The Coorg Experience: Visiting Coorg in Rainy Season

+For more information and places to see in Coorg, see my comrehensive post on travel to Coorg.

As we drove up the hills beyond Kushalnagar early in the morning, the ubiquitous fog announced the arrival of the town of Madikeri. On a wet, cold and foggy Saturday morning, with visibility reduced to near nothingness and no soul seen on the roads, we arrived at Madikeri on our way to Kakkabe in Coorg. I first drove to Raja Seat – a garden where the king of Kodagu once used to sit and relax against a picturesque valley, but was predictably rebuffed by endless fog blocking the views, and the incessant drizzle of the cold morning. Despite the fog and the drizzle, it was beautiful, comforting and elating. A plate of steaming Idlis and hot coffee later, we were quickly on our way to Kakkabe.

More about Coorg on paintedstork.com
* Hiking up the Brahmagiri
* Driving to Coorg

On the few occasions when the rains did not lash the car‘s windscreen, a constant drizzle still kept the wipers busy. Every inch of the road was wet and every bit of earth was green. Distant hills were covered with clouds indicating many more rainy sessions ahead in the day. We were on our way to climbing Thadiyandamol, the tallest peak in Kodagu or its more popular anglicized name – Coorg.

Hills of Coorg
Views of the distant hills from the place where we stayed

We reached Kakkabe village at the base of Thadiyandamol at around nine in the morning. One look at the cold and cloudy weather and we decided against climbing the mountain and check-in to the cozy and comfortable home-stay resort run by Poovannas on the way. To tell you the truth, even when we started from Bangalore, I secretly dreamt of sitting and relaxing in the lobby of a warm Coorgi house, though I put up a brave face and made claims of climbing up Thadiyandamol. To my delight, I realized that my fellow travellers were no different and had the same thing in mind! And the fact that I had already climbed up Thadiyandamol twice earlier helped making the decisions. But end of the day, that‘s just an excuse, and we were just being lazy and looking forward to indulge in good things that came with the rains!

Coorg home stay
The estate of Poovannas is at a picturesque location

We settled down to the warm hospitality of Poovannas and hot fresh coffee made from homegrown beans. We did not need much to do beyond sitting on the lobby and relax with a book or a cup of coffee while we watched the raindrops come down. In fact when I called the Poovannas previous evening telling that we shall be arriving tomorrow, the lady of the house said – “It‘s raining heavily here, are you sure you want to come?” And we had smiled, since it is the rain that we wanted to experience.

Kakkabe, Coorg
There is water and greenery where-ever you see

After we settled down, Prasad, the younger one of the Poovannas directed us to a waterfall close by. It turned out that the fiercely roaring waterfall was just five minutes walk behind the house and right inside their coffee estate.

A waterfall, Kakkabe, Coorg
Waterfall at the estate

I wonder how does it feel to live in a coffee estate with plenty of greenery and a private waterfall at your expense! We definitely relished the experience as we walked into the stream that flowed with full vigour. We stood in front of the fall, with its droplets lashing us as the wind blew into us, making us all wet, but completely amused. But for the cold weather, it was tempting to walk right into the falling water and get a back-massage from the pouring water – something I always look forward to when I am at a waterfall.

A stream, kakkabe, Coorg
The stream is beautiful and was full of water when we were there

When we were not visiting the waterfall, watching the heavens bless the earth with raindrops or not indulging in the coffee, we spend our time talking to the Poovannas. By their own admission, they seemed to live a happy life with little to worry about. They spent a good part of their time looking after the coffee estate or setting little things right, like fixing the small leak in the roof or worrying about the slippery ground on the rainy days.

Coffee estate, Coorg
Coffee estate

But not everything was that simple. Being a little far from town, they had a hard time trying to get a mechanic to come all the way to where they live and see what‘s wrong with their new Maruti Omni. And then they spoke about all the good time they had entertaining eccentric foreign guests like the one who loved climbing tree after tree or the one who walked and walked and ate coconuts and nothing else!

Relaxing at the homestay, Coorg
The estate is a quiet place to relax and rejuvenate

Views of Kakkabe, Coorg
Wind, rain and good views were always there

Another thing that we looked up to was food. The good thing that comes with a home stay is sharing the meal with the family and enjoying good local food cooked with love. You don‘t need bother to tackle professional waiters with a fake smile sticking on their face or run through obscure menus only to find nothing worth eating. Instead, sit with the hosts in the dining hall and serve yourself with all the delicious home cooked food piled on to you over an interesting conversation. Kodava food is delicious and especially worth remembering is the Kadambuttu with great chutney, ghee and honey to go with!

Nalknad Palace, Coorg
The Nalknad palace

Coorg
View of the hills from the palace

The next morning we walked down to Nalknad palace that is just five minutes walk from the estate. The palace, built nearly 250 years ago was a retreat of then king of Kodagu – Doddaveera Rajendra. It looks hardly palatial but is pretty and is an ideal retreat. Anand, the resident in-charge who was looking after the palace showed us around and explained us of the courtyards, darbar hall, living room, escape routes for the king etc. It is built using plenty of teak pillars with carvings of designs and pictures of reptiles. Some faded paintings of animals and images of king‘s court on the wall are now being restored.

