[VJ1980]

Bangalore to Coorg – Team-Bhpians.
It was a much awaited trip to Coorg, Karnataka, India.
The plan was made 3 months back and we started hunting for the things to do and the places to visit and stay in Coorg. Surprisingly, lot of people knew much about Coorg. Thanks to one and all for the suggestions made.
Our requirements were a bit different than the regular tourists. We wanted to stay disconnected from the rest of the world with Mother Nature; no mobiles, no television, no disturbance. And we wanted the trip to be adventurous.
Finding a place to stay for 6 people was a bit difficult. We considered staying at Dubare Elephant camp or Nisargadhama Jungle Stay. The hotels and resorts were ruled out from the beginning. All the home stays and estate houses were charging on per head basis. Finally, came across Honey valley on Team-BHP - The Definitive Indian Car Community - Home . Glad I did.
02nd October 2009:

All the six of us assembled at my house in Bangalore. The Toyota Qualis was all loaded with the six of us and ready to go. The original plan was to leave at 06:30; happy we started by 08:30 AM. The drive began from Indira Nagar to Hosur road and then we took the NICE road to Mysore road. The Qualis we had, had done almost 250,000 kms and it zips to a maximum of 140 kms/hr and NICE was the only road where it could reach that mark.
The first break was at Nithyanada Swamy Ashram at Bidadi. And then we by-passed Mysore after SriRangapattinam and headed towards Kushal nagar via Hunsur. We took a coffee break after periyapatna. The road was very good until Kushal nagar. No hassles.




Kushal Nagar was a totally different experience; a place filled with Buddhist monks and the architecture not to be seen elsewhere at least in South India. A must visit place if you are headed to Coorg. We reached KN around 13:00 hrs and then we had lunch in a restaurant close to the Golden Temple. The food was ok but the time we spent in the restaurant was almost 1.5 hrs; poor service. And then the shopping complex near the golden Temple also was interesting, so time was flying.
We left Kushal Nagar around 5 PM and headed towards Virajpet via Madikeri. The roads were pathetic hereafter until Kabinakkad. After missing directions a couple of times, we reached Kabinakkad by 7PM. The unbelievable instances started here. Suresh was the owner of Honey valley, a 76 acre forest land out of which some area has been converted into a Guest House. Suresh had come to pick us and had suggested that our Qualis might not be able to make it upto the Guest House. He showed us a parking lot, so we can leave our vehicle there and use his 4X4 Bolero thereafter. It took us more than half an hour to get the vehicle there (just the parking area). It was raining during this drama and it was wet and slippery which made it more difficult. I was in the drivers seat literally standing on the accelerator and the others were pushing. The vehicle wouldn’t budge. And then it was Senthil’s turn to sit on the driver’s seat and we finally got the vehicle into the parking area. We were all drenched with mud by the time we finished this exercise and it was still raining.
Suresh got our stuff into the 4X4 Bolero and the 3 km trip started. This was the most exciting part of the trip. The road (was it there, no it was a trail) was very steep and no place to stop. You stop your vehicle anywhere, you might go back. He skillfully drove us upwards and we forgot our tiredness sitting in the car the whole day. Such was that drive that we repented not video graphing that drive. It was 8 PM by the time we reached the Guest house. We had two rooms, one with 4 beds and the other with a single bed. Dinner was ready and we had some tasty home style food.

03rd October 2009:
We woke up to the sound of the birds chirping in the middle of the jungle. I was stunned by the beauty of the place we were in. It was all dark the previous night and did not realize that we were in the middle of a green jungle, a misty sky with a bit of drizzling rain and fresh air everywhere. Silence was all you could get other than the occasional noises from the birds. That was exactly what we were looking for. Being in such a place itself adds to the excitement.
We had breakfast at Honey valley with the warm hospitality of Jack, Suresh’s (owner of Honey Valley) friend who was a Canadian that lives in Switzerland and visits this place often. The hospitality and friendliness of the people at Honey valley is more than expected. After a nap post breakfast we heard a siren; indication that lunch was ready. We had lunch there and then we left for a trekking.
We did not want to go for a long trek. So, we decided on going to a waterfall that was close to the guest house (2 kms). We had to go by the same path that we drove through yesterday. Nature was in abundant and I did not count how many times we all said “Beautiful”. The weather was a bit wet though with occasional showers and that we did not mind. We reached the waterfall and it was mind blowing.


