In which we laze. (And I resolve to retire "in which" in the title)

In the last holiday season - considering Diwali to New Year's - we went to the Nilgiris twice. Thrice, if you acknowledge that the holiday/festival season starts in August in India. Why this munificence in our custom? Simply because sometimes, a place makes you want to keep going back. Like the song that you want to keep playing all day, sometimes even in your head when all is quite in the night.

Right, so now that we've got the attempt at poetry and mood out of the way, the more prosaic reason is that The Wife loves the place. That is not to say I'm not. Far from it. The one reason we like it is because the once you wrap your head around the fact that there is not much to do in the Nilgiris, it is the perfect place. To laze that is. All that jazz about fresh air and similar enticements aside, there is a lot to be said for the benefits of doing nothing.

Though the best way to appreciate the Nilgiris is simply by ignoring all signs to the various points and walking around. I understand that that is not exactly in the lazing territory, but it can be if you have no particular aim than knowing what is around the corner.

If staying closer to town is your thing, then try Neemrana Hotels' Wallwood Garden. On the main Coonoor Kothagiri road, this is an old colonial bungalow converted to a hotel. Though, the folks who will run the place will make you feel like you're in a homestay. They do not have a regular fixed menu, and you'll need to let them know if you're eating in before hand. And once you taste the food, you'll insist on dining in. The food is to die for. The rooms are named after the trees found in the Nilgiris and the rooms with the best view are in the bungalow proper. The bungalow is pretty close to the Sim's park. Which is an advantage if you are an early riser. That way you can beat the tourist hordes that come in. The park early in the morning is a nice place for a leisurely stroll.




If on the other hand, isolation is your thing, then head over to Red Hill Estate. This is about 28 kms from Ooty near the Emerald & Avalanche dams. Though to really appreciate the isolation you should travel during school and college exam periods. Feb to mid-March is recommended. This is an old tea estate that lets out place to stay. It is on the expensive side at INR 5000 for a couple all inclusive. However the view is to die for. Your hosts, the Vijaykumars, are very helpful and will arrange for walks within their property. Red Hill is pretty much at the edge of the Nilgiris - or rather cultivated Nilgiris - and a short distance away is the Mukurthi National park. It is also near a lot of forest areas, and it would be advisable to get permits to go in here before you get to Red Hill. If you let the kind folks at Red Hill know early on, they'll help you out too. For short walks around the estate, you'll be hard pressed to shake off your buddy for the stay, Moby, the resident mutt. Don't be afraid of his boisterous welcome, for he really is quite friendly.

However, if you're looking to base this as your center of discovering the Nilgiris, then this might be a little out of the way. 28 kms can be quite a distance in the hills. But then if you have all the time in the world, then this is the exactly what the doctor ordered.

In which we partake of freebies

Us desis like our freebies. The more the better. When we book hotels on the Continental plan, we're the ones lining up for breakfast like the way "real estate agents" line up when somebody mentions SEZ. Or how we stampede into Big Bazaar when they offer 50% off on their 100% crap. Now thanks to The Wife, we lucked into gift vouchers to any Taj anywhere in India. Now based on empirical data, you could have a dinner for two at the Taj, Bombay (and shell out some from your pocket to settle the bill) or have a dinner for a family at Taj Westend in Bangalore (and shell out some from your pocket to settle the bill) or go to Taj Coonoor for a long weekend (and don't shell out any from your pocket at all, gotcha there didn't I!). I'm not implying this place is cheap, it is not by any means. But it definitely is worth the money we didn't spend.

