Coorg it was

After much dilly-dallying over locations, tour operators and dates, our vacation happened. The original plan of heading to the North-East with BIL & SIL didn't happen and finally husband and I headed to Coorg (which was one of my must-see destinations after much good feedback from friends who'd been there).

I had a completely different picture of Coorg before I landed there. Assumed it to be a completely hilly area with cool temperatures and lots of people around. But the scene there turned out to be quite different. An uneven surface, yes, but not totally hilly (like say, Ooty).

Lot of people advised us to head to Orange County if we wanted to go to Coorg, but our last-minute planning didn't give us that luxury. It was completely booked and we didn't get a cottage within our budget. So we finally zeroed in on Kadkani. These people are sweet - they approached us directly when we were making enquiries on makemytrip etc. for accommodation in Coorg and been patient to bear with our ever-changing and demanding requests. They gave us a convincing package with an A/C cottage and pickup & drop from & to Bangalore. This avoided a major headache for us.

About the resort - Kadkani is a nice resort - totally self-sustained. There are lot of activities you could do inside the resort - Rope river crossing, boating, still water rafting, plantation trek etc. The resort is beautifully landscaped with enough space between the cottages to give you the privacy you'd need on a holiday. It's great for families as well because it has Volley Ball, Cricket grounds, net climbing, burma bridge where we saw families get together, play and have fun. The package was inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner so there was no worry about food either. They serve awesome pakoras as well if you want an evening snack, which is chargeable. The cottages have a neat sit-out with a wooden bench where we played scrabble for hours together. They have Tata Sky, but then who cares?! We didn't bother to switch on the TV and there was no mobile signal so we were blisfully unaware of the worldly happenings.

The resort is slightly away from the sight-seeing places so it will be a challenge if you don't have a car hired. They will help you get one but it might be difficult to get one on demand during peak season.

There are a lot of interesting places to see in Coorg. And the variety of flora seen in the valley is simply out of this world!

Tala Cauvery is a well built, beautiful temple with a scenic view from the top. Fortunately we didn't find crowds there. The temple houses Agastyeswara, from whose kamandalam the river Cauvery is believed to be originated. A little uphill (370 steps to be precise) from the temple is a breathtaking viewpoint with green hills all around.

Abby falls is a typical waterfall, nothing unique but the approach to it is quite nice. You walk and trek through the coffee plantations to get to this waterfall, the surroundings of which are well-maintained despite the mindless junta who throw plastic bottles, broken shoes etc. on the way though there is a huge dustbin on the way and placards requesting people not to litter.

But the Tibetan Monastery bowled us over. A friend recommended the place to me and I took his recommendation seriously since we share a lot in common and I'm usually quite charmed by Buddhist monasteries. There's an unusual calm and peace about them which I don't feel elsewhere. The huge buildings with bright coloured interiors and pleasing sounds of the gongs give me a great sense of peace. And so we headed there despite many other recommendations from the resort reception.

The monastery didn't disappoint us one bit! We were lucky to have been there on Buddha Purnima - a day of celebration for the Buddhists and there was a huge gathering of the monks and Buddhists. The monks dressed themselves in bright orange and maroon robes and performed their traditional dance using various instruments.

Oh, and we did the mandatory elephant-ride as well in the bamboo forest ;-) We rode a majestic 36-year old tusker who plucked grass with his trunk and sneezed on to us while we were sitting on him!!

The specialties of the hills are honey and spices. We stopped by a spices & honey store and got to know about their process of extraction and saw their honeycombs. The stores all well-stocked with honey and spices and the storekeepers are very friendly. They explain anything you want, give you suggestions and even go out of their way to help you. At one store, we wanted just 1/2 Kg of honey while they usually stock 1 Kg bottles. But we didn't want 1 Kg, rather 2 different varities of 1/2 Kg each and she obliged. She emptied one bottle into a bigger bottle and gave us what we wanted - all with a smiling face!! In general the people in Coorg are very tourist-friendly unlike many other places I've been to. They may not understand English and Hindi but they will not frown or behave rudely with you. And that's the best part - it leaves a pleasant feeling as you leave the place and feel like coming back.

A few things we wish we'd known earlier:

1. Having a mode of transport is a must in Coorg. Public transportation is almost non-existent towards the resorts and hiring one on demand through the resort might be an expensive affair. It's better to negotiate for an all-inclusive package (which we luckily did).

2. The way from Bangalore/Mysore to Coorg is almost deserted with not many places to eat or even find some biscuits/snacks. Better to stock some snacks if you enjoy your munchies on the go.

3. There are quite a few places in and around Coorg if you really enjoy forests and wildlife. And IMO, the best time to visit would be Oct-Nov, when the rains would have stopped and temperatures dropped.