3 Nights @ the Honey-Valley home stay - Part 2 - Dec 2015

Continued from the previous post - 3 Nights @ the Honey-Valley home stay - Part 1 

25 - 28 Dec, 2015

We were like 2 veg rolls (I, king size) rolled into 2 extra woolen blankets. It was too cozy to sleep with such cold weather outside. We had decided to get up early and be out to shoot and paint expecting the early morning light to be at its best. We were up and ready by 6 and the valley was echoing with the bird calls. It was such a pleasant start of the day. I was off with the binoculars and the camera, she was getting ready with her paints and brushes.

I could hear the 'Sound of Silence'! The trees were still enveloped in the morning mist, a small gust of wind causing the leaves to rustle, whistling birds, flaunting butterflies, hint of light from behind the mountain cliff, there was a crisp smell of freshness around and the sound of the small stream somewhere between the jungle. I had walked about 8KM and that had made me feel better. I had my first sighting of many birds (Bird list to come up in the next blog). 

A portrait of a sunbird

I was hungry and craving for breakfast. A simple, hot and tasty spread of breakfast was refreshing. She had scribbled some sketches and I had my experience to share. We were off to paint and shoot again after a long chat.

Spot Painting

A quick splash of colors

We met couple of travelers on day 2. Ben, a master's student in urban planning and development, travelling in India for a 4 week holiday. His thoughts on travelling  and his experiences in India were worth listening. A group of 4 friends who were travelling in India for 6 months had a different story to share. Josh, an English teacher, who had come down to India to attend a friend's (fat-Indian) wedding and he explained about his project in a remote city in Taiwan. And there were the weekend tourists clicking selfies and roaming around the estate. It is so amazing to hear the stories what people have to tell.

Honey Valley has many trek trails around the estate (they have a small printed guide if you are interested in exploring by your own or you can ask for person who can guide you through the trails) but we were not yet done with the surroundings, to explore the other trails. She sat down to complete the painting and I started wandering around. Huge piles of coffee fruits were set off to dry, which would take about 12 days to dry and then it is peeled to get the coffee beans.

Coffee set off to dry under the sun

Shades of coffee

The glittering coffee beans

It was like a perfect love story in the evening, the moon behind the mountain had just begun to rise above, the twinkling stars started to fade in front of the moon's bright light, the flowing clouds were lit with a hint of light, the cool breeze, the silence all around and just 2 of us. Lovely isn't it ;) Just in few minutes the entire valley was moon lit. We will cherish this time forever.

This is how it would look if I dream about it

The moon rise behind the mountain

I took couple of bird related books from the rack until the dinner was ready. The cold and the sight of food made me more hungry and the foodie in me was jumping and screaming and rolling inside my belly. We had a chance to thank the chef-couples from Kerala who made the food so good. By the time we sleep the moon was peeping through the glass tile from the roof. She slept like a millipede rolling herself in the blanket and I like a giant Pill millipede :D I guess I had some really sweet dreams that night and also probably snored in peace like a pig, but I cannot recall any of them now!

I recall 1 line which Mr. Suresh had mentioned, which he told me that he would say this to every customer who would call him inquiring about the home stay and gets surprised when he mentions that there is no TV, internet and only intermittent mobile signal; "If you consider TV (internet and mobile) as everything, then there is nothing here". This again was a small twig which caused ripples in my stagnant mind. There was a kind of character in him which pushed me to go talk to him, probably it is his experience which is taking forms of words. 

To be continued in : 3 Nights @ the Honey-Valley home stay - Part 3