Kodagu - food and good times

goandude · 18th December 2009, 11:20

A lot of folks on this forum had visited coorg which raised my curiosity and since we had a few days break in Bangy and decided lets GO. After going through some lovely descriptions of the place on this forum, and "52 weekend breaks" self, wife and Uncle decided to pay a two day visit.

A lot of internet scearching and phone calls found that our fellow BHPian Zahed owned a homestay there and called him, however as luck would have it, he was booked but was helpful in pointing us to another guy Satish, who in turn got us a homestay near Chettali.

Bookings made, we set off at 0600 from big B OMR, took the old airport road and residency road to Mysore road. Very little traffic at this time so was out on the open road by 7ish. Had a good bfast stop at Kamats (the one on the Left of the road) and off again. I decided against the shorter route through Ranganthitu, and went via Mysore. Small incident here ...Traffic on Mysore road was quite heavy with busses / trucks sometimes taking up both sides of the road and not lettting you pass and hold ups at Madddur and Mandya. After leaving Mysore, the road to Hunsur was fantastic except for the frequent speedbreakers. and this road remained excellent right upto Kushalnagar.

However we stopped at Bylakuppe and spent an hour and a half around this Tibetian settlement and Monastery. I tell you, it is a great place to visit. feels like you are out of this country (except for the bad roads). the monastery itself is awsome and we could have spent some more time here.

The restaurants here serve great "Momos". boiled chicken/veg stuffed in maida (won ton type) and steamed. 60/- for a plate of 8 chicken momos. goes great with red spicy chutney.

Then hit Kushalnagar by 1230 and from here the terrain changes to hilly, roads are not so bad but had a few potholes and narrow. as advised on tbhp we took the Left road to siddapur and then took right to Chetalli. thereafter turned left to get onto the road leading to our homestay. Many phone calls to satish as the language barrier was too strong to get anything out of the locals and all road signs are in local lingo. (OT. road signs are for outsiders who dont know the place and not for locals so shouldn't they be in a common language?)

finally reached our home stay at 1400. the lady owner was extremely hospitable and since we didn't have lunch she had cooked up some simple lunch of dal, rice and vegetable again thanks to satish who had forewarned her. This homestay is typical of Coorg houses located in a plantation of coffee and pepper. Extremely quiet and relaxing for a person.
Flowers abound and coffee beans drying on the ground. The air fresh and sweet, the place clean and neat.

Long walks were the order of the day and the environment is ideal for this exercise. the owner had prepared a great tasting chicken curry for dinner made in the typical coorg way.
Woke up to a cold and foggy day and after b'fast of moong dal dosa and chutney served on the verandah started off for Madikeri 12 km away. The Raja's seat is a picturesque viewpoint where a mini train will be ready some time. it is neat and clean. Madikeri as a place is typically crowded, hot and dusty.
Then set off for Abbi falls. Got lost enroute and ended up at Club Mahindra. a well maintained place where a night would put you back by 7K. after taking proper directions proceded to abbey falls. decent falls but the place is not well maintained (read dirty).
Headed back to Madikeri for lunch. Now a few months ago I had remembered seeing an episode on "highway on my plate" on NDTV good times, where these two guys went to a place in Madikeri and enjoyed their food. Wife also knew that the place was located near the Head post office but didn't remember the name. so after a little hunting we found it. Called "Coorg Cusinette" this palce is neat, clean and also happened to be empty at 1300 hrs. explanation: the road in front of this place is under repair and no traffic was allowed. but nevertheless the food was excellent as reported by the above named duo. We tried out the rice balls, bamboo shoots, chicken curry and red beans. most non veg dishes were 70 -80 and veg 50- 60, very much VFM and good service. They also have a estate stay with 4 rooms where food comes from the restaurant.
Thereafter spent the evening walking around our homestay. Dinner was a dark coloured pork curry, a speciality of this place, and not spicy. Next day had a early departure after a breakfast of rice vermicelli upma and a potato curry. Took the same route out but when entering bangalore took the NICE road till bannarghatta rd as the NICE rd did not go all the way to Hosur rd as I had planned. since it was a sunday afternoon traffic ws lighter than usual and we reached home throuh IRR by 1400 hrs.
to sum up: 800 odd kms total, wonderful scenery and environment, gastronomic delight, loved the VDI shod with A drives on the twisty roads there.

goandude · 18th December 2009, 11:55

sorry couldn't load along with the write up

Abhay · 18th December 2009, 13:29

Nice one goandude. Loved the houses in the last picture. It seems the food you got was very nice as well.

shankar.balan · 18th December 2009, 13:44

nice write up - nice pics too!

