The date was 24th March 2022, I received a call from my friend, that, he had planned a trip to Coorg. As Many of you don't know about Coorg, it is a hill station located in southern Karnataka, India. It is also known as Scotland of India. Back to the story, my friend asked whether I'm in or not. First I hesitated to go but eventually, after two days I said yes.
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There were a total of six members on this trip and every one of us got together and decided we will depart from our hometown Hyderabad on 31st March 2022 by train.
The day has come and our train was scheduled to depart from the Kacheguda railway station at 7:05 PM on 31st March 2022. Every one of us reached the station around 6:50 PM and by the time we got to the station the train was already on the platform D4. The train is a superfast express from Kacheguda to Mysore(12785). We finally boarded the train and settled down in our reserved seats.
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But there was a small problem, only four seats were reserved in one cabin, while the other two seats were reserved in other cabins. So we decided that we request people seating in the other two reserved seats to go to those seats so that all six of us can sit in one place. The other two seats which were reserved belong to a woman and her two daughters. She said that she is okay to exchange if both the seats in the other cabin were side by side.
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Sorry, I forgot to mention the names of the people traveling, my name is Prashanth and the other five are:
Srikanth, Teja, Dinesh, Bhaskar and Nithin
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So, back to the story. Srikanth and I decided to stay to look after the luggage while the other four decided to request those people to adjust to other seats. After half an hour they came back exhausted, as no one accepted to exchange.
As for our relief, she assured us that she would get down at Guty (a station in between) at around 12:30 AM. There were two more seats just beside us. To those who don't know about Indian Railway systems, there are 8 seats per compartment.
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So we decided we will request those two people to exchange our seats with our two seats in the other cabin. To our luck, one of those two seats available is reserved by a woman and she offered us that she is willing to exchange the seat for us. The other seat was empty and was not reserved so finally, all six of us managed to be in one place.
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We had snacks a little bit and the time was around 11:30 Pm and we couldn't sleep so, we decided to keep talking to each other for some more time. Srikanth, Dinesh, and I were sitting next to the window seats and the time was around 11:52 PM exactly as remember. Dinesh said that in 8 minutes it's gonna be April 1st (fools day) so, let's play a little prank. Finally, we decided we three will act that Dinesh lost his phone from the train window. Dinesh hid his phone in my backpack. The other three were busy with their phones.
Suddenly Dinesh turned on the lights and went to pull the chain ( Emergency brake). Those three were like, "Hey! what happened?". Dinesh started to act that he lost his phone. He was so good that Srikanth and I can't stop laughing. For the first five minutes, they didn't believe us. But eventually, for Dinesh acting, they believed us and were so worried. Asked how he lost it, Dinesh told the phone slipped from his hand and fell through the window. By the time the train reached Ananthapuram station Dinesh was like, " I lost my mood to continue this trip and I wish to get down at this station, board a bus and get back to Hyderabad." All three came up with their solutions like buying a new phone when we reach Mysore, Nithin was like, "Does the mobile have Samsung account synced so that the data can be recovered".
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Those three were trying so hard to convince him to stay. Srikanth and I can't stop our laughter. After some time we told them it was a prank to just Teja and Nithin. Bhaskar was not told about this and still was in the notion that the phone is lost.
After half an hour or so we all slept. It was around 6:00 AM every one woke up except Bhaskar. Bhaskar's berth was just above Dinesh's berth. Dinesh was using his phone lying on his berth, Bhaskar just woke up, and just as he was about to get down, he saw the phone in Dinesh's hands. In shock, he was like, "What!". Then we told him it was a prank and all five of us laughed. In this attempt, Bhaskar was the only guy who was pranked.
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At around 6:30 Am April 1st we reached Bangalore. Except for Srikanth all five of us got down to have tea. After 20 mins the train started and was about one hour delayed.
