Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spice Gardens & Tea Plantation
This part of the ghats is an important spice-growing region - check out the many spice
shops in Kumily's bazaar to see what's harvested. Several spice plantations are open to
visitors and most hotels can arrange tours (?450/750 by autorickshaw/taxi for two to three
hours). If you want to see a tea factory in operation, do it from here - working tea-factory
visits are not permitted in Munnar.
If you'd rather do a spice tour independently, you can visit a few excellent gardens out-
side Kumily. The one-hectare
Abraham's Spice Garden
( 222919;
www.abrahamspice.com
; Spring Val-
ley; tours ?100; 7am-6.30pm)
has been going for 56 years.
Highrange Spices
( 222117; tours ?100;
7am-6pm)
, 3km from Kumily, has 4 hectares where you can see ayurvedic herbs and ve-
getables growing. A rickshaw/taxi to either spice garden and back will be around ?200/
300. About 13km away from Kumily the working
Connemara Tea Plantation
(Vandiperiyar; tours
?100; 8am-5pm)
offers guided tours of the fields and tea-making process. Any bus heading
towards Kottayam will stop at the tea factory in Vandiperiyar on request (?11, every 15
minutes).
GARDENS, TEA ESTATE
AYURVEDA
Santhigiri Ayurveda
MAP
( 223979;
www.santhigiri.co.in
; Munnar Rd, Vandanmedu Junction; 8am-8pm)
An excellent and au-
thentic place for the ayurvedic experience, offering top-notch massage (?650 to ?1500)
and long-term treatments lasting seven to 14 days.
Sleeping
4
Inside the Sanctuary
The KTDC runs three steeply priced hotels in the park, including Periyar House, Aranya
Nivas and the grand Lake Palace. Make reservations (at any KTDC office), particularly
for weekends. Note that there's effectively a curfew at these places - guests are not per-
mitted to roam the sanctuary after 6pm.
The Ecotourism Centre can arrange tented accommodation inside the park at the
Jungle
Camp
(d tent ?5000)
. Rates include trekking and meals but not the park entry fee. Also ask
about
Bamboo Grove
Kumily town.
