Coorg

Karnataka

Visited in : Dec 2009

Distance from Bangalore : 230 km

Best way to reach there : By road (7 hrs)

Good place to stay at : We stayed in one of the Tata Coffee Plantation Trails' Bungalows (Woshully). Other good options to stay at are:

Jungle Lodges but the resort is not exactly in Coorg but in Dubare Elephant Camp

Orange County - very good resort with a lot of amenities and things to

do but a little expensive.

And also some Coorgi homestays

Places to see:

1. Dubare Elephant Camp
2. Namdroling Monastary in Kushalnagar
3. Abbey Waterfalls - less than 10 km from Coorg
4. Talacauvery - 36 km from Madikeri
5. Nagarhole National Park

Tata Plantation trail Bungalows are beautifully located amidst lush green coffee and pepper plantations. A place where you can actually forget the noise of vehicular traffic and get to hear the chirping of variety of birds, the pitter-patter of rain drops on the leaves and even the footsteps of a person crossing a trail not very nearby.

This gives a slice of the view from the sit out of the Bungalow.

One bungalow has three rooms, ideal for a big group of tourists or for three small families but the rooms are not very sound proof so if you are looking for complete privacy, this would not be the perfect option. The TV room and dining room are common for all the guests to share. The cooks are not too many so you may have to take turns dining in the place. The bungalow where we stayed had an excellent cook and made special dinner on Christmas eve but the other occupants had moved from another bungalow and they did not have very palatable stories to narrate about the food there.

During our stay we went on the plantation tour organised by the resort manager where they showed us different stages involved in the process of making coffee. It was an interesting tour. The property had a huge golf course and they provide the clubs and other equipment on reasonable rent for a couple of hours. But they did not have any tennis or badminton courts much to our disappointment as we had taken all the stuff seeing the same being listed on their website.

We had three days there and we opted to visit Dubare Elephant camp and Monastery while skipping the other things for a peaceful day in the bungalow surrounded by serene greenery. It was drizzling that day and made the perfect day to laze around with hot Tata coffee.

Important Tips:

1. Go early for the Dubare Elephant Camp because the elephants' bathing ritual is anyway in the first half of the day and the queues keep getting longer and longer by almost every minute.
2. The same road leads to the monastery so starting early helps in reaching the monastery also before lunch.
3. You can buy great souvenirs from the market outside the Namdroling Monastery.
4. Don't forget to pick Coorgi coffee, fresh pepper, cardamom or even vanilla pods.
5. The roads to Abbey Waterfalls and Talacauvery are not great so plan accordingly.

Important links:

Tata Plantation Trails

Orange County Coorg

Jungle Lodges - Dubare Elephant Camp

Kabini : Nagarhole National Park

Karnataka

Visitied in : Dec 2008
Distance from Bangalore : 210 km in the SW
Best way to reach there : By road - 5 to 6 hrs, By train - to Mysore (3 1/2 hrs) + 1/2 hrs by road
Good place to stay at : We stayed in one of the cottages at Kabini River Lodge (Jungle Resorts). There are some tented cottages and colonial style twin rooms too in the resort.
(Other options to stay are : Cicada Kabini and Water woods)

Kabini - also known as the Elephant Country or the home of Pachyderms, invites many pachyderm lovers from around the world throughout the year. The natural surroundings and the huge herds of elephants present a beautiful spectacle. This is one of the best places to see the big tuskers in their natural habitat with their raw magnetism.

During the Jeep safari inside the Nagarhole National Park, you get to spot many varieties of birds and wild animals like sambhar, deer, chital, gaur and even the majestic tiger (if you are that lucky). There are two Jeep Safaris - one early in the morning and one in the evening.

Before leaving the resort you can enjoy a refreshing boat ride in the Kabini river too.

A movie on wildlife was shown in the resort at night, which beautifully presented the nature's food cycle. No wildlife discussion can become complete without the mention of the unhumanly treatment of animals by us humans. Very true but very sad.

The beautiful cottages on the Kabini river bank with hammocks, complete the perfect picture of serenity and tranquility.

