Kodagu (Coorg) District - August 2012

My wife had flown to California on a 3 months assignment from July - October first half. I had very less engagements to keep myself busy with. I get pretty bored without her, so I decided to take a break & have a refreshing time in Bangaluru at around August to mark half way mark of my revisited bachelorhood period. 

One of my very close friends Sourav Dey, was still a bachelor & his place was the ideal den for me. So I have planned accordingly. The leaves were well planned. I had leaves on 10th for Janmastami & 15th for Independence Day. 11th,12th, 18th & 19th were weekends. So I asked for a leave of 4 days: 13th, 14th, 16th & 17th. In total I had 10 days of leave.

With flight tickets soaring sky high I had one way covered by train. The Howrah- Yeshvantpur Duronto (Train No: 12245) is a nice train. It runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays (11:00 Day 1 - 16:00 Day 2). Tickets are available online (https://www.irctc.co.in/). Bookings open 4 months prior to the journey date & tatkal is available 48 hours prior to it. I reached on 11th afternoon, train was late by just 30mins. Train review: It is very neat & clean. 2k for a 3AC reservation. But it is worth considering the cleanliness maintained & the food served (Quality might not be upto everyone's liking).

Day 1:

Me & Sourav were the each other’s company as 2 of the other friends couldn't make it. Our tour for Coorg started on 14/08 night. We have booked tickets 1 month back & it is advisable to do so, considering the big IT crowd in Bangalore and their willingness to move around Karnataka, Kerala & TN. Tickets are available on http://www.ksrtc.in/site/  

Try for the Airavat (Shantinagar to Vijapet). We took the late night one departing at 22:30 from Shantinagar bus stand, double road. The bus is really comfortable with nice reclining seats. It has a very nice AC going. They pull all the curtains & have a soothing dim light, a set up for a nice little sleep. I personally do not prefer a long journey by bus. But this one was surely upto my liking. They also provide comforters & 500ml drinking water. Rs 410 is surely value for money for a 7 hours journey. The initial part of the journey was smooth as it ran through city & highway. Then it takes a pit stop at around 3:00 in the middle of nowhere. There is a pan shop for refreshment & open air for a welcome break. Then on the road is very bumpy. It is highly advisable not to take this route if you are driving a small car. Only Volvos can dare this road. Stoppages are regular from a place called Gonikuppa (reaches there by 5:30). Finally we reached Vijapet at about 6:30. 

It is base of a hill. From there on we were supposed to go to base of another hill. The junction is Kabinakkad. Once we came out at the wee hours of the morning there were a few local buses. We hired an auto. The distance from Vijapet to Kabinakkad is around 25kms. The auto asked us for Rs 350. Once we started I knew why it charged us so much. It was quite a bumpy ride & surely an uphill task for an auto. The driver ran as if on a F1 circuit. We were fully awake & could feel every joint once we reached Kabinakkad. However the hills were already very refreshing with the cold wind & the morning sun coming up.

Honey Valley was our destination  (http://www.honeyvalleyindia.in/AboutUs.html). It is owned by a family of 3, mom dad and their son. But it is managed by a fourth person Ajit (+91 9449253720). 

He is a lovely person & surely a very good help. He has earlier suggested us the routes to take. The most important thing is that he is available over phone at any time of the day for any sort of help. Ajit came down to pick us up from Kabinakkad junction. Even if you are on your vehicle, you have to park it there & use the 2 gear 4 wheel drive jeeps to go up to Honey Valley. Soon we came to know the reason. I have experience one wild terrain on my trip to Goa at a place called Dudhsagar. Well on a rainy day the route to Honey Valley from Kabinakkad is scarier. It has just a jeep trail after 500meters. It is a private road & pretty steep. It has a nice waterfall on the way.

Coorg has been declared as a district on the Western Ghats of Karnataka. The locals speak a language called Kodava. It was a residence of the English even after independence. Finally when they vacated the place they left it to their care takers. That's how the care takers have become richer & Karnataka has always taken care of its tourism. Honey Valley is on the top of Kabinakkad. The owners have another resort Chingara 2kms downhill. 

