Finding a getaway from Hyderabad is quite a challenge, specially if have a ceiling on budget and frequency of repeat visits. Coorg if planned right,  fits the bill of a delightful getaway perfectly.  This hill station is not overtly touristy in feel and offers a certain tranquility that will definitely leave you rested .

Stay options come in choices of resorts, hotels and home stays. Choose according to requirement of facilities and budget. I stayed at the beautiful Depot Estate home stay, just 1 km from town, this choice of stay was a major factor in making the trip to Coorg delightful.

All major tourist pit stops can be covered in two day, a four wheeler is the best transport to get around the area. These can be hired on a full day basis or based on touch points to be covered. As most of the travel involves riving down the meandering roads along coffee and pepper plantations, it is a good idea to skip the A/C option, pull down the windows and let the lightly  scented air in.

When in comes to eating out – Coorg was a disappointment. The two highly recommended restaurants Raj Darshan (opposite Raja’s seat) and Top In Town (On the way to Golden temple monastery) were extremely disappointing neither offered local cuisine, the basic ‘multi-cuisine’ menu, poor ambiance and power cuts during dinner were added put offs. Don’t get fooled by the long wait  to get a table at ‘Top in town’ it certainly isn’t because of the food, I tried the specialty ‘veg meal’ which tasted exactly like  the budget veg meal that I used to eat during collage days at ‘Swati tiffins’ Hyderabad.

In my case the best meals that I had were the ones provided at the Depot Home Stay. (Tip: In case you are a non-vegetarian and eat pork, you must ask the cook for their local preparations).

Sightseeing:

We could manage only a day of sightseeing, which included a visit to the Elephant camp. The elephants are lined up for a bath along the banks of Cauvery – extremely relaxing to spend a morning here. Incidentally this is also a place where you can go white water rafting during the months of October -November. ( Tip: If you visit during the summers, there is a section of the river that flows real low so you can walk across to reach the elephant camp – much more fun than the ferry)

Next stop was Nisargadhama park, where you get to feed deer, ride an elephant, climb up bamboo-shrub top huts ** and relax along the river side or take a boat ride. I wasn’t too keen on going here but the river section that is open to visitors was quite something.

We then headed to Tibetan Golden temple.The fact that a   Tibetian monastery exists on the outskirts of Mangalore was in itself a little surprising. Not to mention the feeling of slight disorientation I felt when the temple doorway opened to the magnificent statues and prayer rows – not at all what I expected just off the road from the land of Idli, dosa and akki roti. This is a definite visit. The devotees were mostly dressed in traditional Tibetan attire and the whole vibe to the place was calming. This is also a place where you can do a little shopping (bags, save Tibet T-shirts etc) and maybe try some momo’s.

Our next destination was Abbey Falls for which we retracted back to Madikeri ( on the way we stopped at Triveni sangam – nothing exciting here, except a glimpse of a really large water snake). Abbey Falls was a disappointment simply because of the timing of our visit, it is during monsoons that it can be seen in all its splendour, this time around we saw not much of a fall and no more of river than a soft slow trickle 10 meters below the bridge.

The final stop was the ‘tala Cauvery‘ – the origin of river Cauvery. As evening sets in the hill that houses tala Cauvery gets engulfed in fog and mist – possibly the only place and time during a summer visit to Madikeri where it would feel like a misty hill station. The view from top is supposed to be quite breathtaking, but since we came in late all we could see was a cloud of white fog/mist all around.The temple and the gates leading highest peak of this hill close at 6, so plan accordingly.

Places that we missed – Iruppu Falls, Nagarahole game sanctuary, Harangi dam, sunset at Rajas seat, Gandhi Mandap, Omkarteshwara Temple, Gaddige.

Shopping:

Once done with sightseeing, it is a must to visit the local wholesale spice market/shops, where you can pick up spices, home made chocolate, coffee etc.

A few suggestions:
1. Plan the months you want to visit – December to March may be good time to visit for relaxation, but white water rafting and sights of falls in all their glory can be experienced only during monsoons.
2. Book tickets in advance: the only way from Banglore to Madikeri is by road, and if not in your own vehicle your best bet is to catch the 7 am or 11 am KSRTC Volvo. Believe me taking any other bus would be a bad choice, so reach Bangalore in time to make it to these Volvo’s. Also a word of caution to the folks traveling from Hyderabad to Bangalore- take the flight, train or APSRTC Volvo’s in that order of preference. No matter what you hear about Sharma, Khurana or any other bus service stick to non-private road transport.
3. Although after my trip a home stay comes highly recommended, do ensure that you are comfortable with the idea, remember it is not a hotel but rather your home away from home. Also check on rules for smoking, drinking etc to make sure that both you and the hosts are comfortable during your stay.

You can check some pictures of the sightseeing here.
Also find pictures of the beautiful home stay that was our home for the weekend here.

If you know any other great places to stay, or sights I may have missed do leave a comment.  happy weekend .

**just like tree-top houses only build on Bamboo shrubs instead