Image Courtesy : Junglelodges.com

The food is simple and delicious as in other Jungle Resorts.

Another beautiful getaway in the lap of nature for rejuvenation of spirits.

Important Tips:

1. Carry some woolens and jackets especially for the early morning Jeep Safari. It is usually very cold at that time.

2. Reach there on time so that there is sufficient time for lunch and a little relaxed time before the Safari begins at 4:30 pm

3. Allocate some extra time for the bad roads just before reaching the destination.

Shivanasamudram

Karnataka
Visited in - Dec 2007

Distance from Bangalore : 120 Km (South of Bangalore via Kanakapura)

Good place to stay at : Georgia Sunshine Village

Best way to reach there : By Car

Activities to do : Visit to the twin falls - Barachukki and Gaganchuki

Rooms : Cottages, each having two rooms individually rented out

Meals : All meals are cooked under the supervision of host couple

Cauvery splitting into two streams at Gaganchukki and Barachukki is a beautiful sight. It was a short drive from the Georgia Sunshine Village to the falls. You can actually go down to the base of the waterfalls and do some boating in the river there. It was a steep walk down and very refreshing in the river.

Besides these falls there is not much to do. Within the resort, you can go for fun fishing activity. We did manage to catch a very small fish after having patiently waited for almost an hour and then released it back in the water. Early in the morning, you can go for a nature walk, which was through the small trails in the wilderness. Since we had two little children with us, we did an hour long trek only. But guided trips for longer duration are available too depending on the capacity of the guests.

The host couple was very cordial and warm. The rooms were comfortable and the food was delicious but there was not much variety in the food. In the evening there was just light tea/coffee with a packet of Marie biscuits. Dinner was served very late so there was a long gap between the lunch and dinner with almost nothing in between. We were starving by the time the dinner was served. Also, did not see the bonfire part happening in the resort which was mentioned.

But, overall a decent break if you are looking for a one 2-days 1-night trip to some place close by.

Important tips :

1. The last stretch of road is dirt road and will take more time to cover than you would expect.

2. Reaching the resort was also a little tricky business, its not on the main road and actually you can easily miss this place. We kept calling the hosts over the phone for the directions once we were off the main road.

3. While going to the falls, the markings were not very clear, be extremely careful for all kinds of boards and markings on the road so that you don't miss the directions as we did.

4. There are some cottages with open to sky bathrooms so just check if you are not comfortable with that kind of setting.

5. We made the booking through their Bangalore contact, somewhere in Ulsoor.

6. Better to carry light jackets as it got a little colder at night in the resort.

Bheemeshwari - Cauvery Fishing Camp

State : Karnataka

A very serene place away from the maddening noise of the city and not too far from Bangalore either. Need no extensive planning, just decide which weekend you want to take off and head towards Bheemeshwari. One night stay at this place is just enough to rejuvenate the mind and body to take the everyday challenges once again.

Distance from Bangalore : 100 km (South of Bangalore via Kanakpura)
Good place to stay at : Jungle Lodges
Best way to reach there : By car
Activities to do : Coricle Ride, Nature walk
Rooms : Log huts or Tented cottages (for more closer to nature experience)
Meals : Meals and evening snacks is part of the whole package ( liked the barbecue before dinner)

What I liked the most about this place was the tranquil environment and in total natural surroundings. The cottages(log huts) face the Cauvery river. With each log hut, a hammock is provided. It is a wonderful experience to just relax on the hammock with a light-read book and transition between sleeping and awake states. After being so accustomed to staying indoors and in artificial lights always, getting such abundant light and fresh air feels really amazing and it does a world of good to the spirits.

Important tips :

1. Reach there by the checkin time, to have the complete relaxed time in the natural surroundings.
2. It will take 3+ hrs to reach the resort from Bangalore.
3. The last stretch of approach road was not very good when we went in 2006. So it took a little longer to cover that last 50 odd kms.
4. It is better to carry some light jackets if you want to enjoy the outdoors at dusk and for early morning nature walk.

Images Courtesy : Jungle Lodges