A much awaited and wondrous voyage to the Scotland of India – two days seemed so less.
I am talking about Coorg guys and after a long time, words fail me! Even as I write this travelogue, I am apprehensive that I won’t be able to do justice to the small town nestled in the hills.
For a change, we had made extensive planning of the places we would like to visit and on which days, where to stay (which we inevitably ignore every time), when to start exactly, and when to return – all courtesy my cousin. We were a group of five hence booking a Qualis seemed to turn out cheaper than taking a bus. At a decent rate of 6.5 bucks per km, we were quite happy with the deal.
After a lot of debates, we finally left at 4.30 am on Saturday morning (22nd Aug) with plans to reach the home-stay by 10 am. After reaching Madhekeri, we realized that our abode is another 30+ km towards Talacauvery (I’ll come back to these places again). With the hilly road conditions, it was almost 11 am when we reached Mount Grass – our home-stay – and received a very warm welcome and a hot breakfast by our hostess.
Even before site-seeing, the thing that really excited us was Coorgi food. It is a non-vegetarian’s paradise, and you need to be a complete foodie and a glutton to visit Coorg. Our hostess prepared a breakfast of dosa, a sumptuous lunch of fish and mutton, there was snacks in between and for dinner (hold your breath) pork and chicken!!! Of course the guys hogged to their hearts’ content, I went to bed without dinner after the heavy snacks.
One can comfortably stay and relax in Coorg for a week. An amazing backdrop of mountains with clouds creating a misty hat, the harvest green in front of your eyes, and the constant spring weather with mild drizzles, all you need is a book and your loved one with you. Trust me, you will just not feel like returning. We have already vowed to make a longer trip soon!
For a hastened site-seeing three days is optimal. To list down a few places – Talakavery, Dubare, Abby Falls, Raja’s Seat, Madhikeri Fort, Golden Temple, Nagarahole National Park, and Bhagamandala (Sangam).
I’ll explain each locale in the follow-up of this article. Till then relish the idea of enormous meals, lazy life amongst hills, reaching out to the clouds, a book, mild music in the background, and croaking of frogs and insects’ buzz at nightfall – heavenly combo!
Showing posts with label Relax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relax. Show all posts
Trip to the land of clouds! – II
A little delay in the follow up to our Coorg trip, but hope you can refresh your memory from the 1st part of the article. Yummy food, wonderful mountainside and cozy town, that’s all I can harp on again and again. So before you get totally pissed, let me take you to the details of the site-seeing that I mentioned last time.
As I said, we were staying in a home-stay which was just 15 km from Talakavery, it was the first place we visited the day we arrived in Coorg. It is the place where Cauvery River originates and every October on a particular day, water gurgles out of a hole in the ground.
Our hostess / aunty asked us to be there around 4 pm so that we can experience cutting through white fog and rain. Well, she was mostly right because the feeling of driving though sheer cloud is something beyond words! What we missed out on was the climb up 380 stairs at Talakavery. It supposedly gives a panoramic view of the valley below, which the cloud had completed shrouded.
I missed out Bhagamandala / Sangam before Talakavery, which is around 8 km before the latter site. Bhagamandala is a temple set amongst cloud covered mountains and overseeing the confluence of three rivers (though one of the rivers is hidden). The temple itself is very peaceful and beautiful.
Next day we went to Abby Falls, a dangerous but picturesque waterfall. It is known to devour quite a few adventurous ones every year if you are not careful enough. There is no direct access to reach the water, though a bridge is made across it and you can actually feel the water spray at you even when you are standing 100 feet away. All these sites have their own history and lore, so it will be quite interesting if you keep a tab on the trivia for each place.
Raja’s Seat or the sunset point is well-known for its expansive view of the mountains and the wide open greenery across the valley. Due to the on-and-off rains and the fog, we couldn’t manage to see the sunset but the columns of clouds over the mountains were a view in itself. It looked as if the fog is streaming down in pillars and trying to touch the ground. Plus the lush green is simply breathtaking!
Dubare forest, more famous for its elephants, is a place where you can feed the mammals, watch them take baths, ride them and play with them. I was really excited about the place since white water rafting is also present here. But tough luck, we reached the place around 3 pm and the elephant camp gets over by 12 noon. We asked around for rafting, it was 700 bucks per person for a 7.5 km distance and 1.5 hours of dashing across the water. But it started pouring and my desire to go for rafting also went unfulfilled.
