| Coorg getaway
We visited Coorg for the long Ugadi weekend. Here's an account of the trip
We had initially planned to leave on Friday evening and halt at Mysore, so that we reach Coorg earlier in the morning. However, some last minute work at office put paid to those plans, so we changed our plans to leave early Saturday morning. We left home at 5:55, hoping to beat the Bangalore traffic out to Mysore road. However, just a couple of kilometres into the trip, we encountered a jam at the Silk board junction (I hate Bangalore traffic) and spent around 5 minutes working our way out of that. The rest of the way till Srirangapatna was a breeze and we reached Srirangapatna by 8:00 am.
Bangalore to Srirangapatna
road condition: fabulous
traffic: light
time: 2:00:00
I knew about the turn to KRS, but didn't expect it to be so poorly marked and so small and promptly drove past. Luckily for me, I was testing my friend's GPS and so, could figure out quite soon that we were off. So, we turned back and took the turn. By this time, our hunger got the better of us and we stopped at a none to impressive place near KRS and helped ourselves to some idli-vada. By now, the scenery was getting better, lot of greenery everywhere you looked. The road condition was not too good, but once we hit the main Mysore Hunsur highway, it improved dramatically. It was four lane for some distance, but even the two lane sections were very wide (too bad there were no lane markings) and smooth. With minimal traffic, we reached Kushalnagar around 10:45.
Srirangapatna to Kushalnagar
road condition: excellent
traffic:light
time: 2:30:00
The contrast in road conditions was extreme after that. The surface was broken with potholes everywhere and I was forced to drive very carefully on my Santro. Even with that, I noticed the car leaning towards the right and suspected a puncture. Rightly so, the front right wheel was flat. Incidentally, this was the first puncture I've had in over 4 years of owning this car!!! We stopped soon after to get the puncture fixed and discovered that the tube was totally busted with around 10 seperate punctures. We needed a replacement, but it was only available in Madikeri. From then on, it was a very slow and careful progress till Madikeri, and we finally reached at 12:30.
Kushalnagar to Madikeri
road condition: atrocious
traffic : light
time: 1:45:00
We had made reservations at the fabulous Club Mahindra resort. It was a real fun filled 3 days there, we generally chilled out at the resort. A special mention of the dining. They have a buffet and if you are a Club Mahindra member, you can get all 3 meals at 525+tax. It is a foodie's dream. We couldn't take it beyond the first day, and restricted ourselves to just breakfast and dinner on the other days, skipping lunch completely.
We went on a day trip to Talacauvery on Monday. The drive to Talacauvery is fantastic, through green fields and forests. The views from the top of the hill in Talacauvery are amazing and the greenery reminded me of the island in the series Lost (without the water of course). Unfortunately, the climb up the hill (300+ steps) took a toll on my wife and she refused to come to Abbey Falls, so we missed one of the Coorg landmarks. Maybe next time.
After an unforgettable 3 days, we set back to Bangalore on Tuesday. On the way, we stopped at Cauvery Nisargadhama, which is an island with bamboo plantations. It is an extremely calm and soothing place and you can spend hours sitting on the rocks and just feeling the river flow through your legs. We also stopped at the Tibetian settlement at Bylakuppe. The Nandroling monastery is awesome and you can't help but be impressed by how these people have made such a good life for themselves so far away from their country. At the same time, I was also thinking about how large hearted we Indians are in providing a home for people who have suffered and allowing them to thrive. Contrast that with the approach of other countries and cultures...
We left Bylakuppe around 3:30 and I was very eager that I reach Bangalore before it got dark. We made fast progress and reached the NICE road exactly at 7:00, making for a total travel time of 4:15 minutes from Madikeri. The traffic in the city was surprisingly easy and I was able to reach my house in HSR layout in just 55 minutes, thus capping a very memorable trip. | 
9th April 2008, 15:53
