Trip to the land of clouds! – I

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!

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#

A day’s respite – Innovative Film City

“Visit Me”! No, it is not the name of the place I am going to tell you about, but that’s what it conveys when you see the extravagant entry to this humongous fun park outside Bangalore.

Innovative Film City is 40 odd km away from Banerghatta Road. You just need to find your way on to Mysore highway and from there on 25 odd km towards Mysore. Mind you, do not miss the fork which leads you to the park, or else you will end up almost in Mysore. Just keep a look-out for Wonder-la, Film City’s fork is around 7 km after that on the left and another 2 km once you are on the forked out road.

The highway is a driver’s paradise, sit back and step on the accelerator, but do drive safe. If you take the toll-road from Banerghatta to reach Mysore road, it is even better. It will also be fun to ride your bike to the park, simply because of the windy and lesser polluted roads.

The entry gate has some sculptures of European architecture, and with the pictures of the amusements painted on it, it gives a very presentable welcome to the visitors. The fun part is you can spend one whole day here!

Innovative was inaugurated in 2007, in the lines of Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. I haven’t visited the latter but was quite content with the Bangalore version of it. But whenever you go, you need to have a fun-loving and adventurous buddy group to accompany you. Or else there is nothing exciting to just look around, unless of course if you would like to window-shop several kilometers away from the city!
The place itself is ensconced in the middle of hills and is a lovely getaway from city humdrums. Some of the must-see stuffs here are – Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mirror Maze, and 4-D cinema in Fun City. The rest of the attractions depend on your time and budget. There is Tussaud’s museum, Roller Skating, Dinosaur Park, Cartoon City, Aqua World, the gaming consoles at Fun City, horse riding, Karaoke, Kid’s World, and etcetera. As per recent news, Charlie Chaplin’s 67 feet sculpture is also going to be set up in this park. The entry fees is 50 bucks and each ride ranges from 50-100 bucks. If you want a package for all the attractions combined, it will be 699 bucks.

One more thing that really excited me was the Stallion restaurant in Wild Wild West. The place is set in a huge compound and they have very nicely replicated the cowboy environment, complete with sand and hovels set in their style. The Mexican food here is not exorbitantly costly, so you can sit back and have a nice time inside the restaurant or take your food while sitting outside underneath the king-size cowboy hats! There are other choices of eateries in Innovative Film City, catering to different palates.

The place is still under construction. There are quite a few buildings and rides which are coming up. But these don’t hinder you from having fun. The place is pretty organized and clean. If you plan a trip on a sunny day, be sure to keep a hat on or lots of sunscreen (message for the girls, of course!).

So what are you waiting for? Enjoy a lovely outing!

Where architecture and nature go hand-in-hand!

Note: This article is strictly for people who love to pick up their bags and rush out for any extended weekend trip!

Just kidding guys! This is going to be my very first post and I’ll feed you with my latest escapade (to ensure that it is a fresh-out-of-my-mind article).

By now, I believe most of you have noticed that 2009 presents its public holidays mostly on a Friday or a Monday. And the first thought that came to my mind was the numerous weekends that I have to explore around Bangalore.

My first opportunity came in the very first month of the year, when we had the 26^th Jan’s leave on a Monday. All I had to do was talk three more of my friends into the trip, book a car and zoom away! Well, of course we decided on the place first.

The trip was to consist of Belur, Halebidu and Chikmagalur – all in just three days. There were lots of speculations as to which is the best time to leave, i.e., drive during the night or leave early on Saturday morning. Finally, we took the driver’s suggestion and started off at 6.30am on Saturday, since he said we can catch up on Belur-Halebidu on our way to Chikmagalur, instead of doing the other way round.

The pleasant January cold and the mild sun did wonders to our journey. Sleepy-heads though I am, I surprisingly stayed awake the entire way to Belur. Whenever you plan to go, try not to miss the yummy idlis (each of which was the size of a big plate!) and the coconut water from the road-side vendors (mere 10 bucks and the water so sweet and in so much quantity, it’ll make you realize the difference of healthy country-side food and the polluted junk we get in the cities). One note of caution: try to take a 4-wheel drive instead of a small family car. The roads are BAD, sometimes beyond comprehension. Especially once you reach Chikmagalur, the uphill pot-holes will sure be too much for your Santro or Zen.

