A bunch of friends and I decided to head to Coorg last weekend to unwind amidst the pristine glory of a hill station.
A few wrong turns and a 3.5 hour delay (all thanks to the driver taking us through a longer route and almost taking the detour to Kerala) later, we reached our hostess Shamala’s place ‘Chirpy Haven’, at 3.15 am in the morning.Once we entered Madikeri, our hosts were waiting for us in their car (at 3.00 am in the morning!) to show us the way to our accommodation for the next 2 days. Shivering in the cold night air, we stepped out of the van to be greeted by the warm smile of our hostess. I couldn’t wait to hit the sack as soon as I stepped into my room because I wanted to wake up early morning to take in the sights and sounds of Coorg.
It’s a different thing that I didn’t manage to wake up early enough (though earlier than the others in the group J) and when I finally did, saw greenery all around, leaves laden with dewdrops and reached out for my camera to capture my first sights of Coorg, my cam conked out!
‘Mr. Murphy’s blessings!’ I thought and waited for things to go from bad to worse but Mr Murphy had all things good in store for us! A sumptuous breakfast and about half a flask of hot coffee later, we headed out to see the sights. Armed with lemons and salt as an antidote for leech bites (since it had been raining intermittently), we landed at Abbey falls. My friend's son Varun, was excited about the possibility of being bitten by leeches (which would possibly increase his 'adventure quotient' among friends :)) but was disappointed that he didn't spot any! 
A few photos (special mention: some pics of a friend where he looked like he was posing for mooh dikhayi pics) amidst the scenic locales and we were off for a short trek through Cauvery Nisargadhama.
The sound of water at both Abbey falls and Nisargadhama was like music to my stressed mind and body and I could feel my tensions melt away.
It had started raining on our way back to our homestay and I was glad to be indoors when I heard the rain beating a rhythm on the roof! Our hostess had a Coorgi style dinner ready for us. While most other members of the group indulged in some revelry that went late into the night, I reveled in blissful slumber soon after dinner :).
Fortunately for us, though it rained incessantly through the night, the skies cleared up on both the mornings we spent at Coorg. After bidding good bye to our hostess (she had the same wide smile on her face while seeing us off that she did while welcoming us!), and armed with coffee, pepper, cardamom and wine, we started off our journey towards Bangalore, with stops at various places enroute.
Fortunately for us, though it rained incessantly through the night, the skies cleared up on both the mornings we spent at Coorg. After bidding good bye to our hostess (she had the same wide smile on her face while seeing us off that she did while welcoming us!), and armed with coffee, pepper, cardamom and wine, we started off our journey towards Bangalore, with stops at various places enroute.
A quick visit to Raja seat and some more ‘concept’ pictures later, we headed out to visit the Namdroling monastry and the Golden temple.
We reached there right during the Lamas’ prayer time, and it was quite an experience to see hundreds of Lamas pouring into the temple and offering different forms of prayer (some reading silently at one temple, some chanting aloud to the beat of drums at another). What was possibly the cutest sight for me was the little Lamas indulging in continuous chatter and playing pranks on each other.
After spending some time boating in the waters of the Ranganthittu bird sanctuary and watching avian visitors
like the White Ibis, Egret etc., and a languid crocodile here and there, we were all set to head to Namma Bengalooru, and call it a weekend well spent!
like the White Ibis, Egret etc., and a languid crocodile here and there, we were all set to head to Namma Bengalooru, and call it a weekend well spent! Its been a week since I got back to Bangalore after the trip but there are two things that remain firmly etched in my mind - 1.) the hospitality of Shamala who stayed awake late into the night to make sure we reached her place, safe and sound, arranged steaming hot food for us during breakfast and dinner, and treated a bunch of absolute strangers like members of her immediate family throughout our stay at her place, and 2.) the bonds that I saw developing between my friends. We were friends before the trip. We have become close friends after the trip.
4 comments:
so well captured preetzzz....I was able to relive the entire experience all over again. Yes it feels that we are able to connect instantaneously. Long live this friendship. look forward to more such trips.Fabulous job dear!
Hi da, well written, that was a nice trip you guys had...njoy and keep posting. I njoy reading ur posts!
I went to Coorg last year exactly the same time....it was simply great....playing football in the rain in front of the lodge was the greatest fun...and of course standing on the bridge in front of the waterfall to have a bath on cold vapor....plus spending more than an hour meditating in the monastery.
I fell in love with the place..thought...If I stayed there for a month I would have ended up writing a novel ;)
@layon - Its such a beautiful place, and such a refreshing change from the traffic and pollution of Bangalore! We didn't spend too much time at the monastry. Want to do that sometime. Have heard that the monks have debates in the evening and that is enjoyable to the onlookers!
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