
After checking into the Gateway hotel, (complete with welcome drink and flower garland, and lovely room with fireplace (as this is Indian hill country where it can be quite cold in winter)), we headed off for a walk to Highfield Tea Plantation via Sims Park.
Sims Park was pleasant, with an astonishing variety of tree types (apparently over 1000 different species). We thought that only the British could have planted such a park, as it included trees from all the countries of the British Empire, I am not sure what other entity would have had the resources to plant this over 100 years ago. While we were sitting enjoying the park, a few members of a family picknicking near us came over to ask us where we were from etc. They were nice, one of the girls was studying in Coimbature University. One odd thing happened as we passed them when moving on, the grandmother of the family held out her hands to beg from us. It was so surprising, as seemed at odds with the relatively sophisticated conversations we had just had with her grandchildren.
We then wandered along the quiet country road to the tea plantation factory. On the way a car stopped to ask us for directions, then suddenly 4 burly men jumped out. In any other country that would be terrifying, however as this was India, they just wanted their photograph taken with us. They were very jolly, told us they were on holidays from Kerala, established that we had been married for 20 years but did not have any children, took turns to have their photographs taken with us, then jumped into their car again and off they went. All in the space of a few minutes, a very Indian moment.
Highfield Tea factory was good, so interesting to see the tea leaves being processed. It was fairly dusty with antiquated machinery, however as I had never been to a tea factory before I don't know what other ones are like.
No comments:
Post a Comment