Prelude To Coorg

Lub dub lub dub lub dub. The solitary sound of my heartbeat was racing to extreme levels. I could see the vastness of the hypnotic water beneath surrounded by cliffs draped in greenery. I was yearning to succumb to the gravitational hail of the water. The voice inside my head questioned, “Then who is stopping you?” I looked at it again standing from an approx. 80 ft. high cliff and concurred to the voice “No one”. All I had to do was just “jump”. I took a deep breath, slightly stepped forward, glanced from the height for one last time, expanded my hands, was all set to dive, and suddenly a fear struck voice popped out of my head “What if you fall”, to retaliate the fear my excitement echoed “What if you fly”! Without a blink, I proceeded to experience the most exciting fall of my life.

But to my astonishment, I suddenly got hauled back with a jolt and this time it wasn’t from the voice inside my head. I was being dragged away from the cliff with fury, I struggled to witness what it was, but the force was too gripping to let loose. I somehow managed to take a glimpse and to my shock, I witnessed “myself” pulling me away? My struggle to let loose paused for a moment, I rubbed my eyes and glanced again, it was “me” clothed in white “spacesuit” rig with a bold “MONDAY” written on it in black. I somehow managed to release myself from “me” and ran towards the cliff, but the “me” strangled me again by my legs and dragged me to darkness with just one very familiar irritating background noise being played again and again. It was pitch black and that noise started getting louder and louder until I woke up to the reality!

ABOUT COORG

Coorg is a famous hill station in Karnataka, India, precisely 252 km from Bangalore, Karnataka. And, honestly, this is THE right place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the buried city life for a weekend.

And what next, I and my partners in crime Janhavi, Priyanka D, and Priyanka G decided to elope (rather quadlope*) to Coorg also referred to as “Scotland of India” (not quite actually). Fortunately, we had a long weekend coming our way and it was the month of January 2016, hence the weather wouldn’t have been better.

HOW TO REACH COORG?

Without any second thoughts, we booked the tickets from Bangalore to Madikeri (Coorg) roundtrip by RedBus and at just INR 1800/- for all 4 of us with Poornima Tours. It was a cheapest deal cracked so far, and to strike an even better deal and a more comfortable journey, one can book from KSRTC as well, but since ours was a sudden plan, so KSRTC tickets were already pre-booked.

WHERE TO STAY IN COORG?

There are a plenty of resorts in Coorg, but we preferred to go for a home-stay. The bus dropped us at Madikeri bus stop at 5:30 am sharp, it was cold, dark and beautiful. Mr. Kishore the owner of our home-stay came to pick us up in a white van, he came out as an extremely kind and a sweet chap.

It was just a 3 km drive from the bus stop and en route we traveled towards the steep ascending road with small bungalows passing by, and lush green surroundings. My dream was slowly converting into a reality. I could now clearly hear the chirping of birds, feel the cold breeze caressing my skin and absolutely no sound of traffic.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

BREAKFAST IS MY FAVORITE MEAL OF THE DAY!

After the most powerful 4 hour nap, we were served the sumptuous authentic dish of Coorg homemade by Mr. Kishore’s wife named Kadambattu along with Coorg special Curry. Kadambattu is steamed rice dumplings and when mixed with curry, it melts in your mouth and transmits ‘yummy’ signals through the neurons to the brain and rest of the body.

FINALLY, THE JOURNEY BEGAN

After binging on this mouthwatering Coorgy breakfast, we finally decided our voyage to this small green hill station. Since ours was a short trip so we covered few main site seeing.

CAUVERY NISARGADHAMA

A small island amidst the greenery and the Cauvery river.

Location: 28 km from Madikeri near Kushalnagar

My Experience In This Little Off-State Island

Nisargadhama was established in 1989 for its picturesque beauty as a picnic spot. It is surrounded by Cauvery river and lush greens like bamboo groves, sandalwood, and teak trees. This entire island can be accessed by walking through a hanging bridge.

But we preferred to wander through the river stream by foot and not the boat. We took the shallow stream route and granted ourselves natural Cauvery stream water pedicure. Usually during rains rafting can also be done on this very river, since the river was quite still so we ended up doing foot river-rafting.

Attractions At Nisargadhama

Apart from the lush green foliage around and the Cauvery river, there’s not quite much ‘to do’ things. This place is mostly for relaxing, walking down the stream, river-rafting (that too during rainy season), boating and riding an elephant. But I chose not to as an elephant on an elephant would’ve been quite a sight!

How To Reach Nisargadhama?

By Road: Can hire a local taxi. Taxi services are abundant in Coorg.