Its easy to see why people state that Coonoor is better than Ooty (or Udhagamandalam or Udhagai). It's nice, its small, and if you end up staying in an expensive place, there are still a lot of places you can cover on foot that will not break the pocket. Coonoor is at a lower elevation than Ooty and hence not as cold as Ooty can get during the rains or winter. There are plenty of ways to get here from the Deccan plateau, one is the scenic route through Mysore, Gundulpet, Bandipura, Gudalur, Ooty and thence to Coonoor. Or take the other scenic route through Mysore, Gundulpet, Bandipura, Thepakadu, Kalhatti, Ooty and thence to Coonoor. Or you can take the more leisurely and scenic route from Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and directly to Coonoor. This last part can be done in the heritage railway. The actual distance by rail is about 28 km from Mettupalayam but it takes a long gentle 3 hours to get you there. On the way it covers tons of tunnels and passes over some spectacular scenery before depositing you at the Coonoor station.

You then make your way to Upper Coonoor, past the bustling bus stand and end up at the Taj. The hotel itself was a priory earlier and unlike anywhere else I've been, the driveway into the hotel passes a cemetery. Now, that, you've to admit, is not exactly the welcome you're looking for when you entering the gates of what is one the better hotel brands in the country. However, it's not as if you go past acres of them, and the residence proper will ensure that morbid thoughts are immediately gone the moment you go lay eyes on the entrance. The whole place has a nice laid back feel to it and the red tiled roof and white washed walls with ivy climbing on to them give it a charm of its own.

Coonoor is a town best discovered on foot. If you're staying anywhere in Upper Coonoor, Sims Park is not too far. It is a park laid out in a ravine, and over 12 hectares. It is worth the 5 INR and 30 INR that they charge for adults and their still cameras. Video cameras are charged extra. Over a holiday weekend, it will have it's share of boisterous kids and adults who're trying very hard to enjoy their vacation. However, like I mentioned it's large enough for people to have their privacy. There are the other usual points that most hill stations in India seem to have. Vantage points of view of the plains below, where folks from the plains come to gawk at the very plains they've left behind. Dolphin's Nose, Lamb's Rock, Lady Canning's Seat et cetera would, no doubt, keep you occupied the whole day seeing as they're around 8-10 km all along the compass from Coonoor. There are taxis available for hire at Bedford in Upper Coonoor or near the bus stand. You'll have to haggle depending upon when "season" is. For those inclined towards exertion, the Droog Fort, 15 km from Coonoor would be a good bet. Its also known as Bakasura Malai and the route to the fort passes through the Nonsuch Tea Estate. Nonsuch tea is also highly rated among tea connoisseurs.

The other direction you could go to would be towards Kotagiri and Kodanad. The Kodanad view point offers you a spectacular view of the Bhavanisagar dam's reservoir and onwards to the Mysore plateau. During the monsoon, this view is obscured by clouds of mist and rain, but the whole experience is quite stunning. There is a trek that is conducted by local Forest department. You can contact them at 0423 2443968 or 04266 278020. This is called the Thengumarada Trek and leads down from Kodanad towards Thengumarada. The drive from Coonoor to Kotagiri is quite good with the drive from Kotagiri to Kodanad takes you through some wonderful landscape. About 5 km short of the view point, there is a small lay by where you can sit an take in the peace and quiet.

Another option is to take a bus towards Wellington and spend a pleasant couple of hours walking through one of the prettiest cantonments in the country. The cantonment is about 3 km from Sims Park and you can either walk the whole way or take the bus. When you come back, you can walk about 5 mins on the Kotagiri road and park yourself at Tranquilitea, a tea lounge where your host, Sandeep will help you choose the choicest of Nilgiri teas and even fill you in on the history of the Hills. You can also click here for other staying options.

The long weekend did come to an end too soon. However, we were unable to break the shackles of the daily grind and we very reluctantly turned back. Even though we had some money still left on the freebie. Now, that, you've to admit is very hard for a desi to do.

