Rubber soul: Kerala guesthouses

Family-run rubber plantations in Kerala are throwing open their doors for visitors to enjoy a way of life pioneered by British planters a century agoOn a bend in the road, just before the hairpin drop into the Koottickal valley, we stopped for a moment to admire the view. Oh, what a view! Aside from the pink tip of a church tower poking through the trees, all we could see was lush, tropical greenery: betel nut, coconut and banana palms; forests of rubber creeping out of the valley and up the slopes of the Peermade hills. Whisps of cloud hung in the folds of the distant Vagamon mountains. A pair of gaudy butterflies danced past. I could hear the whoop-whoop of a crow pheasant. After the steamy heat of Kerala's crowded plains, it felt amazingly fresh.The Koottickal valley is at the heart of Kerala's rubber belt. In the foothills of the Western Ghats (the gigantic mountainous ridge that runs down the spine of south India), the belt is a wide band of plantations; not just rubber but foodstuffs ? vanilla, pepper, pineapples and tapioca ? and teak. It's an area often overlooked by tourists. On the well-trodden KK Road, which plods uphill from Kottayam on the coastal backwaters to Kumily, the gateway to Periyar wildlife sanctuary, they just pass through, sometimes by the coachload. I have done it myself, but I've since found a dozen good reasons to stick around.One is the weather. Rubber thrives in mid-range temperatures: cooler than the plains, but warmer and dryer than the High Range tea plantations. Another is the beauty of the landscapes ? green hills, steep gradients, white morning mists rising from river valleys. I like the ordinary, everyday towns (Pala, Kanjirapally, Mundakayam) and the madly ornate Catholic churches with their icing-sugar bell towers. Thanks to a growing number of rubber-belt guesthouses, I've also developed a taste for plantation life: best summed up by sultry evenings spent chewing the fat on the veranda of a vintage bungalow, it's a life that was pioneered by British planters a century or so ago, and hasn't really changed much since.In the Koottickal valley, my husband and I stayed with fourth-generation Keralan planter George Abraham Pottamkulam and his wife Anju, daughter Rose and baby Aby. Their home on the 50-acre Evergreen Estate, which peeps at the Urumbi hills through slender rubber trees, is a flat-roofed neo-modern bungalow ? all cubes, curves, louvred windows and a Miami-style carport ? built by George's father in 1955.George runs a small travel agency, Stay Homz, specialising in "plantation tourism". And he has just written a book about southern India's plantation history ? a copy of The Path to the Hills had added at least a kilo to my luggage. There's not much that he doesn't know about his native "rubber country".As we sipped cold Kingfisher beers on his shady veranda, he told us about the colonial farmers and missionaries (the Bakers, the Vincents, the Murphys) who helped establish Kerala's first rubber estates; about the Syrian Christian families (the Kurians, the Pottamkulams, the Kottukapallys) who now own most of them; and about his grandfather, who once bought a Studebaker with leopard skin seats ("real leopard skin ? can you believe it?").A lot of what you see here is standard Keralan fare: flat-roofed concrete houses in vivid shades of candy and citrus, creaking rust-bucket buses, crowds of uniformed schoolchildren, lines of washing, strung across front doors, and roadside adverts for silks, cement and ? this being the new India ? hedge funds. But some local attractions are far from typical.On a guided plantation tour, we hiked along red-earth paths, through industrial forests of rubber, where each tall, spindly tree is skirted with a polythene tutu to protect the latex which drips into a little cup strapped to the trunk below. Get up early ? before dawn ? and you can see the "tappers", torches strapped to their heads, carefully cutting thin strips of bark to release the milky fluid. If you're really keen you can visit a rubber factory (ah, the sweet smell of coagulating latex and formic acid).At Bharanaganam ? a name that encapsulates the timbre of the local Malayalam language ? you can also visit the tomb of St Alphonsa (India's first and only female saint, she was canonised in 2008), join the crowds of silent pilgrims, and pick up a kitsch light-up Alphonsa from a convent-run kiosk of church souvenirs.With George, we visited the final resting place of John Joseph "JJ" Murphy, who founded India's first commercial rubber