[navan49]

Hi Star,

Astonishing travelogue. Hi man how do you get the time to post all these. Great patience you have. sincere in sharing the information. Your photographs are great. I missed this thread for many days. I will spare a day to go through your thread. Happy New yaer to the dedicated traveler.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by manavdotcom

I did few of those villages around Haasan.Temples were great But only one or two people around.Belavdi is the bigger one around 10 km from halebidu.Temple in Mosale was in shambles and boys playing cricket in vicinity.However, Belur Remans the best of them.

Thanks manav.com, I will try Belavdi next time i am in that area.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Great write up and pics! The home stay specially looks really awesome and makes you want to stay there rather than venturing out for any sort of sight seeing!! i see you eventually ended up doing the same by hanging around the home stay..

Yes, Generally we are so focussed on the attractions outside, we often forget the one very closer our home or the place where we stay.
But the place makes us stay there, that is what is called PULL or attraction.

Originally Posted by laluks

Man, you have collected the entire coffee history of coorg. Interesting read.

waiting for more

Some old habits die hard, They say Devil is in the details, most of the people does not like the details, i am happy that you guys are liking the details.

Originally Posted by MuraliR

GK titbits definitely make your travelogue quite interesting. Please continue.

Thanks Murali for the compliments, actually learning is the key aspect of the travel, these titbits are not only for us, but also for the three kids who might read this travelogue few years down the line.

Originally Posted by navan49

Hi Star,

Astonishing travelogue. Hi man how do you get the time to post all these. Great patience you have. sincere in sharing the information. Your photographs are great. I missed this thread for many days. I will spare a day to go through your thread. Happy New yaer to the dedicated traveler.

Hi Navan ji,

So many compliments in one post, i am over whelmed.
Thanks for your new year greetings, i also reciprocate the same. wish yo and your family a great year ahead.

You have asked the most important question. i find that traveling 7 days is easier than writing the travelogue of 7 days. Yesterday night i was writing the descriptions till 2 AM in the morning. That is why even i can see so many spelling mistakes.

Formatting and attaching the photographs and uploading is the most difficult work here.

But RESULT is worth the effort. They say....No gain without pain

I attach the pictures of various plants found at the homestay.

[StarVegabond]

There is a saying in hindi,

Phool ek ho, ya, guldastein mein ho...sundar hi dikhta hai
(Flower, be it alone or in a bunch, it always looks beautiful )

This home stay was equivalent to a horticulture department garden
It appears that the Hostess has very keen interest in the flower plants.

Mein aap ko yeh khoobsoorat Guldasta pesh karta hoon.

( I am presenting you this beautiful bunch of flowers in a collage form).

I loved presenting it, Hope you also like it.

[mjothi]

Nice gift. I love it

Saw the coffee history, geography etc. As you said, yes its gonna be very useful for the kids. I am just thinking of all the questions my son is going to ask when i make him see this.

Even if he remembers 2 points, good na.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

.......* Coffee which we drink is derived from the following process

1. Plantations produce coffee beans and harvest them
2. Harvested beans are processed using a process "CURING". It includes drying of the beans under sun light, removing the humidity as well as other impurities from the beans.........

* Chikmagalur is another district where coffee is grown. Leading Coffee chain owns huge Arebica plantations at Chikmagalur..........

Hmmmm, that is quite a compilation . I would like to add a few lines here.

1. Ripe Coffee fruits called 'cherries' are picked manually in a process we call 'Picking'.

2. After picking the ripe cherries, it is separated from other particles like leaves, stems, unripe fruits etc and it is sent to a pulper. A pulper is a machine which removes the outer skin of the fruits to reveal the actual coffee bean.
There are actually 2 types of pulpers, a dry pulper and a wet pulper. A wet pulper uses water during pulping while a dry one does not.

3. After this is done, the curing starts. Pulped coffee beans are spread out and dried in the drying yard after which it is sold.

The pulped coffee beans is categorized as 'Parchment'. It is categorized again as 'Arabica parchment' & 'Robusta Parchment' depending on the variety.

The unpulped fruits or the cherries which are dried directly is categorized as 'Cherry'. Again categorized as 'Arabica Cherry' & 'Robusta Cherry'.

Karnataka is the highest producer of coffee in India it is mainly grown in an area known as the 'Coffee Belt' starting from Chikmagalur, passing through Hassan district and ending in Coorg. The other Coffee producing states are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, the North east and Andhra Pradesh. Kerala is the 2nd highest producer followed by Tamil Nadu.

