#seethargundu

[samcoool]

Farm Women🌱 ° ° ° Torrential rain has hit hard some part of Kerala, Kollengode was one of the location witnessed the wrath of nature,many farm land was destroyed as seen in the picture ⛈ ° ° ° About the place: Located in Palakkad district very close to Humongous western ghats towering on average 1 Kilometres into the sky. One of the famous place near Kollengode is Seetharkundu . ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #travelgram #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #canonm200 #indianmobileclick #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits #moodygram_keralam @nammude_kollengode @kollengodekaran @stories__from__kollengoden @my.palakkad @palakkatukaar @beauty_palakkad @keralagodsowncountry @kerala.travel.diaries @moodygram_keralaa @indian_photography_club_ @world_photography.hub (at Kollengode, Palakkad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfSkI3pG1u/?utm_medium=tumblr

[tourpackagesforyou]

Top Five Places to Explore in God’s Own Country - Kerala

Kerala tour packages and holiday packages are mostly with backwater tourism. Yet, it has one of the exotic hill stations on the Western Ghats Mountain Ranges of Kerala State, South India. Here, we have discussed 5 top hill stations to visit in Kerala (Gods Own Country).

1.       Agasthyar Koodam

The tourists must reach Trivandrum to reach Agasthyar Koodam (6,129-ft AMSL) the Western Ghats. People take a holiday tour to rejuvenate with Mother Nature. This is because this hill has incredible herbs. The aroma of these herbs itself makes you free from diseases. The sage Agaysthiyar lived here in the ancient times so the name is. You can find the floating mountain mist 24/7. The tourist can visit in all seasons for an herbal spa, Yoga, meditation and herbal massage. There are many Mountain View cottages and resorts to accommodate honeymooners and people seeking wellness treatment.  

2.       Idukki

The Idukki District in the Kerala State has one of the highest Mountain Peaks of the Western Ghats. The local tour operator will take you to Annai Mudi Peak (8,842-ft AMSL), which is the highest one in South India. It is in Annai Mudi Wild Life sanctuary. The 3rd highest one is Meesapulimala (8,661-ft AMSL). You can reach the top peak; view the sunrise and sunset. From this viewpoint, you can see the Tamil Nadu and Kerala State. The major attractions to see here are Munnar, Suriyanelli, Vagamon, and Mattupetti. These are tea estates and spice estates. It is a popular honeymoon destination in the Kerala State. Flamingo travels are the best to hire for Idukki tour circuit.

3.       Nelliyampathy  

You must reach the Palghat District to see the beauty of Nelliyampathy Forest Reserve. This is a budget-friendly place to take a hill station tour in Kerala. The Kerala tour packages include activities for the adventure seekers, animal lovers, and nature lovers. Seethargundu View Point and waterfalls will astound you for its exotic green location. You must visit Pothundi Dam for recreational activities like fishing, dam side garden, and village hiking. The Nemmara is the place where you can see the tea and coffee plantation.

4.       Nilambur

The best holiday tour packages for all age of people are to visit Nilambur hill station in Malapuram District. You must travel in Nilambur to Shoranur Railway Line, which is a scenic rail route on the Western Ghats. Nature and animal lovers must visit the New Amarambalam Reserved Forest and Nilambur Elephant Reserve. This is a cheap hill station for the honeymoon couples. It is the best place for city dwellers as this hill station is untouched by modernization.

5.       Wayanad

The Wayanad is a District of the Kerala State, which is a famous Hill Station adjoining with the Karnataka State. This place is popular for its mountain caves, waterfalls, tea garden, and mountain lakes and dam. You must reach Chembra Peak (7000-ft AMSL) to see the Kerala and Karnataka States from the vantage point. Muthanga forest is the best place to hike and go camping. You can find many Holiday Packages with Wayanad adventures.

Conclusion:

Most of the International tour packages in Kerala include these hill stations in the Kerala State. The best time to explore Kerala is during November to May months of the year.

[ithecoffeeconnoisseur]

Vienna Roast & My First Coffee Blend

I recently received another assortment of coffees from Blue Tokai roasters:

Seethargundu estate (light roast, washed)

Bibi Plantation (medium dark roast, washed)

Vienna roast (beans from Chikmagalur, dark roast & washed)

Vienna Roast

I have a new favourite roast now: the Vienna roast. It’s really the roast as not much of the original coffee’s flavour remains afterwards, that I have become the fan of. By definition, the Vienna roast is a dark roast, where the beans are roasted well into the 2nd crack (learned some new coffee lingo!). It’s not allowed to go to the extent of the French roast (which is the 2nd darkest roast, only topped by Italian roast). Given that the beans are of a good quality, the roast produces a rich aroma, a very nice body, and a flavour which is so characteristic of coffee (much closer to the nescafe instant).

I learned of a surprising fact: the darker a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine it loses. It means that a strong coffee carries much less caffeine than a lighter and more flavourful coffee. This is because caffeine is water soluble. When a coffee is roasted for an extended time it starts losing water after the first crack. With water, goes out the caffeine.

I depleted the Seethargundu estate reserve first. I’ll detail it in another post.

The Bibi Plantation

I found the Vienna roast, as I had been expecting, to be well suited to my taste. So ultimately I depleted my Vienna reserves rather fast. Only a little quantity remained. I had also tasted the Bibi plantation coffee, which was way lighter than Vienna. Now the Bibi plantation coffee was not initially my favourite. It professed to have toffee flavour. It was toffee but I discovered I didn’t like the toffee flavour all that much! But anyhow I was adamant on emptying this Bibi plantation packet before Vienna. But as days progressed, I learned to live with it and even appreciate the subtle caramel notes in this coffee. Still not my favouite but I’ll enjoy it anytime.

