Coorg

WARNING! I'm going to come off as an ungrateful complainer in these first few paragraphs. This is mainly because I'll be complaining.

I despise road trips. Why drive 3, 5, 8, 14 hours when a perfectly good plane will get you there in a fraction of the time is my philosophy. It's a good philosophy. I'm never ever ever going to stray from it again. I hate them in the US, so I'm not sure why I thought a road trip would make me happy in any other corner of the world, and for the record, a road trip in India makes me even less happy than one in the USA. A 5 hour drive took 8 hours. There was no tragedy or mishap or flat tire or car trouble. Max speed is about 80KPH (50MPH), and this occurs rarely and intermittently. And the roads, traffic and driving styles here are 'different'. Air travel to many places here is not possible. So, a road trip it was. Because I just had to go somewhere. Live and learn. Live. And. Learn.

Most of my planned activities were canceled as a result of the week-long monsoon rains the area experienced prior to my arrival. Conditions were either too dangerous or roads were impassable. I didn't get to spend the day at Dubare Elephant Camp because the river I have to cross (on foot) to get there had risen to unsafe levels. I couldn't visit Irupu Falls because the rains had made the falls so strong they were dangerous and a plague of leeches had overtaken the area surrounding the falls.

BUT...

By the time I arrived at the hotel, the rains had stopped, and the weather was actually quite lovely. It was cooler, and although the sun was only visible a few minutes each day, it was clear. What I DID get to do and see was nice. Some things were pleasant/ok and others were really great.

I stayed just outside of a town called Virajpet at a resort overlooking the Coorg Golflinks, Ambatty Greens Resort. The grounds were stunning. The room was rustic and gorgeous, and my view was, well, my view was of a tree. But if I stood on the stoop on my tip-toes, and I held my camera over my head, I could get a picture of what lay beyond that tree that blocked my view. It was really pretty. Thank goodness I'd found a book store before I left because the satellite TV was out most of the weekend. I had to turn on the water heater at least 20 minutes prior to using the shower, and that hot water lasted only about 8 minutes. Needless to say, I didn't wash my hair while I was there. It takes 6 minutes just to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. Didn't have the resources for that kind of luxury. The bed was a 4 inch thin mattress with a prickly sheet laid atop. Not comfortable. Other than the bed, the non-functional tv and the broken phone (in case I needed to call the front desk), the hotel was really very lovely. Oh...and the rules. The hotel has a lot of rules. Very specific dining times. If you don't make those times, you don't eat. There is no food or drink available outside of the dining room outside of the mandated dining times. The food was delicious, though. The staff was not very friendly in general, but the General Manager and the Activities Director, Dalin, were outstanding and made up for the lackluster personalities of the rest of the hotel staff. I can't describe to you in enough detail how beautiful the grounds of this hotel are. They have so many workers all over tending to every square inch all day. There is a group of 4-5 ladies whos job it is to trip the lawn. They do this by hand or with hand-made brooms. It is really a site to see. There are gentlemen who tend to the pool area, although the pool itself is cloudy and dirty because of the rain. The foliage and blooms are gorgeous. Not a weed or brown leaf to be seen. The view of the golf course and beyond is, I'm sure, unparalleled by any other nearby hotel.

With my driver, Harish, I visited a Tibetan monastery, Raja's seat and Abbe Falls which was less dangerous than Irupu, I gather, and I definitely was not overrun by leeches. So that was a plus. Harish didn't talk much, so I was on my own if I wanted to know more about these places. I have yet to do more googling on any of these places. But, they were all pretty. The monastery was my favorite of the three.

Dalin, from the hotel, was the best tour guide ever! I signed up for a tour of a coffee plantation when I checked in, and the front desk did not tell me I'd need my driver. Dalin took me in his car, and another couple from the hotel followed with their driver. I don't remember their names, but they were very kind and fun people. The plantation, it turned out, was the ancestral home of Dalin's family, the Mandepanda family. I got to meet his Aunt (Cousin Mother) and his Cousin's wife (Cousin Brother's wife). They wanted to meet me because I'm a foreigner. They called me "Mama" because I'm older. That's ok. They were very sweet. In the car he gave me a great tutorial on Coorg and the culture. Mandepanda is one of about 1000 family names in the area. I learned that Coorg isn't really a town or city. It's a district or area. It used to be a state, but it became a part of Karnataka after the 1950s. Coorg is very interesting in that it has its own culture. Its people have the right to bear arms (otherwise illegal in India). They are non-vegetarians (big pork eaters) and often make alcohol a part of their festivities. I learned that Coorgs worship their family ancestors rather than gods even though most are Hindus. Weddings last for two days, shots are fired when sons are born and fireworks are shot off when daughters are born. The Coorg Warrior almost single handedly (with the British Army) saved the Coorgs from an invading King. Dalin has the Warrior's image tattooed on his neck. He gets his tattoos in Bangalore from his friend. They are getting more popular in India. The history and culture of Coorg is very interesting, and I am eager to learn more.

