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Eight lakes and a resort in the hills
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A charming mix of the old and the new
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PERFECT RETREAT For stressed-out city folks PHOTOs: K. ANANTHAN
In the 130 years of its existence, it has seen generations live, love and raise families in its comfortable environs. Then, the rest of us got lucky.
Rare treat
The family running the Red Hills Nature Resort, near Emerald in Udhagamandalam, decided to allow outsiders a rare dekko of a leisurely world, replete with brisk walks up the mountain, mornings spent taking in the sight of the calm blue lake down the house, cosying up with a book in front of a crackling log fire and enjoying healthy food. A visit to this holiday home amidst tea plantations is the perfect balm for the stressed-out, a reason why young executives from Bangalore descend here in droves for the weekend to just simply be.
Vijaykumar and his wife Banu pamper their guests, taking care of their every need, organising treks, trout fishing, walks to the Mukurti National Park that overlooks the house and other therapeutic activities. Vijaykumar even doubles up as a physician when a guest takes ill. And Banu is a great hostess even coming up with surprise birthday cakes for her guests.
Bought by Vijaykumar's father, Muthur Pillai, in 1937, Red Hills encourages its guests to mingle and exchange views. The absence of room service has forged many friendships at the dining table and in the living room. Cricket-loving Bindu, the family's tomcat who intently watches cricket matches on television, completes the picture.
Eye candy
The view from the resort (7200 ft), which overlooks the placid Emerald Lake, is great, especially at dawn and in the twilight hours. In the winter, a layer of mist covers the lake. It is a treat to watch the mist cover slowly lift, allowing you a glimpse of the sapphire-blue waters.
April and May are a flood of colour with flowers of all hues jostling for space in the garden. The family has a kitchen garden too, from where plump bush beans, cheery carrots, cauliflowers, peas and glowing zucchini find their way to the dining table. The kitchen is open to guests, so you can walk in and see the master cook and his team whipping up a healthy but grand meal.
Animal sightings
The place is perfect for wildlife enthusiasts. If you are lucky you may glimpse the occasional sambhar, wild goat or leopard. It is also a bird watcher's paradise.
The resort provides you with a mountain bike if you prefer to explore the hills that way, or you could just walk.
The crisp, unpolluted air is a balm on city-abused lungs. Another option is to spend time near the eight lakes around the resort. If you are not much of an outdoors type, there is enough indoors to whet your appetite.
There is a wealth of antique furniture and artefacts you can feast your eyes on.
A gun cupboard with rifles, a cartridge holder, a silver-tipped walking stick with a carved ivory handle, old chests and a curd bowl that is more than a hundred years old all retain the flavour of the days gone by. The entire place is a charming mix of the old and the new. An ancient fireplace co-exists perfectly with a glass-topped centre table. Books strewn around give the place the ambience of `home'.
The latest issue of National Geographic happily shares space with a Reader's Digest dating back to 1970.
Three bookshelves groan under the weight of hundreds of books handed down the generations. From fiction to wildlife books, you find them all here.
How to get there
The road from Emerald to Red Hills is in bad shape. So, opt for a four-wheel drive. If not, park your vehicle in Ooty (27 km) or Emerald (6 km), where the resort has parking space, and hire a jeep.
From the Ooty bus stand take the Avalanche Road and take a diversion at Emerald for Red Hills Estate.
The resort is closed from June 15 to August 15 for the monsoon.
For details, contact vijayredhill@yahoo.co.in, http://indianjungle.com/redhill/resorts.htm, or call 0423-2595755.
Subha j rao
SUBHA J RAO
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