MADIKERI ONCE MORE
Last weekend, on Independence Day, my wife and I visited Madikeri. This was our second visit to the town and it continues to refresh us !
We originally planned to go by bus, but the H1N1 scare made us think twice. I was all for taking the bus but the saner and practical counsel of my wife prevailed. Travelling in a bus increases chances of catching the H1N1 and as neither of us have strong immunities to viruses, it made sense to take a private vehicle. I drive only if I have to and so we settled for the expensive (but safe) option of taking a taxi to Madikeri.
The taxi came at 7:05 in the morning, on Independence Day. It was a cloudy morning that day. All along the Bengaluru - Mysooru highway, there were students celebrating Independence Day. The tricolour flag fluttered in many places that morning. As my wife observed, the fervour of celebration was more in the rural areas beyond Mysooru. We ate breakfast at Indradhanush near Maddur and also stopped at my wife's uncle's house in Mandya. We stayed there for 20 minutes.
Soon we were on the outskirts of Mysooru. We took the right towards KRS dam and reached Yelvala shortly. Our next stop was at Hunsur where our driver checked the spare tyre - just in case. After that we sped towards Madikeri. As usual, the journey was just one town after another. Periyapatna, Koppa, Kushalnagar, Shuntikoppa all came and went.
Meanwhile, I was busy reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the front seat with the window open, since my wife preferred to lower the window in the back seat. We reached Silent Valley cottages (http://www.hotelcrystalcourt.com/hilldale_resorts.html) at around 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon, not bad considering the stoppages we had. Silent Valley is located 6 km before Madikeri town, in a coffee estate. The tarred road to the cottages was narrow so that only one car could go on the path, at a time. The road sloped upwards and I kept hoping that we wouldn't meet another car headed towards us ! If it had, we would have had to stop and back up a fair distance until two cars could (hopefully !) squeeze by !
For lunch, we went to Madikeri and ate it at Crystal Court. Silent Valley and Crystal Court belong to the same group. The restaurant was full with the weekend road. It was 3 p.m. by the time we finished and headed back to the cottage.
The name Silent Valley, is apt for the place. As we stretched in Room No. 8, the loudest noises were the chirping of insects and the only artificial sound - the compressor of the refrigerator, sounded unnaturally loud ! Refreshed after a brief nap, we set out for a walk. I took an umbrella in one hand and a traditional Nikon camera in the other.
The cottages are on the top and overlook a valley. Paths from the cottage head downwards and we chose to walk along the continuation of the road we drove. The tarred road ended, but there was a clear muddy trail where it looked like a jeep had moved. We followed it. It drizzled and I was glad that I brought the rain. At the same time, there was also sunlight and the walk was quite enjoyable. The path just kept going on and on.
At one point, we discovered a small pond (the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842911370/in/set-72157622102020864/ shows the water body) with standing water. The water looked unclean, but it still looked pretty. All around us were signs of an extensive coffee plantation. There were tall silver oaks, spices like pepper wines wrapped around tall trees and the coffee shrubs themselves lying in the shades of the tall trees. The greenery and the fresh air made the trip worthwhile already. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842120175/in/set-72157622102020864/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842910302/in/set-72157622102020864/ are two photos of that walk. We returned, drank coffee and then set off on the way our taxi had come earlier in the afternoon.
The caretaker checked with us what we wanted for dinner and he seemed disappointed that we were vegetarian. He tried his best to convince us to eat egg fried rice, but my wife was equally adamant about not eating it ;-). Finally we settled for a menu of dal, neer dosa and curds. The dal lacked salt, but the quality improved the next day. There is a somewhat disarming charm in the lack of professionalism among the waiters and caretakers there. The young men there clearly told us that breakfast would be served only by 9:30 a.m. and that even the first coffee next morning would take some time in coming !
The next day, the coffee came at 7:15 when I was in the middle of a rather exciting solitary walk. My wife said she would sleep and I went on a path right next to our room. It took me to a clearing with a tarred road close by and I wondered why this was so. This was when my wife called to tell that the coffee had come. I spotted grey mushrooms on my way and quickly walked up the slope. I was puffing and panting when I reached our room.
I took my wife along a walk to the clearing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842119129/in/set-72157622102020864/) after we drank coffee. She found a couple of ladies attired in the Kodava (Coorgi) style and struck up a conversation with them. We learnt that the clearing was used to dry the coffee beans. The generator like machine that was on one side of the clearing was a coffee pulper. There is a bungalow close to the pulper which is also used by tourists.
We went back and relaxed on the swing until breakfast came. Breakfast was idly and upma served with chutney, well made and welcome ! We got ready and went to Baghmandala. The temple has been improved since our last visit. The plaque outside the temple challenged us to locate the Kannada "vee", the signature of the king who constructed the temple. We don't recall this being present when we visited the temple in March 2008. My wife located the signature on the door.
We ate lunch in Madikeri and were back by 3 p.m. at Silent Valley. I finished reading the Harry Potter book in the afternoon. In the evening, we shopped for coffee and honey in Madikeri and visited Raja's Seat. It was raining while we were shopping and we stopped to eat raagi dose and drink coffee at a small hotel in Madikeri. My wife rather liked the dose and the coffee was decent as well.
It rained heavily that night and even Bengaluru received 75 mm rain that night.
The next morning I went for a solitary walk first. After a breakfast that was served earlier due to our request, we went for a walk along the main road. On our way back, my wife spotted a rather brilliant snail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842910360/in/set-72157622102020864/) which made my day ! I have never seen such a spectacular snail in my life !
We left Madikeri soon after, visited my wife's cousin in Mysooru and were back in namma Bengaluru by night.
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Last weekend, on Independence Day, my wife and I visited Madikeri. This was our second visit to the town and it continues to refresh us !
