Coorg

 

 Welcome to the land of Kaveri, where lush green coffee plantations creamed with thick white clouds, welcome you for a scenic treat. Situated in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, known as the Scotland of India, Coorg (aka Kodagu) is an awesome place to relax, unwind and enjoy. The best time to visit is between September and February.

Our trip to Coorg was planned for three days and two nights. Day 1, we started from Bangalore around 4:00 AM on Friday and reached Srirangapattna by 6.10 AM. Instead of touching Mysore, we took a deviation near Srirangapattana to connect Hunsur Road which saved us a good 20 kms! The road till Srirangapattna is fine, however, Hunsur Road is pretty narrow and is an awful 30 minutes drive. Once you are done with this 30 minute stretch, the road gets better. With a pit stop at one of the Cafe Coffee Day outlets, we headed straight to Bylakuppe. The Golden Temple there was our first peek. You literally feel you have reached The Roof of The World (TIBET), where the refugee Tibetans have settled after Chinese took over Tibet and it is locally called Tibet Camp or Tibetan Colony.

 

 

After seeking the blessings of Lord Buddha, our next destination was Nisargadhama. An island with a hanging bridge at the entrance, makes you feel the essence of nature. It was fun to walk on the bridge as you can feel the bridge swing (very little though). It was a pleasant and silent walk through the bamboo trees. The deer park and a couple of tree houses are an attraction, not to forget a part of the River Kaveri, flows through this place, where we drenched our feet and relaxed a bit before heading towards Harangi Dam.

 

 
 

 Harangi Dam, 8 kilometers away from Nisargadhama is the place where few movie sequences were shot. We were advised by the locals it’s not worth a visit as the entry is restricted, however, we just wanted to have a look and there we were in a few minutes, capturing a glimse through the lense.

 

Dubare Elephant Camp, our next stop, where, the forest department tames and trains the wild elephants. Here you have an option to go trekking, river rafting and fishing by shelling out a nominal fee. It is also believed that wild animals and birds are to be spotted, however, we did not spot any! The best part in Dubare was to cross the river by walk, balancing on the slippery rocks, great fun!! It was close to 2.30 PM by then and our bellies churned for some good food. We barged into Dubare Inn and had a sumptuous meal, deciding on our next detination during the course of it.

We decided to visit Raja Seat, as we did not want to miss the Sunset and musical fountain which starts at 7:30 PM. The road we took from Dubare to reach Raja Seat was very scenic. We passed through aromatic coffee plantations, dotted with prestine white coffee flowers, as it was the flowering season. The road was narrow with lot of curves. 

On the way to Raja Seat we visited The Omkareshwara (Lord Shiva) Temple, built by Lingarajendra. The history dates back to 1820. It is believed that the King Lingarajendra killed a Brahmin as he refused for the marriage of his daughter with the King. The spirit of the Brahmin (later Brahmarakshasa) started to torture the King. To overcome his mistake, King Lingarajendra was advised to build a temple and install a Linga from Kashi. There is a pond in front of this temple with Catila fish, which helps to keep the water clean.

Raja Seat is a well maintained park, with the panaromic view of the valleys and mountains and a recently added musical fountain attarction. You feel like the King of the World, watching the beautiful sunset. With the onset of dusk, the musical fountain attracts the crowd to enjoy the sprinkle.

 

 

 

 

Only after the musical fountain ended, reality struck and we realised we had to head towards the resort to get some good food and sleep to be fit for Day 2. It was a long day, as we covered six places. Worth IT!!

Day 2 started by about 8.30 AM, with a nice akki rotti breakfast, later headed towards Talacauvery and covered Bhagamandala on the way. Initially, the road was bad but got better towards Talacauvery. At Bhagamandala is the Triveni Sangama. People perform last rites of their family members and take a holy dip. Wasting no time, we left for Talacauvery. With a couple of hairpin curves, the view of the valley is amazing and will make you stop for a click or two...

 

Talacauvery, which means head of Cauvery is the birth place of the scared river Cauvery. People take a holy dip here and visit the temples of Lord Shiva and Ganesha to offer prayers. From Talacauvery, a flight of approximately 410 steps leads to Brahmagiri, a peak where seven sages called the Sapta Maharishis performed a special yagna. A spectacular view of the valleys awaits you here.

 

 

The descent from Brahmagiri, lead us straight to one of the tiny shops in the Talacauvery campus for a cool drink and some water. Quenching our thirst, we started towards Abbi falls (pronounced in style by our city folks as Abbey :-) UK influence). About 9 km from Madikeri town, daring the narrow zig zag curves, we reached Abbi falls by 1.30 PM. On reaching the gate, its a 10 minute walk amidst the coffee plantations to get a glimse of the waterfall . The best time to visit this place would be during/after monsoons. A hanging bridge serves as viewer's gallery and it is prohibited to go near the falls.  Being adventorous like the majority who had come, we let the prohibitions sink at the back of our minds and followed them under the bridge to get a closer view. Letting our minds free, we played in water, took a few pics and enjoyed the gentle roaring of the waterfall.

 

With Saturday almost gone by and having covered most of the places of our holiday destination by day 2, it was time to relax and venture the place where we stayed...Club Mahindra Holidays (Resort). After a late lunch at Athiti, a local vegetarian restaurant in Madikeri town, we reached the resort. Taking a quick power nap, we set out for a stroll in the evening and involved ourselves in the fun activities of the resort. Soon it was Dinner time and we realised, we had to pack our bags to leave to Bangalore the next day. 

 

 

 

 

 

The below mentioned details will be handy, for the Holiday Destination - COORG.

On our way back, we decided to take the Nagarahole (means Snake River) National Park (aka Rajiv Gandhi National Park) route, which is located northwest of Bandipur National Park and the Kabini reservoir separates the two. We had no plans for a safari ride though, however, wanted to pass through the National Park. We drove through Virajpet, Ponnampet and a couple of other small towns to Nagarahole. The condition of the road from Ponnampet to Nargarhole is pathetic and could not drive more than 20 kmph, most of the time in second or first gear! Reaching Nagarahole gateway was a relief. To pass through the forest was exciting, with huge Teak trees on either side. We sighted a mongoose and a few deer for our luck!

Two days passed in a jiffy. We enjoyed every moment and had some more places to cover. Realising the fact, it is always a NO NO when it comes to leaves at work, especially on a Monday, we were forced to say bye to the Kodava Land with a promise to come back...