Unexplored Paradise. Review on Coorg

Coorg is one of the regions in India that has been referenced very often. Be it the ''kodagu malai'' referred to in a lot of tamil songs or the aromatic Tata Coorg coffee or even the Kodava style worn saree, we would have come across references to this beautiful hill town many a time.Coorg also happens to be the birth place of the River Cauvery, one of the most revered rivers in South India.

This is one place I have been wanting to visit for a long time. We had made numerous plans to visit this place during long weekends, but always ended up visiting another place due to the long travel required to reach Coorg. I have heard and read a lot about Madikere, one of the unexplored & uncrowded hill stations.

All these material increased my expectation of this little town in Coorg. When my husband wanted to get away from the steaming hot Chennai for the summer and he had no particular schedule in mind, I decided it was the time to get going to this hilly town.

We reached Bangalore from Chennai through KPN Travels (our trip was made in a day's notice) a little past 7.30 and proceeded to the Majestic Bus Terminus where a bus to Madikere was already waiting. We were told the journey would take about 6 hours from Bangalore, but we did not expect it to be this uncomfortable. Without refreshing or having breakfast we boarded a very ordinary looking bus of KSRTC.

The bus was through Mysore and stopped at every little town on the way. One we passed Mysore, I kept looking out for some hills in the distance (just like you see the Nilgiris right from Coimbatore), but, much to my disappointment, I couldn't spot any. It only indicated that we had a long way to go! All of a sudden the air started turning cooler and I could feel that we were travelling uphill, but still I could not see any hills! Even after a sleepless night in the bus and without any breakfast, we enjoyed the ride to Madikere (on a hilly road, without any hills around!) There was greenery all around and Gulmohar trees with their bright orange flowers were in full bloom on either sides of the road.

We finally reached Madikere, the main town in the Coorg region, around 1 pm. The bus stand was a decent one, located in the middle of the town. An auto from there to our hotel (Hotel Rajdarshan) cost us Rs. 10. We checked-in into our room and went the restaurant for a hearty lunch. After a dizzy spell due to the travel and some crocins, we were ready by about 5 pm for a small walk to explore the little town.

The Raja's Seat, one of the view points was close by. We walked down and spent a while looking at the setting sun and the bright coloured flowers in the manicured garden. We then walked towards the town centre where there was the Omkareshwara temple.

We would have enquired at least about 10 people before we were able to locate the mosque-like designed temple. It was dark by the time we reached there and it wasn't easy for us to move around. After having a darshan of the lord, we went for dinner at a small Udipi restaurant nearby and started our walk back to the hotel. All of a sudden, all the lights went out and it was pitch dark. The moon wasn't visible and there were absolutely no lights anywhere! We stopped walking, hoping people or vehicles coming in the opposite direction had better eyesight. After about 10 minutes, the lights came on and we heaved a sigh of relief!

For the next day, we organised with the hotel for a 1 day tour by taxi (Rs. 800) that would cover all the important spots nearby. Our first stop was the Omkareshwara temple, which looked a lot different than what we had seen the day before.

There was a Coorg wedding in progress and we watched it for a while. Then we were driven down to Bhagamandala, located at the confluence of the three rivers - Cauvery, Sujyothi and Kanniga. There was a temple here built in the Kerala style of architecture and housed the 3 main deities - Brahma, Vishnu & Siva. I later heard that this was the place where Cauvery started flowing out into the open after her underground journey from Talacauvery.

The drive to Talacauvery from Bhagamandala was very enchanting. Cool, crisp air with greenery all around was very soothing. Talacauvery is the source of river cauvery. Cauvery makes her appearance from a small tank of about 2 sq ft. There is a bathing tank next to this. Cauvery then disappears underground. I later heard that the point where Sage Agasthya released the river from him kamandalam was a short walk up a neighbouring hill. We did see a lot of people walking up, but never guessed the reason for it. Talacauvery was very serene and peaceful with not much tourists around.

We returned and drove past Madikere to Abbey Falls which was about 9 kms from the town. Abbey Falls is a picturesque spot, a short walk from the road through thick plantations of coffee(private estate). The falls were breathtakingly beautiful. There were some people bathing too in the shallow pool at the bottom of the falls. After spending a while here, we returned to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we were driven down to Kushal Nagar. Some Tibetians, due to the unrest in Tibet, have set up an establishment here due to the climate being very similar to that of Tibet. There are some quarters, a buddhist temple and a prayer hall among other things. We watched some Tibetian students chanting in the prayer hall before we continued our tour.

The next and last stop was Cavery Nisargadhama, an island formed in the middle of river cauvery. The island was pretty and calm, but for the tourists. There were bamboo trees and tree-top houses. There was also a point in the river that was very shallow and allowed us to cross the river. After relaxing here for a while, we started our ride back to Madikere and reached around 5 pm. After refreshing, we took a walk into the little town in the evening and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere.

We woke up early the next day to get our packing done. The sight outside our windows greeted us and pleaded with us not to leave this wonderful, calm and serene town. But since we had our return train tickets already booked, we checked-out of our hotel at 9 in the morning and proceeded to the bus stand for our journey to Mysore. This time, we ensured that we took the luxury bus which was very very comfortable. After a half-day sight seeing tour of Mysore of Chamundi Hills and the palace we took the train back home.

Coorg was simply wonderful. It lived upto the expectations I had built up based on the ''research'' I had done using the Internet. The town was simple, cool, clean and waiting to be explored. Above all, there was very little tourist crowd. The hotel we stayed in (Hotel Rajdarshan) showed good hospitality.

Shopping... Coffee, Pepper and honey are good buys in Coorg (there's a government supported store in the main road). There are also co-operative stores located in other towns of Coorg.

Warnings... If at all you are required to travel by road from Bangalore to Madikere(240kms), avoid the regular KSRTC bus, though it is available every half hour. Find yourself the deluxe bus or travel by road from Mysore (relatively shorter - 135kms). If possible, reserve the deluxe bus tickets in advance.

Tips... Madikere is best explored on foot. It is not very populated and the winding roads are a pleasure. It is better to hire a cab for Tala cauvery and other places and not trust the bus.