Spice & Tea Country
Choosing a homestay in spice country, from Kumily to the estates
Town, estate or forest edge: how to pick a homestay around Thekkady, Kumily and Vandanmedu, what to ask before you pay, and how to be a good guest.
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Field writer
Biju Abraham
Biju spent his childhood between Kumily and the cardamom estates further up the ridge. He writes about spice and tea country, hill towns, food and the people who live at the forest edge.
Spice & Tea Country
Cardamom, pepper and tea around Kumily: how to read the plantations
How small cardamom grows under shade trees, why pepper climbs them, where tea takes over, and what to look for and ask on a plantation walk around Kumily.
Wildlife
Watching elephants at Periyar, from the lake shore to the forest edge
Why the Periyar lake shore is such a good place to see Asian elephants, how to read a herd's body language, and how people at the forest edge live beside them.