plantation, in 1902. He is buried near Koottickal in an overgrown, middle-of-nowhere cemetery, close to the hilltop plantation he used to own. "We've a lot to thank him for," said George, who was looking quite misty-eyed as he stood over the Irishman's grave. Murphy died in 1957, but his portrait still hangs above the bar of the once very British Mundakayam Club, where a new generation of planters sip pegs of whisky under whirling ceiling fans. Another of George's must-dos, the club was founded in 1912 ? preparations for its centenary celebrations are under way.For me, though, the joy lay in the simple pleasures of a family-run plantation guesthouse ("the testimony to glorious yesteryears", according to George). And the food is so good. We dined on food typical of Kerala's Syrian Christian home-cooking ? meatball curries, rice-flour chappatis, appams (rice flour and toddy pancakes), coconutty fish curries with tapioca; we were even treated to a traditional nazarani sadhya feast, 30 tiny spicy dishes served on a banana leaf.Yes, I do love the region's lush green landscapes, the tourist-free towns (nobody tries to sell you anything, not even a tuk-tuk ride), but I would travel a long way for one of Anju Abraham's banana-flower patties.EssentialsGetting thereKerala's rubber belt is roughly two hours by road from Kochi. Emirates (0844 800 2777, emirates.com) flies to Kochi via Dubai from �519 returnWhere to stayDouble rooms at the Evergreen Estate Bungalow, bookable through Stay Homz (+91 4828 284310, stayhomz.com), cost from �60 full boardFurther informationThe Path to the Hills by George Abraham Pottamkulam (available from Stay Homz for �60)OTHER PLACES TO STAYKottukapally Plantation HomeOn a 1,300-acre rubber estate close to Pala, this rustic bungalow has been owned by the Kottukapally family since the 1950s, but it looks much as it would have done when it was built by the British in the 1930s. A recent restoration has spruced up the corrugated iron roof, the neat whitewashed walls, the glazed verandas and the green-painted bay windows, which peer out at the Vagamon foothills across a garden of frangipani trees. Original colonial furniture sits on new tiled floors; there's air-conditioning in the bedrooms and a live-in housekeeper, Sebastian, to look after guests. The house specialities are plantation tours, Indo-British Raj cuisine (chicken biryani meets cottage pie) and "high tea" served on sprigged china.? Double rooms in the bungalow (020-7503 6204, homeandhospitality.co.uk/home107.html) on cost from �82 B&B double, or full board from �106 for two peoplePlapally Estate BungalowOn a former rubber plantation, founded in the 1920s, this is the home of Saijan Pulickal. It's a low "heritage" bungalow on a wooded hillside above Koottickal, at the end of a rough farm track. The guest rooms are simple and basic, but the views are sensational. Enjoy them from a wicker chair on the wooden veranda or from the treehouse perched in the branches of a huge mango tree. The deep valley below is a carpet of rubber, but the Pulickals' own five acres is a mini botanical garden: a profusion of pepper vines, papaya, plantain, gooseberry, snake flower and hibiscus crowds around a spring-fed pool (pleasantly cool on a hot day). The food is traditional, home-cooked, often picked from the garden (the Pulickals' homestay is listed under the Eco-Kerala scheme). Nightlife? Listen to the crickets while gazing at the stars.? The Plapally Estate Bungalow (stayhomz.com/plapally.htm) has doubles from �80, full boardKalaketty EstateThe ancestral home of Mr Kurian and his wife Anuja sits on the edge of the family's 150-acre rubber and pineapple plantation near Kanjirapally. Across an immaculate lawn, shaded by mahogany and mangosteen trees, are two huge vintage guest rooms, one on each floor of a pretty two-storey villa with veranda and views of emerald paddy fields. They are furnished with antiques, old-fashioned planters' chairs, polished red oxide floors and galleries of Kurian family portraits. Take a walk around the plantation, watch the latex being turned into rubber sheets, or just hang out. Meals are served in the main house, in the family dining room, and the food is exceptional: rich coconut curries, home-grown vegetables, fruits and spices and the finest appams.? The Kalaketty Estate (+91 4828 235223, kalakettyestate.com) has doubles from �120 full board KeralaIndiaFood and drinkShort breaksFamily holidaysAsiaguardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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