Missing Crowds

An indication of long weekends is the huge traffic jam outside of Kamat Lokaruchi on Mysuru Road. I'm sure there are indicators on Hosur Road, Hyderabad Road, Old Madras Road, New Madras Road, Tumkur Road - you get the drift. Since travelling with the Usual Suspects usually involved bolting awake at 05.30 and out of the house in 15 mins, we usually missed this mass grazing where assorted mothers, fathers, screaming kids and frazzled grandparents converge. I'm glad to say that TBH and I missed this too. On account of the screaming kids being a little away in the future.

We were on our way to Wayanad - new Palace Hotel beckoned, but that itch was left unscratched. This time we checked into Edakkal Hermitage near Edakkal (and hence the name) and stayed put. Considering the hordes that have now invaded Bangaluru; Wayanad and Kerala are no longer out of bounds for anyone. Getting there is not a problem, in fact, I believe going to Wayanad is probably the only route out of Bangaluru that is gauranteed not to jar your bones during any stretch of the journey. Any travel to the West coast involves travelling through the ravines that go under the name of NH 17 and the Charmadi Ghats. Ditto anything beyond Chikkamagaluru town. Getting to Coorg is now an excellent excuse to off road. OK, so maybe getting to Pondi is tad better.

We teamed up with the New, Usual, Suspects. Getting out and away was a breeze. It took us just a tad over 5.5 hours to get to Edakkal. Considering I drive a trusty, but slow ride, this is more a testament to the roads than the said ride. Most folks know the way to Bandipur so there is not much to say for that. You follow the same route till Gundulpet, and turn where the "good" road turns right for Wayanad. There used to be a hotel just outside Gundulpet that didn't advertise itself as a hotel. Instead it had a huge board that said Clean Toilets Here. Considering that there was nothing since you passed Mysuru and now, most folks stopped there. You could see it from all the skid marks. It used to serve decent, vegetarian fare. This has now passed into the hands of some solid meat eating Mallus and now serves decent, non-vegetaran fare. The toilets, though, are still clean enough.

Due to the rains early in March, the weather in the hills of Edakkal was very pleasant. The folks at Edakkal were very helpful and unobtrusive. Two diametrically opposite traits that they managed very well. The Edakkal Hermitage is spread on the lower foothills of the Edakkal caves. A word of advice would be to skip the caves if you're travelling over the weekend. There are hordes of idiotic software types from Bangaluru, with overly enthusiastic local school and college kids who tend to cause a jam on the way up to the caves and further towards the peak. If at all the weekend is all you can have, then try it early Sunday morning when there's likely to be lesser crowd.

All in all, Edakkal gives you solid value for money. For those who are more snobbily inclined, Vythiri has lots of places that can help you contribute heavily to the GDP of that area and said resorts. Problem is resort development in Vythiri has gone a little amok. With too many of them around, you can then soak in the atmosphere you gave a miss at the Kamat Lokaruchi. Or you can stick to Edakkal and miss all the crowds.

Coffee & Conviviality

I've an excellent idea for the start of a vacation. Take the road. Better yet, take the road late so that you are in the Nelamangala sector by mid-morning. As is its wont, it'll server a peach of a jam. In my opinion, nothing can be guaranteed to help you appreciate the fact that you'll be away from all of this madness more. Be that as it may, I spent an excellent weekend in the hills. With an invitation to come back when coffee flowers, I might add.

Our drive - I was with The Better Half - took us to Coffee Valley, Sakleshpura. The drive after you take a left onto NH 47 is excellent, if a little narrow. To get to Sakleshpura, you drive past the right turn that welcomes you to Hasan and onwards to Belur and Halebidu. The road turned progressively worse as we took the by-pass. It was a portent of things to come, but that is jumping ahead of the story.

Once you get to Sakleshpura, you count down roughly 4 kms to a turn to the right that goes to Davalkere. As soon as you take this right, there is a fork on the road, the left leads to Mudigere and the left to Davalkere. We reached Coffee Valley just after lunch - anything after 1 and before 5 is lunch - and were welcomed by Mr. Manjunath, the squire of all Coffee Valley.

