During our visit to South India we spent a few days exploring the tea plantations and here is everything you need to know before coming here.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Talayar Bungalow which costs around 150$ a night and includes all meals, drinks and trips around the tea plantations.
We spent 4 nights here but 2 would be enough to discover this beautiful land
How to get here?
We actually drove with a friend here from Coimbatore but you can arrange transport with the hotel or a taxi from any city. It’s around 3-4h away.
You can fly to Coimbatore from Delhi or Jaipur
What to bring
We recommend to bring comfortable shoes, jacket and long pants as it will get cold in the night.
Sunscreen, hat and sunglasses.
What to do at the tea plantation
Walking tour with a local guide
On our first day we went on a walk with a local guide that explained how the tea plantation works and met some of the workers as well
Did you know there are wild leopards and tigers here? Therefore you cannot leave the hotel before 8am or after 6pm as they are more active here.
Although we didn’t see any of them, but we saw lots of fresh prints of leopards and tigers as well as a fresh poo.
Visit the tea plantation factory
We asked if we could visit the factory and even they’ve never had foreigns inside they were so kind to show us around and try some black tea as well.
We could only take a photo from the outside as cameras are not allowed inside.
Read our Jaipur guide if you are heading here next
Visit a waterfall
Kerala is a big natural park and you can go on day trips, we visited a local waterfall in a reserve and did a small hike of 2-3 hours. We don’t remember the exact name but there are many around.
Go for a walk
You are actually allowed to go for a walk on your own during the day. There are different marked paths you can follow.
We did all of them and met some of the workers on the way that explained us how they usually work at the plantation.
Relax at the plantation
We played badminton, chests and read books at the hotel. It is a perfect destination if you want to relax, enjoy nature and be surrounded by tea plantations
As the tea plantation is private, you will always be alone along with the other guests (it has less than 5 rooms)
Enjoy local food
The price includes all meals and drinks. Most of the meals were vegetarian and they prepared vegan options just for us.
Usually we had curries, rice and breads.
Don’t miss our India Travel Guides about Agra, Jaipur and Delhi
Drone photography of the tea plantation in Kerala
