Meet Pooja and Sudhanshu Kejriwal- Homeowners of Villa Amberly. Lovers of the hills.
Sudhanshu and I love the hills. We plan 2-3 vacations a year out of which two of these are always spent amidst the mountains. Being avid travelers, one of the main reasons why we choose to work is so that we can pursue our passion for travel.
And it's this extreme fondness for travel that caused our paths to intertwine with each other years ago, when we had both decided to take a road trip to Ladakh; a trip that marked the beginning of our journey together, both in life and in our trekking chronicles. Thereafter, visiting Ladakh became one of our rituals that we would love to do together. Almost every alternate year we would find ourselves in Ladakh enjoying the serenity of lush green mountains coupled with the majestic blush raised by the sun
Having spent the majority of our holidays high up in the mountains, the decision to retire and move to the hills came to us naturally. Our biggest challenge dawned upon us when we had to decide which among the many mighty hills in our country should we settle in. While Ladakh has been a place extremely close to our hearts, we realized that its extreme weather conditions would eventually start to take a toll on our health, as we grew older. Dharamshala was another place we were looking at actively. Its well-connected medical facilities along with a list of other important factors made it an ideal place for us to live in but due to some unforeseen circumstances, we weren’t able to buy a house there as well.
After having spent almost a year, pondering over this subject, and feeling like the odds were against our favor, we finally came across Isprava and its offerings. We read about how they were all set to kickstart their latest endeavour (back then) in Coonoor. And from then on, one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were truly, madly and deeply in love with the blue hills of the Nilgiris. This piece of haven had everything we were looking for; perfect weather all around the year, easy accessibility, well connected medical facilities and friendly gentry. And off we were on our very first trip to Coonoor, one that was quite the adventure.
Having wanted to get an authentic insight into the local culture of Coonoor, Sudhanshu and I decided to check ourselves into a small boutique property. We even drove down to Coonoor so that we could evaluate the conditions of the roads, traffic, and the commute time. Our hotel was further down than we anticipated it to be. But what came as a bigger surprise to us was the fact that we had to pass through a Naxalite post to get to our final destination. Scary indeed!
On reaching the hotel, we were greeted by both, the breathtaking views of the verdant Nilgiris as well as the caretakers of the Oland Plantation, the boutique hotel we had checked ourselves into. As we were being taken to our cottage, which was 200 meters from the main house, next to a waterfall, we were given a list of do’s and don'ts that surely added to our already existing paranoia. We were told to keep our balcony door shut owing to the presence of numerous monkeys in and around our villa. We were even asked to not wander away too far as there was a wild elephant on the loose along with a couple of leopards and bison. This was the moment we realised we were living in the midst of a jungle, which for a person visiting the place for the first time, is surely intimidating.
But all of this was long forgotten when we witnessed, for the first time ever, one of Isprava’s bespoke villas. Just a glimpse of the villa, and we were head over heels in love with the home and its location. We were then taken to the land parcels in Ketty, where we walked through the amazing landscape of tea plantations while listening to a variety of bird species chirping away to glory. It was so serene and peaceful that we could hear a bell ringing in a temple, situated in the mountain opposite of Ketty village. And from then on the rest is history. Soon we will be living in our very own home present amidst the beautiful hills of the Nilgris
If this was a fairytale, wouldn’t isprava be the wish-fulfilling fairy?