BYLEKUPPE – THE GOLDEN TEMPLE MONASTERY

It is one of the largest Tibetan settlement in South-India and was set up in 1960. It is also known as The Golden Temple Monastery because the three statues of Guru Padmasambhava, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Amitayus are gold-coated exhibiting rich Tibetian culture.

Location: 28 km from Madikeri near Kushalnagar

My Experience At Bylekuppe

I am not an idol worshipper. However, I truly believe in the existence of a super strong universal energy and it is everywhere especially within. But there are times when you feel strong vibrations even in place of worship which puts your brain in trance mode and you do nothing but get mesmerized by the true beauty of the Almighty. And this is exactly how I felt at this Monastery. As if there was some binding positive energy which held on to me.

Outside the Monastery there are cute little shops from where one can buy pretty Tibetian souvenirs like sling bags, wind chimes, Buddhist books, Tibetian flags etc. (I have so many of them, just love them).

How To Reach Bylekuppe?

By Road: Can hire a local taxi. Taxi services are abundant in Coorg.

ABBEY FALLS

It is a picnic spot where the water hurls down from 70 ft height.

Location: 8 km from Madikeri

My Experience At Abbey Falls

Since these falls were around 6 km from our location so we decided to walk down the next morning. It was a great idea indeed until we realized there was hardly any commutation on our way back. However, the journey was epic. The road to Abbey Falls is both up-hill and downhill. We could feel the Coorg curry and dumplings juggling in our tummies. Below images give a lucid description of our deeds en route Abbey Falls.

At the entrance of Abbey Falls, there were a few small shops which sold Coconut water (savior!), cotton candy, Maggie and a few grubs. But we clung to the Coconut water, as we needed it big time! We descended few stairs groped by a small forest to Abbey Falls. They were just like any other falls, but we had a very close view and could feel the splatter of water on our faces. It was a cooling experience.

We had accomplished one-fourth of a half marathon and definitely wanted to travel 8 km on wheels. But, we did not get any ride until we walked 4 km on our way back. However, there were other proactive private vehicles who were very keen to give us lift. But we chose to walk until an empty auto rickshaw spotted us waiting for us to hover it. And this ended our journey to Abbey Falls.

How To Reach Abbey Falls?

By Road: Can choose to walk if you stay near Madikeri or else Auto Rickshaw or Taxi services are available.

RAJA’S SEAT

By the name itself, one can guess that it is a spot located at Madikeri where the Kings along with their associates used to watch the sunset from.

Location: In Madikeri town.

My Experience in Raja’s Seat

Like the king, I along with my associates (3 monkeys) planned to visit this scenic spot which hosts a breathtaking view of green valleys, fortified hills, and the sunset point. Conventionally tourists usually enjoy in the garden at Raja’s seat and head back. But, had I been conventional I wouldn’t have been writing this blog. So, we entered the garden, descended the stairs, took a left towards a downhill steep 1.5 km trek and hauled to find the below image. Seemed like a perfect ending to the trip. We sat there until the sun went down.

Wants to set

Trying to set

Finally the lullaby worked!

How To Reach Raja’s Seat?

By Road: It is located in Madikeri town, so one can either walk or hire an Auto Rickshaw.

LOCAL COORG MARKET

Coorg is famous for its spices, coffee, homemade wine (apple, grapes, banana etc.), dry fruits and honey. Almost all the shops sell the above and you cannot possibly miss any of the above. We explored the entire market area and the prices were approximately in the same range, so no worries of getting duped.

WHAT AND WHERE TO EAT WHEN IN COORG?

Since ours was a short trip, so apart from having breakfast at our home-stay we explored this one very amazing restaurant named Coorg Cuisinette where we ate twice. This restaurant is famous for Pork Curry since I am not a pork lover so preferred my personal national food Chicken.

Location: Main Bus Stand Road, Stuart Hill, Opposite Post Office, Madikeri, Coorg

Cuisines We Binged On!

Everyone has their own taste buds but when in Coorg and confused you can order the following just in case.

There is more to Coorg, a south of it is still unexplored by me. But nevertheless, this short trip was a great break from the tedious monotony.

P.S. In case you are planning to stay at Mr. Kishore’s homestay please take a close and wide look at the stairs right outside his house. The reason I am drawing your attention to the stairs is as we were finally bidding adieu to Mr. Kishore and his family, I happened to go a bit extra mile. I sincerely thanked his wife for the lovely food she had prepared and also promised that I shall mention them in my blog post. With a slight style statement, I turned around and stepped down that stair only to find out that there was nothing below it. However, there was an approximately 1 m ground beneath which engulfed me in its arms where I laid flat on my face. So, this was my Falling Farewell from Coorg.

I still was glad as I started off with a 80 ft.cliff jump in my dream and ended with a 1m fall in my reality. 😀

In case you have any questions do comment on the below section. 🙂