Cruising through Coffee County

Why I consider Coorg the perfect driving holiday destination!

For those who live and breathe cars as I do, a driving holiday, as opposed to reaching your holiday destination by other means of transport, is the best way to spend a vacation. While some people complain that driving can take away the whole point of relaxing during a holiday, I strongly disagree. Driving to a new destination, is a totally different experience then the daily driving to and fro from work, can do wonders for the mind and soul.

Since we live in Pondicherry, a wonderful old French colony, known for its beautiful beaches, romantic architecture and delectable French cuisine, but also infamous for the scorching hot summers, we generally prefer heading to the hills. Our ‘driving hoilday’ was Kodagu (Coorg is the anglicized version), the birthplace of the River Kaveri and the largest coffee producing region in India.

It’s a two day trip to Coorg!

Coorg lay at a distance of 580 km, and being avid travelers who enjoy the journey as much as the destination, our game plan was to break journey by spending the night in Bangalore. We left Pondicherry after breakfast and hit the road to Bangalore that lies along the NH 66 via the Tindivanam – Thiruvanamalai - Krishnagiri – Hosur route. Our journey till Krishnagiri was quite slow and bumpy due to the pot-holed filled roads, but from then we quickly picked up speed and reached Bangalore. Unfortunately, we reached Bangalore during the evening peak hour traffic and again, this slowed us down a bit.

After a refreshing night at our relatives place, we headed out early next morning on our way to Coorg. The most direct route from Bangalore to Coorg lies along two well maintained state highways, namely the SH17 and SH88 that connects Bangalore with Coorg via Mysore. The roads were perfect and the drive was smooth, and we very quickly passed the small towns of Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Chennapatna, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna that lay on the Banggalore –Mysore highway. We made only two quick stops. A 30-minute breakfast stop at Chennapatna, where we savored the unique Modae iddlies, which is a specialty of this South Karnataka town and a 10-minute stop at Café Coffee Day for a java recharge.

Since we had already visited Mysore on an earlier trip, we decided to skip Mysore and take the bypass road to Hunsur, which comes right after Srirangapatna. We encountered a little trouble locating the right junction where we had to make the turn, but a helpful policeman came to our rescue and pointed us towards the right track. From there on we had absolutely no delays as it was one straight road through paddy and sugarcane field that took us through Hunsur – Kempalapura – Piriyapatna –Bylakuppe – Kushalnagara – Suntikoppa till Madikeri, the capital of Coorg District.

Reaching Madekeri around lunch time, we first decided to check into the Homestay which we had booked earlier via the Internet. We were in for a pleasant surprise to find our Homestay “Misty Meadows”, located in the midst of a lush coffee plantation. Mr. and Mrs. Bollu Nanaiah, our hosts, welcomed us with a hot traditional Coorgi meal, which was totally scrumptious. All we needed now was a quick nap, to refresh ourselves before we started exploring the lovely Coorg countryside.

Coorg- the best place for a driving holiday!

Coorg is beautiful hill station that has surprisingly good roads, which makes it a motorist’s paradise and a great destination for a driving holiday. Filled with a serene and picturesque coffee plantations and the usual number of tourist attractions, there is a lot to do for both the enthusiastic tourist and the laid-back traveler.

We decided to take on the role of the ‘enthusiastic tourist’ and take in as many sights as we could during our four-day mini vacation. On the first afternoon, we spent time exploring Madikeri. Madikeri, is a beautiful hill town, which was the seat of many famous kings, including Tipu Sultan. The Madikeri Fort is a beautiful old structure, whose main attraction is two life size masonry elephants and a beautiful church which has been converted into a museum.

Raja Seat, also in Madikeri, offers a panoramic and beautiful view of the surrounding hillside. This spot, favorite of the Rajas of Madikeri, (hence the name), offers the perfect photo op for your family portrait or Facebook profile pic. Kids can have fun in the surrounding park which has a lovely toy train and a musical fountain.

The next day we decided to make the 50 km trip to Talacauvery, the birthplace of the River Cauvery. The drive to Talacauvery was filled with breathtaking sights of beautiful scenery that is too difficult to put down in words. The Talacauvery temple marks the exact spot of the origin of the mighty Cauvery River which provides water for more than half of South India. Driving downhill we stopped by Abby falls, which lies around 8 kms from Madekeri. The enormous roar of water gushing from the falls is truly a spectacular sight to behold.

Our itinerary for next day was to go downhill and explore the various sights recommended by our hostess, Mrs. Nanaiah. We first stopped at Dubare Elephant Camp, where you get to see the elephants’ morning ritual- bathing and eating the specially prepared food. For an extra fee, our daughter enjoyed bathing and feeding a cute little baby elephant. After our elephant ride around the camp, we went to Nisargadama, an island formed by the river Cauvery. Nisargadama, reminiscent of a bamboo forest, boasts of many interesting activities including pedal-boating, elephant rides, deer feeding etc. We spent a few wonderful hours at Nisargadama, enjoying the many activities it offered us.

After lunch we headed to Bylakuppe, near Piriyapatna, which one of the largest and oldest Tibetan settlements in India. We were amazed by the beautiful Tibetian Golden Temple, Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery and the Sera Monastic University (one of the largest Buddhist universities in the world), all located within the settlement.

On the third day we made the day-long trip to Nagarhole Wildlife Santuary also known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, situated around 90 kms from Madikeri. Driving through dense forests and lot of coffee plantations, we stopped enroute at Irupu falls, a scenic unpolluted waterfall, where we had a good time playing in its fresh cool waters. At Nagarhole, we took the jungle safari and managed to photograph a herd of elephants, the Indian bison and lots deer (both the Samba and Spotted varieties). However, we didn’t spot the elusive Indian Tiger for which the National Park is famous for.

The End of an Unforgettable Trip

On the morn of the fourth day, with hearts heavy but refreshed, we said goodbye to our lovely hosts and started back home. Packed along with our luggage were packets of estate coffee, boxes of spices, bottles of forest honey and loads of cherished memories that occupied 16GB of camera space. Driving down to Coorg was a truly enjoyable and unforgettable experience and I urge you to give it a try.

Tips to enjoy a stress- free driving holiday

1.     Always ensure that your vehicle is serviced, and all necessary parts changed before a long road trip. (Check out my previous blog for detailed tips).

2.     Do take along sufficient packaged food that doesn’t spoil easily (like biscuits, nuts, chips, etc.), even if you plan to eat outside. This is even more important if travelling with kids, because one can’t ensure availability of good restaurants in unknown destinations. Mealtimes, can get delayed, so be prepared.

3.     Carry sufficient bottled water with you at all times. You will often find fake products in tourist destinations, which may be harmful and carry contagious bacteria. Once we came across a vendor selling a bottled water which looked exactly like the “Aquafina” brand, however on close inspection we realized it was “Aquabina”, with a “b” and not “f”. Same is the case with aerated drinks.

4.     If travelling with kids, plan fun activities. Take along colouring books, music CD’s, portable video games/DVD players, to keep kids occupied and stop them from squabbling with their siblings. Encourage teens to participate by asking them to navigate, and provide directions using their digital devices.

5.     Carry a small cushion/pillow and blanket, in case someone needs to take rest.

Have a Nice holiday with your family !