Coorg – The Scotland of India
Coorg also known as Kodagu or you can call it The Scotland of India because of the pristine nature , lush green all over , tasty food , friendly people and lovely culture.
Coorg is a beautiful hill station in Karnataka , India. Coorg is at a distance of 258 km from Bangalore and 120 km away from the nearest airport, Mysore. Coorg is the best destination to get away from worries. Its comes in Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka,hence you can imagine whole district is lush green forest over mountain , quiet, full of coffee, tea, and cardamom plantations ,it is specially famous for spices, tea, coffee.
And lots of adventurous destination to watch, feel and to have fun. Well I went coorg 3 times with my husband and my hubby went more than 7 times. It’s our favorite destination. And We are always game to travel to this beautiful place.My advice wherever you go try to carry extra clothes as it may rain anytime anywhere.
Weekend Plan To Coorg From Bangalore:
Cab ( Innova / Qualis ) or You own vehicle.
Saturday
(a) Start from Bangalore some where around 4/5 A.M Saturday Morning.(b) Catch Mysore Road.(c) Reach Kushalnagar some where around 9 A.M , spent some time at Buddhist monastery.(d) from there head towards Nisargadhama walk around forest but always be in group .(e) from here Dubare Elephant Camp is quite near and one can enjoy 8 KM water rafting ride from here , ask your driver to reach at the end of rafting point to pick your group , at the end of rafting point there are some huts , people leave on those huts allow to change wet dresses, By the time you will finish water rafting or just hanging around Dubare it would be 1 to 1.30 PM ,(f) Start for Your Home Stay/ Resort. Enjoy Lunch and take some rest.(g) Evening you can walk around near home stay and enjoy the nature.
Sunday
(a) Early morning after finishing your Break fast , pack up your luggage , and head towards Abbey Falls.(b) Next place you can plan for Bhagamandala , Triveni SangamFrom Bhagamandala head towards Tala Cauvery, It Would be 3 PM , by the time you will cover Tal Cauvery in and around.(c) If you have time you can visit some more place then start for Bangalore.
Note: Wildlife photographer / Bird Watcher : Can skip (a) to (e) if they want, and directly land to Home stay , and can explore there own places .
Note: Wildlife photographer / Bird Watcher : Can skip (a) to (e) if they want, and directly land to Home stay , and can explore there own places .
Places to Visit:
1) Madikeri :Madikeri is most beautiful hill station and head quarters of Coorg. Here you can do lot of sightseeing , shopping specially for spices,tea and coffee.
You can visit Madikeri Fort,a beautiful fort built in 17th century by Mudduraja which consists of a palace, chapel and prison.
2) Abbey Falls : The Abbey falls is about 9 km from Madikeri. It is very beautiful waterfall in lush green forest . There is a hanging bridge in front of waterfall ,from where you can feel shower of water and pick good snaps .
It will be better to visit during morning as their will be less visitors around and can enjoy nicely, else the spot will get crowded. Better to visit it in monsoon season.
3) Tala Cauvery : It is the birth place of the river Cauvery.It is about 45 kms from Medikeri and 10 km from Bhagamandala.It is situated on the slopes of the Brahmagiri hills , about 4000 feet above sea level.Very scared and religious place to visit.
4) Tibetan Golden Temple: It’s a Buddhist monastery was re-established in 1972.situated in Bylakuppe,located around 6 kms from Kushalnagar town towards Mysore.
The temple is so divine,calm and spiritual , a peaceful environment to seek enlighten.there are over 7000 monks and student getting education.The temple contain statues of Buddha, Padmasambhava, and Amitayus ,which are very magnificent and the statue of Buddha is 60ft tall.The wall of temple is beautifully decorated with colorful paintings.
6) Nisargadhama: It’s a man made island ,its like a small forest situated at 3km from kushalnagar and 30km from medikeri.
The kavery river flowing below hanging bridge is quiet scenic .We can see animal like rabbit,deer,monkey,elephant around here.You can see tree top shelter,do boating and can have elephant safari .
