Coorg Unfolded – Itinerary to Explore the Scotland of India

As much as I love to travel to new places, I equally enjoy doing my own research and plan my own itinerary that suits my taste of travel. Because I am totally not a person who would just blindly trust a tours and travel company to plan my travel and end up at the touristy places with too much crowd all around. 

Instagram stories from my recent trip to Coorg made me come across dozens of questions from my friends and colleagues about the itinerary and instead of messaging them in personal, I thought of writing this blog so I not only share my travel experience with just my friends but it is available to anyone out there who is looking to plan a trip to Coorg all by themselves.  So here we go…

Before, planning a trip to Coorg, one thing that you must know is that you will not find something called as Coorg on google maps, because formerly known as Coorg state now it is known as Kodagu district :p. This is the first thing I learnt. Briefly, with view point of exploring Coorg, it can be divided into two parts, north Coorg (that mainly includes Kushalnagar and Madekeri) and south Coorg (that includes Hunsur, where Nagarhole national park is located).

Now, if you are travelling from outside Karnataka, there are two airports you can consider to travel Coorg from that is Bangalore or Mangalore. Coorg is approximately 280 kms from Bangalore airport and 140 kms from Mangalore airport. We were travelling from Mumbai and we opted for Bangalore airport because cheap flights :p and also we wanted it to be more of a road trip too, so more the kms more we enjoy on our way.

We hired a cab from Bangalore for our entire trip, you can also go for a self-drive option because once you enter coorg, it totally worth a road trip.

If you are travelling from Bangalore, it is always advised to leave early in the morning before 6 am, because hello! You definitely don’t want to get stuck in Bangalore traffic for 2-3 hours (that’s what I learned by research)

Day zero, we took a late evening flight from Mumbai to Bangalore, stayed in a hotel near the airport for 3-4 hours and started next morning at 6 am our trip to Coorg.

Day 1, on our journey from Banglore to Coorg, we explored a few places in Mysore too, because it is on the way. We went to St. Philomena’s Cathedral and Mysore Palace. In case, you have more time, you can plan one day stay in Mysore and explore various other places like Mysore zoo, vrindavan garden etc. and if you are staying I would definitely suggest to visit Mysore palace in evening, because with all the dreamy lighting it is more beautiful in evening. But, we didn’t had all the time with us and we kept it short and continued with our journey to Coorg on the same day. We arrived at our hotel in Madekeri late evening.

Day 2, was all about exploring areas around Madekeri and Kushalnagar, we started with Dubare elephant camp. It’s basically a small forest where you can feed and see elephants get bathed. Also, witness how huge and magnificent they are  ☺ Entry to Dubare forest closes at 11 am, so plan your visit accordingly. Entry charges are nominal. Second destination was Namdroling Monastery situated in Bylakuppe. It is the largest teaching center of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. The architecture is majestic and it makes you feel peaceful at the same time. Spend some serene time in the monastery by admiring its beauty. Post lunch, next destination for us was abbey falls. I found abbey falls as a bit overrated and you could visit the places just for a picture or two, doesn’t matter if you miss it. Next with the help of our local cab driver we were able to manage a visit to a coffee plantation. Mostly, you will not find much online booking options for coffee plantation visit, but once you are in Coorg you can ask any local to help you out in arranging one. Plantation visit is worth the experience, you get to know so much about how coffee is produced and at the same time, the plantation itself feels like you are walking into a forest trail. Also, now I know from where all the coffee for CCD and Starbucks comes from and what is the secret behind their coffee 😉 It was time for sunset and the best place to witness sunset is at Raja’s seat. I would not describe it much, all I would say is, just go and witness most marvelous sunset out there.

