ANDREW EAMES samples a luxurious treehouse resort in the southern Indian state of Kerala

FEW years ago I spent the night a whopping 87ft above the ground in a giant banyan tree near the town of Vythiri in Kerala. The only way to reach the Green Magic treehouse, a shelter on a coir-lashed platform, was via a light wicker "birdcage" hauled jerkily upwards by three burly men.

These treetop shelters, known as "erumadam", lie deep in the forests of the misty and mystical Western Ghats mountain range.

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Hunters and farmers would retreat to these platforms at night, out of reach of elephants and other wild animals.

Things are a little more luxurious at the two treehouses at Carmelia Haven, a resort 4,000ft above sea level in the Vandanmedu region of Kerala, also in the Western Ghats. They may have their heads among the branches but they've got all four (bark-clad concrete) feet firmly planted on the ground and come complete with en-suite bathrooms, wood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and proper staircases. No need for burly men to haul you to bed then.

Carmelia Haven sits on a 55-acre cardamom and tea estate, near Thekkady, a three-hour drive from the city of Cochin.

After negotiating a mountainous road where every bend seemed to have a bus stuck in its throat, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace as soon as I arrived in this cathedral of trees where the air was filled with fragrant spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon.

The next morning I woke in my treetop retreat to the rustle of plantation workers pruning the neighbouring pepper plants.

I spent the day relaxing in the resort, enjoying a soothing ayurvedic massage, taking a dip in the pool and, when I got a little peckish, plucking some mango or papaya from the abundant fruit trees.

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One day I visited the resort owner's much bigger 1,500-acre cardamom plantation, a short drive away at Kailasam, where a 4x4 Mahindra Jeep offers free, off-road safaris. Its driver took me up a bumpy road to Kailasam's viewpoint, from where we could look out over the Ghats towards the state of Tamil Nadu.

It was almost as bumpy on the roads to the Periyar Tiger Reserve at Thekkady and, although the chances of seeing a tiger here are slim, plenty of other animals such as elephants, gaur and sambar deer came down to the water's edge for the evening wildlife cruise.

It was a pleasure to simply hang out at Carmelia, where the sunsets and dawns were nature's finest shows. The only problems were the noisy neighbours, an orchestra of birds that tuned up at the first sign of daylight. Just one of the hazards of living up in the trees.

GETTING THERE:
Somak Holidays (0208 423 3000/ www.somak.com) offers an 11-night Kerala and the South Tour from £1,689pp (two sharing), B&B. Price includes four nights in Carmelia Haven, return flights from Heathrow and transfers.

For departures March 2011.

Green Magic Nature resort, Kerala (dialling from the UK: 0091 495 6521163/www.jungleparkresorts.com) offers doubles from £158 per night (two sharing), full board.

India tourism: 0207 437 3677/ www.incredibleindia.org