Nature's Green Thumb - Kotagiri

So true

When Sharan warned us that we had a ten minute walk from the road to reach his guest house in Hadathorai, Kotagiri, I was quite sure that he was exaggerating. The pictures he had posted did not evoke much confidence in me. They were predominantly of his wild garden and of the beautiful mountains around, but hardly of any of the bedrooms or bathrooms in the homestay. A ten minute walk to his guest house? Who was he kidding? Either this place was going to be a hole in the wall, I thought or it was going to be one hell of an experience. At the back of my mind though, I had some confidence in S’s choice of this place. He had a knack of picking up homestays and guest houses that were quaint/comfortable/superb and available for a song. This, he had picked up from Airbnb

A magic of colours - Kotagiri

So when we drove from Chennai, via Avinashi and picked up 50-something Sukumar, the guy taking care of the place, from the Kotagiri bus stand, I got the first surprise of the day. The guy actually landed up and was helpful to boot. That paid rest to my silly suspicion of the place being a hole in the wall. Sukumar made sure we picked up stuff from the bustling little market there because “we get nothing down there.” After piling our car with groceries to last a week we weaved our way through splendid tea estates and kept driving downhill. At last near a tea factory which overlooked a small valley, he asked us to stop and park our car. There was nothing but the beautiful hill side dotted with tea plantation and a lone road leading nowhere. Thinking the road ahead was impassable, S tried convincing that his driving could take on any bad road. But Sukumar announced that we had reached our destination, and we blinked in surprise. There was nothing but the hills below us.

The view from top of the road. Not a house in sight.

How were we going to lug our luggage anywhere at all, we wondered? But Sukumar had already placed a bag on his head and had walked off. We followed to what looked like the edge of a cliff, when a small path materialized and we walked down it, through the tea plants for a good ten minutes (yes, he was right) and sighted a brick building with a small, colourful garden nestled on the hill side.

The pathway to the house

Our quaint little cottage.

A surprise! It was beautiful. I was impatient to see the interior of the building and was pleasantly surprised that it had basic amnesties like cots, blankets, hot water (whew), clean bathrooms and excellent mobile phone connectivity. But there was no TV or wi-fi. Tough luck.

We soon learned that though the estate belonged to Singh sir, as Sharan is fondly called, he had left the running of it to Sukumar and his family. The money from the homestay went to needy people, and the profits from the estate went to Sukumar. It was a good arrangement and was evident in the pride the family takes in the role bestowed on them. Since guests come after booking through the internet, the locals think it is Singh sir’s guests and are so revered and loving. But other than being helpful and providing food with the ingredients we buy, they don’t know much about running a homestay. A minor problem I would say, a discerning guest would do better to be less critical and enjoy nature.

Sukumar picks tea leaves in the estate.

Our stay there was very restful and a typical day would be something like this. Wake up at 6 a.m to the chirping of the birds, get ready for our 125 meter trek to the kitchen inhaling the cool, mountain air and drink hot tea/coffee prepared by our watchman, Shanta Kumar, an agile, lanky guy with a way with animals. Trek back to our room and lounge about in the hammock or in the verandah and watch tea pickers walk briskly through the estate to reach other estates. Many a time we received a jolly greeting or two and sometimes a quick chat.

The way to the kitchen and dining.

Around 8:30 a.m Sukumar’s charming wife Sheela would hurry down the dirt path to prepare our breakfast. Again, we trekked to the dining area/kitchen. After gorging on tasty idlis, dosas, upma or anything that takes her fancy that morning, we discuss lunch and set off to our room to get ready for the day’s activities.

The view from where we dined.

Sheela's simple, yet tasty home fare.

To say that it involved the two of us settling our bodies in different comfortable angles preferably horizontal, in various nooks of the beautiful place, is an understatement. We dressed up to lounge about. Sometimes we went for a gentle trek down the hillside to the waterfalls or the small stream.

The tiny, gurgling stream near the homestay.

That itself improved our appetite for the afternoon. Once we drove over to Coonoor to catch the Wimbledon semi’s and on another morning we drove to Kodanad to check out the view point. Our trip to Catherine’s waterfalls was a waste of time. We were advised by a sensible, well-wishing senior who seemed to be taking care of the tea estates at the base of the view point to not bother as one could get a better view from Dolphin nose.

