Coorg
Finally!!! After much planning, postponing and deliberation we actually managed to go on a trip this weekend. This was despite the fact that most of the junta had backed off citing some reason or the other. In fact we weren’t even sure if we’d be able to make the trip by Friday afternoon. Finally it was left to the five of us ; Vivek, Krishna, Rajiv, Ameya and myself to make the trip to Coorg.
We were joined for dinner at 3 Quarter Chinese that evening by Tahir (there after a visit to the local tattoo artist) and Balaji (who was half of what he used to be), both on a short visit to Bangalore before flying off to Delhi. (These ABB people surely are doing some serious traveling) . After dinner we hopped into the Qualis that was waiting for us and started off. The drive was rather uneventful, except of course for Vaidya’s wisecracks. (He somehow had found this sudden fancy for ‘Holdenisms’ after reading Catcher in the Rye, and kept calling everyone and everything a phoney) Krishna, by the way, had with him his new Nikon camera. (supposedly the second most expensive camera in the world). Reports are that the economy of Oman underwent a sudden boost after the camera was bought and Nikon was able to break even in the last quarter thanks to the purchase.
Anyway we reached Madikere, the main town, on Saturday morning and checked into a tourist lodge. I'd heard that Coorg was called the Scotland of South India. Well, I wasn't really expecting to find bagpipe playing Highlanders in kilts strutting along the streets, but then the similarity obviously missed my eyes. Probably the hills. Our first visit was to the Madikere fort, which turned out to be a prison, government office and a museum, all in a single complex. Then we were off to Abbey Falls. The name seemed pretty funny, considering that Abbey was the word for falls in some local language, so that the name literally translated to ‘Falls Falls’. The falls were pretty spectacular, but what was better was the climb to the top of the falls, which Mota unfortunately couldn’t make. Next up was Thalacauvery, the source of the river Kaveri, some 46 km away. This involved a drive through some stunning landscape. Unfortunately for us we were asleep for the better part of the journey. After visiting the temple at the origin of the river we climbed up the 363 steps to the top of the Brahmagiri peak. (Mota included) This was where Agasthya and the Saptharshis had meditated when they were in this part of the country. Again some breath-taking views from the top of the hill. We were back in time to see the sunset from Raja’s seat. Sadly we were unable to capture the sunset, as Vivek had suddenly taken an interest in the camera, especially the optical zoom feature, and was using it to good effect scanning the vicinity for female pulchritude.
The next morning, after checking out of the lodge, we were on our way to Kushalnagar. First up, was a visit to the park (Kaveri something…can’t exactly remember the name) After a ride on elephant-back we decided to take a dip in the river, much to krishna’s dismay. He of course was carrying his Nikon around and wasn’t willing to part with it even for a minute. That was probably the best part of the trip. We succeeded in getting ourselves totally drenched. I even managed the rather exceptional feat of swimming in barely two feet of water. Next stop was the Namdroling monastery. I’d heard that this was the biggest Tibetan settlement in South India, barring Bangalore, of course but I didn’t expect it to be much bigger that one of those monasteries you find in movies and Tintin comics. Boy, was I mistaken. What was in store for us was one of the most awe-inspiring architecture in this part of the world. Two huge temples, replete with architectural finesse and excellent craftsmanship. What was more, there was a ceremony going on in the main hall, which turned out to be the Dhumchen (or so I heard from a monk) which was held once a year. What wonderful luck!
It was time to leave, as we had to get back to Bangalore by that evening, Krishna having to complete his paper. The return journey was again pretty much uneventful (but not really boring with Vaidya around).
Although I missed the season-opening Bahrain GP, and for a change a cricket match that I might have liked to see (the Aus-SA match), the weekend was certainly one to remember. Hope to make another trip soon.
We were joined for dinner at 3 Quarter Chinese that evening by Tahir (there after a visit to the local tattoo artist) and Balaji (who was half of what he used to be), both on a short visit to Bangalore before flying off to Delhi. (These ABB people surely are doing some serious traveling) . After dinner we hopped into the Qualis that was waiting for us and started off. The drive was rather uneventful, except of course for Vaidya’s wisecracks. (He somehow had found this sudden fancy for ‘Holdenisms’ after reading Catcher in the Rye, and kept calling everyone and everything a phoney) Krishna, by the way, had with him his new Nikon camera. (supposedly the second most expensive camera in the world). Reports are that the economy of Oman underwent a sudden boost after the camera was bought and Nikon was able to break even in the last quarter thanks to the purchase.
Anyway we reached Madikere, the main town, on Saturday morning and checked into a tourist lodge. I'd heard that Coorg was called the Scotland of South India. Well, I wasn't really expecting to find bagpipe playing Highlanders in kilts strutting along the streets, but then the similarity obviously missed my eyes. Probably the hills. Our first visit was to the Madikere fort, which turned out to be a prison, government office and a museum, all in a single complex. Then we were off to Abbey Falls. The name seemed pretty funny, considering that Abbey was the word for falls in some local language, so that the name literally translated to ‘Falls Falls’. The falls were pretty spectacular, but what was better was the climb to the top of the falls, which Mota unfortunately couldn’t make. Next up was Thalacauvery, the source of the river Kaveri, some 46 km away. This involved a drive through some stunning landscape. Unfortunately for us we were asleep for the better part of the journey. After visiting the temple at the origin of the river we climbed up the 363 steps to the top of the Brahmagiri peak. (Mota included) This was where Agasthya and the Saptharshis had meditated when they were in this part of the country. Again some breath-taking views from the top of the hill. We were back in time to see the sunset from Raja’s seat. Sadly we were unable to capture the sunset, as Vivek had suddenly taken an interest in the camera, especially the optical zoom feature, and was using it to good effect scanning the vicinity for female pulchritude.
The next morning, after checking out of the lodge, we were on our way to Kushalnagar. First up, was a visit to the park (Kaveri something…can’t exactly remember the name) After a ride on elephant-back we decided to take a dip in the river, much to krishna’s dismay. He of course was carrying his Nikon around and wasn’t willing to part with it even for a minute. That was probably the best part of the trip. We succeeded in getting ourselves totally drenched. I even managed the rather exceptional feat of swimming in barely two feet of water. Next stop was the Namdroling monastery. I’d heard that this was the biggest Tibetan settlement in South India, barring Bangalore, of course but I didn’t expect it to be much bigger that one of those monasteries you find in movies and Tintin comics. Boy, was I mistaken. What was in store for us was one of the most awe-inspiring architecture in this part of the world. Two huge temples, replete with architectural finesse and excellent craftsmanship. What was more, there was a ceremony going on in the main hall, which turned out to be the Dhumchen (or so I heard from a monk) which was held once a year. What wonderful luck!
It was time to leave, as we had to get back to Bangalore by that evening, Krishna having to complete his paper. The return journey was again pretty much uneventful (but not really boring with Vaidya around).
Although I missed the season-opening Bahrain GP, and for a change a cricket match that I might have liked to see (the Aus-SA match), the weekend was certainly one to remember. Hope to make another trip soon.
posted by Raj at 8:14 PM
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