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Old 30th December 2011, 15:44   #1
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My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

Reference:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...org-kutta.html

Special Thanks: fortuner71, harshal, Ampere, dhanu@DJ & Fauji for all valuable inputs.
Not to forget: Our beloved car (Maruti Ritz)
Last but not the least: MMI
To surely forget: all drunkards met enroute to double check on MMI

Disclaimer: My first travelogue.

Prologue: One fine morning as usual after reaching office when I saw my priority to do it was to check gmail. And there I am checking it . Fb , news etc follows that in order. The list remains same all weekdays. Ok so had got a mail from my bro in blore that we all are going to go to coorg one weekend and he would be arranging everything. There my mind starts immediately thinking of a road trip!! Awesome.

Coorg: Is situated on the Western Ghats of Karnataka in South India. One trip to Coorg and it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life. It has incomparable scenic beauty, lush green valleys, coffee plantations, teak wood forests & majestic mountain ranges.
But the predominant entity here is nature at its best.If you’re the type who likes to mingle with nature, romance in the mountains, feel the tingle of the cool and gentle breeze, watch leaves flutter in dance-like movements and hear sounds of birds fill the air, then Coorg is just the place for you.!

The trip: After much wait finally the time came for us to pack bags and start on a road trip to coorg. The planning was being done since two months (pretty long). The team was me, my wife, my bro and his wife. So it was plain and simple that we two would drive the way and the ladies would give us company with their occasionally good jokes or would rather sleep in the backseat.
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0751.jpg
I had left Mumbai on 16th Dec (Friday) to Pune. The plan was to stay back at pune for the night and then start our journey next day early morning. We left Pune the following day at 4.30 am. The air was chilly and roads were predominantly truck drivers.
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02493.jpg
We had all printout of routes from Tbhp and also our MMI.The MMI shows the best route via Nice road (blore) whereas we had been advised not to take that one as it would mean some extra kms.
Reached Kolhapur at around 7.30 and stopped for breakfast at Sai international. Good hotel and pretty good Poha.
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02484.jpg
We left around 8.15 from Kolhapur and crossed a river (don’t remember the name though) . Stopped for some pictures
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0744.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02503.jpg
Kept driving on NH4 till we had to take a diversion to get to hiriyur and from there to hunsur. Had lunch in a not so good restaurant there.
We reached hunsur around 5ish from where the confusion started. Now we were asking guys around for the directions and finally they asked us to go towards nagarhole national park. We reached the entrance around 7 and they said its closed and take a diversion to right. Basically the road is Y shape, and so we took the other route and travelled maybe around 15 kms on a very bad stretch.
We reached some place wherein when we enquired for “kutta” around 9 pm. To our surprise they said we have reached our destination. Now the ordeal began , we called the home stay guy and told him we have reached kutta bus stand . he told us to wait near canara bank but all we could find is vijaya bank. After lot of enquiry we realized that we have reach some place known as HD kotya (don’t know if I am spelling it right) . So there is a road from here as well which goes to kutta but again that is also closed from 6pm to 6 am.
Our homestay guy (rakesh) insisted that we stay back somewhere there as now it would be very late to take the gonikopal route back to kutta. So finally we stayed back in a malayli run hotel which was quite famous there . The accommodation was decent enough for four of us and we were charged 1ooo bucks for the night. Next day we left around 7 am , passed through the national park and reached kutta..Finally !
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_1087.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_1145.jpg
Parked our cars in kutta bus stand from where rakesh had arranged jeeps to pick us up. The next 13 kms uphill to reach the homestay was a tough time. The road was so bad and no car apart from the likes of jeeps or other 4x4 would have reached there. I realized how good cars Mahindra do manufacture. It was an off roading experience for all I could imagine. The driver then told us that had we visited during rains the road would have been more bad with mud etc..OMG!
The homestay we had arranged was by the name “Bethel” and was one awesome place which made us really feel out of the world. Rakesh was also such an enterprising person and he is a retired chef. The food was really very nice .I can guarantee the veg food as all of us were vegetarians and non veg was not cooked at all. some pics of the homestay
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0770.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0771.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0779.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0780.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02534.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02535.jpg

Enjoyed staying there and visited irrupu falls , wayanad sanctuary among others. some pics of the falls and sanctuary. We did not get major sightings of wildlife though we did visit nagarhole & wayanad (kerala) sanctuaries. All we could spot was some deers, peacocks and a bison.
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0815.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0816.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0818.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0819.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0844.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_0888.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_1102.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc_1144.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02518.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02520.jpg

Basically the idea was to relax and we came back fully rejuvenated.