Kodagu is certainly one of the most scenic and pictureque places in Karnataka and a super place for a visit.

kraft.wagen · 18th December 2009, 14:07

Even i'm waiting to visit the Coorg Cuisinette.

Are the roads after Khushalnagar still bad?

goandude · 19th December 2009, 12:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Even i'm waiting to visit the Coorg Cuisinette.

Are the roads after Khushalnagar still bad?

Yes they are bad, as I learnt on the forum itself as well as from the locals at K'nagar.
Abhay and Shankar. thanks. One of the most beautiful places I've been to and a new experience for me, as I have visited Conoor often and thought that was good.

autospirit · 19th December 2009, 12:27

A very well written post there goandude, the names of the dishes made my mouth water.
nice pics too, would love to visit these places one day.

princezahed · 19th December 2009, 20:48

hey leslie, a very short travelogue. I hoped you would post a detailed one right from your drive down to bangalore from goa. More pictures are needed. Iam happy that aunty looked after you well. Strict word to sathish about the place he got for you.

navan49 · 19th December 2009, 22:23

Hi

You have published a great and unique pictures of the Buddhist Monasteries in Bylakuppe. It looks like the Buddha's paradise on earth. When you wrote about the Momos my mouth was watering. Good and rare photography.

goandude · 21st December 2009, 08:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by navan49

Hi

You have published a great and unique pictures of the Buddhist Monasteries in Bylakuppe. It looks like the Buddha's paradise on earth. When you wrote about the Momos my mouth was watering. Good and rare photography.

It IS a very nice place to visit and I did not do justice with a couple of hours. I need to go there once again and perhaps spend a day there. Thre are three temples there spread out over 6 km of road. this one "the golden temple" was easily accessable to the public. the other ones looked good from far but couldn't get close by.

Actually I have seen these photos of this place before on Tean BHP and knew it was a great spot. Wife was surprised at the beauty of thie place, and even more surprised when I told her that I had had a virtual tour of the place online.

Zaher: goa bangy drive is not traveloge worthy, IMO, as enough has been said about that route. esp as I come via the boring but fast NH4 route.
regds