Day 3, started with spectacular sunrise that we witnessed at Mandalpatti peak. This was not part of our itinerary because when I was doing my research about the coorg, it did not appeared in many of the suggestions, I don’t know why. Because for me, it was the most amazing place I visited in coorg. Sunrise at Mandalpatti was suggested by our driver, and we can’t thank him enough for the same. You cannot reach the peak by your cab for sure, you will have to hire a jeep that is meant for off roading. It almost takes 45 – 60 minutes to reach at the top from the base. But once you are there, oh my goodness! You would definitely question yourself  like what part of planet is this. It’s so damn gorgeous. Leave around 5.30 am from the base, and you would witness the best sunrise and spectacular views from the top. Thank me later 😉 Jeep would cost you anywhere between Rs.1500 to Rs.2500 depending on number of people.

It was time to say goodbye to the north part of the Coorg and our sweetest host of the hotel Meera aunty who treated us very well through our stay and move towards south part where our beautiful stay at jungle resort was waiting for us.

We left Madikeri, started our journey towards Nagarhole. Now our jungle resort although close to Nagarhole national park, but was situated in Kerala and not in Karnataka. But, there are also many options of jungle lodges and resorts in and around Nagarhole within Karnataka itself, select the one that pleases you ☺

We checked in to our resort, had lunch and went for afternoon jungle safari. Safari timings are from 6 am to 9 am and 2 pm to 5 pm. For jungle safari, you can either opt for the bus which would cost you Rs.350 per person or jeep which would cost you Rs.1500 per person. Bus tickets would be available at the entrance and there is no provision for online booking, Whereas, if you are looking for jeep safari, I would suggest connect with the resort you are staying in and tell them to book a jeep for you, because jeep might be not available if you book last minute. Also, in many jungle resorts, the jeep safari is included in their package.

Post safari, we had our own leisure time in resort surrounded by jungle and all you listen to is the voice of nature. No traffic, no pollution, only peace ☺

Day 4, woke up to the sound of chirping birds and spectacular sunrise from the balcony of our cottage. Had a scrumptious sound Indian breakfast and it was time to say goodbye to coorg, because we had our flight back to Mumbai.

But, another best part of the trip was yet to come. We opted for a different route for our return journey. Our route passed through Nagarhole national park for a good 30-40 minutes. Just imagine the road trip, where an amazing road is surrounded by a forest and on your way you see deer, bison and elephants. Sometimes, they also cross your paths. Hence, be careful while driving, because animals are not crossing the road, road is crossing the forest ☺ It was one of the most amazing road trip experiences for us.

This is how our trip to coorg ended. To sum up, coorg was all about natural beauty, coffee plantations all around, peace and the much needed break that we always require from the fast paced city life. The best part about the coorg was, it was not over crowded unlike many other hill stations that I have gone to in Maharashtra. If planned well, you could always avoid the crowded places and explore the real beauty of coorg. Never ever we got stuck in traffic and Bangalore being famous for its traffic, we never faced it because of a well-planned itinerary ☺

Highlights of the trip:

Mandalpatti sunrise, Nagarhole national park road trip route while returning, Coffee Plantation visit.

Must try food:

Thatte Idli at the famous Sree Shivasagar Bidadi Bisi Thatte Idly Hotel & Dose Camp, Momos in the café of monastery.

Accomodation:

For north coorg, you can either book your accommodation in the Kushalnagar area or Madekeri (which is basically situated at higher ranges). You will have plenty of options of hotels as well as homestay, choose what suits you ☺

For south coorg, choose from many jungle resorts available in and around nagarhole. Given the luxury of staying in jungle, this accommodation would be bit on an expensive side, If you are on a budget travel, you can choose to stay in Kushalnagar or Madikeri for your entire stay ☺ 

Our accommodation:

In Madekeri – Hotel Cauvery Suites. (Budget Stay), Near Nagarhole National Park – Mayookham Resort. (Luxury Stay)

P.S – Plan it with your group of friends or your partner. Coorg has something for everyone. From adventure to romantic gateways it will not disappoint you 🙂

If you have any query while planning your trip, just comment below 🙂

LOVE IS ALL ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF

People say, when you are in love, you lose yourself. When you fall for someone, its altogether a different feeling which can rarely be expressed. People around you notice the change in you, you yourself think you are a changed person and then it feels like you have lost yourself in love. But may be sometimes, when in love rather than losing yourself, you find yourself.