7) Nagarhole National Park: This is the best place for wildlife photographers,family with kids and adventure lovers ,as its contain 250 species of birds and wild animals such as bison, elephant, spotted deer, sambhar, barking deer, wild boar, tigers ,leopards and reptiles. The Forest Department conducts tours for tourists, in the early mornings and evenings.
8) Rafting destination: Coorg Adventure Sports Club has started river rafting near Dubare Elephant Camp to the Kaveri Nisargadhama,or Barapole white water river rafting is very famous. One rafting can accommodate six seven persons.Better to take dry cloths along with you . Best time to do is July to September.Rafting is thrilling ,exciting and fun so ,don’t miss it.
9) Treking Destination : Thadiyandamol, Pushpageri, Kotebetta, Brahamageri and Mandalapatti is famous places for trekking.
10) Raja’s Seat : It’s a pavilion in a garden .It is believed that all the Kings in the Coorg vicinity spend their evening over here. Sunset over green valley is very spectacular.Everyone must see.
11) Bhagamandala :- It is popularly known as popularly known as ‘Triveni Sangama’. It is Located about 33 km away from Madikeri, Sri Bhagandeswara temple is located over here.Here pilgrims take a dip in holy water. Well this place support lots of government public transport such as local buses.
Where To Stay :
Actually we prefer to stay in home stay rather than resort or hotel. Actually Coorg is very special for homestay.As homestay is surrounded by coffee and spices plantation .Its like living in small mini forest.you can hear bird chirping sound, wild insects sound . Its so natural and lively which you can’t experience in resort. You can also enjoy their homemade food and their own cultivated coffee.
We stayed in Marcad homestay twice , and experience with Marcad was really Great , actually it was run by a small family ,they serve really good home food with snacks on evening , dinner , breakfast just we need to order. Third time We have stayed in budget home stay “Haveli” , very cheap but not Hygiene , its situated in between the place like forest , Though we felt little unhygienic here but we enjoyed a lot , infect if you are wildlife enthusiast specially interested in bird watching / bird photography you can consider to chose Haveli as well but keep in mind your Hygine Thought. My Hubby had very nice experience with Honey Valley Estate as well.
Select homestay located in madikeri ,as it will be like center of every destination you want to visit.
Some well known homestay are :
1) Bethel Home Stay
2) Honey Pot Homes
3) Serene Homestay
4) Honey Valley Estate
5) Marcad Homestay
Resorts:
1) Orange County Resort
2)Coorg Cliffs Resorts
3)Club Mahindra Madikeri, Coorg
4)Purple Palms Resort & Spa,Coorg
5)Woodstock Resorts
How To Reach :
From Bangalore:
1) By Cab : Please refer above section (Weekend Plan To Coorg From Bangalore).
2) By Bus: You can book bus from redbus/any travel website or via www.ksrtc.in, remember when you are booking via ksrtc then Service Start/End Place would be MERCARA/MADIKERI. ( i.e Bangalore to MERCARA to Bangalore).
From Chennai:
1) By Train : Mysore Express(16222) Departs at 09:30 PM, you can catch this train on Friday Night and it will reach Mysore 01.00 PM , From here you can catch Bus / Cab.
From Mumbai:
1) By Train:Sharavathi Exp Departs at 09:30 PM and reach 09:15 PM, From here you can catch Bus / Cab.
From Delhi/Kolkata/ Hydearabad / Mumbai :
By Flight: Nearest Airport are:Bangalore (~258 km from Coorg)Kozhikode Airport ( ~= 131 KM from Coorg)Mangalore ( ~= 125 KM from Coorg) .Mysore ( ~= 100 KM from coorg , But No connectivity as of now)
Some More Pics :
Please do share with Friends and Family , This information can be helpful for those who are planning to visit coorg.
Checkout Coorg Vlog in simple format , this will be definitely helpful if you are planning for Coorg.
Regards