Golden temple – my, what an architecture that is! Our initial plans were to skip it, thinking it to be just another temple, but we would have really missed out on the trip if we hadn’t visited it. Vibrant and colourful to the core, this Buddhist monastery reminded us of Sikkim or any North Eastern town. In fact the whole area around the temple was Buddhist settlement, which gave a religious and heavenly charm to the place.
We didn’t have time to visit the other two famous places – Madhikeri Fort and Nagarahole National Park – due to time constraint, but went to see the lighting at Mysore Palace on our way back.
We came back with lots of fresh, aromatic spices, tea and homemade chocolates in our bag. Overall, it was an excellent trip. Two days seemed so less! Three long weekends are coming up guys; the small town nestled in the hills is definitely worth a visit.
Link to our Coorg pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/sanjula.guha/Coorg2223Aug0903#
As I said, we were staying in a home-stay which was just 15 km from Talakavery, it was the first place we visited the day we arrived in Coorg. It is the place where Cauvery River originates and every October on a particular day, water gurgles out of a hole in the ground.
Our hostess / aunty asked us to be there around 4 pm so that we can experience cutting through white fog and rain. Well, she was mostly right because the feeling of driving though sheer cloud is something beyond words! What we missed out on was the climb up 380 stairs at Talakavery. It supposedly gives a panoramic view of the valley below, which the cloud had completed shrouded.
I missed out Bhagamandala / Sangam before Talakavery, which is around 8 km before the latter site. Bhagamandala is a temple set amongst cloud covered mountains and overseeing the confluence of three rivers (though one of the rivers is hidden). The temple itself is very peaceful and beautiful.
Next day we went to Abby Falls, a dangerous but picturesque waterfall. It is known to devour quite a few adventurous ones every year if you are not careful enough. There is no direct access to reach the water, though a bridge is made across it and you can actually feel the water spray at you even when you are standing 100 feet away. All these sites have their own history and lore, so it will be quite interesting if you keep a tab on the trivia for each place.
Raja’s Seat or the sunset point is well-known for its expansive view of the mountains and the wide open greenery across the valley. Due to the on-and-off rains and the fog, we couldn’t manage to see the sunset but the columns of clouds over the mountains were a view in itself. It looked as if the fog is streaming down in pillars and trying to touch the ground. Plus the lush green is simply breathtaking!
Dubare forest, more famous for its elephants, is a place where you can feed the mammals, watch them take baths, ride them and play with them. I was really excited about the place since white water rafting is also present here. But tough luck, we reached the place around 3 pm and the elephant camp gets over by 12 noon. We asked around for rafting, it was 700 bucks per person for a 7.5 km distance and 1.5 hours of dashing across the water. But it started pouring and my desire to go for rafting also went unfulfilled.
Golden temple – my, what an architecture that is! Our initial plans were to skip it, thinking it to be just another temple, but we would have really missed out on the trip if we hadn’t visited it. Vibrant and colourful to the core, this Buddhist monastery reminded us of Sikkim or any North Eastern town. In fact the whole area around the temple was Buddhist settlement, which gave a religious and heavenly charm to the place.
We didn’t have time to visit the other two famous places – Madhikeri Fort and Nagarahole National Park – due to time constraint, but went to see the lighting at Mysore Palace on our way back.
We came back with lots of fresh, aromatic spices, tea and homemade chocolates in our bag. Overall, it was an excellent trip. Two days seemed so less! Three long weekends are coming up guys; the small town nestled in the hills is definitely worth a visit.
Link to our Coorg pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/sanjula.guha/Coorg2223Aug0903#
The French Riviera of the East - I
Have you guys ever tried to redefine your life, and all you could manage to come up with were synonyms? Off late I had been feeling exactly that way, and had to get out of the city for a few days. That's how the Pondicherry trip was conceived.
But as with all things, what Man proposes God disposes. We missed our bus on 26th of June, Friday evening due to some extremely displeasing turn of events. So on early Saturday morning we started out in a cab. Even though we left by 7am, it took us almost six and a half hours to reach Pondicherry! So whoever says going in your own vehicle would take at least 1 hour lesser than what the bus takes, do a double-check!
