Vaksana Farms
After a tiring trip in Kumbakonam visiting temples, a quiet and relaxing vacation is what we needed and that is exactly what the Pico farm delivered! The elegant farmhouse with it’s glass exteriors give you a view of the beautiful greenery around from the cool indoors. Set among farming lands in a somewhat remote village, you can be assured of peace and tranquility, far away from the hustle-bustle of the city and noise of the highways.
True to its name, the farmhouse is a small duplex house with a kitchen, study and living room on the ground floor and sleeping area in the first floor. The house is filled with posters of kid’s favorite – Tintin, Asterix-Obelix, etc., immediately drawing the kids in. There is also a variety of books if you would just want to sit back in the reading nook in the living room and enjoy some quiet reading time. While there is no TV, there is a good internet connection if you want to stream something on your device.
The farmhouse has few dogs, cows and a pony – and these kept our kids busy all the time! For once, I was not worried about where my kids are and what they are upto. The dogs and the puppies were safe and my kids couldn’t get enough of them! The pony is a different story J I can’t decide if he loves people and hence keeps coming to us, or just doesn’t want us there :D He needed some strong words and a pat from Mr Sivaraman to send him away. The pony unfortunately had to be tied up most of the time since he was just too big for us to deal with.
One key ingredient to make a place warm and happy are the hosts and the food - Mr Sivaraman and his wife had this in abundance! They made our stay all the more memorable with their warm welcome, home-cooked meals and regular check-in to make sure we are comfortable and have everything we need. I was truly amazed at the number of food items our hostess churned out for us! Within the realms of traditional vegetarian South Indian cooking, she managed to prepare so many different varieties of food and from different ingredients! I also felt guilty and wondered if I should lend a hand…….but then this is my vacation and I am a hopelessly lazy person :P A special mention to Shekar, his wife and Pushpa who support Mr Sivaraman and his wife in running the farm and farmhouse.
While I was not planning to step out anywhere, KIruba’s list of places to visit was tempting. So we ended up going to Akkarai Kali Amman temple. The drive was amazing with mostly a sea of greenery on both sides of the road! While I have driven through villages with paddy or sugarcane fields on both sides, this is the first time I came across clumps of plantain farms, sometimes casuarina trees, mango farm, etc. The temple is situated in the middle of a lake and you would have to walk through a shallow river to reach it. Since there was no one around to guide us, we didn’t want to risk going through the water – none of us know swimming and the water was quite slushy. However, we had a good time playing near the bank and attempting to reach the falls. Despite all the beauty of nature, here again we found trash and filth near the water falls. There was even an overturned garbage can. So we avoided the place where the water falls flows through the rocks.
Probably because of the timing of our trip (too soon after the heavy rains) there was not much to see or do on the farm. That is something I was looking forward to, especially for my kids to experience. I hope to visit again during a more appropriate season. Until then, thanks for a memorable 2021 year-end vacation!
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