With too much time to spare, the whim of a tour took off a mile a minute and materialized on the Saturday. Set and eager to enjoy the first ever planed vacation, I looked forward to having a quiet time, away from the countless hurdles that seem to amass with every step I take. Anyway, the tour required a hop stop at Bangalore and my first impression was, “Dirty!”, but then, I shall leave my impressions of her until I am better equipped with information by spending a date with her. For now, Bangalore was a strut in our journey to Coorg.
The journey to a destination is what makes the ride worthwhile, but the journey to Coorg was tiring and very frustrating. As we boarded the bus to Coorg, I plugged in my ipod, with less hope of staying awake throughout the journey, yet the second half of the journey, I was fighting nausea and just praying we would get down the damn bus fast. Bus rides are not my favourite and obviously, the choice of transport was not really good. When I stepped off the bus, it was such a relief, my legs almost gave away in the groan of satisfaction. And then there was the cab ride to the resort. That, I thoroughly enjoyed, perhaps because of the slight breeze that rushed past me. The resort was something at least. Kadkani resort, secluded and isolated, it was perfect in its own way. Surrounded by the tea plantations and with the Cauvery river on its one side, the resort was situated amidst the tranquillity and serenity of nature.
The cottage we booked was named Blue Maria, unsure of its origins and the reason why it was named so, but it had what is required and a little more. A walk around the resort gave me an impression that it is not that huge. The heat, however was exceptionally irritating. We decided to tour the place the next day and take the day after that off and enjoy the resort and so we planned with the lady at the reception, asking her about the places that need to be visited and booked a cab. Next day, bright and ready and raring to go, we had our breakfast and started on our introduction to Coorg. First impressions were that the place could be better maintained. I keep wondering why our government does not care much for tourism. It makes me sad to realize that the facilities, food and roads, are all bare minimum and in few places, worse. As we snaked through the route to Madikeri, towards the Raja seat, the scenic view was one heck of a beauty. The up hill drive, the long lush green patches, the intermittent horns of other vehicles and the unavoidable heat – all were part of the journey, yet the place, offered beautiful panoramic view which was simply breathtaking. The next place we visited was Nisargadhama (Bamboo forest I guess) was what made the trip worth while. Walking through the hanging bridge and splashing in the flowing Cauvery and slipping through the slippery rocks, the one hour revamped the entire tiredness of the whole trip and made the heat bearable. Watching kids swim in the river and seeing my friend enjoy herself in the flow of the river was simply amazing. After satiating our interest in that, we paid little attention to the remaining place and walked out. We had lunch that can only be said as filling and nothing more, void of taste and almost made me cringe at the fact that it would almost be at least another three days before I had anything that can be called food. Lesson learnt is that you better be willing to survive on bread and jam and coffee when you are out. Next we set out to the golden temple and that was a vision of its own. I simply fell in love with the place. Just the calmness of the Tibetian monastery soothed my senses. Walking through the entire monastery and trying to decipher their culture without much success, I just enjoyed the moment and gave myself the luxury of basking in the serenity of the monastery. Then we went rafting in Dubare, that was cool and tiring, but well worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed the boat ride with the too friendly native Rajesh who was our guide/main rafter. The unguarded bits of thoughts that flew past me and the relative simplicity of chatting with a stranger that would have once had me tongue-tied gave me a jolt of surprise as I realized that this is what I have been missing most, the almost free bits of thoughts without a care or thought for the future, just cherishing the moment in its true sense. Perhaps, that one reason helped me enjoy the rafting. The scenic beauty of the place left me speechless again. After a half hour of this water adventure, we travelled back to our resort and just about wrapped ourselves in bed.
The next day we got up at leisure and after the yesterday’s adventure with food, I decided to quit experimenting and have bread and jam. While I asked the cook to give me bread and jam, he insisted on giving a native speciality called “Paputtu” and “potato curry – coorg style”. I had my doubts about it, though. My friend was inclined towards experimenting however and took the brave step of tasting it, while I made myself a strong cup of coffee and sat in the sofa next to her. After she gave a grade-A to the Paputtu, I too tried it and loved it. So yeah, if anyone ever goes to Coorg, please do try this out ;). After the breakfast and after flipping through the channels for sometime, we decided to get ready and roam around the resort. We walked around, taking few snaps along the way. the resort has the Cauvery river on one of its side and we went rafting in it. WOW!!! That was just wow! The dull rush of the river and the noise as it sliced through the rocks has such a soothing effect on the ears that I just closed my eyes and embraced the peace. The cool breeze coming off the waves and the greenery around us put me into a different mood all together. After an hour of rafting, we sat on the little rocks that guarded the section of the lake that deepens – one of the nature’s mysterious gifts to the humans, I guess. As the rush of the waves gave us a back ground music and the cold water washed our feet, we had out moments of bliss. When I say I have thoroughly enjoyed the few minutes we spent on those rocks, I am speaking for both of us. The journey back towards the resort was also fun – when the guide tried talking us into rope water crossing and a swim in the lake – which we adamantly refused. We had a sumptuous lunch back in the room and passed the time indoors by reading books. In the evening, we played table tennis. While my friend is alright with her game, I am a novice… I enjoyed the game and the conversation and the strange bits of thoughts that came to my mind. While playing the game, I realized – a game is not about winning – but about the attitude. The game is not about the points – but about the ball in the right corner of the table at the right time. It was at that point, I had the strangest line of thoughts that wrapped me so completely, I had tough time focusing and enjoying. The line of thoughts would form a different blog together, if I can ever put that entire swarm of emotion into words. On a separate channel of thought – the game also reminded me all the people I wished were there – to share that moment. It is then, that I realized – trips should be made with a bunch of people – at least trips where activities like these are also a part. Sight seeing can be done solo or with a couple of friends, but games – especially outdoor games require groups of people.
We started the following day, the journey back home. I had my date with the moon that night – as I slept in the bottom side compartment, secluded and alone – gazing into the night sky and the song – “Right here waiting for you” playing in my ears. One such journey came to my mind and as the moon played hide and seek with the clouds and me, I smiled and waited in anticipation for it to peep out again. the wait was always worthwhile as the full moon smiled brilliantly at me, every single time and almost took my breath away. The songs continued down my favourite list – the never ending romance circling the air, as my vivid imagination lurked round the corner, swinging me from one cosy corner to the other and as I flirted with the moon, my heart drifted slowly to the comfort thoughts stored in the corner draw and I slept a dreamless sleep after a very long time. when I woke up – it was dawn and I looked at the passing greenery with relish and happiness as the thoughts of home and the new challenges ahead of me opened a cheerful morning. I never thought I would miss Hyderabad or for that matter – I never realized I love this place so much – but believe me when I say, despite the mad traffic, Hyderabad is a better place than the natives seem to think and it has better food too.
That completed the three day trip to Coorg – an alright place – I would not say that it is a place that will have to be visited, but it is a get away of sorts – if the goal is to relax your soul.
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