A Trip to Coorg

Back in December 2022, I had one of the best trips I've ever had. After a lot of convincing our parents, my best friend and I took a trip to Coorg that lasted two nights and three days. It was a relaxing as well as fun trip that was quite memorable.

We left for Coorg by bus one night and reached Coorg the next morning, at the crack of dawn. We checked ourselves into a cute little homestay. It wasn't as cold as we expected. In fact, it was pretty warm and a light sweater was all we needed. The weather, overall, was quite pleasant.

On our first day, we visited all the tourist attractions that were near the place we were staying at. We went to Omkareshwar Temple, Abbey Falls, Raja's Tomb, a coffee plantation where we took a guided tour of the property, saw the processes involved in coffee production as well as a variety of spices. The last place we visited was a garden called Raja's Seat. It was an amazing place and I'd say among all the places we visited, Raja's Seat was by far, the best. We witnessed an amazing sunset, where we could clearly see the sun vanish behind the hills while the sky turned magnificent shades of orange, yellow and pink. We spent over an hour there, just sitting and taking in the beauty of nature. We got back to the homestay and spent the night watching movies. Day one done.

Abbey Falls

Coffee plant

Day two, we decided to chill. We woke up late, had a late breakfast and watched a couple episodes of 'Friends'. Sometimes, it's nice to not have a plan. Being spontaneous and doing things on a whim can actually be fun. We suddenly decided to go for a walk and have a late lunch, explore the areas around by foot and taste the local cuisine. We freshened up, got dressed and set out with Google maps leading us along. We took pictures of the scenery, ourselves and breathed in the cool, fresh air. We walked for about two kilometres before we reached a local restaurant called 'Coorg Cuisine'. There we had pork dishes with neer dosa and rice balls. We also had litchi pudding and lime juice to quench our thirst after the long walk.

Pork with neer dosa

After a satisfying lunch, we went to Raja's Seat again. We loved the place so much, we definitely had to go back. Amazingly, the sunset we witnessed on both the days we went, were so different. The sky just kept producing beautiful shades of red and pink. We were in awe. We even video- recorded the sunset and made a time lapse, which came out surprisingly perfect. After sunset, we walked back to the homestay and spent the night in, watching movies, listening to music and eating hot Maggi.

Sunset at Raja's Seat

On our third and final day in Coorg, our itinerary was quite packed. We checked out of the homestay after breakfast by around eight in the morning. We hired a cab, loaded our luggage in and set out to spend the day visiting the other sites that we had left to see. First, we went to 'Dubare Elephant Camp'. There, we took a boat ride along a river to reached the site where the gentle giants were. We saw elephants who were five years old and some who were nearly forty. We watched the elephants eating, being groomed and interacting with others of their own kind.

Dubare Elephant Camp

Our next destination was 'Namdroling Monastery' where we spent about an hour just sitting in silence while the monks chanted prayers and other visitors also looked around. Something I really liked about the architecture of the monastery was that the walls were covered in inscriptions but especially, there were pictures and carvings that told an entire story. We then visited a forest park called 'Nisargadhama'. We walked walked among thick bamboo, sandalwood and teak trees, saw deer, peacocks, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, and a variety of species of birds. We even got to feed some of the birds with seeds and grain. We then visited the ancestral house of General Thimayya which has been turned into a museum.

Namdroling Monastery

The last destination for our Coorg trip was another coffee plantation where we got to see the scenery from two very high up viewpoints. We saw the different types of coffee and other plants and fruit trees. To end the tour of the plantation we were given an amazing cup of natural coffee with jaggery and no artifical additions. We grabbed a quick bite at a restaurant for an early dinner and then boarded the bus back to Bangalore.

Spices ready for sale

We were back in Bangalore the next morning and with that we came to the end of our Coorg trip. Coorg is a place in Karnataka that is famous for its hills and waterfalls, the beautiful scenery and the lush greenery. Coffee, spices, pork, and homemade fruit wine are the popular things people usually buy when in Coorg.

It was an amazing trip and I would absolutely love to go back atleast once again.

*****