The drive from Kochi to Kodamanju
Three and a half hours, the climb after Adimali and where to stop for tea: a guide to the road up from the airport.
A slow day at Kodamanju
From bed tea to the evening fire: how most guests spend their first day.
Most guests arrive tired from the drive and plan to see everything. We usually suggest doing very little on the first day.
The morning starts with tea at your door at 7. If the sky is clear, the valley below fills with cloud and slowly empties by 9. Breakfast is on the veranda: appam or puttu, egg roast or kadala curry, fruit from the garden and as much coffee as you want.
After breakfast, walk the estate with Rajan or on your own along the marked path to the stream. Before lunch, sit on the veranda with a book; it is the best seat on the hill. In the afternoon, the mist usually comes in. That is a good time for a nap, or for a cooking lesson in Mariamma’s kitchen if you ask the day before.
At 4.30 there is tea and snacks. In the evening, Thomas lights a fire in the garden on cold nights, and dinner is at the family table at 8. Most guests are asleep by 10, and up for the clouds again the next morning.