Btw, you forgot to mention Vietnam in the list of major coffee growing countries in the world. Vietnam is actually the second highest coffee producing country in the world. China is also developing its coffee plantations very rapidly.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Star, just wanted to complete the picture

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by mjothi

Nice gift. I love it

Saw the coffee history, geography etc. As you said, yes its gonna be very useful for the kids. I am just thinking of all the questions my son is going to ask when i make him see this.

Even if he remembers 2 points, good na.

Thanks Mahesh, Yes, you got the point absolutely right.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Hmmmm, that is quite a compilation . I would like to add a few lines here.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Star, just wanted to complete the picture

You are welcome Addy anytime to contribute. your post has helped in unveiling a bit more of the tip of the coffeeburg.


Moving forward,


While we were having our conversations, kids were at thier best collecting the fallen flowers and playing with it. Some one was trying to become a Clint Eastwood, from the snaps one can easily find out who is it.

After an hour of conversation, looking at flowers, plants, fruits, coffee beans and insightful learnings, we were invited for the breakfast by the hostes. We all enjoyed the Masala Dosa with Chutney. The dosas were so nice that my dosa hating daughter eat dosas without making any fuss.
After the breakfast it was time for going to the river side, Our host guided us in our vehicle.

Tha pathway to the river was very narrow and the distance is about a KM from the house.

Mother Cauvery is very calm and quiet in this stretch. The silence and serenity of the river side was very divine. Only noise was from our chit-chat. We navigated the narrow pathway and rocks to the water. Spent about 30-40 minutes on the river bank. Kids wanted to take bath in the water, but mothers vetoed the request as water was very cold. Kids (including two big ones) returned with heavy heart.

Ee also spotted a snake skin on the way. Here are some pictures of the river side

After the visit to the river, we all decided to move out on site seeing. in next one hour, we were ready and left the homestay by 12:00 noon. The Host once again piloted us till we hit the road to Bhagmandala and Talakaveri.

[StarVegabond]

It took an hour plus drive (~ 40 + KMs) to reach Bhagmandala from Murnad, we reached the Bhagamandaleshwara temple at 1:40 PM. The temple inner sanctrum was closed and a board told us that the temple is closed from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. We prayed to the invisible lord and went on a Pradakshina of the inner sanctrum. There was a queue for the lunch. We did not join the queue, instead completed the round and exited the Temple.

Bhagmandala is known for Triveni Sangama (= three way confluence), where in three rivers combine together and flows further as River Cauvery. The three rivers are Cauvery, Kannika and Sujothi. River Sujothi is invisible and Cauvery flows from TalaCauvery till Bhagmandala. This union of three rivers is considered very sacred by the Hindus and bathing here is considered as holy as bathing in river Ganges (or Ganga).

Generally there will be a holy day arround 16-17th October which is celebrated as the birthday of river cauvery and lot of pilgrims take holy dip at the sangam to wash their sins off and pray to the Lord Bhagamandaleshwara. Durign this time temples are lit by oil lamps.

The back drop of Bhramhagiri and Kumar Parvatha (i am not sure of this) provides a great serenity and view.

pictures are self explanatory.

[StarVegabond]

From Bhagamandala, we went up the hill to Talacauvery, i think the distance is ~ 8 KMs. The drive up was very nice. Asifbhai drove up to the lat possible drivable point.

We visited the Talacauvery pond , prayed for continued availability of fresh water throughout our life wherever we are. We did not take photographs of the holy site as photogrpahy is probhibited.

Later on we visited the temples a bit abolve the hill. The kids and boys later one went up the Bramhagiri hill where as elder girls decided to continue their summit talks being on the bench near the temple.

The climb is approx 400+ steps (i think so, do not remember correctly). As one climbs up, fog was getting more and more. My friend his son and my daughter reached up the his first among us. Myself and my friend's (healthy baby) daughter were left behind, we climbed very slowly and reached 3-4 minutes later.

The view from the top is very refreshing, Fog prevented a very clear view, we took some still photographs, the camcoder was left behind with the ladies, hence do not have any videos.

Due to poor visibility the snaps have not come clearly, sitll some of the more clear ones have been attached here. We spent some 10 minutes atop Bramhagiri. After We got down from the Bramhagiri, took some "been there done that" photographs,

In front of the parking area, there was a shop making fresh Mirchi Pakodas and Bhajias. We could not resist the temptation as we had missed our lunch and were hungry. So bought enough Bhajias and Mirchi pakodas and boarded the chariot. Kids had already opened their snack boxes and elders were waiting for me to board. That was the fastest time in which the whole packet of Bhajias and pakodas vanished (might be a Coorgi record, i am not sure).