But Honey Valley is a much better place as the trekking routes are closer from here. It is a paradise for people who want complete isolation far from the madding crowd of the city. There are no ACs, fans, TVs. Trekkers, readers, botany students would surely love this place. It has around 15 double/triple rooms, 11 old houses and 2 double bed huts. These are scattered around a diameter of 500meters. Centering them is a common place where they serve food. There is a small collection of books there as well. Food is very good quality wise, though a bit costly. Breakfast at 90, lunch and dinner for 120 and all veg. If you want non-veg you have to order 2-3hours earlier. Pork is definitely something to try. For hard drinks you have only the UB group. 

The check out time is 11:00 & check in as at 12:00. Since our room was occupied we used the common washroom. We had a stroll around. That's when I came to know what we should have taken care of. The leaches, you have all around the place if it is monsoons. We came back to have our breakfast of neer dosa, bread, cheese, coffee, tea & watermellon. Coffee needs a special mention here. It is awesome. They have coffee & black pepper plantation in Coorg. Post break we thought of taking the feel of the place. It was overcast. So we opted to walk of about 2kms to a point called Dry Pond from where the road diverts to different trekking trails. It was a clear path but it was giving indications that the path ahead is going to be quite a jungle. It started to pour heavily once we reached Dry Pond. We took some snaps & then came back to have a nice hot bath. Lunch was served at around 14:00: Puri sabzi, rice, sambar, fries, curd & fruit custard. 

Post lunch we decided not to waste our time & test ourselves by walking to the waterfall 2kms downhill. It started to rain heavily. The water was chilling cold. Last season a boy from Chennai tried it out & he fainted shivering in cold. Ajit suggested us to grab a beer & enjoy the cold water on us. But we were quite content with a few snaps there, as it didn’t look like that simple. However if you are bit courageous you should try this as there is no chance of flowing down a river or going down the hills like other waterfalls. 
It started to pour so heavily that we take a ride in a jeep going up to Honey Valley. The evening in here 
is total solitude. If you are having a big group, you can enjoy couple of drinks but in your own room. The open air seating place is totally dark & they don't have lights in there. Evening is like: gossip with people from different parts of India and even from US & Europe; reading in some what poor light; listening to music or some activity where it is a total rest to your body.

Day 2:

We were here to capture Tadiandamol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadiandamol). This is the 2nd highest peak of Karnataka and the highest of Coorg district. It is a total of 24 kms of trekking from Honey Valley. A guide is definitely required. Luckily it was a clear sunny day. It takes around 8 hours up and down. Actually it is not just up and down, but 4 sequences of it. Crossing 3 mountains, walking through dense rain forests, 6 foot tall grassland & dangerous looking herd of buffaloes you can reach the top of it. What is expected is on a very clear day, you can catch the breathtaking view of the Kerala cost from the top of Tadiandamol. So it is always suggested to go on Jan & Feb. In monsoons it is cloud & mist. Monsoon though has it's own flavour with the best of greenery and the feel of literally walking on the clouds. No rain & still you are wet. You shall have leaches for company for sure. We had applied mortein on our socks & pants but of no help. 
On the contrast the guide who was a local guy & without no knowledge of Hindi or English was wearing a half pant, sleepers & carried just a bottle of water. He showed no signs of tiredness while the rest were left gasping for air. He had applied some oil on his feet & leaches never touched him. While coming down total exhaustion leads to option for a secondary shorter path. 5kms downhill you have a jeep way which takes you to Nalnad palace. From there on Honey Valley if informed before hand can pick you up. Monsoon is pretty risky & if you have any special wishes it is better to write it down before climbing this up as there is no network coverage for any last minute adieu for 99% of this journey. Don't worry for food pack, Ajit shall hand it to you before the start of the trek.

Evening was lot cooler. We met IT guys from TCS and Google, a scientist from Hyderabad, a guy who quit IT as he was done with it, a family from Bangalore, a French woman touring India, a US girl working for a NGO in Bangalore and a few more. It is fun knowing different culture & their insight and views on other parts of India. We shared dinner as we have ordered chicken & the other guys have asked for pork. Pork was delicious. 