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Remember the Woman who offered to exchange her seat for us. She came back in the morning and sat along with us. Her name is Dr.Vedha. She is a scientist in food technology. Currently working in Hyderabad. Turns out she is a native of Mysore and went to Coorg so many times. So we started asking all of our doubts about the place like, What are places to visit? Where the food will be nice? What is a great place to stay? She answered all of our questions and by this time the train reached Mysore at around 10:30 AM.
All seven of us got down and she suggested us a restaurant to have breakfast. The name of the restaurant is, "Guru Darshini Dosa Palace". We said goodbye to her and boarded two autos from the railway station to the Dosa palace which took us roughly,
10 mins. After reaching all six of us had Mysore masala Dosas (special). The taste was so good that I never had a Dosa like that. If any of you visit Mysore I suggest You visit Dosa Palace.
Back to the story, After having breakfast, we bought water bottles from a nearby shop and asked around where is the bus stop to board a bus to Coorg. An auto driver said it was nearby, so we decided to walk with all that luggage. Finally, after 10 mins of walking, we reached the bus stop. I asked a girl who was waiting at the bus stop whether this is the stop for Coorg buses. She said, "yes".
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I want to mention that the girl was cute.
We waited for ten minutes but, we can't see even one bus. So, we decided to ask the bus driver who just arrived. He said that "This stop is only for city busses, not for district-level buses." He told us that a district-level bus stop was nearby. So again with all that luggage, we started walking again.
As we are going on we started to ask people passing by but, everyone says it is nearby. So, we kept on walking, on and on, and ended up walking for 2 kilometers with all that luggage and finally reached the bus stop. Just as we reached the bus stop a bus arrived departing to Coorg. We boarded the bus and sat in the front seats and relaxed for a bit. Gosh, it was a relief. All of us were tired because of the walking and took a little nap. After 1 hour I woke up as everyone was still asleep except Srikanth. The time was around 2:00 PM, the heat was so much. I thought to myself, Have we planned the trip at the wrong time of the year. After 1 hour we reached Kushal Nagar bus station. The weather is still hot, then I decided, we all made a stupid decision to visit Coorg in April.
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After 10 mins the bus started from the station and after 20 mins of drive, we entered the forest and the weather started to cool down. Like it was a sudden change, like opening a refrigerator. As we went on and on the route was suddenly steep as we climbed mountainous terrain. As we went by, we noticed Coffee plantations on our way. They were planted just beside the roadway on both sides. The whole route was with coffee plantations which started releasing a fresh Coffee aroma that was both relaxing and refreshing. I just can't describe it in words. After traveling for 1 hour from Kushal Nagar we reached Madikeri, a village in Coorg. Just as we got down, the sky was blue with a cooler tone and a cool breeze welcomed us. Then I got relief that we didn't make a wrong choice.
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After getting down we decided to take bikes for rent as bikes are way better to explore hill stations than cars. We took a walk to the bike rentals shop as it was nearby and took three Scooters as we are a total of six people. From there we went to the Fuel station and filled fuel in all three scooters (full tank). After filling the fuel we searched on google maps which is the best place to stay. Then suddenly a guy appears and asks us if we want rooms. We said yes and he told us to follow him. We went to the hotel, it was a house generally referred to as, a "homestay". It was like okay okay.
So we decided not to finalize on that and went to another place which we first planned to visit. It was Bhagavathy Budget cottages and it was just epic. It was like 5 km from the Madikeri bus stop, over in the hills, like the highest possible point. So we decided this is gonna be our stay for the next three nights. We paid the advance and checked in. All of us freshened up and decided to go to Raja's Seat, A viewpoint in Madikeri. We started from our cottage and the time was around 5:30 and fog started to appear. As we are going down the hill fog is covering the road and a cool breeze was blowing on us. It was a great experience to drive a bike in such weather. After 10 mins of drive, we reached the viewpoint.