Mr. Manjunath is a host who believes in the old adage that "Atithi Devo Bhava". We're not left alone a minute from the time we got in to the time we left. After a never-before-tasted lime juice (TBH claiming that it had honey - we don't know the secret ingredient though) was followed by excellent lunch of akki roti, a veg palya and chicken. Mrs. Manjunath, for she was the cook, over the next couple of meals, succeeded in demolishing all "diet"ary plans that TBH had. As all my friends know, I don't even attempt going on one when on a trip like this.


There is not much you are legally allowed to do after such a repast - going horizontal is mandatory I believe. I tried fighting it but eventually succumbed to Morpheus. The small rooms that they've built down the hillside from the drying yards is cool even though the sun outside attempted to huff and puff. True to his nature, Mr. Manjunath walked us to our rooms. Along the way, we stopped and gleaned some info about the various crops that he grows on his plantation, his routine and his estate. Considering that the walk is only about 5 mins, you can bet that there was a lot of stopping!


Post this, we were supposed to go some distance from the estate to catch a glimpse of the sunset. We met up with a couple of other folks staying there and we all piled in on the Hosamane Gypsy. Considering that we'd made solid inroads into lunch and the beds really warm and inviting, we were a little late in getting to the location and missed the sunset. This was to be the leitmotif of this journey, but more onthat later. We did manage to get the last farewell that the evening had put up for us however. The moon compensated - a golden disc rising in the east. We lingered as the both celestial bodies put up a show and silently took in the vista spread out before us. This seemed like a good place to camp, but I didn't see any water body around. The moon rendered the torches that we'd got superflous. Snacks and coffee awaited us. Camp-fire followed and we enjoyed excellent food and company around the warmth. Once dinner was done, we had to persuade Mr. Manjunath to rest for he was still hovering about like a mother hen. Our conversation followed around the campfire where everything from malls, childhood stories, Awesomely bad movies and college anecdotes were shared.


The next morning saw some of us (read yours truly) get up early to catch sunrise. A short walk outside the estate led to the discovery that Sakleshpura dogs do not like me. Since I'm such a wussy around them, I decided to curtail the walk to a short perambulation and made tracks back to the estate. I joined Mr. Manjunath on his morning inspection through the estate. Another mouth watering delight followed and we made tracks to Pandavagudda. It's a 20 minute ride from the estate to the base of the hill. A small temple to Ishwaran stands here and after the mandatory Patel shots, we moved towards the hill. It's a pleasant walk up the hill and it gives you a panoramic view of Sakleshpura countryside. We reluctantly moved from there, only the visions of epicurean delight that awaited us at the base driving us down. While we would have liked to stay back and enjoy a siesta, the road beckoned all of us and we very reluctantly took leave. Our next destination was Udupi, but the good people at the PWD and NHAI connived to ensure that we only reached Mangalore. More about that in a bit.

Long trips, short weekends

Valparai, 88 kms south-west of Coimbatore was the chosen destination. We did start out in time from Bangalore, but didn't bargain for god-awful traffic between Salem & Coimbatore. Not to mention the numerous breaks we took and the long detour into Erode to fill LPG. When we found one right on the road just out of Tirupur. And the couple of experiments in short cuts. Sigh. The things you learn.

Valparai is not your typical weekend break. At least not from Bangalore. For a start, it's might be a little too far - about 415/420 kms. If you are lucky or drive like Sebastian Loeb. The drive post Pollachi into Valparai is an absolute dream. You will hit the Aliyar Dam and it's reservoir will be the focal point of all the stops that you make as you climb upto Valparai. The climb however comes with a caveat, the 40 hair pin bends give the 37 hair pins on Kalhatti into Ooty a run for it's money. It's a difficult choice between the drive and the scenery. The Green Hill is the only place to stay in Valparai. There are a couple of others, but might not be up the alley of most. And at around 550 per room, it's definitely worth the money.

