Lovely life in the jungle
Susheela Nair
Periyar (Kerala)
EXCHANGE your smoky, noisy city for a few days of absolute bliss. Go to Spice Village, on the fringes of the Periyar Tiger Resort in Kerala. A cottage with a roof of elephant grass awaits you inside a deep, dark forest. Birds sing a symphony of songs. Cool gentle breeze wafts in carrying the aroma of cinnamon and vanilla. Set in the plantation town of Kumily, Spice Village is a resort where you can have a wild time. You also get material comforta lovely room, excellent food, a swimming pool, a smoky bar and lots more.
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Makaibari's wonderful tea forest
Anjali Pathak
Kurseong
WHAT does an enchanting forest have to do with a cup of exquisite tea? Visit the Makaibari tea estate in Kurseong on the way to darjeeling and find out. Giant bamboos, Himalayan oaks, ferns and orchids envelope the estate. Over 70 per cent of this amazing tea plantation is covered by dense forest, a feat accomplished by dedicated local selfgovernance and an enlightened tea garden anagement. Out of 1,574 acres at Makaibari, 1,100 are forest and the remainder is under tea cultivation.
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Home-stay in languid Kumbalangi
Susheela Nair
Kumbalangi
LOCATED in the backwaters of Kochi is Kumbalangi, an idyllic model tourist village in Kerala. Still untouched by hordes of tourists, this coastal hamlet takes pride in its lush paddy fields, mangrove forests and serene stretch of backwaters. Here the distant vanchipattu (boatman’s song) echoes across the gentle hush of waves. Wispy Chinese fishing nets cast a web across the shoreline. You will be charmed by the simplicity of this friendly village of farmers, fishermen, toddy-tappers, coir spinners and boatmen. They will entertain you with their cuisine and folklore. Kumbalangi provides a fascinating glimpse int
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Love birds? Go to Pangot
Vidya Viswanathan
Pangot (Uttarakhand)
THERE are many destinations to escape to from Delhi, but few as cool, homely and full of beautiful surprises as Pangot, a village in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region which attracts bird-watchers from all over the world. Pangot is 15 km from Nainital. After passing this touristy hill station we went on a spectacular 25-minute drive through oak and rhododendron forests in the Cheena Peak range before arriving at Pangot. On our right there was a turquoise blue and maroon building which housed a post-office. The road now reached a dead end. A wooden signboard with Jungle Lore stencilled on it pointed to a pebbly path leading to a cottage.
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