We started late from Bangalore 8 am from our JP Nagar abode . Given my rustiness from not having undertaken a highway drive for quite some time , i found myself driving the car on the Bangalore-Mysore highway as though i would drive in the slow city traffic . The NICE intersection arrives at ~8 km from the kanakapura-ringroad junction , then you take a right and get on to the really NICE highway. You have to shell out 16 Rs/- for the toll if you want to take the mysore road. The 9 Km on the NICE road is a breeze and then you join the Mysore Road.
After Ramanagaram , we stopped over for a good breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi. They make really nice Idlis wrapped in leaf , but i prefer "healthy" Pooris anyday :-) . The other obvious breakfast stop-over choices are - Shivalli restaurant OR Maddur Tiffanys. There are other hep eating places now - McDees/Coffee day etc .
To go to coorg , you have to take the right at the junction which heralds the arrival of Mysore - just after the big canal bridge over your head . Then you travel through the industrial estate of Mysore - the road twists and turns . Advise you to be careful here : there are some places where you may just head the wrong way - when in doubt ask someone . Some boards show ooty and some exist in obscure places . After a good 6-7 km down and up and down the hilly industrial estate you then arrive at a "major" junction , where you see huge boards indicating Coorg/Hunsur . You need to take a right at this junction to get onto the SH-88 which will take you to Coorg.
Now : This road is a Pleaaasuuuure ! It's one of the most wonderful roads i have driven on. Did i hear someone say it's like Hemamalini's cheeks ? You bet !
Just before Hunsur , you see the road taking a V - The road on your left takes you inside Hunsur and the right one is the bypass road . Continue on the bypass road headed towards PiriyaPattana . After just under an hour from Mysore , we reached PiriyaPattana . Soon after Piriyapattana ends , the SH-88 takes a right curve . At this place you see an old big board saying continue straight for Orange county.
Orange county is situated just before the town of Siddapur. Siddapur is reached by taking the above mentioned diversion off the SH-88 after Piriyapattana. Here's where the city feeling really ends and the countryside really begins - you feel it instantly when you are stopped by a hoarde of goats and the shepherd who doesn't care a thing for your horn !
The drive on this road is slow - you get these small speed-breakers at small villages in between just before the forest begins. The drive is really good - don't forget to horn at important times . Many local jeeps and trucks suddenly appear out of nowhere and you really need to slow-down to give them the "side" ! Also , this road can get really bumpy , so if you want no puncture situation , drive easy.
After the other end of forest checkpost ends , you begin to see the Coffee estates with the silver oak trees - A refreshing sight indeed.
Many Coffee-estates later , we came across a board "orange county" to the right . Take a right inside this estate . The road again twists and turns amid thick coffee bushes and a good 3 km later you enter the reception of the Orange county , welcomed by Big Moustached, dhoti wearing folks beating drums , a tilak to your forehead , an Anthurium flower and a sugarcane juice. we were ferried to our cottage in an electric buggy.
Orange County is a "high-end" place - The extremely courteous staff and the well kept place justifies the cost partly , while i still think it's more expensive than it should be . The cottages are clean and have just enough of everything . I wish they had carpeted it or had a wooden flooring , since the floor gets really cold .
Orange county is a resort with different kind of cottage types - ranging from the minimalistic ones to the ones with swimming pool inside them. They have well maintained pathways , a small pond and a bigger lake , 3 types of restuarants , a superb coffee lounge and a very active activity centre . They also have an ayurvedic centre and arrange for plantation walks and so on .
The Coffee lounge is probably the best kept secret and i can't visualize a better coffee sipping place than that. The lounge is on a high platform of wooden flooring , with a thatched roof , overlooking an amazing paddy field . The chairs are very reclining , the coffee is top-class and they also have some good books - I never thought lounging could be so heavenly !
The staff everywhere are full of smiles in general the service is of high standard. The food - i felt that the North Indian stuff was good , but the south indian dishes weren't upto mark. I would recommend anyone to just stick to the Granary restuarant only .
The activity centre folks have always something up the sleeve - we enjoyed a kodava dance , a kolata show on the next day and some good games around a bonfire . The Anthurium garden and the fish-catching was an interesting experience also.
Outside Orange county , Our first planned visit was to Dubare Elephant camp. Here you have the pleasure of getting to wash the elephants , watch them gulp huge ragi balls and then have a 15 minute ride on their backs .