Drive down the hill was fast, we crossed Bhagmandala and drive towards Madikeri. Watch was already showing 4:30 PM. Drive till Madikeri took another hour. We wanted to go to Abbi Falls, but the Host at the homestay had told that there is no water at the falls, hence decided to skip the abbi falls and visit Raja's seat.

Once again due to evening and fog, the visibility was poor, and we could not take many snaps. But this time i managed some videos from the Raja's seat (we also have video's from the previous trip in 2004).

The toy train from Kaveri Pattana station outside Raja's seat was not operational. Kids were dis-appointed as i had raised their expectations earlier. I promised them a toy train ride some time later in the trip.

We had a cup of coffee (nothing great and worth remembering) in a small resturant nearby, refueled the chariot and reached Murnad by 7 PM. As promised our host was waiting on the mainroad and he once again piloted us through the maze of plantations and took us home.

We all got refreshed, children went back to thier play and audlts were chatting on the living room. Asif bhai was in his own theater (it seems he had bought a DVD of the idiot moview from some where). Elder Girls had some other plans and after an hour or so, they pleasantly surprised for us.

I have added few snaps form Talacauvery, Bramhagiri, Raja's Seat.

[Majic]

Starvegabond, i am sorry that i had missed out on your travelogue, anyway it is alway better late than never. Being late one thing that i had to sacrifice was an hour and half to go through all the details and i enjoyed every moment of this thread. Do continue with the good job, i have just given you a five star rating for this!

[StarVegabond]

With help of Hostess, they had transformed into a Coorg version of themselves. Hostess had lent them the Saries and had also helped them wear it as in the Coorg tradition. Both the ladies seems to have liked the new version of themselves, The little girls ofcoursed liked the new attire worn by their mothers and wanted to get a smaller but similar dress for themselves.

Beaming ladies catwalked, got themselves profiled for some 30+ minutes.

We also learnt the reason for the particular way the ladies wear their saries in coorg. It seems that Sage Agastya was living on Bramhagiri and Cauvery had married him on a condition that he would lever leave her even for a moment alone.

Years passed by, one Agastya had an emergency to perform some puja and he went for bathing asking his children to keep watch on (pretending to be) sleeping Cauvery. On noticing that Agastya has helft her alone she vanished and re-appeared where Sage Agastya was taking bath (Triveni Sangama / Bhagamandala). She told him that as he had broken his promise, she would leave him and go away.

The ladies in the vicinity tried to convince mother cauvery to not leave sage agastya. They all held their hands together along with thier Pallu (= end of the sari) and a particular way as if they are begging her. Cauvery took the form of water to slip away from the human chain, But considering the love and affection shown by the ladies, she belssed them and requested them to continue to wear thier dresses in the new manner so that she can recongnise them easily. Thus a new style was born.

That is the reason the ladies in this area wear their saries in a particular way during the cauvery puja. Mother Cauvery continues to belss this land and everything around here is said to be a belssing of the holy mother. I would certainly agree.

We thanked the hostess for this gracious new experience which otherwise would not have possible if we would have stayed in a resort or hotel.
We had once again had a lavish dinner including non vegetarian food (chicken) for my friend's family. Dinner with very tasty, fresh food, served with warm hearts and affection, filled with pleasant conversations, laughter, fun, information exchange among family, friends is indeed a great dinner and a great way to spend a holiday. Such a dinner is often missed durinng these modern neuclear family era, Even if few families meet and go out to a resturant for dinner, such a warmth, real affection, homely enviornment etc would be certainly missed.

We can certainly buy good food, but can not buy a great dinner, we can only make a great dinner overselves.

After the dinner, we reviewed the next day plan, Host adivced us to start early if we want to visit Dubare as elephant activites would be over by 10:30 AM. Dubare was an hour and half drive from the homestay. So we decided to leave by 7 AM. Alarms were set for 6 AM. Asifbhai was accordingly informed.

We bought some coffee, honey and pepper from the host, we also settled the commercial formalities.

Contrary to the cold outside, a warm room was waiting for us.
We all retired for the day by 10:30 PM. I slumped into deep sleep having learnt that everyone had enjoyed their day. A day full of good memories, new experiences and great relaxation.