The Blend

Then one fine day, I find that both the coffees are nearly depleted. I decided to put one tablespoon full of the Bibi plantation roast and half a tablespoon of the Vienna roast in my French press and brew a cuppa. The result was good. My coffee cup carried the mellow sweet toffee notes (which I had despised earlier) and the brew was strong with a good body coming from the Vienna roast. I discovered the joys of blending my roasts. In coffee it seems that two varieties don’t nullify each other but rather come together and bring the best out of each one. Next time if you don’t like a lightly roasted coffee, go ahead and add in a stronger roasted coffee like Vienna or French. It’ll make the coffee more coffee like and still let you enjoy the citrus or caramel notes from the specialty coffee.

I’m not sure the procedure which the baristas or roasters follow, but I simple mixed the two coffees in assumed quantities together in the press. I shook the mix a little. I could see the difference between two coffees- a light muddy brown of Bibi, and a dark brown of the Vienna. I went on to add near boiling water (boiled first then allowed to cool for a few seconds) and let it brew for ~4 minutes.

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

[vraajkumar]

May 2019 : Neliyampathy trip

Four of us and 6 from Babu, Shalini family went in a train to Palakkad for 3 nights stay. It was one of the memorable trips for all of us. Planning was difficult as we have to consider various things, like safety, food availability, travel etc.

Parents came from PDKT directly one day later. The first day we hired a van and went to Malampula dam and roamed there. The park was good for the kids to play. Nandita, Anushka and Aadhav played for long time, without leaving a single item there. Even though it was hot, they didn't care much. We also went to a snake park before going to the dam.

After the park, we started to the hills and reached there around 3 PM, the room had 4 beds. The resort was good, we really liked it. The food was especially good. That day evening we went for a walk and didn't do much. The next day myself, Pavithra, Babu, Shalini and Aathai went for a walk till the govt farm, it was a 2Km walk. Later that day when parents came, kids and few people went to the farm in the car and we went walked again. 

We visited Kesavanpara near AVT factory and ate tasty mangoes on the way. The highlight of the trip was the off-road jeep ride to Seethargundu and other view points. I thought my parents are not going to like it, but they all enjoyed the trip.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. Nandita, Aadhav and Anushka became good friends. Aadhav and Anushka entertained us a lot. In one of the game we all played Aadhav also wanted to join and he will ask the same question in a cure manner to everyone, like “nee enna saapita?” “nee henna kick panna?”. Everyone enjoyed the campfire.

[kamalvengara]

#nelliyampathy #palakkad #seethargundu #rama #lakshmana #sita #ravan #skyline #chitturtaluk #nemmara

[samcoool]

Farmer's Hut🛖 ° ° ° A moody snap of heavenly Kollengode 💚 ° ° ° About the place: Located in Palakkad district very close to Humongous western ghats towering on average 1 Kilometres into the sky. One of the famous place near Kollengode is Seetharkundu . ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #canonm200 #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits (at Kollengode, Palakkad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVkKKIvp4Km/?utm_medium=tumblr

[samcoool]

When Heaven Touches Earth⛰ ° ° ° Captured this snap of Kollengode on a bigger sensor camera ,smartphone camera is all good but computational photography sometimes over sharpens excessively , which can be good and bad😋🤘🏽 ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #travelgram #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #canonm200 #indianmobileclick #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits #moodygram_keralam @nammude_kollengode @kollengodekaran @stories__from__kollengoden @my.palakkad @palakkatukaar @beauty_palakkad @keralagodsowncountry @kerala.travel.diaries @moodygram_kerala (at Kollengode, Palakkad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVZeQ-AJXoA/?utm_medium=tumblr

[samcoool]

Cloudy Bliss ⛰ ° ° ° One of the Hottest place in Kerala with coolest view🥰🤘🏽 ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #travelgram #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #mobilephotography #indianmobileclick #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits #moodygram_keralam @nammude_kollengode @kollengodekaran @stories__from__kollengoden @my.palakkad @palakkatukaar @beauty_palakkad @keralagodsowncountry @kerala.travel.diaries @moody_kerela (at Seethargund, Kollengode) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVXimJfoWC9/?utm_medium=tumblr

[samcoool]

Road to Heaven 🌿 ° ° ° Palakkad District is known Granary of Kerala, because of the lush vast paddy fields as shown in the snap taken at Kollengode . ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #travelgram #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #mobilephotography #indianmobileclick #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits #moodygram_keralam (at Seethargund, Kollengode) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUytPs0JHwA/?utm_medium=tumblr

[samcoool]

Rainy Road 🚗 ° ° ° The majestic Western Ghats of Kollengode 🌿 ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° #kollengode #kollengode_pkd #palakkad #palakkadgram #palakkadan #travelgram #palghat #palakkaddiaries #palakadanvibes #palakkadtourism #palakkadphotography #keralagallery #keralagram #seethargundu #indiantraveldiaries #keralatraveldiaries #keralaphotography #mobilephotography #indianmobileclick #landscapes #landscapephotography #travelphotography #explorekerala #travelgram #enteclick #seetharkundu #lightroomedits #moodygram_keralam (at Seethargund, Kollengode) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOrD2opDO1/?utm_medium=tumblr