We have been driving for three hours from Coimbatore airport, resigned to the flat, dry landscape, to the vegetation consisting largely of thorny bushes, relieved by brief glimpses of windmills standing tall in clumps of coconut palms. Pannaikudi in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, seems just another signpost but after we pass it the landscape begins to change. In the last hour of our journey, we start ascending the Palani Hills and the forest begins - hesitantly at first and then it starts to grow thicker. The road grows very quiet and we don't encounter another vehicle or even a passer-by as we climb bend after bend, except for a very old man cleaning out the dried flowers in the roadside temple with large idols of Ganesha and Kartikeya.
Budget
Rajakkad Estate: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee
Spend a few days in rural bliss watching coffee beans ripen and silk cotton pods burst in Palani hills