Summary: a very memorable trip.
Distance covered: 2030 (Pune & back)
Avg KMPL: 13.77
Toll exps: 1050 (2 new tolls coming up)
Petrol exps: 10800

My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02550.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02584.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02533.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02532.jpg
My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India-dsc02522.jpg

Last edited by Alfa Romeo : 2nd June 2012 at 13:41.
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Old 31st December 2011, 09:47   #2
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Re: My drive to the scotland of India - Coorg

Whew, I was hoping that the trip ended on the right note as I was reading and looks like it did. Think you may have taken the diversion right at Hunsur. What you had to do was take cross Hunsur , travel a few kms and take the left road to Gonikoppa at the fork. And then a diversion at Gonikoppa towards srimangala and Kutta.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post
After lot of enquiry we realized that we have reach some place known as HD kotya
It's called HD Kote.

Quote:
Next day we left around 7 am , passed through the national park and reached kutta..Finally !
Any sightings ? Early morning drives offer a lot of wildlife sighting usually.

Quote:
PS: all photos are around 6 mb each , not very sure how to compress and upload them.
You could use something simple like ms-paint to ( images->stetch/skew-> 50% or 30% or whatever suits both width and height and that should be it ). Now for some pics, please.
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Old 31st December 2011, 10:03   #3
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Re: My drive to the scotland of India - Coorg

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post
all photos are around 6 mb each , not very sure how to compress and upload them.
If the photos are just above 1MB each,then click edit on the image in the folder;it will take you to MS Paint;use the pencil to mark a point and save it.
If it's too high then you can use the program "RMP"(Resize my Pictures).
Download it from google search list or from this site
Disclaimer:-The quality of Images will reduce if you use RMP.
Can you please mention about the place where you stayed,cost incurred/person/night?

Last edited by Patriot_Vishwas : 31st December 2011 at 10:12. Reason: Added website.
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Old 31st December 2011, 14:33   #4
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Re: My drive to the scotland of India - Coorg

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post
PS: all photos are around 6 mb each , not very sure how to compress and upload them.
Go ahead and use "FastStone Photo Resizer"
Here: Download FastStone Photo Resizer

It is free.

You can select multiple pics, resize, border, watermark and alot all in one go.

** So now we can expect the photolog here... no more excuses
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Old 4th June 2012, 11:18   #5
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Re: My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 4th June 2012, 22:23   #6
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Re: My drive to the scotland of India - Coorg

Quote:
Originally Posted by airguitar View Post
Whew, I was hoping that the trip ended on the right note as I was reading and looks like it did. Think you may have taken the diversion right at Hunsur. What you had to do was take cross Hunsur , travel a few kms and take the left road to Gonikoppa at the fork. And then a diversion at Gonikoppa towards srimangala and Kutta.

It's called HD Kote.

Any sightings ? Early morning drives offer a lot of wildlife sighting usually.

You could use something simple like ms-paint to ( images->stetch/skew-> 50% or 30% or whatever suits both width and height and that should be it ). Now for some pics, please.
finally i have bumped back a old thread we werent lucky enough to have good wildlife sightings except some deers..i did manage to get my pictures sorted and finally uploaded.
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Old 4th June 2012, 22:26   #7
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Re: My drive to the scotland of India - Coorg

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patriot_Vishwas View Post
If the photos are just above 1MB each,then click edit on the image in the folder;it will take you to MS Paint;use the pencil to mark a point and save it.
If it's too high then you can use the program "RMP"(Resize my Pictures).
Download it from google search list or from this site
Disclaimer:-The quality of Images will reduce if you use RMP.
Can you please mention about the place where you stayed,cost incurred/person/night?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadabhi View Post
Go ahead and use "FastStone Photo Resizer"
Here: Download FastStone Photo Resizer

It is free.

