Wanderlust Tales : Road trip to Coorg

Posted by Anonymous August 01, 2015

Wanderlust Tales : Road trip to Coorg

Coorg needs no introduction - deemed as the Scotland of India, it rightfully justifies the title. 💚

In your lifetime, at least once you must pay a visit to this paradise, never miss the opportunity. 💞

Coorg is a land rich in heritage, not only known for its flourishing coffee plantations but also a horde of other variety of spices, condiments, and pure, fresh honey.😺

Coorg will leave you mystified with its land of misty, forested hills filled with immense greenery. Picturesque!

The ideal time to visit Coorg is anytime during the monsoon or the winters - but either way, any time befits a visit to this place.🙌

One cannot deny, the best way to break free from the rote life are vacations and road trips are just the icing on the cake. 😆

Located approximately at a distance of about 250-300 kilometers from Bangalore - it is a drive of about six hours to reach the city of Madikeri.

Blame it on the horrifying traffic conditions in Bangalore to the intended stops at various beauty spots through our journey - the long drive was worth the effort. Though starting early would save you from the chaotic Bangalore traffic which is a boon in itself.😂

By the time you hit the NICE roads, you would have driven for about 2-3 hours and about 100 kilometers farther from Bangalore city. Uff!!

We had chalked down two routes -

via Mysore. The route is lengthy yet the drive is smooth.
via Bidadi -> Ramanagaram -> Chinnapatna -> Maddur -> Mandya -> Sriragnapatna -> right via KRS garden -> Rangathittu -> Hunsur -> Periapatna -> Kushal Nagar. The route is jittery with kaccha roads, plenty of potholes - it eats up a lot of time unnecessarily.

The roads seemed familiar since we had ventured to Ooty, last year this time. You have to wary of that one right diversion which would lead you to Coorg.

Rough notes:

And as I always say Google maps are your best friend on any road trips - it is surprising how Google Maps have gotten a total knack of the city roads. One cannot deny the other best way is to interact with the locals and passerby who never hesitate to give you the directions. 😊 Helpful people!!

In all, the road trip to and fro was thoroughly enjoyable. The long straight NH, the best of music and you all you need is to just sink yourself into the beauty. And the plus points - the NH has innumerable restaurants, eateries and petrol pumps at a stone's throw as you drive through.

And if you are a Cafe Coffee Day person, you have about a CCD bumping onto you every now and then.😎

Making stops is the best way to enjoy the perks of nature - immerse yourself in the immense greenery! 💙

We packed ample food items like chips, cookies, biscuits, chocolates, namkeen, and home cooked vegetable sandwiches. We even took about half a liter of milk in a flask, and I must say I totally enjoyed making coffee all through on our beauty stops. Sipping that piping hot coffee and being amused by the perks of nature, which we 90% of the time take for granted is utterly satisfying.

Not that you need to carry food items - but it is fun and an experience. 😙

Ganapati Bappa murthy on the road

Farmers with their hard work

Everyone uses the NH ;)

Carefree elephants

The city of Madikeri holds quite a resemblance to the city of Ooty. Coorg hosted us well, and it was a rejuvenating and a pleasurable stay here - the much-needed break from our daily chores. Fanta-boulous!

The major attractions here in Coorg are:

Abby falls
Raja seat
Madikeri Fort
Madikeri city
Dubare forest
Namdrolling monastery

It was a short planned trip, we did not intend to cover all the major tourist attractions. We made up to what we could and left the rest for the next time.😀

Near the Coorg bus stand, you would find a number of local tourism centre who would help arrange for sightseeing and coffee plantation trip.

Since we had our own car, we preferred to drive ourselves to the few of the places.

Coorg welcomes us!! :)

Once we entered the city, our tummies were growling - unable to find any good restaurants in the vicinity, we stopped at a dhaba.

Being served on the traditional banana leaf was exciting - the most authentic and healthy way to have your food. The South Indian Thali consisted of rice, sambhar, rasam, curd, papad, pickle and some sabji and a sweet dish. It fared well, I would say!😅

Once tummies were full, we marched ahead to unearth the beauty of the city. Just look at those colorful houses tucked in corners of the hill. 😘

The city of Coorg

The city is hidden in the bed of clouds. Wow!! 💧💙

City market

We put up in the Woodstock villas for the night. You can read about it below:
https://xylo742.blogspot.in/2015/08/travelogue-stay-at-coorg.html

The nearest waterfall was from our villa was the Abbey Falls, the ride through the busy, narrow heavily crowded roads in the heart of the city was tough. The roads are heavily curvy and crooked, winding up.

Please take help from the locals for the proper directions to reach - chances your network won't be able to catch up.

Abbey Falls facilitates with a parking lot free of charge - a vast empty ground. From here you need to cover a trail for about 10 minutes or so and soon you can hear the symphony of the waterfalls. Music!!👂👉
Making your way through the walkway amidst the dense forest just leaves you yearning for more. 💚
The fall finds itself in among the dense bunch of trees and people are just thronging. The eye catchy attraction is the dangling bridge. 😜
You need to be very careful, as you step down - it could be little tiring and slippery.

Watching the water gushing down, is just serene. One could spend hours gazing at the water.😄
Prohibit yourself going in the water - you never know the course of the water would lead you to.

The history goes - this fall was called the Jessey falls in memory of the daughter of the first chaplain of Madikeri from the British times.

Abbi actually means "Waterfall"!

Midst dense forests

The magical steps

On our way back to Bangalore, this handcraft shop caught our eye and we made a quick halt.They were selling a variety of spices, handicrafts, handmade chocolates and honey.
We did quite some shopping of fresh spices, condiments, coffee powder from here - a bit pricey but of at par good quality. Do try this place!

And then again made our way to Bangalore.

For lunch - we stopped at the Annapurna restaurant. The last time we were here from our Ooty trip, it was known as the Sharma's. Looks like they have undergone a takeover probably. 😏

A nice, clean restaurant with clean washrooms as well which is a savior. 😉

They serve lunch only till 15:00 hours, and it was almost 16:00-ish by the time we reached here - we could have only their special MASALA DOSAS - authentic, ghee clad with the perfect South Indian taste. Yumm...one of the best masala dosas I have had. And hunger adds the fire. 😅
Despite being on the highway - the location of the restaurant is such that it offers a nice nazara around.Right across there is a petrol pump as well.