For those who want to experience the richness of nature, Coorg is a must to visit. Situated in the Western Ghats this is as close as it gets to being in wilderness. The green belt of forests / flora provides a dose of relaxation and freshness for the body.What more reasons did I need to make a trip here. Now, on to my account on the experiences of the trip. It was a group of 18 which decided to make this. It was a mix of ages, preferences and we had all that would make a perfect ingredient for an unsettled-ness in a trip. Yet we went for it and quite proudly made it !!
The Plan
The plan we made was to have a 4 day/3 nights trip starting on Saturday morning and getting back to Bangalore by Tuesday evening.
The Home Stay
The place which we identified to stay was called Honey Valley Homestay. A comfortable homestay in coorg run by a nice family. Suresh is the owner of the homestay. He is helped by his son Sharath a young and energetic lad who is there always to help you with all you need there. This place was suggested by friends/colleagues who had been there and it was a good idea to have listened to them!Day 1
This place was to be reached by taking the Mysore highway from Bangalore. Taking a deviation after Srirangapatnam towards the Ranganthitu Bird Sanctuary we proceeded towards a place called Hunsur. As per Suresh's suggestion we drove to Irrupu Falls from Hunsur via Nagarhole. The drive was fantastic especially through the Rajiv Gandhi National Park. It was a pleasurable experience as the road was pretty good within the sanctuary. Else where we were reminded of India!!
After a couple of hours @ Irruppu we finished our lunch (a small cafeteria was a relief for most of us who were just not driven by adventure but more by hunger!). We left the place when it started to rain. Rain was the only missing element in the enchanting drive. We enjoyed this thoroughly. We drove towards Gonikoppal and then reached Virajpet. From Virajpet we took the Madikeri road for about 3 kms and then a left deviation (after a small bridge) which has a signboard stating Kabinakad. Then another 19 kms from there we reached place. We were just thinking we were there but we didn’t know it was another 3 kms drive uphill , but this time we didn’t have to drive (we couldn’t anyway as only 4WD could climb such a hill). Suresh and Sharath were waiting there for us. We parked our vehicles at the base of the hill inside a house and offloaded our stuff and arranged them on to the Mahindra jeeps waiting to pull us.
If you think we had the experience of a life driving all day to reach this place, wait. The 5 hours of drive to Coorg was completely offset by the journey uphill. What else could one expect - A dark night climb up a hill; A Mahindra 4WD loaded (fully loaded); Relentless rain soaking a little of us and most of the bags; Just the light of the jeeps to aid the climb; Sound of rushing water with the untiring sound of crickets; Thick lush green wood; And above all the heart which was always waiting to skip a beat whenever the jeep had to slow and steady itself to negotiate the track. Visibility beyond a few feet was a challenge. Suresh and Sharaths mastery at the wheel was amazing. Finally we reached the place and after a few minutes of confusion (over who has to occupy which room) we were all lying as if we had reached the end of the world.
Day 2
This was a day to relax. After the busy earlier day, people had all (valid) excuses not to go out of the home stay today. Some wanted to relax (mainly the elders) and others wanted to spend time in and around this place. And so we didn’t get out anywhere. What did we do? Morning (of course a late morning) & afternoon was spent by a few at the private waterfall owned by Suresh and his family. An unadulterated place as its private, the falls is a true personification of nature and its wonder. The place was so inviting that the only rule people applied there was 'Age no bar'. Everyone got into the water and had a time of their life.Extreme enthusiasts of the group went as far as they could (at least far enough such that people shouting at them to return back couldn’t be heard!). We spent a few hours there and then got back to the stay for lunch. After a short relaxation most of us in the group started for a short trek behind the houses. It was fantastic as for most of us this was the first trek experience. The range of flora and fauna one can experience is simple superb. For photo enthusiasts like me and Ruben (an avid photographer) the place was a paradise. We spent a lot of time behind the camera. The trek was filled with enthusiastic spirit (and of course a lot of leeches). We came back had tea and prepared for the dinner. An hour before the dinner the whole crowd gathered at the dinner table to prove each ones decibel level. Yes we were very loud, playing cards and uno (another card game). Well all the energy exhausted had to be compensated with the dinner. After dinner we just knew we were about to spend all the energy again this time singing and dancing. Yes we had a campfire. Sharath had arranged a nice one near our cottage and people were having a blast. It was getting too dark and cold which was the only reason we had to retreat back to our rooms.
Day 3
After 2 days driving to and staying in the homestay it was time to see places around. The plan for the day was to start early morning (around 7) and leave for the Elephant Training Centre at Dubare and later in the day visit Nisargadhama Gardens and the Tibetian Monastery at Kushal Nagar. Well the plan was good but couldn’t leave at the time we expected. We made it to Dubare but the elephant training was over. And there was just one elephant there as others had gone to Mysore for the Dasara celebration!!. Not terribly disappointed we took the ferry and crossed over to the other side of the river (rafting is possible here on the Dubare river).
We spent some time looking at the last sights of the elephant that was retreated by the mahout. Then we were back. It was time for lunch and was hard to find a good place to eat. We then drove to Kushal Nagar and found a good place to lunch. After full filling lunch we decided to skip Nisargadhama (no one was too excited about going there) and headed directly to Kushal Nagar. The Tibetian Monastery is a marvel to experience. The richness in the architecture and the neat maintainence of the place which includes nice fountains and gardens made the visit really worthwhile. We spent about an hour going around and one more to shop nearby. It was then late and time to head back to the homestay.Day 4
Well it was a hard feeling to leave the place behind, but we had to. We bid bye to all the folks in Home stay and started our journey towards Thala Kaveri and Bhagamandala. Its about 35 kms from the home stay. Driving early morning uphill was a fantastic experience with the cloud cover engulfing the whole mountainous track. We couldn’t spend much time in Bhagamandala as the temple was under renovation. We however spent good time at Tala Kaveri which is a few kms further up from Bhagamandala. After this it was only a trip back to Bangalore with a stop in Madikeri on the way for lunch.