It was just amazing as this viewpoint is located on a hilltop looking down into a dense valley of forest and we can also see mountains far by. We stayed there for like, half an hour, clicked some photos, and came out. We decided to have dinner at 7:00 PM. We asked people over there and most of them suggested hotel Greenland. So we went over there and ordered Biryani and Rotis and finished our dinner. After completion, we came out and decided to buy Vodka (Smirnoff) and we did. We went back to our cottage and relaxed for a bit. and at around 9:00 PM we started to drink. We had fun dancing, music, talking, making jokes, etc. Everything is over and we went to sleep at 11:30 pm.
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Day 1,
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I woke up at around 5:00 AM and dressed up and one by one woke up and got dressed up. Bhaskar and I got ready before the others, so we decided to explore the area nearby our cottage. Both of us on a single scooter went into the wilderness and finally reached the endpoint. It was amazing as it is the end of the hill. We stopped there for a bit and clicked some photos.
By the time everyone is ready the time was 7:00 AM. First, we decided we will go to the river Kaveri, where there is an Elephant camp and also River rafting. So, we started at around 7:15 AM. As went down the road it was covered with fog and a cool breeze, and once again we came by the coffee plantations as we are headed towards Kushal Nagar.
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By the time we reached River Kaveri, it was around 9:00 AM. First, we went to the elephant camp where all the elephants were there. These elephants were so big compared to the ones in the zoo. Tusk was so smooth like it was made of glass and the skin was a bit rough. Those elephants were so friendly and all of us took some pictures with them and also a few in the location.
The time was around 10:45 AM and we went river rafting. We paid for the tickets and they gave us a card assigning us a professional to guide us. As we got into the boat he told us what to do, what not to do, and other safety measures. So we went for about 1 kilometer in the river and stopped so that we can relax a bit and came back to the shore.
After that, all of us had ice cream to chill for a bit, and then we decided to go to "Irupu falls" which is like 85 kilometers from the Kaveri river. After a bit of discussion, we started to Irupu falls. As we went on and on it was a dense forest full of red sandalwood plantations. The specialty of these trees is, on the whole earth red sandalwood only grows in south India in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Chennai. We are now in the southern part of Karnataka. Due to this scarcity, the price is so high like 2 crore INR or 250,000 USD for 1 Ton of red sandalwood. This makes it so valuable. Who said trees aren't valuable?
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So back to the story, All the way were red sandalwood plantations with lush greenery which was so good for the eyes. The journey itself was amazing. Finally, after two hours of journey, we reached Irupu falls. Before going to see the waterfalls we decided to have lunch in the hotel at the entrance gate. After lunch, the time was around 2:30 PM we started the hike to Irupu falls which was another 1km by walk.
After 600 meters or some, everyone sat down exhausted as the passage was so steep. Finally, after getting some rest we managed to reach the waterfalls. The view was worth it for all struggle to reach there. We spent like 2 hours there and clicked on some amazing photos.
It was around 5:30 PM, so we decided to go down as the light was failing. As we are getting down we saw a red raccoon sleeping on a tree branch. It was so beautiful like its red tail is shining as the sunlight was falling on it. We took a picture of it. As we approached the exit gate, a fox, 15 feet in size crossed the path, just 10 feet from us. All of us were so shocked to see a fox that big, that close. After exiting the main gate we got to know that the place was both a wildlife sanctuary and also the location of waterfalls.
The time was around 6:30 PM as we started from there to return to our cottage. Now the actual problem starts as the light started to fail we turned on the headlights and drove in dense darkness. Without the headlight, nothing is visible in that darkness. After some distance, one of the bike's headlights became dull which made it hard for us to keep track of the road. To our luck, one of the bikes Which I was driving had a Led headlight which had so much power. So, we decided that the bike with an LED headlight will be behind the other two bikes. After two hours of tense and tiring journey, we reached our cottage.
All of us took like 1 Hour of rest, got freshened up, and went to the hotel to have dinner. After dinner, we went straight back to the cottage and slept as every one of us was soo tired.