There is not much to do in Valparai. However, there are excellent drives around the place. The drive to Sholayar Dam is highly recommended. For the exploratory, you can then take the road into Kerala. Go to Palakkad, Calicut into Wayanad and thence to Bangalore.

But you need a really long weekend for that!

Update 24/Mar/2010: New trip report, with more staying options here.

Tourists & Trekkers

I love cities. I love living in one. I love my job. Hmmm... I guess that was little too unbelievable. But it's true. I really do. It makes me appreciate the long weekends that I can wrangle. I especially love it when I can get an extra day off, and take a 4 day vacation and loose only one day in leave.

Visions of appam and beef fry that I enjoyed last Christmas at my roomie's place in Kerala were still fresh in my mind. And my stomach. So Kerala it was; twice in the past 2 months. Republic Day saw me heading Wayanad-wards. We'd (Shantanu and I) decided to stay here for a couple of days, and head on down further south towards. But, then when inveterate journey-is-the-destination kinda travelers travel, all plans where thrown out of the window the moment we crossed Muthanga and drove towards Bathery (Sultan Battery for all of you imperialists ;)). This district - and not a specific place - is one of the lesser explored parts of Kerala. Those 4 days were absolute bliss, and then I found about about Chembra and how you can trek there. So I decided to come back and do it one of these days. Well, the weekend of 11th & 12th March, found me doing just that. To be honest, I don't think Wayanad is something that can be covered in 2 days. There are too many places of interest for the regular tourist and gawkers. There are a couple of treks there. Chembra I mentioned, and another one close by called Vallarimala. I would really have loved to camp there. But then not everything can go one's way, now can it?

If you are in Bangalore, then the way to get to Wayanad is Mysore, onwards from there towards Gundulpet/Ooty. Just after the Gundulpet police check post the NH 212 heads towards Calicut. A little into the drive and you hit some beautiful countryside. Now this is what I call the problem of plenty. If you start from Bangalore early in the A.M., then you would reach here sometime in the afternoon. This is, of course, considering that you are not one of those who like to leave sonic booms in your wake. If you start out late at night - midnight is suggested - then you will get to Muthanga around day break. And watching the sun come up from the trees is a sight to behold. This route is by far the fastest way to get to Wayanad. There are other routes. When I'd travelled in January, Lonely Planet's India & Bangladesh road atlas suggested there was an alternate route from Mysore. We spent about 20 minutes trying to find it and then gave up.

Bathery provides you with the assorted lodges and The Resort. At INR 500 for a double room, it is definitely a place to stay. For all those "bleddy alkoholiks" it also has a bar attached. In fact all the places I stayed had a bar attached. The Resort's bar is one of those gloomy places where the accent is on how much you can consume rather than providing you with any sort of ambience. Bathery is the place to stay if you want to explore the Edakkal Caves. Or rather cave. Umm... make that rock fall. This has some Stone age carvings, and a treat of a view if you climb a little further from the rock fall where the carvings are. Oh, did I mention a climb? It is a very short climb, but it is steep as heck. It also has the Edakkal Hermitage. If nothing, this establishment sits on some excellent real estate. It is a collection of 8 cottages (INR 3300) and 2 tree houses(INR 3900). I didn't verify if the tree houses were suitable for adult entertainment. By the way, if you want to enjoy the view and the carvings get there well before 16.30. They don't allow folks to climb after that. Bathery is also close to the Wayanad Heritage Museum in Ambalavayal, the excavations at Muniyara and some more spots.

The drive from Bathery to Kalpetta is excellent. You pass through some excellent scenery, and it is quite easy to become part of it. Enthralled as you will be with the passing flora, keep an eye out for that peculiar fauna, the Kerala bus drivers. Unlike other fauna, it is not at all territorial. It just assumes that the entire road belongs to it. The problem is that the NH 212 that goes to Calicut is in excellent condition, and it just begs you to cruise.