Nalnad Palace, Coorg
Darbar hall of the palace

Nalknad Palace, Coorg
Courtyard of the palace

After returning from the palace, I decided to sit quietly and listen to the sounds of the forest. Having missed my usual bird-watching sessions due to incessant rains, I decided to listen to them instead. The most raucous of the forest dwellers are the cicadas that never seem to get tired. Occasionally a bird or two was heard close to us somewhere in the bushes of the estate or in the forest near the waterfall. A pair of magpie robins and a few red whiskered bulbuls that I spotted moving around were the most prominent. Sunbirds and flower peckers came and went occasionally. Not to be seen, but heard often were woodpeckers and an army of malabar parakeets. The loudest of the lot was the unmistakable call of greater coucals. There was so much life in the estate and the surrounding forest, but it needed some careful listening to realize them. Unlike us human beings who always look for a shelter, they seem to go on with their life, come rain or come shine!

Coorg oranges
Along with coffee, they grow many other things in
the palace, including oranges

As the sun moved up(which we never actually got to see, thanks for the ever-present cloud cover) it was time for us to move on. We thanked the Poovannas for their wonderful hospitality and the great time they gave us. It was a pleasant journey back on the curved and inclined roads of Kodagu that gave way to the plains of Mysore and then Bangalore, with Dr.Rajkumar‘s melodies running on the tape. And as I write this, it is raining outside and I am still thinking of delicious Kadambuttu, the non-stop rains and the call of the cicadas.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The home-stay resort of Poovannas, called Palace Estate is located in the village of Kakkabe, around 40km from Madikeri and approximately 250km from Bangalore. The trek to Coorg‘s tallest peak Thadiyandamol starts from here. Other nearby attraction includes the Nalknad palace, which is just 5 minutes walk from the estate, a seasonal waterfall within the estate and the well-known Iguthappa temple that is a 10-minute drive.

To reach Palace Estate from Bangalore, drive on the Mysore road. Turn right 2km after Srirangapatna and continue till Madikeri. From Madikeri, take Bhagamandala road and ask for directions to Kakkabe. Once you are in Kakkabe village, it is another 10 minutes drive to Palace Estate. There are also state government buses to Madikeri and Virajpet from Bangalore, and Kakkabe is well connected by buses from both the towns.

For more on things to do and places to see, see my comprehensive story on travel to Coorg.


Categories: kerala

A Week in Kerala

I spent a week on a short but fruitful sightseeing tour of Kerala, and returned back yesterday. My earlier experiences with Kerala was restricted to Wayanad district and Munnar, except for a short journey to Kochi when I was a kid.

During this week of travelling, I discovered what Kerala is all about and why it attracts so many tourists. I covered all the popular tourist circuit of Kerala including the beaches at Kappad near Kozhikode, Cherai beach near Cochin, the venerable and the must do – Fort Kochi, the ever popular Ayurvedic massages, the backwaters trip on the Vembanad lake and south India’s most well known tiger reserve – Periyar.

The trip gave an excellent introduction to Kerala and has worked as a good precursor for taking my own time someday and spend more time travelling to the corners of this beautiful state. As usual, I shall write about all of it in detail with photographs here sometime in the days to come.


Photo Essay: Chikmagalur – Flowers Galore, Kurinji and More…

I had traveled to Chikmagalur two weeks ago. I was there, among other things, to have a look at the rare Neelakurinji flowers which are known to flower only once in 12 years. This was the year of flowering and they were in full bloom. In Chikmagalur, they bloom around the hills of Bababudangiri, also called Chandradrona Parvata.

While Kurinjis were the flowers I was looking forward to, I saw plenty of flowers different varieties all around. My first sight of flowers in abundance were much before I was at the hills. It was fun to see some jolly folks plucking lotus from a pond.

lotus from the pond

I also saw many touch-me-nots spread out in large numbers. Though they are pretty common, I think it has been a while since I had seen them before. So much for living in a city!

touch me not flower

As I approached the town of Chikmagalur, I saw this hoarding inviting people to visit the hills to see the Kurinjis.

Chikmaglur

According to this, the flowering season is from September to November. So if you haven’t been there yet, hurry before they are gone!

Kurinji flowers

As I climbed up the hill, it did not take me long to see the Kurinjis. They were in plenty, and they were everywhere. Some hills were entirely covered with just the Kurinji plants.

Kurinji Flowers

They looked beautiful and covered vast vistas of the hill range.

Mullayyanagiri

But they were not alone. There were so many flowers, many of them tiny, I could not not even count how many types were there.

flowers, mullayyanagiri

And they had generously spread out all over the slopes and made the hills look prettier than ever.

flowers, cihkmaglur

And they came in many colors and sizes.

flowers, chikmaglur

flowers, chikmaglur

Some of them were so small, I would never have sighted them without looking hard for them!

flowers, chikmaglur

But the most beautiful of the lot that I saw was also the biggest among them.

flowers, chikmaglur

There were plenty of visitors to the hills, but to my surprise, almost everyone seemed to be oblivious to the flowers. But I was having a great time among the flowers and had no time to bother about that.

flowers, chikmaglur

flowers, chikmaglur

Purple flowers, I guess were the most dominant of all the lot, with Kurinjis having taken up most of the space. Small white flowers came next, followed by yellow ones.

flowers, chikmaglur

Flowers of many colors spread together on the slopes was a treat for the eyes.

flowers, chikmaglur

This pink flower below was one of uncommon ones on the slope. I would not have found it, had I not walked around so much around the hills.

flowers, chikmaglur

But alas, it looks like we just can’t enjoy the beauty of these hills without doing our bit to spoil them. There were some disturbing sights too. Like some garbage, etc..

It was very pleasant day among the flowers, and watching the sunset among the Kurinjis before I headed back was a blissful moment.

Kurinji

Let us hope to preserve this pristine place and keep it clean and beautiful!