You can select multiple pics, resize, border, watermark and alot all in one go.

** So now we can expect the photolog here... no more excuses
Thanks for your tips, Finally managed to bump back a old thread currently writing another travelogue on goa. will share soon
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Old 8th June 2012, 17:03   #8
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Re: My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

There's more to Coorg which you can explore, so next time around, do try this out :

1. 20 km down south on the road from Virajpet towards Thalassery, on SH-91 , there is a beautiful and tranquil lake called Perambady lake. Do not miss it.

2. The drive from Virajpet to Bhagamandala ( SH-90 ) is a dream, so should be traversed for a great drive. This road provides access to Tadiandamol mountain, and the Nalknad palace as well.
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Old 14th June 2012, 12:32   #9
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Re: My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

Quote:
Originally Posted by raghunandanj View Post
There's more to Coorg which you can explore, so next time around, do try this out :

1. 20 km down south on the road from Virajpet towards Thalassery, on SH-91 , there is a beautiful and tranquil lake called Perambady lake. Do not miss it.

2. The drive from Virajpet to Bhagamandala ( SH-90 ) is a dream, so should be traversed for a great drive. This road provides access to Tadiandamol mountain, and the Nalknad palace as well.
hey raghu, will surely do that next time around. The drive from Virajpet to Bhagamandala is not which i am aware of . btw know that Tadiandamol mountain is one of the highest but we werent in any mood to do some "trekking" or rather to put "excert"
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Old 4th December 2012, 20:27   #10
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Re: My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

Very nicely written travelogue. Your style of explanation and aptly placed photographs keeps the reader clutched on. Good going.

By the way, kindly share the details of the homestay at Coorg and how much did it cost you.
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Old 4th December 2012, 20:59   #11
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Re: My drive to Coorg, the Scotland of India

Nice Pictures there. Which homestay is this? Seems its nicely hidden inside the woods. Were the animals spotted near the cottage?

Keep the pics coming.

Thanks for Sharing.
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Old 25th February 2013, 11:49   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nkrishnap View Post
Nice Pictures there. Which homestay is this? Seems its nicely hidden inside the woods. Were the animals spotted near the cottage?

Keep the pics coming.

Thanks for Sharing.
Hey sorry checking this thread after real long time. I don't remember the name but as you said the guy has got a huge piece of land nestled in the woods. Deers were spotted near. I can get you the details with the guys number whenever you want. Just to add the food cooked was also very nice. Affordable and quite nice.
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Old 25th February 2013, 12:34   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post
Hey sorry checking this thread after real long time. I don't remember the name but as you said the guy has got a huge piece of land nestled in the woods. Deers were spotted near. I can get you the details with the guys number whenever you want. Just to add the food cooked was also very nice. Affordable and quite nice.
Yes. I am interested in getting the details of the place along with the cost it would involve.

Also, does he charge per room or does he charge per head?
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Old 26th February 2013, 12:11   #14
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Yes. I am interested in getting the details of the place along with the cost it would involve.

Also, does he charge per room or does he charge per head?
Hi dhanush, his name is rakesh. Contact no is 9972362052. He charged us around 1300 pp per night all incl. You can refer my name (abhishek) .you may have to tell him the guys who came from Mumbai last year and landed up at HD kota instead of kutta bus stand :-) let me know once you talk and plan your trip. Enjoy
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Old 26th February 2013, 16:23   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa Romeo View Post

Hi dhanush, his name is rakesh. Contact no is 9972362052. He charged us around 1300 pp per night all incl. You can refer my name (abhishek) .you may have to tell him the guys who came from Mumbai last year and landed up at HD kota instead of kutta bus stand :-) let me know once you talk and plan your trip. Enjoy
Thanx Abhishek. I will definitely keep you posted of my travel plans. As of now, it's a place in my wish list. The wish list materialising is depended in me getting leave from office. Thanks again
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