Every family needs family therapy sessions once in a while, be it opting for family counseling sessions or packing the bags and leaving for a trip. As some of you might know we recently headed to Chennai for my father’s treatment, I planned a quick 2 day trip to Kerala once his reports came clean. Now anyone who’s been to Kerala knows that it’s no place for a quick trip, rather its God’s own country that takes a minimum of 10 days to explore. The reason that I planned a short trip was firstly because we’ve been in Chennai for sometime already and my parents are super busy business people, and secondly because I wanted to give them a taste of what it’s like to travel with me.

I always say that my dad loves to travel like a backpacker, he’s most likely to prefer a budget hotel and is the kind of person who’ll leave their bags at the hotel and head out straight away. Apart from the few hours he’s sleeping, he’ll be most likely outside. And honestly, travelling with him doesn’t really feel like a vacation, because we’re always on schedule. So after all those treatments and tests, I planned a 2 day vacation just the way my husband and I travel, mainly relaxing in an amazing property close to nature.

This time I choose Beaumont Plantation Retreat 10km to Munnar road from Thekkady. Now anyone who reads my travelogue knows that I love to stay away from the main town because outskirts are the places you’ll get the most breathtaking views. Beaumont Plantation Retreat is situated close to Chellarkovil Waterfalls, one of the viewpoints in Thekkady and we could see it from our veranda. Sadly since it wasn’t monsoon there was no fall, but the view we got from there made it up to us. The property is as serene as it can get, just like its sister property Ela Ecoland in Munnar. Since we booked last minute the family rooms were already booked so we got the Traditional Cottage which had an extra bed. And it was just what I wanted, an entire cottage for just the 3 of us, innumerable trees, spice plantation, and a breathtaking view. Shame that my sister couldn’t make it.

Since we had a 9 hour road trip from Velankanni and my dad navigated the entire time, he felt a little sick when we reached. My mom and I had our fair share of sleeps in the car since we left at 4 in the morning. So after lunch my dad took a nap and my mom and I left to explore the town.

[The outside of the retreat]

At 7 my dad called and we headed back around 8. What made the property even more hauntingly beautiful is the fact that on our first night stay we were the only guest at the property. It became a little chilly around the night and I made 2 cups of coffee for my dad and I and we sat their enjoying the bonfire and the serenity. I’ve always been a huge fan of all things creepy and just knowing the fact that we were the only ones in the entire property beside the amazing caretaker Jovish, gave me exciting chills.

Around 8 we had our dinner. The entire table was spread with amazing dishes, Kerala style fish, chicken, rice, chapatti and 3 types of vegetables followed by ice cream. After dinner we slept in as we were really tired of the journey and were looking forward to some adventures at The Periyar Forest the next day.

The next morning we had a hearty breakfast with idly, toasts and watermelon juice and left for Periyar Forest. We were supposed to go to the night trek but since my mom’s cloth didn’t match with the dress code we went to the Mountain Safari instead. The jeep drivers were asking us if we wanted to go to Chellarkovil safari and we were like ’nah! We are staying there’.

We reached back at the plantation around 9 and saw a lot of guests having dinner. The property has like 4-5 accommodations making the entire place even more serene and all the rooms were booked on the second day.  After another delicious dinner we retired to our room and called it a day.

It was our last morning at Beaumont Plantation retreat and we had something for breakfast that my parents still cannot stop talking about- Iddiyappam or Kerala Rice Noodles. I’m a huge fan of Thai Rice Noodles and for some reason Iddiyappam tasted even better. I don’t remember my parents enjoying a meal as much as they enjoyed Iddiyappam and they had me search for it on Amazon and Flipkart and literally everywhere.

The co-owner of the property was present since the previous evening and I asked him for a property tour. Jovish had already given me a small tour of the area overlooking the view. The area that goes beyond the tiny back gate of Beaumont Plantation falls on Tamil Nadu.

[View from the back gate: Chellarkovil fall]

[The retreat view from outside of the back gate]

Now the owner gave me a detailed tour of the entire property. Apparently, wild animals can be seen from afar if one comes out at night through the back gate. Given to the level of my insanity, I would have probably come out had I known it beforehand. He also gave me a tour of their spice plantation. Better than the ones that takes tickets to let visitors in. They had cardamom tree, cinnamon tree, black pepper tree and what not. He gave me samples of their spices from their spice storage and trust me, I’ve never smelled spices that smells so good.

The idea that I liked the most was keeping bicycles for guests and I wish I had known about it earlier. Our driver came an hour later to pick us up and that’s how my third Kerala trip ended.

My backpacker father who wasn’t very pleased at first learning that the Periyar Forest was about half an hour far from the plantation now can’t stop talking about our serene stay, and the hospitality of Jovish and the amazing foods that we had back there. So much so that he talked about creating a plantation on our huge background which has since been circulating as a joke among our relatives (because he has never been a tree lover). My mom on the other hand, a huge time nature lover loved her stay from the beginning to the end and lit a bonfire the very next day after reaching home and has been since  been doing the same every once in a while.  My father who was at first complaining about the distance from Periyar Forest is now telling my sister and her fiancé to stay at Beaumont Plantation when they visit Kerala (they’ll soon do before leaving Bangalore).

Overall our family trip has been a huge success. My backpacker father who loves to stay at hotels close to the town took only a few hours to change his mind. The first evening he spent complaining, by the second evening he started saying it was even better than our Kashmir trip and by the last morning he couldn’t have enough of the property. Spending nights at a serene and melancholic property away from the fast life of the town isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But my dad is the living proof that pushing him beyond his comfort zone has been so worth it. I have a feeling that now whenever he plans a trip he’ll probably want to stay at the outskirts.

Ambiance:

5/5

Hospitality:

5/5

Food:

5/5

Eco-Frienly/Zero Waste:

5/5

Location:

5/5 (I know it’s 30 minutes far from the main view point in Thekkady, but it’s really close to the other view point Chellarkovil. Also the location, the view and the hauntingly beautiful road to Thekkady town really makes it up for it).

Retreat Website:

https://www.beaumontthekkady.com/

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