Hardly a view point - Catherine falls ( a tiny sliver seen at the top right corner)

But this was told by a sensible, well-wishing senior working at the tea factory which was at the base of the view point. Since we were already there, S and I walked up the steps to see the view and confirmed for ourselves what was told. It was not worth the effort. But what was worth the travel, was the beautiful Kodanad viewpoint. Kodanad is the summer retreat of the present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, and we were awe struck by the volume and magnitude of work undertaken in her private estates. These estates run for miles, have paved roads, and showcase a few innovative agricultural practices. We drove on to the view point with our mouth open and there, it fell open some more. Wouldn't yours, if the view was something like the one below?

The beautiful Kodanad view.

The mountains, the sky, the water - ethereal

In spite of the relative inertia I dropped a few kilos, which did wonders to my ego.  The cold air and the inclined walks through verdant landscape ate at the stubborn cellulite and gave a great shape to my calf muscles. We had planned this trip to escape Chennai’s heat and when it involves hill stations I like to think that I pack in that trek which I have been meaning to do the whole year. And it’s anybody’s guess that strolling about in the hillside also counts as a trek. :-)


We also took up this holiday as a break from the city – its busy-ness, dust, heat and ‘habits’. This turned out to be a place to unwind. Though I must admit I was hooked on to Whatsapp and Facebook as I never was in the city. The mobile phone and internet connectivity was superb and almost all evenings, S and I had a great time uploading all the snaps that we had taken through the day. I just couldn’t help but plug myself into the very same things I was taking a break from, but only ahem...for the greater good of sharing these beautiful pictures among friends. 

I could go back for ever to see this view

But Hadathorai, under Singh sir’s vigilant eye has a vast green cover. His estate ends in a small forest and because of a small waterfall and a flowing stream, we managed to see bisons on one evening. On the second night of our stay a leopard was seen on the estate prowling for the dogs. We have since seen many birds including Pied Bushchat, Sparrows, wild turkey, animals like hares, wild pigs. Small black bears are also known to come along the estate in search of insects. Interesting array of wildlife for the city bred won’t you say?

This little one perched on my arm one morning.

One of the dogs in the estate.

To this mix add the awe inspiring nature and this trip became a favourite holiday destination. I can’t speak much about Kotagiri in general, to be honest, but Hadathorai was beautiful.

On the days it drizzled.

Our room faced the west and behind the majestic hills beyond which lay Coonoor, we could see the sunset. It was not only breath taking and beautiful, but different every single day. One day the sky is painted different shades of red, on another it is pink and russet and still some days it is a deep golden yellow, tinged with orange. S and I loved sitting on our wicker chairs, with snacks and a drink to watch the sun bow down to the velvet sky.

This was S's favorite routine of the day.

Sunlight on the rough tiles, the mist drifting past the mountains, the azure sky with a jet streaking through it, moths stuck to the damp walls of the cottage, the different shades of green in the valley, the fine drizzle, the vivid, brightly hued flowers…everything, everything made me feel so blessed and insignificant.

More than once I found myself asking why was all this made; what the purpose of life could be?

Sharan's favorites and perhaps the reason for the name of his homestay - Fuschia. 

Dwelling on that question has become next to impossible in the city. Mundane sounds have taken over the sounds of chirping birds and the the sound of the waterfalls. What remains are these flashes of colour and the scent of the soil. That's for now enough I guess until the next holiday. That reminds me...got to get hold of that husband of mine and plan the next trip. 

How to get there: Check out Wikipedia's suggestions for transport. 

What to expect: 

Kotagiri is the lesser known cousin of the Queen of Hills, Ooty and is lower down in the Nilgiris hills at 1793 meters. Tourists flock Ooty, the more accessible and bigger of the hill stations dotting the Nilgiris hills, and also Coonoor, a sophisticated and a less visited place earlier, but in danger of getting chocked by tourists these days. The alternative for people wanting a bit of peace and quiet is Kotagiri. The place is dotted with tea estates and is home to the Kota tribe. It is close to Kodanad, Ooty and Coonoor and is a great place to trek and chill out. 

Food: There are hardly any restaurants in Kotagiri. And the few that are there haven't received good reviews on Tripadvisor, so I stayed clear of them. Dining in was a better option.

Stay: We stayed at the Fuschia in Hadathorai village. There are plenty of other home stays and guest houses available too. Sharan Singh could be contacted via Airbnb.