Day 1 | Coorg in Monsoon, A Hidden Treasure

Madikeri (Coorg) is very famous with the name, Scotland of India and also sometimes referred as Kashmir of Karnataka. The instant I heard these two metaphors, a thought constantly occupied my mind that what special will be there in Coorg so that it is called by these names. The moment I entered into the boundary of Madikeri... not exactly entered, even before that... I started to get my answers. Coorg is indubitably having such a scenic beauty that you will feel like lost into it; woody hills, green valleys, coffee plants, amazing falls, being into cloud feeling etc... will take you in the world where you will forget yourself, your routine and stressed life, each and every thing that you are worried about. In two days of our trip not only me but we all were like lost and totally soaked in the beauty of Coorg. We even forgot that we stay in Bangalore or we had to go back there… L

Basic Info

Coorg is basically a small district in Southern Karnataka. It consists of three taluks or Administrative units: Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet (This thing I came to know while visiting Madikeri else I was thinking Madikeri is just other name of CoorgJ). Amongst these Madikeri is said to be most beautiful and in almost same confusion people call Madikeri as Coorg. River Cauvery, largest here will keep on following you wherever you will go in Coorg. Also you can see coffee plantation everywhere around you when you are in Coorg. These small trees look very cute and sometimes you can smell coffee while running on the road because both sides of the roads are covered with coffee plantations.

Some Pre-journey Facts…

This is a different story altogether. In India one thing that is widely available for free is advice. We were also suggested to not to visit Coorg during monsoon.  Everyone was telling me that this is not the right time to go there. Infact they were telling that we should not even think of going there at that time as it is having frequent landslides and all roads would be blocked so we would not be able to roam a lot in and around Coorg. Initially we got influenced and tried to decide for some other place but at last we could not run away from our temptation and decided to leave for Madikeri but with a lot of risk in our mind.

Starting of Journey infact fun

We left our rooms in Bangalore at around 1:20AM in night as we had booked a car for the trip which was already waiting… picked other friends and by 1:40AM all of us were there in the car.. ready to start our journey for the Heaven on Earth. Within no time car was running with full speed as city had almost slept leaving us with no traffic on the roads. After sometime we were on Mysore Road... as usual singing, gossiping and enjoying in ourselves. Around 3:30AM we took first halt for tea and also I am a big fan of it J... for me journey without tea/coffee is incomplete. It took somewhat long time for that man to give us tea and when we tasted it we got to know that that man in shop by mistake prepared coffee instead of tea... seemed that even he knew that we were over excited to visit one of the largest coffee producers of India.

 

Road to Mandalpatti

After having that lovely coffee we started again and this time some of my friends started dozing as it was already very late. Rest of us still kept their eyes on road including me. After Hunsur we took right on Mysore Madikeri Road and we had to be on this road only so after Periyapatna we again took right. After Teak Forest, at Doddahonnurkaval we took left towards Bylakuppe. It was 5:30AM, and dawn had already started to spread its hands. We were finding ourselves at a place having huge grasslands until to the point where our eyes could see. I was wondering that even heaven wouldn’t be better than this or is this place itself known as Heaven. No morning can be better than that morning when you just find yourself in the middle of a road amidst the hill of Western Ghats and farms in the base full of green color.

Day 1 | 29^th June 2013, Saturday

First in the itinerary was Bylakuppe/Golden Temple. We were running towards it and got into the Bylakuppe Area around 6:00AM… and started to search for guest house although was not 100% sure whether we would find any. Our driver was also insisting us that there is no concept of guest rooms there… but we got a little restaurant before Sakya Monastery… there we asked to the caretaker and he said that rooms were available in Sakya Guesthouse but it will be open by 8 0’clock. We all requested to that person and he got ready to open rooms at 6:30AM. The room charge was INR 400 per day only. We were extremely happy as we wanted a room just to get ready for the day ahead. When I came out of the room I realized that while searching for the rooms I did not notice the scenery, the natural beauty which was spread in the whole area there.

Bylakuppe/ Golden Temple

While wandering in the area I got to know something about it. Till then I was thinking that Bylakuppe & Golden Temple are the two names of one thing but the fact is totally different. Bylakuppe is not the other name of Golden Temple but it is actually a Tibetan Refugee Camp that was first camp established in India among other 25 camps in different parts of the country. Here around 5000 Tibetans (yes, it is kind of small town) stay, apparently making it second largest Tibetan settlement in India. They have grown crops here, small but good restaurants are there inside Bylakuppe, many monasteries are here among those this Golden temple is the biggest one, and some shopping centers are also here.

     Some of my friends were still getting ready so we decided to visit the nearby Chalukya monastery... this is the smallest of all the monasteries here. It was not open till then but still we could not hold ourselves stepping into its premises soaked in serenity. We explored every nook and corner of it.. any area which was open to us. I was feeling nostalgic and lost into the memory of Ladakh trip. When came back.. most of my friends were ready and at 8:15PM we got in our car started towards Golden Temple that is in Bylakuppe itself some 3kms away from Sakya Guesthouse.