[ PS : It's with reason that i am choosing not to post any images of Orange county. ]
To get to Dubare , you must cross siddapur town , cross the big bridge on cauvery , then reach a small bridge where the road forks - take the road on the right . This road twists and turns and after a good 45 minutes you will see a small board saying Dubare - Don't miss this ! A km inside this and you reach the cauvery rapids. A private ferry will take you across the river and you can reach the Gaja-Rajas' territory. The youngsters prefer to white-water-raft at this place.
The elephant wash begins by 8:30 am and ends by around 9:30/10 am - it's advisable to be her e at least before 9:30 am .
The elephants have really thick skin - you really feel it once you scrub the elephant :-) . They even seemed to wink at us while enjoying all the attention and a good bath .
After the wash , the elephants are fed with huge , hot ragi balls and then some of them are ready for a ride . The ride costs 100/- per head and Approx 4 adults and 2 kids can sit on one elephant. They start issuing ride tickets from 10-15 am onwards , so make sure you get it early , otherwise the queue/wait can get longer . You board and alight the elephant from a tall stand . I had the privilege of boarding "Indra" , who is as old as i am ! What a difference in lifestyle , Sigh !
We crossed back the river and the next planned stop was Byalakuppe Tibetian camp . The same road continues and joins the Bangalore-Madikeri road . En-route , the lush green paddy fields and lotus ponds provided more scenic variety .
Once we hit the B-M road , the right takes us to Kushalnagar , while the left takes us to Madikeri. This road till kushalnagar is all bumpy . You pass kushalnagar , see a sign bylakuppe and you see a big arch for the entrance . From here , the road again twists and turns up & down the hill . The destination - the famed golden temple .
What's inside the temple is probably the most colorful spectacle you can ever expect. It's Buddha and his two re-incarnations - Guru Padmasambhava(Rimpochet) and Amitayus. The entire hall also depicts paintings of of 25 disciples in the line.
we returned back to Orange county just in-time before the luncheon closes . Just after that it rained cats & dogs , giving a real feel of how rains lash this part of the country. The rest of the evening was spent in the confines of the resort.
The next day morning we decided to head to Madikeri , the capital of Coorg. Madikeri is around 1 hour drive from Siddapur . The directions are nearly same as described before - except that on the small bridge fork , you take a left instead of right .
First you again pass through excellent coffee estates - the fresh oxygen coupled with a great drive make this a very memorable experience. The reason it takes longer to reach Madikeri than usual is because it is a climb up the hill . we encountered numerous small water streams/falls beside the road .
Madikeri is a hilly town - the whole town resides on a strech of hill and the main road curves up and down a hill . Our first destination was to Abbey Falls . Abbey Falls is situated a good 7-8 km from Madikeri . The directions to Abbey falls is : Count 3 major circles and at the 3'rd take the diagonal right ( which is a one-way) - keep going and you will start seeing signs for Abbey falls . This falls is situated in a private estate and gets a lot of visitors. The water gushes from a good height and there is a good hanging bridge . My kiddo gave a good attention pose in front of the Abbey .
From Abbey we returned back to Madikeri town and went back to the 1'st circle , from where Raja's seat is a stone's throw away. From here , you get a very good view of the real western ghats and gives you an idea of the numerous trek possibilities - Something for the future surely.
we relaxed on the benches and played a good game "i-can-spot-it-can-you?" - For instance : I can see a smoke somewhere , can you show me where ? i can spot a small lake - can you too ? Raja's seat is a real 180-degree viewpoint !
The most-attractive thing for me and my kid was the toy train at Raja's seat . The driver waits until he has at least 20 people and then starts the train . we both took two rides in the train. I wish i could drive it .
The last stop was to the Omkareshwara temple . This is a temple of Lord shiva , but with minarets on the top ! Quite interesting actually. They close by 12:30 pm , so hurry please . They have a good Pushkarni Pond in the front . The most interesting part there is the "Shasana" - an inscription in kannada - i must say i was quite impressed by the language used there.
we headed right back to Orange county and again made it right in time for a heavy meal at the Granary. The evening was spent in lazy walks round the campus lake and an eminently forgettable ayurvedic head massage session .
The next day morning we headed back from one amazing pristine jungle to the other familiar one - the color changing slowly but steadily from green to white .
The words "I will be back" ( courtesy Schwarzy ) just kept echoing in my head .
