Coorg Trip

Date: 24th Dec 2014 to 27th Dec 2014

Travelers: Arun, Shilpi, Harsh, Muthusamy and Vijayalakshmi

Route: Bangalore - Srirangapatna - Yelwal - Hunsur - Kushalnagar - Madikeri

Distance: 280Km one way

Road Condition: Good till srirangapatna. Srirangapatna to Yelwal is average with a bad patch for 1 Km. Yelwal to Madikeri is good.

Roads in Madikeri is good with lot of twist and turn.

Stay: Mothers bounty holidays. Its 5 Km from Madikeri town.

Our first visit is to omkareshwar temple in evening.

We reached there at 4:45 PM but temple opens at only at 5. Harsh was watching few ducks in the temple pond during the wait.

Its a Shiva temple and the visit to the temple will take max 20 min. There is nothing much to see or do here.

Next on list was Raja Seat. This a small park with a sunset view point.

Entry fee is 5Rs per adult.

No snacks is allowed inside the park. I was carrying a pack of chips and the security guard did not allow me. I had to go back to the car and leave the snack. Water bottle is allowed though. 

Sunset from the view point. Good number of people were there because of holiday season.

There is also a toy train ride outside the park.

The sunset was not very clear as it was cloudy but still it was a nice view.

There is also a musical fountain which starts at 6:30 PM.

Harsh waiting for the musical fountain to start.

Moon

Musical fountain started with a Kannada Song.

It was small one but still a decent show and worth waiting to watch it.

We saw 3 songs and left as Harsh was very sleepy and getting cranky.

Mothers Bounty stay. It was not a home stay but kind of hotel in the coffee plantation.

Original plan for this holiday was to visit Hyderabad but because of unfortunate outbreak of swine flu we cancelled the plan.

Tried booking various home stays but nothing was available. Finally found this through stayzilla.

The room was not so great. It was a small 4 bedded room with attached bathroom. Room was damp but bathroom was clean.

One consolation was the food. It was very good.
Food is cooked and served very hot. Anil who was taking care of the hotel was very nice and kind.

Would rate it average and recommend if you cant find any home stay and have budget constraint.

Harsh going for a morning walk inside the coffee plantation.

Ripe coffee beans. The estate has lot of coffee and pepper plants. You can take a walk through.

This was coffee bean harvest season and you can find it every where.

Coffee beans left for drying.

Dried pepper seeds ready for harvest.

On the way to Bhagamandala and Talacauvery. We stopped at various places to see all the fruits and plants.

Ripe bablimas (grape fruit). We asked the owner of the farm for one and he was generous enough and gave us 5 :).

Add salt, chilli powder and enjoy the juicy fruit.

On day two we first went to bhagamandala. The temple is open from 6 to 1:30 and again from 3 to 8.

One is not allowed inside with half pant so you need to get a dhoti and wear on top.

I think its either sold or given for  rent outside the temple but not sure.

Next visit is to talacauvery. The place was crowded so much and i could not find a place to park the car.

I had to wait in the car for around 20 min to get a parking.

If you dont have elders or small kids then park the car down and walk up.

We went till the origin of the cauvery. One can also climb up 300 steps to get a good view from the top of the hill.

Shilpi and I infront of the temple.

On the way back from Talacauvery. Wooden hHoney bee hives.

We stopped in a shop to have pineapple. I have never had such a tasty pineapple before. Just loved it. One full pineapple was 60 Rs.

They cultivate pineapple in their farm and sell it.

Pineapple in initial stage. It comes out red and then turns to green and then ripe and become yellow in color.

Some random flower.

Madikeri fort. There is a ganesha temple inside the fort.

Nothing much to see here. Since it was Dec 25 the museum was closed.

One place to take photo inside the fort. Elephant statue.

One can skip this if they dont have time.

Last place for the day for a visit to exhibition. Its a small one with some 5 adult rides and a couple for kids.

The balloon shooting game. Got 4/5 shots rite.

Evening view.

Giant wheel.

View of moon on fourth day.

Other places visited:
Bylakuppe
Mandalpatti and Kote Abbi Falls
Iruppu Falls