We got some traffic till Hosur, but once past that, driving conditions were good. The air was still cool and the road surface lovely. But once you reach Krishnagiri, don't go on the flyover, instead take the left from NH 7, and after about 500mt, take the right turn. You get up on the NH 66, and this goes straight to Pondicherry. This road isn't really worthy of being called a National Highway! It’s a double-lane, pockmarked road with no lane markers and KSRTC buses plying through the same stretch. Our earlier average speed of 70 km/ph tanked down to 40 km/ph. A word of caution – if you intend to eat on the way, I suggest you have some heavy breakfast at Krishnagiri and lunch in Pondi. NH 66 goes through the backwaters of civilisation. Look out for HP gas pumps to find a washroom in case of an emergency.
We finally reached Pondicherry around 2pm, and went straight to the Rishi Aurobindo ashram. Beyond the busy street, the entrance is just 10mt away. And when you are standing besides the great sage's resting place, the outside world just falls off from your consciousness, and your mind goes blank! The only thing I remember from that first visit is the pattern in which the brilliantly coloured flowers were arranged on the tomb. The next day when we visited the place again, I noticed that there was a new pattern in which the flowers were arranged.
We stayed at the Ashram for about 20mins on the first visit. We hadn’t booked a room, so searching for a hotel was very high up on the list. Luckily June-end happens to be off-season in Pondi. Unluckily the weather was mind-numbingly humid, hovering around 80%, and there was no tourist rush for the exact same reason. We managed to get lodging on our fourth attempt, at a hotel facing the sea. The service was pretty much up to the mark, except that you should go out for the big meals. The restaurants are good and decently priced, but the room delivery was a disaster.
After a couple of hours’ rest at the hotel, we set out on a quick trip around the beach road for the sunset. The evenings are pretty cool with a strong breeze that makes walking around quite a joy. We visited the old lighthouse first. Though no one is allowed to go in, we were pretty sure that the view from up there would have been amazing with dusk settling in. We also went to the main square with a live band playing both English and Kannada songs. You just laze around and take your pick as to which ones to lend an ear to! Right opposite the main square is a statute of the Mahatma, with eight beautifully sculptured pillars surrounding it. These are from the 12th century Chola dynasty, and off course they have been transported here and erected by the ASI (for the ignoramus, that’s Archaeological Survey of India).
On the beach road beside the statue of Mahatma, there's another very interesting place you should visit – an 80-year old coffee shop, La Cafe. The coffee can compete easily with Barista and CCD, and the ambience is mind-blowing! Just imagine sipping an Irish coffee with the sea breeze tussling your hair, listening to the breaking of the waves and looking at the dark water stretching to eternity!
We wound up our first day's stay at around 9pm and decided to get to the hotel and order dinner from room-service. That is the mistake I was talking about a while back. But well, you win some and lose some. We kept the room AC switched off and the balcony door open. Good night's sleep!
But as with all things, what Man proposes God disposes. We missed our bus on 26th of June, Friday evening due to some extremely displeasing turn of events. So on early Saturday morning we started out in a cab. Even though we left by 7am, it took us almost six and a half hours to reach Pondicherry! So whoever says going in your own vehicle would take at least 1 hour lesser than what the bus takes, do a double-check!
We got some traffic till Hosur, but once past that, driving conditions were good. The air was still cool and the road surface lovely. But once you reach Krishnagiri, don't go on the flyover, instead take the left from NH 7, and after about 500mt, take the right turn. You get up on the NH 66, and this goes straight to Pondicherry. This road isn't really worthy of being called a National Highway! It’s a double-lane, pockmarked road with no lane markers and KSRTC buses plying through the same stretch. Our earlier average speed of 70 km/ph tanked down to 40 km/ph. A word of caution – if you intend to eat on the way, I suggest you have some heavy breakfast at Krishnagiri and lunch in Pondi. NH 66 goes through the backwaters of civilisation. Look out for HP gas pumps to find a washroom in case of an emergency.
We finally reached Pondicherry around 2pm, and went straight to the Rishi Aurobindo ashram. Beyond the busy street, the entrance is just 10mt away. And when you are standing besides the great sage's resting place, the outside world just falls off from your consciousness, and your mind goes blank! The only thing I remember from that first visit is the pattern in which the brilliantly coloured flowers were arranged on the tomb. The next day when we visited the place again, I noticed that there was a new pattern in which the flowers were arranged.
