O dear. It’s been a long time since I posted a blog. Guess I got something known as Writer’s block. I thought I was the only one who faced that problem. But when I visited some of my friends’ blogs, I realised that they too were facing the same problem. After putting this blog, I can boldly tell them to post something. .. 
I had promised that I’ll post a blog on Kumily. Here it is. And yes, this is my first attempt at posting multiple pictures in a blog. The credit goes to Rahul (Think Tank) for suggesting how to do it .. 
Kumily is a hill station in Idukki district of Kerala. The upward climb to Kumily was very difficult for me, as it always is in any hill station. I have motion sickness. The serpentine road over there created more problem. But, believe me, once I reached there, it was eternal bliss.
The first destination was Lourdes Roman Catholic Church. Here’s the picture. The sculpture and the glass painting were superb.
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The next stop was Spice Garden where we went for eco-tourism. The entry fee was Rs. 100 per person. Expensive, did you say? Wait till you read further.
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| From Kumily |
This was an amazing experience. I got to know a great deal about plants.
Have you ever seen a purple chilly?
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| From Kumily |
Or a banana which grows downside up?
From Kumily
Or a flower which looks like a snake’s hood?
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| From Kumily |
Or a multi coloured brinjal?
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Or vanilla beans hanging from a plant? Did you know that vanilla is fertilized by manual pollination only?
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| From Kumily |
I saw all of these and much more. Of course, no journey would be complete without purchases being done. We purchased spices like cardamom, cinnamon, honey (very sweet one, collected from Periyar Tiger Reserve which is nearby) and, of course locally made chocolates which we gobbled up while our return journey to Baroda. All said and done, inspite of the sickness that I had before reaching, this trip was truly paisa vasool ..
Interesting dear
WOW!!wonderful pics jissy!!Endayalum nalla oru visit ayalle:)….pakshe nhan ivide onnum idu vare poyilla!nice that you shared it with us!Pictures nanayittunde!!:)
I have a neighbour uncle who”d given me a vanilla plant……….and as the maintainance procedure one will have to coil it over a lowest branch once it is upto nearly 2m length,so that it comes down and the procedure continues!……..unortunately i had forgotten all about it and today it has reached the highest branch of my jack-fruit tree:))))))Let me see if i can post that pic!!…..though there’’s no vanilla pod in it:(….sob!!
I envy you, Jissy ben….
It was kind of unbelievable knowing that Vanilla is fertilized manually. I was wondering how come and why it doesn”t take place naturally and how pollination would have taken place when it grew by itself in the wild before cultivation.
A photo blog by Jissy! A good collection of photos and information alongwith made an interesting read . So you turning into a shutterbug:) Even I am planning to post photos following Rahul and other friends.
great post, interesting photos.
I”ve seen those pink coloured bananas in some wayside stalls on the way to Kanyakumari but I didn”t know the bunch grew upwards instead of hanging down. The brinjal too is such a novelty. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
quite an inviting read! am sure many would love to visit kumily after reading you and seeing the pix!
Yeah I have heard it is a beautiful place indeed - is it not great to take a break
take care
Oh a beautiful hilly place. Great pix too.
Wow Jissykutty, next time I am also coming with you for trips to my “shashya shyamala keralam”. The Banana and multicoloured brinjal are new to me.
with grt diff logged in just to see kumily n periyar pics..the pics r astounding! i hv been to these places maybe ten yrs back….wat nxt?
The picture of that Brijal was superb…quite fascinating pictures…Thanks dear…wishing you many more such outings in future…PGR
Wow! Nice pictures! Perfect. I didnt know about Kumily till I read this post. And a discovery to know about all you describe. So Periyar Tiger Reserve is nearby and Kumily is a famous spices trading center. Btw, what does Kumily literally mean? Be it purple chilly, pink banana, snake-like-flower or cute brinjal, I saw them for the first time here… Thank you so much for coming back
Regards, (Rahul)
aah u had nice time itseems! welcome back