Valparai in the Western Ghats (2020)

Valparai beckoned, a hidden hill station, seductively veiled in mist and untrampled by tourists. We drove from Bangalore in about eight hours. After Pollachi, the climb begins, offering panoramic views of pristine forests and endless tea estates, terraced fields redolent of ripe green peppercorns and cardamom. But Valparai held out other pleasant surprises too – elephants sauntered through the tea bushes, lion tailed macaques skipped across rope bridges, herds of bison blocked the roads, wild boar burrowed into puddles.