Tribes– Seth Godin describes them as “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea”. I was out to live in a forest but in the comforts of a proper resort, in the land of a tribal village called Kurumbadi, where the Kurumbas live. The Kurumbas, Toda’s and Kota’s are the three prominent tribes in the Nilgiri area, presumably  believed to have originated from 3 sons named that way, who went on to develop tribes from their family tree. With this little history, I set off on my trip to the land of the Kurumbadis

If you dont have the time, to read further, try watching the video that tells our story. If you have the time reading the post further on is probably the best experience.

The Route to Mettupalayam

The weather near Salem turned slightly overcast, as I stopped for a driving break. I could see some hills from the A2B restaurant, which had considerable cloud cover. I knew I had to be a little mindful of rain enroute, and of course on roads that might not have a whole lot of tar on it. The other thing that worries me on drives are usually battery levels on the phone, since I use it to speak and also for navigation. The folks from ‘Kurumba Village’ called me a day in advance to tell me directions as Airtel signals dont work from Mettupalayam all the way till Coonoor, and Kurumbadi is exactly between these places, where I need to discover a mud path going down from the hill, 30 degrees to my left.

I had great roads till the Avinashi Byepass, after which I had to slow down on a state highway to Mettupalayam. As I turned on my phone from the slumber of the ‘flight mode’, a slow drizzle started and my car’s windows were starting to become dotted with drops. Its a beautiful feeling to be in a closed cozy car, when its raining outside. I started the drive, looking at the betel plantations on either sides of the toy train track that was running parallel to the road that took me on the ascent to the nilgiri hills.

The monsoon cometh- Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu

Rain and Hair-pin bends

In about half-an hour, after a few hair pin bends, and some drizzle, I was feeling at home driving in the hills, when I realised that I had probably missed the turn down. I slowed down, stopped and walked a bit back to check and luckily I had gone only about 150 metres ahead of the left turn. I managed to turn back and find the road down, with a little trepidation. For a first timer, to drive a heavy car down a part-mud-part tar road filled with leaves, is scary, as you dont quite know the terrain. The hotel was still 500 metres away down that road. I settled for the comfort of the second gear, to just have a light grip on the accelerator, as I passed by homes of the hotel staff into the forest in a single road, which went down after a couple of curves into the entrance.

Getting to Kurumba Village

I had the hotel staff waiting for me, with their traditional ‘Vanakkam’, post which I was led to my room by one of the staff members.The Kurumba Village resort, was set up in 1996 and it took about 4 years to get all the permissions, and then by the time, it was complete for bookings, it was 2004. It takes some amount of patience to build a hotel, that’s a work of art, and the biggest compliment I could give it, was that it did not feel like I was in a resort, but in a forest where there were homes in random places along the stone walk.

Our room opening to a private garden and hammock-Kurumba Village Resort

Next to my room, was a private little garden surrounded by plants and a hammock, while each roomed adorned a painting of the tribes of the Nilgiris. The room had a valley view, opening out to the magnificence of the Bakasura mountains. The drive to the place was worth it. There were no telephone signals and there was a very bleak wifi. Not bad to just observe silence and connect with nature. With the resort basically being tucked in on a mountain, and near a waterfall, TataSky was going to have some problems coming properly. That was our only connection to the outside world, and when it rained the TataSky looked like a 1990’s video streaming on a dial up connection. The disconnection to the distraction of the modern world was well set up. I did not quite mind the situation, as I went over to the restaurant to have lunch.

Our room at Kurumba Village Resort-Kurumbadi-Tamilnadu

As I sat there, gorging the hara bhara kebabs, the clouds were floating right above me, since the restaurant has this edge-of-a-cliff feeling. My son gasped at the size of the mountains, even as he was enjoying his meals, looking at the uniquely designed fork that was glistening against the table with its art form. After a long lunch, we just preferred to stare at the clouds and the mountains, as the evening light faded and the rain started to pour. Life was beautiful.

Edge of the Cliff Dining-Kurumba Village Resort-Kurumbadi-Tamilnadu

Read more in Part-2 of the adventure. If you cant wait, and need a little highlights reel on what to expect in the other parts, do watch this video

Cost of Staying

The resort is priced above 12,000 INR onwards on its rooms, and it differs depending on the room type. Browse through their website to book directly

To get to Kurumba Village, its best you travel on your own in your vehicle. Whether you travel on your own or take a taxi for your rides, it should be another 6000-7000 Rs on your driving costs at the minimum. If ever you wish to be adventurous, the way to do that is to take the train at Mettupalayam and get down at HillGrove, and trek down into the Kurunji flower areas, cross a little waterfall hoping you dont slip, and you will find yourself in 20 minutes at the resort. I dropped my S7 Edge into the waterfall, but thankfully my phone can remain in water undisturbed.

Best Time to Go

There is no best time for a place steeped in the hills, but if you can just before the Europeans come here for their winter season (Dec-February), the resort is flush with the freshness of the onset of the North East Monsoon(Oct-Nov) and the Pre monsoon showers (June-September)

Getting There

From Chennai– You could take the train 12671 to Mettupalayam via Coimbatore and then take a taxi from there to the resort. If you are flying down, take a taxi from the Peelamedu airport in Coimbatore.

From Bangalore-The best way is to drive, through Mysore and Gudalur into Ooty, Coonor and then Kurumbadi, but if you dont prefer the hills, you can drive through Salem, Erode, Avinashi keeping the ghat roads to a minimum of 14 kilometres. For those flying or taking a train, you need to come to Coimbatore to then take a taxi.

From anywhere else in India-Fly in to Coimbatore and take a taxi/train to Mettupalayam

The resort has only BSNL signals, so if you have anything else, it makes sense to call the resort from Mettupalayam/Coonor for directions, as there is no easy signboard to spot on your left, where you need to make a V shaped turn down the valley. If you are not sure how to drive down or drive up a hill, it helps if you can drive in 1st gear or get a driver who is at ease with driving in the hilly regions.