Lonely Planet suggests that Kalpetta is the central place to stay. It is definitely the place where there are more hotels to stay. Kalpetta is like a junction. You can go further South-west towards Vaithyri or go North-East towards the Tholpetty Nature Reserve. This Nature reserve along with Muthanga is part of the Bandipur, Mudumulai & Kudremukh parks. Kalpetta is also where you can stay at the PPS Lodge (INR500) a short walk away from the New Palace Hotel. Now I must pause here. And savour the taste of the puttu, appam, ackora fry and beef fry that New Palace serves up. And if two people gorge there, they can run up a princely bill of 75 to 85. Strongly suggested pit stop place.

From Kalpetta, the Sentinel or Soochipara waterfalls are about 18 kms. The falls it self is not all that great. And besides, I never did understand the fascination with waterfalls. Be that as it may, when I went the second time around, my entire group spent rapturous times there. Some adventurous souls did try and climb behind the falls. But saner sense prevailed. You can drive upto a km. away from the falls. Then there is this descent to the falls proper. Try and get here in the evenings. The sunsets are great. Plus, to get to the falls, you take a diversion off the NH 212 at Chundale, from where the road winds through tea & coffee estates and to sound repetitive, you have to stop and look at what is spread out in front of you. We stopped at one point, where the tea estates with the high mountains in the back drop offered excellent views. Turns out that the estate has donated that spot along with around 10 acres for a college. Now that is what I call conducive environs for academics!

Because we came in this big group, the first day, we only had time to go to Pookote lake and Soochipara falls. Pookote is a bit further away past Vythiri. The lake itself is not all that big, but it is clean. You have your regulation boating along with a very interesting walk around the lake itself. I would suggest taking the walk. This is also seems to be a very popular place for all the schools around the area. Both the times I went, it had hordes of kids all over the place! Night was spent at the Haritagiri (750 to 1500INR). It has a swimming area - that is claimed to be a pool. Not to mention a little chlorine-loving pool keeper. My eyes watered like heck after half-an-hour of swimming. The next day was the trek.



Now a lot of our group probably didn't expect the trek to be so tough. And it is not. Chembra looks formidable. The trick is to keep climbing. That is what Vikas, constant companion on the trek, and I did. It is spread out in a series of climbs followed by a plateau like area. As you reach one plateau, you see that the next climb is steeper. It is only when you start climbing it that you find out that it is actually quite easy. Because the grass grows in some sort of steps, if you keep off the beaten path, it offers you excellent grip. And once you reach the top, the views are to die for. I thought I could see the sea in the horizon, but Vikas didn't quite agree. Chembra also is along Soochipara way, so the trek proper starts from a tea estate. You need forest department permission to climb and to camp. There is a peculiar feature on Chembra after the second plateau. There is a heart-shaped lake there which gives you excellent grounds to camp. The heart-shapness (ok, that word is made up) is not evident unless you climb further up. We started our climb around mid-morning, and the sun was harsh enough to sun-burn the delicate skins of some (read women). The ideal trek would be to get up to the lake around night fall, set up camp and climb at the break of dawn. Since I didn't do that, it means, I have yet another trip to make. Sigh ;). Nevertheless, this day trip was worth the effort. And a lot of us did make an effort. Shebin, he of the sprain-the-knee-the-night-before-a-trek fame, got into the pool, did some rudimentary physio, dipped liberally into the painkiller bag and managed to get to the top and get down. While there were still others, who ensured that a lot of Chembra stuck to their jeans when they got down. They shall remain un-named.

Now here is the kicker. Wayanad seems to make you want to stay back. One way to return is via Mananthvadi and the Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary. This is where I spent a soporific 90 minutes driving through the park for about 450. At the end of which, the guide helpfully pointed out that the best time to come to the park is on a Tuesday between March and mid May. This is when you are most likely to spot a Panthera tigris. The cost structure is 350 for the jeep - if you are not driving your own - 50 for a guide and 20 for still cameras.