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Day 2,
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On the second day, I woke up at around 5:00 AM and dressed up. One by one woke up but, everyone was restless. By the time everyone is ready the time was 7:00 AM. We started for Mandalpatti View Point. It was around 15 kilometers from the place where we were staying. As we went, the whole path is covered with plantations of coffee and it was so pleasant to smell the aroma early in the morning. After 20 mins of drive, we reached the mandalpatti viewpoint entrance gate.
There were so many jeeps and off-road vehicles. As we are six of us we booked a jeep for us to get to the viewpoint. It is another 45 mins from the entrance to the viewpoint. As we are going up the hill the road was good no worries. But, after like ten mins, it was so steep and muddy that scooters will be useless. It was the best decision to book a jeep. The journey to the top itself was amazing, the view was like as you were going on an airplane so close to the ground.
After 45 mins we reached the viewpoint entrance gate and from there again it is 15 mins trek to the viewpoint. Finally, we reached the viewpoint and the view was just wow.
We clicked some photos of ourselves and also the nature around us and after spending an Hour there we decided to go back. Now we face an unexpected problem as the front right side suspension of the jeep cracked a little. But the driver assured us nothing will happen and all of us got down the hill safe and sound. From there we went back to Madikeri to have breakfast and after that, we went back to the cottage to rest.
After 1 hour of rest in the cottage, time was around 10:30 AM and we started to Abbi falls which was nearby like 10 kilometers or so. After 15 mins drive, we reached. This waterfall was a bit strange, instead of hiking to the top, steps lead you to the bottom of the falls. As we reach the bottom we can hear the sound of water. As we got down to the spot the view was amazing with all greenery, blue sky, and all. We stayed for about 1 hour there and clicked a few photos and came out.
We went back to Madikeri center and had lunch in the famous Udipi hotel, food was great. The time was around 4:00 PM as we returned to our cottage. All of us slept till 6:00 PM and woke up. Then everyone got ready and we went to Omkareshwara temple in Madikeri and spent some time there. After that, we went to St Michael's Church and that concluded our trip in Madikeri.
Time was around 7:00 PM and we gave back the bikes to the rental agency and returned to the cottage. As it is our last night in the place we asked the cottage owner to arrange a bonfire. We spent like two hours at the bonfire dancing, talking, and relaxing. Time was around 11:30 PM and went into our room and slept.
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The next day, all of us woke up at 5:00 AM, got dressed up, handed over the keys to the cottage owner, and left for the bus stop. We boarded the bus at exactly 7:30 AM, and after 4 hours of journey, we reached Mysore at around 11:00 AM.
We went to the railway station, handed over our luggage at the cloakroom, and went to dosa palace again to have lunch. The time was around noon, so we decided to go to the famous Mysore palace which was like 15 mins from the restaurant. We went over there and as we entered the palace entrance, it was so big that you can't look at the whole palace in a single look. You should turn your head from side to side to see the whole palace.
We went inside the palace where there were different types of artifacts like Silver chairs, Silver doors, Paintings depicting stories of the kingdom, and also the photographs of the royal family. One thing in particular that caught my eye was, a photo frame which was made out of two ivory tusks making up the frame of a photograph. In some rooms, the entire ceiling was made of wood.
After spending an hour we got out and headed back to the railway station. By the time we went back to the railway station, it was around 2:15 PM, with 1 hour left for the train to depart to Hyderabad at 3:15 PM. At exactly 3:15 PM, the train started and all of us settled down. To our surprise, Remember Dr.Vedha, she was also on her way back to Hyderabad on that day, the same train. She came to our compartment and sat with us. She asked us about all the things we did and a long conversation started and at about 11:40 PM all of us went to sleep.
The next day at 5:30 AM, the train arrived at Kacheguda railway station and all of us got off the train and came outside the station to witness the amazing view of the station. From there everyone went back to their homes.
From this trip, I learned a lot of things like,
1. Traveling is the best thing to do with friends, among other things.
2. Having a break now and then is necessary for the well-being of your mental health.
and finally, the most important one,
"Traveling makes you value your Life".
