I just arrived back in Mumbai after a five days away, visiting some homestays in the coffee estates of Waynard (Kerala) and Coorg (Karnataka).
Although the monsoon is yet to reach Mumbai, Coorg experienced heavy rain the last two days I was there.
I took the above photo from my cottage at Honey Pot Homes in Coorg. I already miss being surrounded by the tranquil greenery of the coffee plantation, the cool fresh air, and delightful Indian hospitality.
Related Posts:
- More Photos from Honey Pot Homes Coorg
- Photos of Nyingmapa Tibetan Monastery & Golden Temple Coorg
- India Photo – Sunrise at Glenora Homestay in Wayanad, Kerala
- Funny Photo – Gas Delivery in Mumbai
- A New Piece of Furniture: The Sofa Cum Bed
- The Thing I Miss Most About Australia
- Beating the Indian Summer Heat
- Three Days in Matheran
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks so tranquil! Coorg is so pretty!
A homestay… is that more than a “bed and breakfast”?
Lovely shot!
Oh my god, that house to the right! What is it? Who’s is it?
Is that where you stayed? How much did it cost?
Would love to live in a place like that all year round!
Details!
Coorg!!!! Woot woot!! In my state
. Wonderful pic by the way. Did you pick up coffee??
I know I know…. The coffee is Robusta …still it is better than NesCafe/Bru that most of India drinks
Wow what beautiful shot! that’s in India? wow how amazing, I did see on the weather that Mumbai is to get rain wish you luck. Great pic if you have more hope you post them, that house is that the one you stayed in?
Hey sharell,
Coorg is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in India.I had a chance to visit in June 2007, when monsoons had just started.Hope you had a chance to eat the famous Coorgi food, that my non vegetarian friends swear by.
A homestay is very much like a bed and breakfast, but many homestays are located in separate accommodations a little away from the owner’s residence.
The house to the right sure is the cottage that I stayed in. It’s really beautiful and modern inside too, and even has a loft.
The cost is 3,300 rupees (around US $70) per night, including breakfast. Honey Pot have three of these cottages, right in the middle of their coffee plantation. It’s such a peaceful place. I’d love to live there all year round too (although apparently it gets very gloomy during the monsoon because the rain doesn’t let up for months).
You can dine in the tree house and go on a tour of the plantation (which has Arabica as well as Robusta coffee!). They serve fresh coffee from their estate — and yes, they gave me a huge packet of it to take home, along with some vanilla beans and white pepper that they also grow there.
I’m going to post some more mouthwatering pics, but if you want to read my review of the place (which I did for work), it’s here: Review of Honey Pot Homes Homestay
Work? Please don’t tell me you got PAID to go there!
I want your job. How do I get it?
Lol. Well, first you’ll have to kill me off, and then apply. Warning: A pre-requisite is spending lots of time in crazy India, and you might sometimes go a little crazy yourself.
I didn’t exactly get paid to go there (although I do get paid by About.com to write their India travel website and maintain it) — I traveled for free at the invitation of Mahindra Homestays. They also invited me to visit one of their homestays in Wayanad Kerala, which I’ll post some pics of soon. I’m writing an article about the benefits of homestays for them.
Coorgis’ are one of few communities in India who consider both pork and beef as a delicacy. Nice review BTW
Sweeet that you got to their for work what sweet deal where can I get job like that? For real! I did check out the link that you have they are nice even on the inside and what you paid in us dollars that is so chep right now pernight makes me want to take flight to India right now just to go thier. I did read the review it was nice.
Hey Nickki, well I got the job with About.com by having some writing and India travel experience (and no doubt because I live in India). I applied and had to go through a pretty tough selection process, then it’s a matter of getting established in the industry. I’ve just been incredibly fortunate that fate has been shining on me this way. I used to be an accountant and hated it.
I’ll write a post soon about my journey from accountant to travel writer!
So what was the selection process?
About.com choose the best 5 applicants and put them into a “training program”. It’s a two stage process where the applicants have to prepare a sample website, using About’s content management system, against a set criteria. The applicants have to come up with all the categories, and upload original content that they’ve prepared onto About.com’s templates. Ongoing reviews are carried out during the process (which lasts a month), and then there’s a final review at the end to decide who get’s the job. It’s a pretty intense process. Not only do the applicants have to write the required content, they also have to come to grips with using About.com’s content management system. Basic knowledge of web design is necessary too. I spent a couple of sleepless nights where I worked non-stop for 24 hours on it — no joke!
More detailed info about the selection process is available here: http://beaguide.about.com/faq.htm There’s a position open for Thailand travel, if anyone’s interested.
That is interesting! I work in health care as Certified nurses aid in nursing home and I’m starting to hate it! I have been lucky thought out life to travel begin my dad was in the US Army so I go to see somethings,I miss traveling. Sharell you blog post get my attention because I have wanted to travel to India for long time now so someday I will go over their to see it!!!
Thanks for the info Sharrell, but does the company you work for pay for your transportation and lodging at the places you write about?
No they don’t pay us a travel allowance or anything like that. The job is more about passion than money! (Which is fine for me because I’m earning a good income by Indian standards). We do however get invitations from places to go and stay for free, and write about the experience (which is what happened with me in this case).