We stayed at the Ashram for about 20mins on the first visit. We hadn’t booked a room, so searching for a hotel was very high up on the list. Luckily June-end happens to be off-season in Pondi. Unluckily the weather was mind-numbingly humid, hovering around 80%, and there was no tourist rush for the exact same reason. We managed to get lodging on our fourth attempt, at a hotel facing the sea. The service was pretty much up to the mark, except that you should go out for the big meals. The restaurants are good and decently priced, but the room delivery was a disaster.
After a couple of hours’ rest at the hotel, we set out on a quick trip around the beach road for the sunset. The evenings are pretty cool with a strong breeze that makes walking around quite a joy. We visited the old lighthouse first. Though no one is allowed to go in, we were pretty sure that the view from up there would have been amazing with dusk settling in. We also went to the main square with a live band playing both English and Kannada songs. You just laze around and take your pick as to which ones to lend an ear to! Right opposite the main square is a statute of the Mahatma, with eight beautifully sculptured pillars surrounding it. These are from the 12th century Chola dynasty, and off course they have been transported here and erected by the ASI (for the ignoramus, that’s Archaeological Survey of India).
On the beach road beside the statue of Mahatma, there's another very interesting place you should visit – an 80-year old coffee shop, La Cafe. The coffee can compete easily with Barista and CCD, and the ambience is mind-blowing! Just imagine sipping an Irish coffee with the sea breeze tussling your hair, listening to the breaking of the waves and looking at the dark water stretching to eternity!
We wound up our first day's stay at around 9pm and decided to get to the hotel and order dinner from room-service. That is the mistake I was talking about a while back. But well, you win some and lose some. We kept the room AC switched off and the balcony door open. Good night's sleep!
The French Riviera of the East - II
Now to continue with our journey in Pondicherry, we woke up without an intervening alarm at 5:30am. Nice cool breeze blowing and an almost cloudless sky turning an orangish purple. Haven't had better starts to the day! And just when the sun is about to come up, in trots a troop of about 20 people, standing right at the edge of the beach road, babbling and clicking pictures. Thanks people for the reminder that I am still in India! We had some 20 minutes of quiet before the circus, and a few marvelous shots of the sky gradually changing colour. So thankfully, it was not a complete disaster.
We had a quick breakfast and decided to visit Auroville before the sun made its ascent to the higher reaches. We started out about 8:30 in an auto-rickshaw. One small advice - bargain at will with the auto-wallahs and do not agree to anything above 200 bucks. Auroville is about 15kms away, and if you plan to go to the beach nearby, then the round trip would be anywhere between 35 and 40kms. So, another 30 odd bucks added in will be a good deal.
It took us a little over 40mins to get to Auroville. Once you enter the fenced area, after 50mts you will see the main information center on your left. This building also serves as a museum to the life and work of the Mother, and showcases the achievements of Aurovillites in the areas of sustainable and eco-friendly development. We also watched a 5mins video on Auroville and its extravagant architecture. The Mother started thinking about environmentally-sustainable development more than 30 years ago. The world could count the number of people with similar thoughts at that time!
There is a dome built in honour of the Mother that acts as the meditation center for Aurovillites. It is called the Matri-mandir and is a spectacular view, rising over 100mts from the ground in the shape of a sphere and is built about 200mts from a very old banyan tree (around 300 years old). By the time we reached back the information center it was already past 11, and the scorching heat of the previous day had returned to haunt us. So we dropped our plan to visit the beach, and headed back to Pondi for a cool lunch at the hotel's restaurant.
With the sun blazing away in full glory, we took a nap for about an hour and started out on foot at 3pm. First destination was the Pondicherry museum that houses a good coin collection dating back to almost 300AD, and a decent collection of sculptures, mostly from the Chalukya dynasty. Though Belur-Halebidu offers a greater variety of styles and concepts in sculpting from a similar period, the museum does not bore you. We went to the Ashram after this, and spent some perfectly quiet minutes besides the great Rishi. We also went through some of the publications by the Ashram, and though the themes are similar, the number of languages covered in those publications is quite amazing.
A brief walk to the old lighthouse on our way to La Cafe from the Ashram, and another ½ hour spent at coffee shop – heaven! The next hour went in a frenzy of shopping, and by the time we laid our guns (read wallets) down, it was already 6pm.
There's a jetty that is visible from the beach road, near to the Port Authority enclosure. Walk down the beach road and just as the road turns right, you will come across a gas station. There's a narrow road branching off from the beach road at this point that reaches the dock gates. There are no entry charges. Walk through the gate and to your north-north-west (at '10-o-clock') you will see another gate about 200mts away. That gate leads straight to the jetty. Families need to shell out about 50 bucks per person, but an all-guys group can always bargain with the policemen at the dock gates.
