As our car swished over a stream of water sliding over a concrete bridge, we took the huge sweep of driveway, into Glyngarth resorts in Hullatti village, on the 9th hair pin bend,Ooty. The resort is spread over a 5 acre property and the buildings on the entire property have been aesthetically planned, keeping the geographical elevations in mind.

Our car scrunched over the gravel, going in through the massive gates, we parked in the car park along the side.As we unravelled and straightened ourselves, from out of the car, we looked around at the spectacular scenery around us. In minutes welcoming hands helped us take our luggage into the reception area where we were greeted with a welcome drink. Ofcourse I could not have it as everything in India unfortunately, that is welcoming, is sweet! Not to be outdone the receptionist asked if I would like a cup of tea and ofcourse I cheekily quipped -- masala with sugar free.

You have been given suite D2 we were told and we happily walked along a path, almost encased in flowering shrubs. A woman worked diligently, wrapped in a sari, weeding along the beds and digging up and aerating the soil, which makes the plants happier and helps the water percolate into the ground, esp in the hilly areas.

The suite was stunning, with a view of the valley which just took our breath away. Adding to the view was the incredibly beautiful sky blue, infinity pool. The bathroom was really large and roomy, with a huge jacuzzi in which one could lie and let the jets massage all your aches away.
One had to wait a bit for the warm water to come, as it was a bit cold and wet, but later we were able to enjoy really warm water once the solar kicked in.

After unpacking a bit and putting our phones on charge, we went up to the reception. Please go up to the restaurant Madam we were told, so we climbed up a broad and vast expanse of wooden staircase, up to the restaurant. We found ourselves a table close to the vast expanse of windows to be able to look out and enjoy the breath taking scenery.

The menu card had both Indian and Western cuisine. So I chose their caramelised chicken with fresh salad and potato mash. For some reason the men decided to order Hyderabadi biriyani and their faces fell when they saw my plate! Ofcourse I cant eat a whole portion of anything, so they did get to taste half of mine. At night I was smarter, I took over the ordering of three dishes that we all could share and ordered five Ceylon parothas to go with them. Three fresh lime sodas made our day and everyone sipped them slowly, switching off and gazing at the hills. One hillside was covered with Everlasting flowers which were a golden yellow and stretched up the hill, nodding their heads in the breeze.

To the right were the blue, amazingly topaz blue gum trees in a clump that we could enjoy looking at, while the breeze rippled their leaves and the sun glinted off them. The Eucalyptus trees scent their air with their fresh perfume and anyone visiting should take a bottle of the oil back home, to the plains.

The bathrooms are large at Glyngarth with a Jacuzzi or a shower cubicle, whatever you prefer. And what caught our collective eye is that the resort has cut back completely on any sort of plastic.There were no plastic bottles or straws. No single use plastic around as the government has come down heavily on plastic, inorder to clean up the place. Amazing to see how wonderfully clean any place becomes when we conciously clean up and cut back on single use plastics.

Breakfast was a buffet and a massive buffet at that, with everything from fresh fruit juice minus sugar , cut fruit from the hills and a massive Indian breakfast buffet. Dosas, appams, uttapams, everything your heart desired and more. And for me the live omlette counter where I ordered my cheese stuffed omlette. The men prefer the typical, Indian, masala omlette. Ofcourse everything goes better with ketchup for me.

We could not swim sadly in the inviting infinity pool as it was chilly and rainy, but I sat indoors and sipped my masala chai and watched the little Wagtails marching around the edge of the pool snapping up insects.