So for those of you with 3 days to spare, check out this part of God's Own Country. But don't make any plans, and you will find out what they mean when they say that the journey is the destination.

3 Guys, a drive & Coorg

Ah weekends! The time when you catch up with family, friends, your hobbies, the pile of clothes you haven't washed for a month. All of these are perfectly legitimate uses of 48 hours. So also a 650 km drive to nowhere.

There once was a Chinese philosopher who said that the true traveller does not hurry to the destination as he realises that the journey itself is the destination. That is the kind of philosophy you need when you go to Coorg. Most people think Coorg is this one place where you do your regular tourist thing. You know, go to the Lovers Point, take a look at the Suicide Point, gawk at the Sunrise Point(c'mon how many of us can even begin to comprehend that there is a concept called sunrise; and that the sun does not immediately jump to overhead when we wake up). In theory, you could do all of this. But then, that is not the best way to enjoy Coorg. Besides there is just one point, Raja's Seat, in Madikeri. And conveniently it's a sunset point.

See, there are these two Coorgs. One is on every tourist's map. Go to Madikeri, spend an hour at Raja's Seat; go dip your feet in Abbey Falls & Irupu Falls; stop by at Bailkoppa and Nisarghdhama. Which is also good enough for the weekend. Then there is the trekker's Coorg, Tadiyandamol, Brahmagiri et al. However, for someone with no fixed agenda, mixing both of these can be quite rewarding. Unfortunately, this means you require a means of transport. Car is good. I believe bikes would be better.

Here is what you do. You plan to start early on Saturday morning. Then you leave the waking up part to friends (Ajay, Shantanu); one of who is curled up with a John Grisham with about 100 pages to go late on Friday night and the other who sleeps like he is in the middle of a lecture. Then you thank your lucky stars that you live close to a temple that has a speaker that loudly invokes the Lord's name at 6 every morning. You then go kick said friends' butts to wake them up. Travel.

We took the Mysore Road. Now that the construction is almost over, this is an excellent piece of asphalt. The almost part is a little un-nerving when you find out that suddenly all vehicles are coming in your lane. To get to Coorg via the scenic route, take the right turn to Ranganathittu just after Srirangapatna. Keep following the road through some excellent rural settings to hit Hunsur. Madikeri is 64 kms from Hunsur. The road after Hunsur gets bad, and in sections is just a figment of some greedy bureaucrat's imagination. Apparently for the last 2 years, the PWD is labouring to construct a 4 lane road from Mysore to Madikeri.

A little over 16 kms out of Hunsur, there is a fork in the road. Both eventually get you to Madikeri. As the movie gag goes, "Yeha se jao, ya waha se jao, sab rasta God ko jaata hai." In this case, the right will get you to God; or at least to one of his abodes. Around 20 kms from this fork you will hit Bylakuppe, which is home to the largest Tibetan settlement in India. This is also home to the Golden Temple (of the Buddhist variety). It is quite interesting to be seemingly thrust into Tibet, with red-robed monks and prayer flags, and hear Kannada all around you. The Golden Temple is a monastery, and is open to all to visit. While the monks break for lunch; between 12 and 1; you will not be allowed to roam in the main prayer hall. Once they are back, you can walk in and pretty much go anywhere in the hall. For all the foodies, avoid the BDA-like food court outside the temple complex. Instead a little further along the way back towards the highway, you will find a board advertising Olive, a restaurant. It looks like a house, and probably is, but its proprietor Tsering will serve you authentic Tibetan food. If you are lucky maybe you can bum a packet of cigarettes off him too!