The sight from the tip of the jetty is mind-blowing. It ends around 150mts into the sea, so the breeze is pretty strong there, and by the time we went, all the lights had been lit up, so the whole coastline was a series sparkling dots! The new light house also started sending directional beams about every 45secs. We stayed for 30mins since it had become quite dark and returned to the hotel.
After a quick shower and a happy dinner later, we checked out of the hotel by 8:30pm. The return bus was at 10:30pm, and we reached the pick-up point around 9:30pm. Well, let’s just say things went as per schedule, the Indian Stretchable Time schedule! The bus finally arrived at 11pm and started off at 11:15pm. The return journey was not very pleasant or memorable. Not exactly the kind of journey one can expect to end a trip like this. We reached Bangalore about 7am, and to the beginning of another long, drawn-out week. Guess I need to pack up again soon, just can't see me sticking to that chair for long!
We had a quick breakfast and decided to visit Auroville before the sun made its ascent to the higher reaches. We started out about 8:30 in an auto-rickshaw. One small advice - bargain at will with the auto-wallahs and do not agree to anything above 200 bucks. Auroville is about 15kms away, and if you plan to go to the beach nearby, then the round trip would be anywhere between 35 and 40kms. So, another 30 odd bucks added in will be a good deal.
It took us a little over 40mins to get to Auroville. Once you enter the fenced area, after 50mts you will see the main information center on your left. This building also serves as a museum to the life and work of the Mother, and showcases the achievements of Aurovillites in the areas of sustainable and eco-friendly development. We also watched a 5mins video on Auroville and its extravagant architecture. The Mother started thinking about environmentally-sustainable development more than 30 years ago. The world could count the number of people with similar thoughts at that time!
There is a dome built in honour of the Mother that acts as the meditation center for Aurovillites. It is called the Matri-mandir and is a spectacular view, rising over 100mts from the ground in the shape of a sphere and is built about 200mts from a very old banyan tree (around 300 years old). By the time we reached back the information center it was already past 11, and the scorching heat of the previous day had returned to haunt us. So we dropped our plan to visit the beach, and headed back to Pondi for a cool lunch at the hotel's restaurant.
With the sun blazing away in full glory, we took a nap for about an hour and started out on foot at 3pm. First destination was the Pondicherry museum that houses a good coin collection dating back to almost 300AD, and a decent collection of sculptures, mostly from the Chalukya dynasty. Though Belur-Halebidu offers a greater variety of styles and concepts in sculpting from a similar period, the museum does not bore you. We went to the Ashram after this, and spent some perfectly quiet minutes besides the great Rishi. We also went through some of the publications by the Ashram, and though the themes are similar, the number of languages covered in those publications is quite amazing.
A brief walk to the old lighthouse on our way to La Cafe from the Ashram, and another ½ hour spent at coffee shop – heaven! The next hour went in a frenzy of shopping, and by the time we laid our guns (read wallets) down, it was already 6pm.
There's a jetty that is visible from the beach road, near to the Port Authority enclosure. Walk down the beach road and just as the road turns right, you will come across a gas station. There's a narrow road branching off from the beach road at this point that reaches the dock gates. There are no entry charges. Walk through the gate and to your north-north-west (at '10-o-clock') you will see another gate about 200mts away. That gate leads straight to the jetty. Families need to shell out about 50 bucks per person, but an all-guys group can always bargain with the policemen at the dock gates.
The sight from the tip of the jetty is mind-blowing. It ends around 150mts into the sea, so the breeze is pretty strong there, and by the time we went, all the lights had been lit up, so the whole coastline was a series sparkling dots! The new light house also started sending directional beams about every 45secs. We stayed for 30mins since it had become quite dark and returned to the hotel.
After a quick shower and a happy dinner later, we checked out of the hotel by 8:30pm. The return bus was at 10:30pm, and we reached the pick-up point around 9:30pm. Well, let’s just say things went as per schedule, the Indian Stretchable Time schedule! The bus finally arrived at 11pm and started off at 11:15pm. The return journey was not very pleasant or memorable. Not exactly the kind of journey one can expect to end a trip like this. We reached Bangalore about 7am, and to the beginning of another long, drawn-out week. Guess I need to pack up again soon, just can't see me sticking to that chair for long!
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