Chalukya Monastery

      Golden Temple/Namdroling Monastery

Timings: 07:00-20:00 (All Days)                                                                                       No Entry Fee

Within no time, we reached Golden temple and when we got into it.. first we saw a huge campus having multistoried building on two sides with monks moving here and there. After crossing it we could see the Grand Golden Temple or Namdroling Monastery, in the premises of which a huge group of monks was assembled for their daily prayers wearing their maroon & yellow color robes. They were sitting in rows in a much disciplined manner and chanting their prayers which were making the environment really peaceful and religious. We got into the Golden Temple and could easily understand why it is named as such. The amount of gold inside the temple is quite impressive and no body can be left untouched by the beauty of 60ft tall (from the base) central Buddha statue, and other two statues of Guru Padmasambhava and Buddha Amitayus both 58ft in height. Gold in not only inside the temple but it is also present in the form of paintings above the monastery. Inside the temple, silence was prevailed everywhere and anybody can feel the divinity spread in the environment. The walls of the temple are covered with splendid paintings of demons and gods from Tibetan Buddhist mythology. Some other temples are also present in the same premises having smaller statues of Buddha. We enjoyed a lot as crowd was not there perhaps because of monsoon season.

 

Entrance of Golden Temple

We came out of the monastery and went for breakfast as we were dying with hunger in a nearby restaurant named Hotel Golden Star opposite to Golden Temple. But food there was pathetic... it seemed like they forgot to put salt in everything… even tea was like hell... so we came out of there and there are shopping centers beside the restaurant. You can try to do some shopping here for traditional Tibetan items…after that got into our car at 9:50AM and started towards Dubare Elephant Camp which is around 20Km from Golden Temple.

Dubare Elephant Camp

Timings: 09:00-21:00                                                                              Entry Fee – INR 30 per person

After getting out of Bylakuppe, we took left at Mysore Madikeri Road, and then from Kushalnagar we took SH91 and from Guddehosur took left again. There are lots of sign boards on the way which will efficiently guide you and also Cauvery will accompany you all the way to Dubare. Roads were exceptionally green again due to monsoon and scenic beauty was spread everywhere and I am the big lover of roads itself so I kept on admiring them. At 10:20AM we reached at the bank of Cauvery from where we had to catch boat to reach the Elephant camp that is a kind of island itself. Boat charged INR 30 per head for to-and-fro journey from there. While in boat we enjoyed a lot as one of my friend was somewhat afraid of this much water so we kept on teasing her.

Elephant taking bath

Dubare is a forest camp dedicated to elephants. Actual purpose of Dubare was to train elephants for logging purpose. But because logging activity has been ceased in Karnataka, so now these elephants have been deployed to entertain the tourists and generate revenue. When we reached there we could see lots of elephants and some elephants were taking bath in the river and their mahouts were giving them a nice scrub. It was pleasant to see so much elephant but as they were taking people on ride in a large group so instead of riding we decided to enjoy in ourselves at the bank of the Kaveri. We took lots of pictures there as big stones and trees in Kaveri were creating a nice background. We were hopping from one stone to another and from one tree to the next.

While coming back you need to board the same kind of boat (two kinds of boats were there) that you took while coming. You can also enjoy rafting in Kaveri here but rapids are not that strong. So if you are a little afraid of real rafting, you can try your hand in rafting here which is actually known as still water rafting. We did not try for it and left for Nishagradhama which we saw on the way some 12kms back.

Nisargadhama

Timings: 9:00-17:00                                                         Entry Fee: INR 10 for adults, INR 5 for kids.

Within 20mins we were in the parking of Nisargadhama, all credit goes to the nice roads. Nisargadhama is a 64-acre island formed by the river Kaveri near Kushalnagar in Madikeri. It is very famous for its Hanging Bridge which connects the island to the mainland built over the River Cauvery. The Hanging Bridge on which we were standing was the new one and we were able to see the old bridge beside this one. It was very exciting to stand on the bridge & gaze at the flow of Cauvery as due to rainy season it was swelling with water.  There are always two sides of the coins; so again due to monsoon we were not able to do boating as it is not considered safe when water level is too high.  



Old Bridge at Nisargadhama



On this island, there are some shops selling items famous in Coorg viz. handicraft shops, honey, spices, coffee shop. There are Deer Park and Rabbit Park on this island. In Deer Park, we also saw some dears roaming. There were tree houses also... good for couples to enjoy there and clicking pictures. It is a perfect place for those who love to walk in the nature among bamboo, teak and sandalwood trees. By the time we reached to the car, small droplets of water started to pour in.