The nearest place from here is Nisargdhama. This is a 2.5 km sq. island in the middle of the Cauvery. The forest department charges you 10 Rs. as entry fee, and there is a rudimentary deer park, a couple of over worked elephants that you can ride if you fork over 10 bucks. There is also boating if you fork over an extra 10 bucks. You will have to ask the dis-interested person manning the booth if the boating is on. You can stay here, there are cottages available, and the Forest Department charges you 650 for double occupancy. There is food available in the canteen a little away from the huts. Just so you know the folks there speak Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. Hindi works fine too. The huts are your basic fare, but sit on some excellent piece of real estate, and would be well worth the stay, if you are looking for 2 days of peace and quite. Or whatever quite you can find in the midst of your regulation hordes of weekend picnickers. You can combine this with a visit to Harangi Dam or Dubare or both. The park itself is open between 9.30 AM and 5.30 PM. Harangi Dam is an excellent picnic spot.

We however, made tracks for Madikeri, another 30 kms away on agonisingly bad roads. Madikeri is a good place to stay if you want to explore the countryside around. In fact, for the budget traveller, the Cauvery hotel near the bus stand is an excellent place for budget acco - 300 to 400 Rs should get you a 3-bed room with hot water (very essential in these cold climes). This is central to the town, and if you are pressed for time, a 14 km hike to the Abbey Falls and back is an excellent way to enjoy the weekend. A little out of town, and you have the more "expensive" fare. We stayed at Crystal Hotel; it has a board as you enter Madikeri, follow the signs. They charged us 1190 for a 3-bed room. It's a new hotel, so it is clean, and more importantly has hot showers. They have cottages being built in an estate opening soon. At 5000 bucks a weekend, only those who are loaded need apply.

The next day we set out from Madikeri. There are those who extol the beauty of the drive from Madikeri to Siddapur. It's a 30 km drive to the south. However, if you go roughly the same distance to the South-west, you reach Talacauvery, the place where Cauvery springs over ground. A 300 step climb from the spring will get you to the top of the Bramhagiri which will give you extensive views of the surrounding countryside. This entire place is a temple complex - or at least it will be soon - so be careful that you do not disturb the sanctity of the place.

You can then drive down to Madikeri, and thence to Bangalore or as we did, take a random turn to the right towards Siddapur. We spent about 3 hours on the back-country roads of South-west Coorg district before we passed through Nagarhole, and got back on the main highway connecting Madikeri and Mysore. This drive passes through some amazing locations, and there are places you can take a break and have a light picnic. Be sure, however, that you clean up the mess after you. Most of these places are coffee estates, and you don't want to test the adage that the Coorgi is born with a gun in one hand and a hockey stick in another! If you are close to the coffee estates of the venerable Tata group, you might not even need that. All those estates are ringed by electrified fencing. We did however stop to ponder how a coffee-running Mafia can siphon off the coffee by jumping over the fence. None of us actually wanted to put our theories to test. If someone is game enough to try them, please feel free to contact me. For the saner ones, if you ask around, Tata Coffee arranges for coffee estate tours. But remember to ask politely!

The random right turn presents itself around 10 -15 kms on the way down from Talacauvery. You take the road leading to Napoklu. Once you reach there, make tracks towards Murnad, and at Murnad ask anyone the road to Ammathi. There is a semblance of a road from here, that leads you on to Titimati. From Titimati you take the straight road, whence you will enter Rajiv Gandhi National Park, or as all of us know it, Nagarhole. Just as you exit the National Park, the road forks. Taking the left will take you back to Madikeri. There is some truth to the saying that the straight and narrow road will lead you to good things. In this case it will take you to the fork in the road near Hunsur I mentioned earlier. Bangalore is about 175 kms from here.

I am harping on the bad roads bit, however, the drive is still an extremely satisfying one despite that. The other thing is that the road is mostly lined with small dhabas, that might not serve you full scale lunch. You will however get your regular Coorgi fare. Comes highly recommended. If you plan on going exploring the country side in your vehicles, be sure to top up on fuel in Madikeri.

For those not feeling up to the drive can stop at Nisarghdhama or Madikeri and just relax. For the rest, there are still nowhere calling.