A Summer Trip to COORG

Trip date  : 10th April to 13th April 2009 (4 days and 3 nights)

Transport: Maruti SX4 driven by myself and my wife

Who all     : Myself, my wife, 2 kids and my parents

We planned for a liesurely trip to Coorg, called as the scotland of India. Though we planned for the trip almost  a week in advance, it was tough to find accomodation in Coorg as it was a long weekend due to "Good Friday". However we managed to find a couple of homestays.

There are many websites which describe the places of visit in Coorg and their details. However am sharing my intinerary here which can help in planning better for your trips.

Our itinerary for an enjoyable Coorg trip was like this...

Day 1 - 6:45AM - Departure from Bangalore

Day 1 - 7:30AM - Breakfast at Janapada Loka (Kamat Lokruchi)

When we approached Janapada Loka we had never expected to see a huge crowd for breakfast... but yes the signs of long weekend outings / trips started showing up so soon.. We stood in the queue for breakfast buffet hoping to grab a little of everything to taste and continue our journey toward Coorg. 2 mins passed.... 4 mins passed... queue did not move an inch... 6, 9, 15 mins... and finally it started moving... paid the amount, got the plates.. but it was tough to get the idlis... they were disappearing from the bowl (people were waiting for it..) as soon as the bowl was filled.. As we had our breakfast we over heard many people discussing about their trip plans.. Ooty, Kodai, Conoor, Coorg, Mysore... etc. Later, we continued our journey

We took a right deviation after Srirangapatna (a place called Paschima Vahini). This is the same deviation which leads to the famous Ranganthittu Birds Sanctuary. This road very soon connected to the state highway SH88 and then we continued on the path to Hunsur -> Periyapatna -> Kushalnagar

Day 1 - 12:30PM - Reached Kushalnagar (Mountain Blue Homestay)

Mountain Blue homestay was located right on the state highway (SH88) before entering Kushalnagar,  so we neither had any difficulty in locating it nor we had any problem 

regarding approach. Road condition was excellent due to recent asphalting. MB homestay was a 12 acre area with plantations of coffee, chickoo (sapota), jack fruit etc... It was a decent accomodation,  reasonable pricing, free breakfast, no swimming pool, good service. Apparently the owner purchased this property recently and has plans to develop it further including a swimming pool. So due to its approachability this could be a good choice of stay in future.

We took bath and relaxed for a while and started again. The plan was to visit Nisargadhama and Golden temple (Namdroling Monastery) on the same day. We did not have our lunch at the homestay.

Day 1 - 3:00PM - Lunch at Kings Way hotel in Kushalnagar

Kings way hotel was pretty decent... good veg  food was available. By then I had got a call from my colleague Jaggu that he had reached Nisargadhama already and would wait for us. Nisargadhama is just 4 Kms from Kushalnagar.

Day 1 - 4:00PM - Nisargadhama

At Nisargadhama, we spent time watching the rabbits, deer park, monkeys and enjoying the bamboo maze around. We skipped the boat ride there thinking that we can visit Ulsoor lake or Sankey tank in Bangalore sometime (which we had a coupla times before too). Shreya enjoyed being there and with the presence of Soham

 (Jaggu's son), her fun just doubled. After that we sat at the hotel in the same campus and had some drink (maaza, coffee, tea.. etc)

Day 1 - 6:00PM - Golden temple (Namdroling Monastery)

We had a look in the monastery, spent some time on the lawn and then headed towards the shopping center. My daughter shreya got a toy (musical instrument) for herself and we enjoyed the music during later part of our journey.. We departed from there around 7:30PM, had our dinner on the way (again in Kushalnagar... at a restaurant by name Athithi.. decent enough)

Day 1 - 9:00PM - Reached back Mountain Blue homestay

We spent sometime in front of the house enjoying the moon light in between the green cover and playing with my daughters. At 10PM it was time to sleep... The next morning we woke up around 7:30 AM and it was quite a long night with almost 9 hrs of sleep... which I never had in bangalore since a long time. The breakfast at the homesay (Poori, Potato Curry and dry coconut 

Chutney) was good and we all had few extras.. Then we wrapped-up our belongings from this place as we had plans to shift to a different homestay. 

The idea here was that Kushalnagar is close to Nisargadhama, Golden Temple and Dubare elephant camp. So cover them all and then go towards  madikeri and stay somewhere there as rest of the places to visit would be easily accessible there.

Day 2 - 7:00AM - A morning walk in the plantations

Day 2 - 9:30AM - Departure to Dubare Elephant Camp

At Dubare, we first went for river rafting which was about 1.5 Kms distance. All of us including the kids were on board and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. On the way we had a few tree branches coming across the water (just 2 ft above water) and our boat had to pass below them... that was fun.

After that we were dropped on the other side of the river bank towards the elephant camp. We could see some elephants and Shreya enjoyed the sight of them, but was scared... Later shreya wanted to play in the river water... we went for it while my parents and my younger daughter sat under the tree shade.

Day 2 - 1:30PM - Lunch at Dubare Inn

Day 2 - 2:30PM - Departure from Dubare

Day 2 - 4:00PM - Reached RiverTern Homestay

RiverTern homestay at Sunticoppa is right in the middle of the coffee plantations and the speciality there is that the cottage is located adjacent to lake formed by the Harangi dam back-waters. However during this part of the year there was no water but a nice grass cover all across. The scenic beauty was enjoyable and we decided to enjoy this rather than visiting some other place.