On the plantation tour, we walked through the grounds across from the house and Dalin taught us all about the coffee plants, robusto and arabica. The girl from the couple that came with us held my had when we trekked over rough terrain as her husband held hers. We were like a train of clumsy humans in the forest holding on for dear life sometimes. I bet we were quite the sight. Our guide, Dalin, told us about the plants along the trails including Lantana (not the hybrid kind we have here. these have seeds), Touch-Me-Nots (the leaves curl and wilt at your touch), Bellflowers. We ate fruit right off the trees! Guava and oranges which were green, but sweet and delicious. I got an avocado, too, but it wasn't even closed to being ripe. I saw the biggest butterfly I'd ever seen, but I couldn't get a clear picture. I found a giant roly poly and a locust (also giant). It was the most green and lush forest/jungle/farm I'd ever seen. After the trek, we walked across to the ancestral family home. It was beautiful. I didn't take photos inside out of respect, and there is no way I can describe to you the detail and artistry in the woodwork. The home is constructed of teak and rosewood and brick and clay tiles. It is simple and elaborate all at once.

After the tour, because I had asked the day before about a church I saw from the road in town, we were taken to St. Anne's Church and School. The church has been gutted and is being renovated. We climbed to the top of the steeple to see the bells in the tower, and it was exhilarating! Of course we weren't supposed to be there, so I'm happy we didn't get caught - really, I was happy that the priests standing at the back of the church outside the rectory decided to ignore us and let us have our fun. The last stop was near the top of a "hill" overlooking the town of Virajpet. The view was spectacular! Even with the fog/clouds, the view was so beautiful. I could see from one end of town to the other, the church, the mosque, the temple, the clock tower, everything. This entire tour concluding with this this view was quite a remarkable end to an otherwise unremarkable trip. I was and am truly grateful for that experience.

That evening, during dinner, I texted Harish that I wanted to skip Sunday's tour of Mysore Palace (a replacement gig for the elephant camp which was cancelled) and preferred instead to return to Bangalore as soon as possible. He picked me up at 8am sharp, and when I asked him how long it would take to get me back to Bangalore, he said "7 hours, madam". I said, "I'll give you 1000 rupees if you get me there in 5". We got to the hotel in 4 hours 53 minutes. Best $16 I ever spent. God, in his generosity, since I couldn't go to Dubare to see, feed and ride the elephants, did see fit to put one in our path on the way back to Hilton Home about 30 minutes into our journey. It was really cool. I was grateful.

So, things I learned on my trip to Coorg:

1. Hotel star ratings here are not always the same as in the US.

2. Monsoon season sucks in monsoon prone areas.

3. Getting stared at all the time is unnerving. I will stop staring.

4. I don't love travelling alone

5. Be flexible because India laughs at your plans.

6. I still HATE road trips.

Photos can be viewed in my portfolio. There are 3 new collections along with the three I already added. I'll keep updating the portfolio in addition to this blog. This trip had too many photos to include them all in this posting. I hope you'll view the link. I edited the formatting so I hope it will be easier to navigate.

New Photo Collections @ andreainwonderland.500px.com

Breeze through the thumbnails or click on any photo in a collection to start the slide show with Titles/Descriptions which are brief, but you'll get the gist of it.

1. Coorg Weekend/Drive/Abbey Falls/Rajas Seat

2. Coorg Weekend/Ambatty Greens/Plantation Tour

3. Coorg Weekend/Tibetan Monastery

Happy 4th of July to my US people & to Gan Gan, the dearest grandfather a girl could be blessed with, Happy Birthday to you. Thanks for keeping an eye on me from up there.