It was a 40 meter waterfall and it was a treat even to watch. But, we were not satisfied watching it. We threw our dresses and got into the water. A lifetime experience!!! A person with only troubles in life would be filled with joy. Thanks Mother Nature…
The way back to the guest house was full of ooh’s and aah’s. Guys were finding it difficult to climb the steep way back. And the leeches were adding more pain. I later found out that AXE deo’s are the best repellants to leeches silently sucking our blood. They were a menace, but we did make our way back walking. And the number of pictures we shot there cannot be left out. That’s what you call a nature trekking.
04th October 2009:
The second morning at Honey Valley was even better cos we had not travelled the previous day. We woke up fresh and got ready. We were ready by 08:30 AM but this was the last day of the long weekend and all the guests in Honey Valley were ready to leave at the same time. Somehow, every place is crowded in India. Suresh drove us down to the car park and we got to see our Toyota Qualis again.
11:00 AM: We leave from there and start driving towards Barapole river. We wanted to do the river rafting there. We took the Kabinakkad – Virajpet – Gonicopal – Ponnampet – Hudikeri – Barapole route. We were excited when we saw the sign that said Coorg White Water rafting and a sign that said only 4X4 vehicles allowed. We parked the Qualis there and started walking. We reached the river bank and it was all deserted. It was then that we found that river rafting activities took place only in june, july and August. SIGH!!!!! However the place was marvelous with the Barapole River flowing so gracefully. More pictures!

We left barapole and the next plan was to drive to Bangalore via Nagarahole national park. This was another unforgettable drive in the trip. Nagarahole was a dense forest with a single lane for vehicles to drive. Vehicles are not allowed after 6:00 PM in that route. This is because the animals are not comfortable with the headlights. Yes, this route is meant for the animals, humans are of no importance here. The moment we entered the jungle there was a huge tree that had fell there, blocking the road. The Excitement begins!!!
The route was so beautiful with big trees and lush bushes on either side. There were herds of deer’s all through the route gazing at us when we stopped or tried to get closer. I have watched them a thousand times on Discovery, but this was the best. Oh God, there is always a difference between watching anything live and on TV. We were told that there were wild elephants in this jungle but we were unlucky to spot any of them. I was not very happy spotting their dung here and there. However, we did see a few tamed elephants there. Not bad.
Nagarahole is the road I would suggest if you are coming back from Coorg to Mysore or Bangalore. There was a thrill here. There was very lil fuel in the vehicle and we calculated that it might go another 50 kms. We stopped near the check post and checked with the cops there for the nearest petrol bunk and they advised us about Hunsur, that was 75 kms from there. The ride was fun (?) after that. However, we reached Hunsur without any trouble.
The route after that was Hunsur – SriRangapattinam - Bidadi – NICE Road and Indira Nagar.
We did stop at Bidadi for dinner and then zipped straight home. It was 10:30 PM Sunday night when we reached home. Guys from Chennai had to take their train at 11:30 PM. So, that was the end of a fantastic trip with Nature lovers.
Do mail me if you need any more details on this route. I would be glad to speak a thousand times about these places. See ya.

VJ.

[gadadhar]

Looks like something wrong with the snaps except for last few, please check out. Well written, waiting for the snaps of the waterfall and the rains around

[Majic]

Hi Vj1980, good narration, could have don justice by posting the photos, was unable to open them, except for the last few ones

[VJ1980]

Sorry for the late reply and the missed pics.
I have added pics from Chingaara, Honey valley and Barapole.
Here you go.