May be you are a person who hates waiting but you can surely wait for hours to meet that special someone and won’t even complain about it and that time you realize how much patient you can be.

When you love someone, you tend to forgive small mistakes of that person and you find out how much forgiving you can be.

So may be initially you were carefree kind of a person. But when you are in love and if your loved one is going through difficult times, you support him/her with all the love and care you can give and that time you realize how much supportive and caring you can be.

Probably, you are a kind of person who doesn’t wish to compromise on anything, not even on a window seat while travelling somewhere. But, when you are in love, just to see the smile on his/her face you surely do small adjustments in day to day life and that’s when you realize that how understanding you can be.

We can surely not forget this feeling called jealousy especially when we are talking about love. So, you use to be the coolest person ever among your friends and small things never bothered you. But when you are in love with someone then even the small of the incidents can make you feel jealous, and then you realize how much mean you can be.

Love is not always about all cosy cosy feelings. When there are ups and downs in your relationship that’s the time you realize how much strong you can be.

After all the ups and downs in relationship, when you try to bring the spark back in your love life at that time you realize how much creative you can be.

And finally after all these realizations of how much patient, forgiving, caring, supporting understanding, jealous, strong and creative person you can be, you finally realize how much you love that person and how that right person have made you a better person.

So love is not always about losing yourself. Because, when you are in love with right person, its always about finding yourself ❤

P.S: If you aren’t in a relationship, but if you were thinking about someone while reading this, then it’s time to go for it 😉

DIFFICULT ROADS, BEAUTIFUL DESTINATION !

Difficult roads leads to beautiful destination 🙂 and I guess this thought might have crossed someone’s mind surely while travelling through mountains.

Born and bought up in city life of Mumbai, I never got much opportunities to travel in mountains. But I always use to admire mountains. Whenever I use to look at pictures of mountains of different places, I always use to think that mountains are calling me and I must go. But was able to only complete few treks near Mumbai.

Then one fine day, finally it was time to checkout few things from bucket list and I was on my way to Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. The time I went to Uttarakhand, we were suppose to travel from Rishikesh to Chopta which is approximately 8790 ft above sea level. I had never travelled in mountains and was really looking forward for the trip, and then the journey began. The road trip from Rishikesh to Chopta (heaven on Earth I can say) is from 1745 ft to 8790 ft.

I occupied the front seat beside the driver bcos I really wanted to experience the roads up the hills. As the journey started, I realized that damn this is really different and hell difficult roads. Althought, you have this amazing scenic road trip with flowing rivers, beautiful houses in mountains, small waterfalls, the aroma of flowers, the greenary around. At the same time, you have these sharp turns, where one side of the road are rigid mountains and the other side deep valleys. Either way you go it’s dangerous. The only option is you move forward safely. You take the turn and you don’t know what’s coming ahead, what are you going to face. It’s only clear when the sharp turn ends and then as soon as one turn ends the second turn starts. And finally after this difficult journey of approximately 7 hours you reach a beautiful destination just like heaven on Earth, CHOPTA.

While travelling these roads from Rishikesh to Chopta through the mountains, I realised one thing, that life is same as journey through mountains. Be it a road trip or a trek, you are heading towards top for something beautiful but it’s not going to be easy. You start your journey of life with faith, you come across turns that is small challenges in life that are difficult, unpredictable and risky. But you have faith in yourself and you take a turn (obviously with a small control in your hand) to cross that turn safely and then once you overcome one hurdle you come across another. But you keep on overcoming these difficult turns of life enjoying the scenic view of your journey and at the end when you overcome all these difficult turns that is struggle of life, you finally reach a beautiful destination and you get this feeling that every risk you took was definitely worth it.

