Travelling along the unpaved road leading to Balehonnur, you know even before you come to the coffee trees that you have entered a special world – the world of spices and exotic products.

Immediately on the right, before the estate manager’s house surrounded by flowers, you can just see a small plot of land cultivated with betel palm, a mythical tree that we know only from children’s adventure novels. Beneath these palms are low-growing plants that are unfamiliar to us: cardamom plants, which produce a spice with a compelling aroma that is mainly exported to Arab countries, where it is ground and added to traditional coffee.

When you finally come to the coffee estate itself, you are met with the sight of a very fine robusta, cultivated in the shade of majestic jungle plants, many of which draped in deep green-leaved vines. This the realm of pepper. Just visible among the rich dark green of the foliage, in fact, are clusters of green and red fruits, shiny and succulent, which are harvested using narrow wooden ladders several metres high. The processing of this spice, which is commonly used all over the world, is very similar to that of coffee.

The Chikmagalur district, which stretches along the Badra River valley in the state of Karnataka, is considered the quintessential Indian coffee district. In this territory the Badra river irrigates the crops, with a tropical climate and high humidity.

It is an area that also has a fair amount of tourist interest thanks to the production of quality spices and the very rich fauna and flora. Certainly interesting to visit not only for the coffee. The territory is mainly wooded: large forests extend in this region in a subtropical climate. Thanks to the tall plants, coffee finds shelter from the sun’s rays, being able to flower in the best conditions.