Commentary from Coorg

14 August, 2008: We boarded on MMTS local at Hi-Tech City railway station to catch Bangalore Express, which was to depart at 19.00 from Kacheguda (Hyderabad). This is an overnight train with no pantry car, so it's better to carry food if you don't want to sleep hungry. Anyways, as soon as I stepped into the train, I was impressed by its brand new look. The leather-brown seats with matching curtains, cream colored walls, and the clean floor glittering with mica, created quite an aesthetic surrounding. Also, this bogey had an additional side berth, meaning more revenue for the railway. Laloo's team is indeed coming up with some innovative ideas and though most of them are only to fool people, I give him a thumbs up for this one.

15 August, 2008: We hit the Bangalore-Mysore highway at around 11.00. Our Scorpio was running at top speed; the weather, the cool breeze, and the greenery made our mood in no time.

The road after Mysore is not that great, but there is no dearth of greenery. By afternoon, we had reached Kushalnagar, which is home to thousands of refugees from Tibet.




It is a indeed a unique experience to see so many Buddhist monks in this part of India. At the same time it seems a trifle strange that they have chosen to settle so far from their homeland.

These thoughts vanish as soon as you enter the Golden Temple. The exterior is exotic enough, but it is the interior that is awe-inspiring. Three 60 feet tall statues welcome you and dazzle your eyes with golden brilliance. I gazed at the statues for sometime; but before the solemnity of the place seeped inside, my curiosity was roused by the elaborateness of arrangement. I tried to capture the magnificence of that place in my camera, without losing the details of decoration, only to feel frustrated.


We had lunch (which smelt funny), browsed some shops, chatted with their owners, and then moved from there. We reached Medikari in evening, booked a hotel and called it a day.

16 August, 2008: The day began with a drizzling, which didn't bother us too much. In fact, I will recommend you to visit Coorg in Monsoon only, because the place looks greener than ever.

We drove to Abbey's fall first. All you should not forget is to fold your pants before you go near the fall, lest leeches will stick to your body and will suck your blood leaving practically nothing for your boss. The fall was the largest I had ever seen. Its roar was audible from the road itself. The water crashed against the rocks and the vapor flew in air, making the drizzle superfluous.

We were under a misconception that rafting takes place in Talakaveri, the origin of Kaveri. Since I was disturbed by some unpleasant developments in my personal life of late, I was unable to do my homework properly. That does not mean that I regret going to Talakaveri. In monsoon, there is nowhere you can go in Coorg and regret. The way to Talakaveri was walled by dense forests, and coffee estates. We were literally among clouds. We could see them playing with winds, running over hills, like little children.

We had to miss Nagarahole National Park because of its timings. We were least interested in tourist points like Madikeri Fort and Raja Seat etc. There was no sun, and no sunset to be seen from Raja Seat. So we came back to our room, took our dinner followed by a stroll (which I enjoy more than anything else) and retired to our beds.

17 August, 2008: We were to miss elephant ride in Dobare because of timings again. We had thought of taking the ride after rafting, but we didn't know that the ride is given till 13.00 only. Anyways, we were interested in rafting and we didn't want to miss that.


We didn't miss that, thankfully.












We dressed up and posed with our paddles before setting off for our maiden rafting experience. We all were excited about it, but the flow in Kaveri was not very enthusiastic. If you ignore a few rapids in the way, the flow was looking more suitable for boating than for rafting. Anyways, half of the fun depends on things other than the flow of Kaveri. We made fun of the flow and dived into the river to redeem the value for our money. It was nice to lie down on water, facing the sky and ignoring our instructor's instructions. In the end, we were a happy lot.

We had to reach Bangalore by evening. So we had to wrap things up. We took lunch at a nearby restaurant, which served us simple South Indian meal. And that tasted better than all the North Indian food we had eaten throughout the trip.

Our last halt was at Nisargadhama, which is a sort of botanical garden. There was hardly anything of any particular interest for us. We walked about for sometime and then decided to push off from there.

Coorg will remind me of forests, and clouds running over the hills. The hills give you a sense of isolation from the noise of urban life, and a peace of mind. The silence of forests has a way of calling those who can hear the call. Let me hear the call again, I promise to go back again.