The Honey Pot

We fell into the honey pot; well actually it’s a tea pot in the Nilgiri Hills and it all happened by chance. Through a series of new connections and new friends we are now enjoying a rare view of India. We had stopped in Coimbatore to meet a friends’ mother and brother and they arranged a homestay for us with a friend of theirs. The friend was having a going away party for another friend and they invited us to join the party. We had nothing else on our oh-so-busy (not) social schedule so we jumped at the chance to talk to new people and eat some ‘real’ Indian food. At the party we met Meenu and Mahesh and when we shared our travel plans they mentioned that they also had a homestay in the direction of our travel. A few weeks later we gave them a call on the off chance that they might have room available at their homestay over Christmas. Thanks to Santa or was it Krishna or maybe Buddha they did, so off we went to our holiday digs.

Since these people were now ‘friends’ we knew we’d have to stay at least one night no matter how much of a dive the place might be. We hoped our new home would be clean, have hot water (at some point in the day), not be too noisy and that it didn’t stink of mildew or odors best left unnamed. Our jaws dropped when we saw our home for the holidays. We are now staying in an old British era ‘bungalow’ atop a tea covered hill with sweeping 360 degree views of the Carolyn Tea Plantation. We couldn’t have asked for more.

We had no idea that our new friends were part of India’s elite. They don’t offer their homestay to anyone they don’t know or isn’t recommended by a friend. Not only do we have this beautifully landscaped three bedroom bungalow to ourselves it comes complete with a great cook and two house ‘boys’ (their term not mine) to anticipate our every need. On our first morning we heard tinkering in the early hours only to find hot tea waiting for us with no one in sight when we ventured out of the bedroom. The food has been the best we have tasted in all of India, bar none. The guys are teaching us Tamil (the language of Southeast India) while we help them with their English.

I think we are getting an inside snapshot of how the Indian aristocracy live or what it was like in the olden days of colonial India. I must admit it takes a bit of getting used to but we’re managing…. We’ve decided to stay here for the next week and we might even come back after my surgery while I heal. Anyone want to join us?….Seriously! We’d love to share.