The Coffee Plantations of Belur (AB & EM)

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Since Mysore, we have been staying in the beautiful coffee region of Belur. We were all fortunate enough to be hosted by coffee planters on their plantations. Emily and I stayed with a wonderful old man, Ganghia, and his wife, Vashanta. He is evidently highly respected by everyone in the region, deservedly so, it seems to us. His son is the owner of India's largest coffee shop chain, Cafe Coffee Day and apparently one of India's richest people. He is also, we are told, an unassuming man like his father.

The house where we stayed was built about 150 years ago by a coffee planter from Wales. Ganghia's family bought it in the 1940's and have built it up to its 11,000 acres of today. He took us on a tour, showing us the difference between arabica and robusta plants, how they grow in the shade of tall trees such as silver oak and teak, and are interspersed with pepper and cardamom. He then showed us how the beans are washed and dried for seven days in the sun.



We visited some interesting temples, one of which involved climbing 716 steps. There are said to be a thousand, but I counted far fewer. It was very good to be out in the lovely weather. Our host for the day told us only after he had negotiated all those steps that he had a heart problem! Jain and Hindu temples visited later had the most intricate carvings of animals and gods. In one I was given such a very special holy garland that I could barely carry the weight around my neck.



The giving of garlands and individual flowers, generally roses, is a common custom to honour guests. We have been given so many. Apparently after use it is customary to leave them under a jack fruit tree to wither away.



While in the Belur region we also visited some friendly Rotary clubs, an Interact club and a college named after Ganghia, where village students over 16 are taught English and trained in various subjects in preparation for working for Cafe Coffee Day. They are given six months training with free board, food, uniform and education. They are then required to work for the company for two years, after which they are free to choose whether to stay with the company or get a different job. The college is in immaculate condition.



We were also shown Ganghia's son's very smart resort hotel, where for a mere £330 a night one can rent an opulent suite, complete with its own pool. The inclusion of a helipad may suggest the wealth of their clientele!



Now we move on to Shimoga for further new experiences.

(Text by Angie, photos by Emily)

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Photos

Belur host house
Angie and Emily stayed on Chetana Halli Estate

Arabica coffee beans
Nearly ready for picking, which has to be done by hand.

Coffee washing
All beans are washed and then skinned to extract the two beans in each pod. The outer husk is separated and dried for use in fertilisers and manures.

Coffee drying
Once beans have been hulled, separated and washed they need to dry in the sun for 7 days.

Coffee processing
The whole drying plant at Chetana Halli Estate

Multiple layers
The Indian coffee plantations are a diverse ecosystem with shade loving coffee plants growing under silver oak, arecca, banana, coconut and papaya trees.

Peppercorns
Pepper vines grow on arecca nut, mangostein and banana trees.