A Resort with a View

A view from the Hilltop Resort, Karimkunnam

A cousin of mine invited me yesterday to the inauguration of his new venture, a resort. Hilltop Resort at a place called Karimkunnam on Thodupuzha-Pala Road.

Karimkunnam is a place on whose hills my boyhood found abundant delights because my mother’s brothers were living in those hills. A few hills belonged to the family entirely. There were rubber trees all over the hills in those days. Rubber has lost its glory among Malayalis now for various reasons. First of all, there isn’t much money in it now. The labour charges are so high in Kerala that the landowner will be left with little more than the cool shade of the rubber trees after the rubber is sold in any form – latex, solid blocks or sheets. No wonder my cousin chopped down all the rubber trees and built a resort there on his hill.

It is quite an exotic place whose rustic charm will seep into your heart along with the cool breeze in the evening. You have verdant mountains all around you. You can sit outside your room, on the balcony, and converse with the mountains while the gentle breeze caresses your very soul.

There is a swimming pool too. What I loved about that was the couple of Maqintoshes I sipped sitting on its side along with some relatives.

I’m sure this place will soon grow into a gigantic establishment with a spa, gym, and other appendages. I’m actually looking forward to a ropeway from this resort to another one on one of those overlooking hills where another cousin of mine has a resort too. It’s good to have rich cousins, you know. They sustain your dreams.