18th December 2009, 11:20	#1
goandude Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Mysuru Posts: 1,763 Thanked: 1,283 Times	Kodagu - food and good times A lot of folks on this forum had visited coorg which raised my curiosity and since we had a few days break in Bangy and decided lets GO. After going through some lovely descriptions of the place on this forum, and "52 weekend breaks" self, wife and Uncle decided to pay a two day visit. A lot of internet scearching and phone calls found that our fellow BHPian Zahed owned a homestay there and called him, however as luck would have it, he was booked but was helpful in pointing us to another guy Satish, who in turn got us a homestay near Chettali. Bookings made, we set off at 0600 from big B OMR, took the old airport road and residency road to Mysore road. Very little traffic at this time so was out on the open road by 7ish. Had a good bfast stop at Kamats (the one on the Left of the road) and off again. I decided against the shorter route through Ranganthitu, and went via Mysore. Small incident here ...Traffic on Mysore road was quite heavy with busses / trucks sometimes taking up both sides of the road and not lettting you pass and hold ups at Madddur and Mandya. After leaving Mysore, the road to Hunsur was fantastic except for the frequent speedbreakers. and this road remained excellent right upto Kushalnagar. However we stopped at Bylakuppe and spent an hour and a half around this Tibetian settlement and Monastery. I tell you, it is a great place to visit. feels like you are out of this country (except for the bad roads). the monastery itself is awsome and we could have spent some more time here. The restaurants here serve great "Momos". boiled chicken/veg stuffed in maida (won ton type) and steamed. 60/- for a plate of 8 chicken momos. goes great with red spicy chutney. Then hit Kushalnagar by 1230 and from here the terrain changes to hilly, roads are not so bad but had a few potholes and narrow. as advised on tbhp we took the Left road to siddapur and then took right to Chetalli. thereafter turned left to get onto the road leading to our homestay. Many phone calls to satish as the language barrier was too strong to get anything out of the locals and all road signs are in local lingo. (OT. road signs are for outsiders who dont know the place and not for locals so shouldn't they be in a common language?) finally reached our home stay at 1400. the lady owner was extremely hospitable and since we didn't have lunch she had cooked up some simple lunch of dal, rice and vegetable again thanks to satish who had forewarned her. This homestay is typical of Coorg houses located in a plantation of coffee and pepper. Extremely quiet and relaxing for a person. Flowers abound and coffee beans drying on the ground. The air fresh and sweet, the place clean and neat. Long walks were the order of the day and the environment is ideal for this exercise. the owner had prepared a great tasting chicken curry for dinner made in the typical coorg way. Woke up to a cold and foggy day and after b'fast of moong dal dosa and chutney served on the verandah started off for Madikeri 12 km away. The Raja's seat is a picturesque viewpoint where a mini train will be ready some time. it is neat and clean. Madikeri as a place is typically crowded, hot and dusty. Then set off for Abbi falls. Got lost enroute and ended up at Club Mahindra. a well maintained place where a night would put you back by 7K. after taking proper directions proceded to abbey falls. decent falls but the place is not well maintained (read dirty). Headed back to Madikeri for lunch. Now a few months ago I had remembered seeing an episode on "highway on my plate" on NDTV good times, where these two guys went to a place in Madikeri and enjoyed their food. Wife also knew that the place was located near the Head post office but didn't remember the name. so after a little hunting we found it. Called "Coorg Cusinette" this palce is neat, clean and also happened to be empty at 1300 hrs. explanation: the road in front of this place is under repair and no traffic was allowed. but nevertheless the food was excellent as reported by the above named duo. We tried out the rice balls, bamboo shoots, chicken curry and red beans. most non veg dishes were 70 -80 and veg 50- 60, very much VFM and good service. They also have a estate stay with 4 rooms where food comes from the restaurant. Thereafter spent the evening walking around our homestay. Dinner was a dark coloured pork curry, a speciality of this place, and not spicy. Next day had a early departure after a breakfast of rice vermicelli upma and a potato curry. Took the same route out but when entering bangalore took the NICE road till bannarghatta rd as the NICE rd did not go all the way to Hosur rd as I had planned. since it was a sunday afternoon traffic ws lighter than usual and we reached home throuh IRR by 1400 hrs. to sum up: 800 odd kms total, wonderful scenery and environment, gastronomic delight, loved the VDI shod with A drives on the twisty roads there.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 11:55	#2
goandude Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Mysuru Posts: 1,763 Thanked: 1,283 Times	pictures sorry couldn't load along with the write up Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 13:29	#3
Abhay BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pune Posts: 727 Thanked: 11 Times	Nice one goandude. Loved the houses in the last picture. It seems the food you got was very nice as well.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 13:44	#4
shankar.balan BANNED Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 11,368 Thanked: 23,150 Times View My Garage Infractions: 0/2 (8)	nice write up - nice pics too! Kodagu is certainly one of the most scenic and pictureque places in Karnataka and a super place for a visit.
	() Thanks

18th December 2009, 14:07	#5
kraft.wagen BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Cbe <- >Ams Posts: 978 Thanked: 329 Times View My Garage	Even i'm waiting to visit the Coorg Cuisinette. Are the roads after Khushalnagar still bad?
	() Thanks

19th December 2009, 12:27	#7
autospirit BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: India, USA Posts: 46 Thanked: 4 Times	A very well written post there goandude, the names of the dishes made my mouth water. nice pics too, would love to visit these places one day.
	() Thanks

19th December 2009, 20:48	#8
princezahed BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bangalore -> Coorg Posts: 281 Thanked: 55 Times	hey leslie, a very short travelogue. I hoped you would post a detailed one right from your drive down to bangalore from goa. More pictures are needed. Iam happy that aunty looked after you well. Strict word to sathish about the place he got for you.
	() Thanks

19th December 2009, 22:23	#9
navan49 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: CHENNAI Posts: 1,000 Thanked: 73 Times View My Garage	Hi You have published a great and unique pictures of the Buddhist Monasteries in Bylakuppe. It looks like the Buddha's paradise on earth. When you wrote about the Momos my mouth was watering. Good and rare photography.
	() Thanks