Day 3:

Ajit has arranged a driver who would take us through the rest of Coorg (Madikeri & Kushalnagar) and drop us at Mysore bus stand. Ask for Babu. He is a nice driver, not at all cribbing about the time. He knows the places & some locals. Ajit dropped us at Kabinakkad junction as we promised the owner to come back sometimes later. Babu came late as a tree has fallen off blocking the normal route. 

Initially the road was poor till we reached he highway connecting Mysore and Mangalore. We had an Indica so we felt every bit of it. We headed off to Madikeri, the capital of Coorg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madikeri). Places to visit:

Raja seat: It is sort of a hanging balcony cut out on a hill with a commanding view of the whole of Madikeri with the hills marking the boundaries. It was built for a leisurely time the Raja wanted to spend with his wife. Must watch. Rs 10 entry fee & Rs 20 for parking.

Madikeri Fort: You can skip this. It is free. It is actually a magistrate's office now. The museum too is not having something extraordinary

Abbey Falls: This is a must watch. After parking the car you have to walk down quite a number of steps to catch a view of the  a very beautiful and a huge waterfalls. There is a hanging bridge to give a front view of it as well.

Nisargadhama: An man made island and picnic spot near Kushalanagara, formed by the river Kaveri. Not so a tourist spot. Entry fee is Rs 10 per person, no charges for camera even if they ask for it.

Golden temple, Bylakuppe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bylakuppe): This is one place you should never miss if in Coorg district. It has the most beautiful and colourful Tibetan monastery I have ever seen. 
As from the stories Jawaharlal Nehru the then PM gifted this land to the Tibetans who have come for shelter. A 6km radius plot. The Tibetans have built everything in here right from monastery to school, college, hospital, agricultural lands and even a petrol pump. It is their own city. Only they don't have the voting rights. There are 10,000 monks & more than 5,000 more living with family. They now hire local Kannad people for their daily chores.

Talakaveri: The place where the River Kaveri originates. The temple on the riverbanks here is dedicated to lord Brahma, and is one of only two temples dedicated to Brahma in India and Southeast Asia. This is quite a distance from the rest, so can be a separate one day trip from Honey Valley.

Omkareshwara Temple:  A legend is associated with the temple, built by Lingrajendra II in 1820 CE. The king put to death a pious Brahmin who dared to protest against his misdeeds. The spirit of the dead man began to plague the king day and night. On the advise of wise men, the king built this temple and installed a Shivlinga procured from Kashi, North India. The temple closes at around 12:00, so if you want to visit it you have to leave early.

Dubare: Mainly an elephant-capturing and training camp of the Forest Department at the edge of Dubare forest; on the bank of the river Kaveri along the Kushalanagara - Siddapur road. This was closed due to public holiday. 

We had lunch at a local restaurant near Nisargadhama. It was a veg restaurant but the food was very good.  The locals would try to sell off pepper & coffee. Don't buy it you are not a good judge of it. They would mix dry papaya seeds in pepper & coffee had smell and no taste in some cases. 

Finally by 18:00 we have reached Mysore bus stand. There shall be multiple buses for Bangalore. The AC Volvos are comfortable and charges Rs 250. The semi deluxe would charge Rs 180, but not advisable as once you enter Bangalore it shall frustrate you with it's traffic. Though ideally it should take 3 hours don't be surprised if 5 hours is what you clock. 

Overall a very nice trip with a mix of ultimate relaxation in midst of so much greenery, zero pollution; a semi pro trekking; some very nice roads of India and some lovely places to visit. 

Suggested Season: 

Jan & Feb - If you want to enjoy the trekking on a cleaner and less slippery trail. A view from Tadiandamol of the Kerala cost.

Aug to Oct - If you love the rains and the forest in it's best of green shades. 

Tour Cost: Per Person shouldn't cost more than 5,000 inclusive of food, stay & travel in a deluxe format.