So I say, life is just like a journey through mountains ! You start with small struggles and risks, you overcome each of them, on the way you enjoy small pleasures of life that comes across and at the end you reach a beautiful destination where you always wanted to reach. Your difficulties in life leads you to your beautiful destination of life. Hence, have faith, keep going, over come all difficulties, enjoy your journey, because you are heading to some beautiful destination. 😍

The MAGIC of SELF TIME

The hustle bustle of the city life, all day busy schedule, demanding jobs, big career goals, active social life, balancing work and family together…!!!!! We don’t want to miss anything, from night out with friends to cousin’s wedding.. From dream career to luxurious life.. We need everything..!! All of us these days have FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out 😋
Being the most happening person in the group when you are out with your friends.. being a proud child of your parents when you are with your family or at some family function.. Being a fun loving colleague at your work place.. Being an amazing life partner to your spouse..
In all these hustle bustle of life.. where is the real you..
When you are already preoccupied with so much in your life, how do you realise what is it that you really want, what is your role in this world, what is the purpose of your life, what is it that you are here for…
All these questions can be answered when you spare some time for you.. The time which is only yours, you and your thoughts..!!
Self time can be anything.. just from listening a music alone or reading a book.. or may be involving yourself in a hobby.. playing a musical instrument for yourself or going for walk all by yourself.. Or may be cooking alone and only for you..Or even playing your favourite game on PS, self time gives you clarity.. makes you feel relaxed..
Today, when I write this blog I have completed my one hour of walk in joggers park with some wonderful music and this one hour of self time made this beautiful thoughts come across my mind. Also, I came across some amazing kids in the park who were preparing for Christmas, I had beautiful conversation with them. So my self time brings me closer to my passion of writing and makes me come across beautiful creation of god that is wonderful kids..
You will realise the importance of self time when you spare some for yourself.. Let’s be a little selfish once in a while, say no to one outing with friends or a small family function.. but make sure you never say no to yourself..
So, in life if you feel a bit stressed or even if you don’t .. All u do is invest some time in you, to get better you..
All throughout the you work for your company, your boss, your family. Once in a while take some time out and work for yourself and on yourself. Trust me, it can create magic 😇

An Unplanned Date..!!

A 100 meter long queue, around 80dB of noise of the music being played in the function at nearby ground, continuous sound of horns due to heavy traffic around and all those killing bites of mosquitoes…. 😦

Obviously not an amazing atmosphere for a date !!

But there they were, standing beside each other, waiting in the queue and talking about all random things going around them.. They didn’t realize when their conversation drifted from random things to the things about themselves…. The little talks of how they fell for each other from the very beginning, how they always knew it was meant to happen, the moments of love and care they shared, the silly arguments which never let them apart for more than few minutes and all this went on and on…

Lost in this amazing conversation, they suddenly noticed that their turn to use the ATM was next and that moment made them realize how perfectly they were made for each other, that even a 100 meter long queue and the most unromantic atmosphere around couldn’t stop them from feeling special when they were with each other.. May be this is what togetherness is all about..!!!!

P.S – Be with someone who makes even standing in an ATM queue interesting 😉

LET’S CHERISH THEIR SPECIAL MOMENTS TOO…..

When a new born baby arrives in a family, that moment becomes the most precious moment for entire family. Not only for parents, but also for grandparents.  As soon as everyone see the baby, each of them start their plans for the child.

From buying him super cool clothes and toys to plan savings for his future. From his schooling  to his graduation. From  what kind of stories to tell him at night to what places to go to the vacation with him. Each moment of the child becomes so special for all family members that their life now is all about happiness and well being of the child

And all these special moments are always captured, if not in photos then in memories of parents and grandparents. Memory of the time when child starts crawling and then walking. The moment  when child speaks mumma papa for the first time. The first movie of the child. Favorite stories of child that he loves to listen from grandparents. Favorite  garden of the child where his grand father takes him every evening to play. The time he learns cycling. The first day of the school to the first day of the college. The time he gets his first bike. Every moment is so special to family members that they are captured in photos, videos, diaries, and if not all these, they are captured in the memories of entire family which they cherish throughout their life.

