Finally - Coorg

Three years ago, our real estate agent raved about Coorg and said we should definitely make a trip there. But we could never fit it in. Prasad made an executive decision to go this past weekend.

We stayed in the Virajpet area of Coorg which is less populated and more serene than the Madikeri area. However at times it was too quiet, we were the only guests at the resort. The staff claimed there were cancellations but I wonder, anyway, I guess it doesn't matter.  Magnolia resorts recommended by a friend is a guest house situated on an 85 acre coffee plantation. In addition to the coffee plants, they had innumerable fruit trees, exotic  flowers, pepper trees and other greenery.  The  plantation style cottages were spacious with high ceilings and decorated tastefully with antiques. The furniture in the cottages, reception and dining area were carefully selected. Antique pillars were integrated seamlessly into the architecture. They had a 4 bedroom villa  exceptionally well decorated meant for large families, I wish they were open when our family was visiting, it would have been the perfect place to have a gathering.  They served North Indian, Coorgi and continental food,  everything was delicious. We especially enjoyed the Coorg style sambar, vegetable stew, and puttu.  The staff was hospitable and friendly.  Rushil was especially pleased because they played cricket with him on a number of occasions. He missed playing so much when he was cooped up at home earlier in the week.  What we didn't like the most were the insects. Surrounded by heavy greenery, all kinds of bizarre bugs crept out of the woodwork at night. Sindhu was especially spooked but I was not far behind. Apparently when it rains, thousands of leeches come out making it difficult to walk on their grounds, I prayed it wouldn't rain during our stay, we did however see one on our toilet the day we arrived.  Fortunately, since there is no standing water, there were hardly any mosquitoes unlike our apartment in Bangalore which is infested with them. They had an activity center with an outdoor badminton court, indoor ping pong table, carrom board, board games and a decent selection of books for children and adults.  Prasad recommended they add a swimming pool (it was hot during the day), a spa and  more guests and it would be perfect.

View from our guesthouse

Cottage

From the guava family  - a bit more sour than the regular sized guavas

Sindhu's favourite spot at the resort

Avocados !! (AKA butter fruit) 

Pepper corns 

Jackfruit

Chickoo

Totapuris

Bright orange flowers on a gulmahar tree

Prasad Jogging

Plantation workers in the morning on their way to work

We were all meant to take a jungle trek on our first day. I thought it would  be a light walk through the plantation but when the guide told me the plan was to trek up to the top of the hill, I bowed out and didn't think it was a good idea for Rushil to go either. Sindhu probably would have enjoyed it but her running shoes were in the car and we couldn't find Vijay, our driver due to poor cell phone coverage.  Prasad went alone with the guide and he said it was quite an intense trek.. The next day we drove to the Dubare camp to feed the elephants and go white water rafting.  To Sindhu's disappointment, there wasn't enough water for rapids so it was more like boating. It was still fun though. We were too late to feed the elephants but we saw some wild and captive elephants on our drive back. I always get very excited when I see elephants, not sure why but I was ready to jump out of the car to take a picture but no one let me.   Later that day, we went to the Golden Temple, a Tibetan monastery where I had the opportunity to yet again  chase the  monks.

At the monastery

Two young monks playing

Monks during prayer time

Can anyone guess what type of bird this is?

The women in Coorg wrap their saris differently, no pleats and the pallu is horizontal in the front, comes over the shoulder and is pinned in the front. Most of the plantation workers were women and they additionally wrapped potato sacks over their saris to keep them from getting dirty.

On our drive back to Bangalore, we were surprised to see a McDonalds and a KFC under construction. The kids were thrilled! Usually the food selection is limited on the road but there was also a clean Indian restaurant next to McD.  If only the bathroom were clean and not smelly :-(

Coorg is checked off the list.