Note to MODS: I have made a post after post as there wer emore photographs. Thanks for the understanding, if required, please merge this with the previous post.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by Majic

Starvegabond, i am sorry that i had missed out on your travelogue, anyway it is alway better late than never. Being late one thing that i had to sacrifice was an hour and half to go through all the details and i enjoyed every moment of this thread. Do continue with the good job, i have just given you a five star rating for this!

Hi Majic

I just returned from lunch and i see that you have given me a 5 star desert. Thanks very much, it always feels special to get recognized.
i hope to live up to the expectations.

I am happy that you enjoyed reading this thread, stay tuned, more to come.

[sushrutha]

Fantastic narration Star.
Lovely pics too.
Very detailed travelogue indeed.

Kidly excuse for hijacking the thread, some specific details are below.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

* Host fondly remembered the all time peak price of RS 240 RS/KG during 1994-97. Some of the growers became rich over night, but most just blew the money away. It is said, some of them used to go for lunch to mysore every week-end.

To be precise it was 1994 - 1995.
There was a total crop failure in Brazil due to climatic change. Coffee rate had peaked during thats time. Even after 15 years the rates haven't touched that price since then.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

* Chikmagalur is another district where coffee is grown. Leading Coffee chain owns huge Arebica plantations at Chikmagalur.

Add to it some parts of Hassan district too grow coffee.
Leading coffee chain (Cafe Coffeeday) owner is none other than V G Siddhartha.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

* Leading liquor boron married a lady from coorg. he owns 600 acres of plantation near Somarpet.

Rekha & her husband Vijay Mallya.

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

* Owners of leading automotive comapny, which bailed out the scam hit IT company recently also own 1000 acres plantation near Nagarhole.

Does Mahindra own coffee plantation in Coorg ?
I hope you were referring to TATA, they have 1000+ acres of coffee+tea in Polibetta and adjoining areas.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Fantastic narration Star.
Lovely pics too.
Very detailed travelogue indeed.

Kidly excuse for hijacking the thread, some specific details are below.

Thanks very much Sushrutha for yoru compliments.
As i said before to Addy, you too are welcome to add more facts to this fiction (=story)

Originally Posted by sushrutha

To be precise it was 1994 - 1995.
There was a total crop failure in Brazil due to climatic change. Coffee rate had peaked during thats time. Even after 15 years the rates haven't touched that price since then.

Yes, The Host mentioned this to me, i am already begining to forget.
that is the value of this story, now i can remember more.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Leading coffee chain (Cafe Coffeeday) owner is none other than V G Siddhartha.
Rekha & her husband Vijay Mallya.
Does Mahindra own coffee plantation in Coorg ?
I hope you were referring to TATA, they have 1000+ acres of coffee+tea in Polibetta and adjoining areas.

I did not wanted to take names, anyway, yes that is what the host told us.


Moving forward....


We woke up at 6:15 AM, As we were suppose to go to Dubare, we skipped our bath and got ready by 7 AM. Hostess offered a hot and excellent cup of tea. My friend from mumbai enjoyed the tea to the fullest.

Ladies were reluctant to leave the homestay, Kids were very excited to go to meet elephants. We took a photographs with the hosts and bid them good bye with a promise to return in future. They also warmly invited us whenever we feel like coming to coorg. Host also gave us a milestone (KM & Place) paper which indicated how to reach Dubare.

This time Asifbhai did not had his pilot vehicle. but we managed well and reached the main road on our own. I have attached few snaps here of the approach road to the home stay apart from the morning blues.

[ikoneer]

@star: nice travelogue and a great write up.

You have good photographic skills and a great photographic memory

if not for anything, i should congratulate the team for getting up at 4am in the morning.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by ikoneer

@star: nice travelogue and a great write up.

You have good photographic skills and a great photographic memory

if not for anything, i should congratulate the team for getting up at 4am in the morning.

Thanks Ikoneer, for your compliments and on behalf of the team, i accept your congratulations, Indeed i certainly feel that we as a team did great on the vacation, be it getting up at 4 AM or enjoying a meal together or entertaining each other on a long drive.


As soon as we hit the main road towards siddapur...,

I asked every one about their feedback about this home stay, Each one of the adult said "Excellent", Kids said with a smile "Very good, we enjoyed".

But old habits die hard, for nostalgic reasons, i filled in an evaluation form. The statistical ranking once again said "Excellent" (= Statistics always confirm the gut felling)

Most important question: Whether We would go again ?,
Answer is Definitely yes.

Now the next question from my wife : When ?.....