We originally planned to go by bus, but the H1N1 scare made us think twice. I was all for taking the bus but the saner and practical counsel of my wife prevailed. Travelling in a bus increases chances of catching the H1N1 and as neither of us have strong immunities to viruses, it made sense to take a private vehicle. I drive only if I have to and so we settled for the expensive (but safe) option of taking a taxi to Madikeri.
The taxi came at 7:05 in the morning, on Independence Day. It was a cloudy morning that day. All along the Bengaluru - Mysooru highway, there were students celebrating Independence Day. The tricolour flag fluttered in many places that morning. As my wife observed, the fervour of celebration was more in the rural areas beyond Mysooru. We ate breakfast at Indradhanush near Maddur and also stopped at my wife's uncle's house in Mandya. We stayed there for 20 minutes.
Soon we were on the outskirts of Mysooru. We took the right towards KRS dam and reached Yelvala shortly. Our next stop was at Hunsur where our driver checked the spare tyre - just in case. After that we sped towards Madikeri. As usual, the journey was just one town after another. Periyapatna, Koppa, Kushalnagar, Shuntikoppa all came and went.
Meanwhile, I was busy reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the front seat with the window open, since my wife preferred to lower the window in the back seat. We reached Silent Valley cottages (http://www.hotelcrystalcourt.com/hilldale_resorts.html) at around 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon, not bad considering the stoppages we had. Silent Valley is located 6 km before Madikeri town, in a coffee estate. The tarred road to the cottages was narrow so that only one car could go on the path, at a time. The road sloped upwards and I kept hoping that we wouldn't meet another car headed towards us ! If it had, we would have had to stop and back up a fair distance until two cars could (hopefully !) squeeze by !
For lunch, we went to Madikeri and ate it at Crystal Court. Silent Valley and Crystal Court belong to the same group. The restaurant was full with the weekend road. It was 3 p.m. by the time we finished and headed back to the cottage.
The name Silent Valley, is apt for the place. As we stretched in Room No. 8, the loudest noises were the chirping of insects and the only artificial sound - the compressor of the refrigerator, sounded unnaturally loud ! Refreshed after a brief nap, we set out for a walk. I took an umbrella in one hand and a traditional Nikon camera in the other.
The cottages are on the top and overlook a valley. Paths from the cottage head downwards and we chose to walk along the continuation of the road we drove. The tarred road ended, but there was a clear muddy trail where it looked like a jeep had moved. We followed it. It drizzled and I was glad that I brought the rain. At the same time, there was also sunlight and the walk was quite enjoyable. The path just kept going on and on.
At one point, we discovered a small pond (the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842911370/in/set-72157622102020864/ shows the water body) with standing water. The water looked unclean, but it still looked pretty. All around us were signs of an extensive coffee plantation. There were tall silver oaks, spices like pepper wines wrapped around tall trees and the coffee shrubs themselves lying in the shades of the tall trees. The greenery and the fresh air made the trip worthwhile already. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842120175/in/set-72157622102020864/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842910302/in/set-72157622102020864/ are two photos of that walk. We returned, drank coffee and then set off on the way our taxi had come earlier in the afternoon.
The caretaker checked with us what we wanted for dinner and he seemed disappointed that we were vegetarian. He tried his best to convince us to eat egg fried rice, but my wife was equally adamant about not eating it ;-). Finally we settled for a menu of dal, neer dosa and curds. The dal lacked salt, but the quality improved the next day. There is a somewhat disarming charm in the lack of professionalism among the waiters and caretakers there. The young men there clearly told us that breakfast would be served only by 9:30 a.m. and that even the first coffee next morning would take some time in coming !
The next day, the coffee came at 7:15 when I was in the middle of a rather exciting solitary walk. My wife said she would sleep and I went on a path right next to our room. It took me to a clearing with a tarred road close by and I wondered why this was so. This was when my wife called to tell that the coffee had come. I spotted grey mushrooms on my way and quickly walked up the slope. I was puffing and panting when I reached our room.
I took my wife along a walk to the clearing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842119129/in/set-72157622102020864/) after we drank coffee. She found a couple of ladies attired in the Kodava (Coorgi) style and struck up a conversation with them. We learnt that the clearing was used to dry the coffee beans. The generator like machine that was on one side of the clearing was a coffee pulper. There is a bungalow close to the pulper which is also used by tourists.
We went back and relaxed on the swing until breakfast came. Breakfast was idly and upma served with chutney, well made and welcome ! We got ready and went to Baghmandala. The temple has been improved since our last visit. The plaque outside the temple challenged us to locate the Kannada "vee", the signature of the king who constructed the temple. We don't recall this being present when we visited the temple in March 2008. My wife located the signature on the door.
We ate lunch in Madikeri and were back by 3 p.m. at Silent Valley. I finished reading the Harry Potter book in the afternoon. In the evening, we shopped for coffee and honey in Madikeri and visited Raja's Seat. It was raining while we were shopping and we stopped to eat raagi dose and drink coffee at a small hotel in Madikeri. My wife rather liked the dose and the coffee was decent as well.
It rained heavily that night and even Bengaluru received 75 mm rain that night.
The next morning I went for a solitary walk first. After a breakfast that was served earlier due to our request, we went for a walk along the main road. On our way back, my wife spotted a rather brilliant snail (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/3842910360/in/set-72157622102020864/) which made my day ! I have never seen such a spectacular snail in my life !
We left Madikeri soon after, visited my wife's cousin in Mysooru and were back in namma Bengaluru by night.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
++++++ BEGINS ++++++
When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
opinions speak for themselves (see the archive !)
Imagine my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still retain the blog
name as "Anonymous Expressions", I will only
request you to ignore my name and concentrate on
my opinions instead !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
++++++ ENDS ++++++
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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