We had some coffee and relaxed there for sometime. The lake area was grass covered and was hard enough for vehicles to pass over. So we took our car, got down the lake and drove a few KMs.. where we found a stream which continued to flow though rest of the lake was dry. Enjoyed the sunset, cool breeze and the scenic beauty there. Then we headed back to our cottage.

Day 2 - 8:30PM - Dinner (Kodava Cuisine)

Dinner was excellent.. chapati, rice balls, veg curry, rasam, curds... hmm delicious. Rice balls.. we tasted for the first time and that it was really delicious..

After that we had bonfire in front of our cottage and then we all played there for sometime... shreya enjoyed her first bonfire..

Day 3 - 7:00AM - A walk in the coffee estate

Listening to the chirping birds, taking a few snaps.. spent sometime there. By then we got some delicious coffee.. Then we started to get ready for visiting places on the other side of Madikeri.

Day 3 - 8:30AM - Breakfast (Kodava Cuisine)

Akki rotti, potato curry and coconut chutney.... it was a nice breakfast.. followed by another round of coffee.

Day 3 - 9:30AM  - Departure 

Day 3 - 11:30AM - Bhagamandala (Temple & Triveni Sangama)

Madikeri is about 11KMs from Sunticoppa and Bhagamandala is about 39 KMs from Madikeri. We went to the Triveni sangama where Kaveri meets other two tributeries.. myself and shreya stood on the steps in the water. Shreya was playing by picking the leaves and making them float in water.

Then we visited the Bhangandeshwara temple where couple of days before they had punar-prathishtapana pooja. Our trip unknowingly didnt coincide with the busy Bhagamandala and heavy traffic due to dignitary (Mr.Veerendra Hegde and others) visits

Day 3 - 1:00PM - Talakaveri (Origin of River Kaveri)

Talakaveri is about 8 KMs from Bhagamandala. Due to the huge rush near Talakaveri, we decided to park the car about 200 mts aways from the temple and walk down. We walked the distance and visited the temple. There was a nice view point at the peak of the mountain there, which could be reached taking the stairs with about 300 steps. However since we had our kids and also parents, we skipped this part.

Day 3 - 2:00PM - Lunch at Bhagamandala 

After having the sumptuous lunch offered by the Bhagandeshwara temple, we started back towards madikeri. 

Day 3 - 4:00PM - Reached Coorg Fort, Madikeri

We roamed around for a while there... Infact there is nothing much to see here.. On top of the fort wall, there are a couple of spots where a few photos can be taken. standing on the fort wall, we also get a glimpse of the adjoining Madikeri sub-jail... I wondered looking at the inmates 

there... it appeared as though they were rather enjoying their time there than repenting for what they have gone through..

Day 3 - 5:00PM - Reached Raja Seat, Madikeri

Raja Seat is just 10 mins from Coorg Fort. They have a toy train for kids... but it is enjoyed by everyone. We all sat in the toy train, Shreya enjoyed the most of it. Raja Seat is one of the scenic sunset spots. It is very beautiful over there... Unfortunately on this day the cloudy weather prevented us from getting a view of the sunset, and to add to the woes the light drizzle  prevented me from taking out my camera. However I decided to visit there again sometime in future

Day 3 - 6:15PM - Started towards our cottage, RiverTern

Day 3 - 7:00PM - Reached our cottage

After reaching there, we had some coffee and relaxed for sometime. Later Shreya wanted to play something and deepa taught us some new games which we all enjoyed. It was years since I played and enjoyed something like this.

Day 3 - 8:30PM - Dinner (Kodava Cuisine)

Dinner was again special. We had shavige (noodles made of rice) and Kayi haalu (sweet liquid made of coconut and jaggery/sugar). We prepare the same at home as well... but yes this was good as it was long time since we prepared this at home. Along with that we had some chapati, rice, rasam and curds too..

Day 3 - 10:00PM - Sleep time....  and we had to head back the next morning

Day 4 - 7:00AM  - A walk in the estate

I was hearing a lot of chirping sounds of the birds around. So thought of trying my luck and took my camera. The trees around were all very tall and I noticed most of the birds sitting on the higher branches. Hmm.. even my 75-300mm lens didnt help much. Then I was sure that for bird photography my accessories were not quite sufficient.

Day 4 - 8:30AM  - Breakfast (Kodava Cuisine)

Day 4 - 11:00AM - Departure back towards Bangalore

When starting from Bangalore, we were thinking of visiting Nagarhole on the last day. But by now we canceled that and thought of visiting Ranganthittu Birds Sanctuary on the way. We had our lunch on the way near Mysore and then reached Ranganthittu.

Day 4 - 4:00PM - Reached Ranganthittu Birds Sanctuary

Day 4 - 8:30PM - Reached our home @ RajaRajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore.

In all 2 things really helped our trip...

(1) Location of my home... Since my home is located on Mysore Road, I didnt have to pass through Bangalore traffic while leaving Bangalore or while returning. For others I would suggest to leave early and reach early.

(2) Stay at 2 locations in coorg, helped us plan better for our trips. Staying near Kushalnagar we visited Nisargadhama, Golden temple and Dubare. Then staying in Sunticoppa we visited places near Madikeri. Rivertern was excellent.