Today I was travelling with my family to a temple as it is my brother’s birthday.  One part of travelling was to commute by Mumbai Metro train, which made me realize that it is the first time when my grandfather and my mother is commuting through the Mumbai metro train. And this brings me to the thought that our parents and grandparents preserve and cherish our memories since childhood and each moment is special to them. But do we do the same thing?

It was definitely a special moment for my mother and grandfather to travel by the metro train for the first time, although for us it may be a very common thing, but for them it was special. This made me realize, why don’t we as children try to capture and cherish special moments of our families.

The time my grandfather would learn to operate an android phone and the first time he would travel by an aeroplane is going to be special for me as a grand daughter.

The time I was successful in teaching my mom to use whatsapp and facebook. The time she learned to operate a fully automatic washing machine after 2-3 days of struggle was special to me.

The time my father tried to learn to cook just for me was more than special for me.

So, let us understand the importance of special moments of our parents and grandparents, which may be very normal thing to us but important to them.

Walking, running, cycling, speaking, going to school, college was a normal thing for our parents, yet they always cherish this special moment of our life.

Learning a new technology, doing something out of the way, coping up with the fast growing world around may be normal for us, but its special for our parents and grandparents. So let’s capture them and cherish them forever. J

A TREK TO REMEMBER…

It all started with a friend giving me information about an adventure club organising various treks this monsoon. At that very instant when I was talking with him about treks, I could already imagine the beauty of mountains and the urge of going for the trek started developing.

The fact is, I had never been to a trek before, but I always wanted to. I always feel there is something between me and the mountains and now the mountains are calling and I must go.

So I asked a bunch of friends and then we had a plan which included almost 15 people for the trek. None the less as always happens only 7 people finally went for trek, others disappeared by giving some stupid silly excuses. But, who cares, At the end, Life is all about people who are with you in the moment and that’s what matters.

So, now all seven of us were all set to have an awesome journey to a beautiful destination, a trek near panvel.

Now I had with me a group of friends with all sets of combinations possible.. Here I introduce you to them…

Flora, a girl who we always thought was an introvert one but who came out to be a totally surprise to us by all her mischievous comments during the trek.

Shreeyesh, the only guy in the group with an actual experience of being on several treks from easy to difficult level and have to managed to reach the highest peak of Maharashtra (P.S – This was his second trek in same week)

Omkar, the person who gets emotional in every small things and out GUIDE for the trek (P.S – he didn’t know anything about the trek and was forcefully made the guide just to blame him for everything that goes wrong during the trek :p )

Chinmay, the one who have been to the same trek two times 6 years ago (Our mentor for the trek)

Amol,  the one who kept us going by all the sarcasm that he have within him.

Aniket, the calm guy amongst us who was more concerned about taking the selfie with awesome views throughout the trek (P.S – he had lost his I-phone  2 days before the trek and this trek was somehow for him to get over this tragedy :p)

Reaching the trekking destination as planned (itinerary prepared by chinmay), we started our trek on time.. after around 30 minutes, I realised I was already tired (This made me realise that its high time to start working out). No matter what, I had to complete the trek..  the trekking was on..  with low stamina the other hurdle that I had to overcome was stupid silly jokes of my friends that made me laugh so much that at some instances I was actually running out of the breath.. But slowly and slowly.. thanks to the motivation from my team mates, we all managed to reach the top..

The view was magnificently breathtaking, with the high intensity blowing winds, fog around… All of us actually lied down on the grass, looking at the limitless sky, cold breeze, voice of nature all around and company of super cool people… what more can I ask for.. Everything was beyond perfect..