It was time to feed our belly so started towards Madikeri town and searched for a nice restaurant. Within some time, we were ordering our lunch at Neel Sagar. We ordered North Indian food and it was very delicious, forced us to lick our fingers. Meanwhile we also searched one very big 3BHK house and rented it for the day and decided to get fresh before heading towards the next point. We were told by locals that it is not safe to go by your car to Mandalpatti, moreover driver was also not ready for it so arranged a jeep to take all seven of us to Mandalpatti and Abbey Falls. You can try to go by your personal vehicle if you are very confident of your driving skills as during monsoon roads get slippery and for later half of the distance you will not find proper charcoal roads.

Mandalpatti

Timings: 06:00-18:00                                                                                                          No Entry Fee

20 kms away from Madikeri is the famous shooting point Mandalpatti. Around 3PM we were again out of our Homestay in the jeep which was going to take us to the peak. We only knew that it has some nice views to enjoy but were not sure what exactly we are going to watch there. Shortly we saw a sign board for Abbey Falls, but we took the other road to it. Those undulating roads with greenery all around were making us crazy. Don’t forget to take some snacks and water bottle with you as you will not get anything there. As we were going up we were able to see the hills covered with mist and clouds. Road was rough and very slippery but jeep driver was very skillfully driving it. Every view was “No Miss” view and we were enjoying them with our eyes wide open. At one point, there was a broad area and we asked the driver to stop the jeep. We were surprised by the panoramic scenes present there and thinking that we were completely unaware of such an untouched beauty that too so close to us. I was lost in one more thought that if it is this beautiful here, what would be there on the top of Mandalpatti which resulted in doubling our excitement, when we started again.



Expansive view from Mandalpatti

Under a very old tree covered with green algae, driver stopped the jeep and we jumped off impatiently without even waiting to stop it properly. In front of us was Pushpagiri Bird Sanctuary and we had to trek over a small hill which was just around 250-300 meters. We took permission from Forest Officers present over there and did entry in their register. When we reached to the top, instantly a thought hit in my mind that “why Coorg is a synonym to Scotland”. No explanation was needed then. Mesmerizing views over Western Ghats were self-explanatory. I am extremely sorry but I don’t have exact words to explain that. It was seriously like heaven on this earth. Far stretching views of the green mountains and cool breeze was overwhelming. It was a complete unique feeling and still unique to me. There is a view tower on the top of the Hill, wind started to get stronger and colder as we got on it. Nobody of us was ready to move from there but after taking a lot of pictures moved back at 5:15PM. But this place is definitely going to beckon me to come back here again and again. 

Abbey Falls

Timings: 09:00-18:00                                                                                                         No Entry Fee

Next in the plan was Abbey Falls for which we saw sign board on the way. We came to the diversion point and took the other road on which going 3 kms further is the famous Abbey Falls. We reached there at 5:45PM and after leaving the jeep in the parking started to descend among the green plantations. After a short while, we realized that we were walking through coffee plantations. It was so dense that we were able to hear the sound of Water but not able to see a single drop of it.

Do I need to describe this mighty fall?

Just a sight of the famous Abbey Falls, prompted us to jump into it. Due to monsoon, it was having ample amount of water… gushing down with a thrust... and having good crowd too as compared to Mandalpatti. For some time we simply stood there, staring at the fall, as eyes were not going off it. Then we looked around and saw a hanging bridge again just opposite to the fall. It was full of people, but we realized the actual reason after getting on it. Actually water of the Abbey falls was plunging with such a strong speed that droplets of it could be felt while standing on the Hanging Bridge. We also created a safe place for us and stood there. Within few minutes we were drenched completely all because of those droplets and started feeling cold. So at 6:15PM we left for the Raja Seat.

Raja Seat

Timings: 05:30 – 20:00                                                                              Entry Fee – INR 5 per person

Just after the entrance, we could see a very big and well maintained park having fountains in between. It was around 6:35PM so weather was also awesome turning somewhat misty. But we were trying to find out that why this place is known by the name “Raja’s Seat”. So kept on moving further in quest and reached to an open pavilion. Those crescent shaped big steps were having a view area with railings overlooking a vast valley to admire the nature and green valleys all around. According to legends, Kings of Kodagu used to spend their evenings here and watch the setting sun through their seat. The view of the valley covered with clouds was taking our breath away. Although sun had already set by the time we reached there, but still scenes were mesmerizing.

 

A Road in Valley as seen from Raja's Seat

If you are in Coorg, and not enjoying coffee being at such a nice view point, it means you are committing a sin. We did not wanted to be part of that, so ordered a nice coffee from a nearby vendor in the Park itself. Locals told us that the best thing here is Musical Fountain Show, displayed on all days after the sunset, but we decided to miss it and came out after taking a nice break. Just opposite to the park is Toy Train ride for kids and adults both and lots of small vendors with evening snacks to make your evening just perfect. We also tried some snacks and it was just wonderful. 

Our home for that day was just 1.5kms away. We all liked Neel Sagar so much that we decided to have dinner there only. This is how our first day at Coorg came to a nice end unwillingly… L

2nd day was also as much exciting as the first day.. check the details here
Day 2 | Coorg in Monsoon, A Hidden Treasure