Heavenly Coorg

I was surprised when Pramiti, my daughter and Gautam, her husband asked us to join them in Coorg for a holiday. Surprised because our earlier visit to the hill station a few year ago with Pramiti was a disaster. We had found the town unclean and teeming with people. Narrow roads and overcrowded markets. It rained most of the time and we could not go out much. Generally, a pathetic holiday. Over-ruling my unwillingness, Gautam assured me that it was a different Coorg we would be visiting and we would enjoy the stay.

We, I and Alka, landed in Bangalore one February evening and, a couple of days later, the four of us drove the 250 kms to Coorg. To my surprise, Gautam bypassed the town and drove on. A few kilometres later, only scattered houses could be seen and soon we turned on a kuccha road through tall trees. And suddenly we were amid coffee plants. Ah! This is more like it, I thought. I would love it if this was where we were going to stay. This is when I spotted a beautiful bungalow in a clearing. Gautam turned in the gate and parked, to be greeted by a cute little dog whose bark alerted the inmates of our arrival.

I looked questioningly at Gautam and elicited only a smile. The lady who came out met Gautam and Pramiti like an old friend. Introducing us, Gautam told me she was his friend’s sister. We were led to a cute little cottage with two bedrooms. This was to be our home for the next couple of days. Lovely, I said to myself.

We were in the middle of a 200-acre coffee plantation owned and managed by the lady and her husband. They also cultivated Black Pepper. The lady ran a ‘home stay’ just for fun. We spent a heavenly time away from the maddening modern life undisturbed by mobile and internet signals. We would go for long walks in the estate and enjoy nature at close quarters., The photographs would tell it better.

The cottage we stayed in

The only time we came in contact with civilisation during our stay was when we went to see the Tibetan monastery at Kushalnagar.

The Namdroling Monastry

 

The excellent Coorgi cuisine served to us throughout our stay at the plantation was prepared under personal supervision of the owner.

On our way back we visited Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. We did not see any wildlife but the waterfall was pleasing and refreshing.