We reached Halebidu around 12.30pm. By that time we were actually cursing the heat. The sun scorched its fullest and a bare-footed tour of the temple didn’t help much either. Still we rolled up our sleeves and started looking around. I have heard from others who have already visited the place that is it similar architecture like that of Hampi. Maybe it was, but for us it was a marvel. The carvings were so intricate that it leaves you amazed that the masons didn’t chip off their fingers along with the stone. One more thing to keep an eye for is the angular structure of the temple. As you cover the circumference, I assure you complete awe of the symphony of the various stories that were carved on the walls, along with the temple construction itself. Then there is the serene lake beyond the green grass around the temple. You can sit under the shades of a tree and spend an entire day in its quiet and beauty.

We reluctantly left Halebidu and headed towards Belur. The second destination was somewhat a bit of disappointment as compared to the first. After the extravagant engravings of Halebidu, Belur looked somewhat bland. The temple supposedly still under construction, so many parts were of cement, which took away the charm. A brief and already tired look around Belur and we moved off for Chikmagalur.

One mistake of a hurried trip is lack of planning. We took for granted that hotels will be available, since it is not the peak season. We were definitely wrong, since it was not only us who decided on stealing away the weekend in the lap of nature. The search for a room lasted over an hour before we could settle down on a nice soft bed. I don’t need to say how tired we were. A thorough wash and a quick dinner that helped us sleep a dead man’s night.

Next morning, we left around 9.30am and headed for the Baba Budan Giri range and Baba Budan’s darga (Datta Peeta – Manikya Dhara falls) at the top of one of the hills. It was supposedly a falls but a big disappointment for us. I’ll suggest you skip it and head for Hebbe falls directly. Another caution: you won’t be able to visit the falls in monsoon because of its sheer bad roads. You CAN’T take your car to the falls directly. There is a point where you have to let go of your vehicle and book jeeps (per person 100 bucks and they will require eight people, or you can book one jeep for whole 800 bucks). The road leading to the falls wasn’t a road actually. Amongst boulders and dirt tracks, we bumped and jostled in the truck, sometimes we were on the slope of the hill-side, since there were no roads at all! It took all of 40 minutes to reach the village, and another 20 minutes’ walk through streams, hillocks and thin pathways.

The sight that awaited us, Police couldn’t have sung – ‘Take my breath away’ – with more emotion! Some 170 odd meters high waterfall, it was like God is pouring tons of milk. The water splashed and gurgled with all its beauty. Numerous ph­­­­­­­­­oto clicks later we left the place, with the promise of visiting it again and another falls that we missed – the comparably beautiful Kalahatti Falls.

A shocked realization woke us up the third and final day – it was our day to head back. We packed up and left the hotel around 9.30am. We were going to the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary first, covering an area of about 500 sq. km. Another lovely getaway, you can book cottages here for just 500 bucks a night. Safari happens at 9am and 6pm, so obviously we missed it. We couldn’t wait till evening to head back for Bangalore, but a small stream hidden amongst the pine trees consoled us. We couldn’t have asked for a better time there. The added surprise was the wonderful lunch we could glean from the residents of the area.

We started off around 2pm, thinking we will reach Bangalore by 8pm. Our driver had something else stored for us. On the way, around 5pm, he asked whether we would like to see Gomteshwar. Not knowing what it is, we played along. What we experienced was a climb of numerous stairs, climaxing in an 18 meter tall granite monolith of Buddha and an expansive view from the hill-top! It was only after we climbed down counting, we realized that there were 1,200 stairs up and down. Sounds mind-numbing, but yes, we actually made it to the top and down again. Being a holy place, it was even more surprising to see old people climbing with the same enthusiasm that we had.

After a break for dinner, by the time we reached home it was around 11.30pm. It was a long day for us, but we knew it’s going to be even longer day at office the next day.

Distance:

1. Bangalore to Chikmagalur – 240 km

a. Bangalore to Halebidu – 220km

b. Halebidu to Belur – 7km

c. Belur to Chikmagalur – 14 km

2. Chikmagalur to Hebbe Falls – 40 km

3. Chikmagalur to Bhadra – 25km