Enjoying that beyond perfect moment, we started our way back to the point from where we had started.. but now the starting point would never be the same because we had with us basket full of memories to cherish.

While returning from the trek, the route had become slippery because of the rains that drizzled in when we were at the top..  As I was walking I realised that there is something wrong with my shoes.. It tend to slip at every step. Not being much into sports things, I had with me the shoes that I had purchased few years back and I realised it was too old and the sole had lost its soul, the grip. This came as a real nightmare to me, because every step I would keep forward I felt I would slip.

This fear of slipping and falling down just got into my mind and completing the trek became an altogether different challenge for me.. But then as I already mentioned before, I had some supercool people with me and I knew they had a way out for me from this mess.. and they did it all very well…

Aniket and Flora lead us the way.. Amol and Omkar became my guide giving me minute details as where should I keep my next step.. Shreeyesh was there as constant source of motivation throughout.. and Chinmay very calmly supervised entire situation.. (This is what a mentor does 🙂 )

In this way, our way down from mountains became an entirely new challenge for all of us because of my stupid silly shoes. The shoes by which it felt like I would slip even if I walk on a flat slippery path, I managed to descend entire trek with it and because of my team mates.

So, this trek along with the awesome experience of mountains.. brought with it some positive life learning too.. It taught me to keep faith in yourself and in the people who are with you.. To have confidence in yourself no matter how much difficult things seems.. To trust yourself, your people and your destiny and most important thing is fear is just in your mind and you can easily overcome it.

At the end, it was all about living in the moment, with the best people, making some best memories and overcoming the worst fear 🙂

YOUR FIRST BIRTHDAY WITHOUT YOU…

23/06/2016

A letter for papa on his 50th birthday…

This is going to be your first birthday when you will not be there with us..

I still remember those times when on each of your birthday you use to be as excited as a 5 year old kid,  to celebrate his birthday. All the new clothes, special plans for the birthday, telling us what you expect in gift. And this makes me realize that age was just a number for you, because you always stayed young at heart.

The mischievous nature of a 5 years old kid… The naughtiness of a 16 years old teenage boy.. The enthusiasm of a 25 years old guy… and then the maturity of your own age.. There was nothing in this world that you missed within yourself, and that is the exact reason you have always been my inspiration.

Each memory is still fresh in my mind…

Most of the times, children cry when they go to school for the first time. But in our case, it was you who cried on my first day of school and was madly waiting for me to come back soon from school. If this was not enough, I still can’t believe that you had tears in your when I went to college for the first time (I have never heard any parent crying on first day of their child’s college life). Then again you became emotional when I had to go away from you and live in a different city for my higher studies.

You have been that dad who wanted his daughter to achieve all her dreams in life, but loved her way too much to let her go away and face this stupid silly sometimes mean world alone. Yet, you always have been the strongest dad who never let his emotions come between his daughter’s dreams (except allowing me to go for trek, because you thought that I would hurt myself while trekking).

You have been that person who taught me and gave me the freedom to look at the world with my own views and not necessarily to follow what others do. You made me understand that how important it is to be independent in this world and that I may love my life partner infinitely yet not be dependent on him.

You have been that person who taught me that everything happens for a reason.

That the heartbreaks are just a part of life and there is nothing wrong with it, because eventually I am going to find out that special someone who is meant just for me. So keep moving in life…

That failure is not the reason to give up, we are eventually going to achieve what we dream. So keep trying…

That the family is most important part of life, and there are always going to be some problems, some disagreements with your family, but we should never give up on people we love. So keep loving…

You have been the person who taught me everything that I know today and then one fine day you went far away from me.. Leaving me here to take care of people you loved, to follow my dreams and succeed in life.

You went away but your teachings will always stay, your love will always be felt, your blessings will always be there. Because all that I am or hope to be I owe it you papa. Love you papa. Happy birthday 🙂