Coorg - Romance with the Rains

"A single state means a single kind of terrain" a thought which is somehow buried in our conscious. But traveling is about broadening your consciousness, and so was Karnataka doing it to me as I wasn't aware what the state was going to offer next.

So with the magnetic charm of Hampi's boulders floating in my mind, a bus to Coorg was the next deal. After grabbing some local snacks and the much ubiquitous badam milk, the journey to Coorg started. The change in climate was getting evident as a a full-fledged downpour welcomed me to Coorg. Madikeri, Coorg's main city was drenched, every inch of it. Besides being a chaos in itself, Madikeri didn't seem much like a place to roam around initially. It was raining every second which was lovely, but was something, I wasn't prepared for.The whole town was covered with clouds and as I started to move around, away from the center, the city began to look how it was described in literature. It was green; grass and moss growing in every creek and crevice of the road and the street's wall, courtesy, the outrageous downpours.

After eventually checking into my home stay and making myself rainproof, the exploration started. The town was playing hide and seek, with clouds and rain. At one moment, one could see a road and the hill in front , and in the other , all that could be seen was the foggy grey stuff; clouds hiding the streets, as it used to rain for 18 out of 24 hours . As the clouds cleared a bit, the second ubiquitous thing were coffee shops, something Coorg is known for. From cafes, to stalls and to even a guy standing with a flask under a small tin, the city was running on caffeine. Added to this, the small shops serving typical south Indian food, the city was all my tongue could have wanted for. So after grabbing my sambar-dosa along with a cup of coffee, gazing over the dense green hill, I began.

The first stop was Abbey falls.The fall was somewhat 200 meters downhill from the road but its sound was audible till the road. Upon reaching the fall, I was left awestruck. Touristy places don't appear the same good in reality as they look over internet but it was quite the opposite here. The fall was swollen, as if loaded with steroids & was moreover roaring like a lion. It was tough for me to take in the sight at once. The more you approached it , the more deafening it got. The sight was scary yet en capturing. You could have gazed at it for hours and yet not feel enough. Not just the falls , the trail to it was loaded with dense foliage along with a light drizzling to sooth your eyes. A few photographs clicked and 'me moments' spent, the first destination was done.

Back in the town, Madikeri fort was what I started with. The walls,with the old designs radiated the colonial aura. Moss had grown over most of the walls and roofs which gave it more of a historical tint. Being in the city's centre, the roofy edge of the fort gave a decent view of the city set amidst the backdrop of cloudy hills. Bollywood movies must have been getting their ideas from these kind of places.

Up next ,Raja's seat, a place offering a panoramic view of Koadgu's valley and sunset was the main attraction of the Madikeri. But upon reaching the place , my anticipation was soon met with the same grey stuff , clouds. Leave alone the sunset, the valley was not even visible. Tired after the walks and annoyed by the continuous rain, the evening was called off after playing with clouds with my hands( Delhi mein toh sarr k bhi bhaut uppar hotay hai badal bhai :p )

Next day began again with coffee ,clouds, and the ever present rains. Thankfully, by the time I got myself a seat in bus bound for Bhangamndala, the rain stopped. Bhangamndala, located 40 minutes away from the city, is the place where river Kaveri meets two more of its tributaries . The bus was rickety, but the ride was enchanting. All I could see the was plethora of coffee plantations, impenetrable woods covered with a sweet layer of fog, all of this , resembling those romantic bollywood movies.The slowly moving fog spread across the thick woods felt just like the white duppata caressing the face of a hero in Yash Chopra's movie.

I was getting in love with the view, the bus window offered but soon the temple arrived. The temple's architecture was something which left me astonished, it was different , much for a change in the usual temples I see. The temple was made elegantly with some nice carvings on the pillars and the sharp heads with the judicious yet apt use of metals . But Bhangamndala, was just the gateway to the bigger destination, Talakveri.

After spending few minutes and grabbing the must have idli, journey towards Talakaveri started and so the rains. But wait, the auto rickshaw was charging way too much , and the next bus was later in the afternoon. So I decided to trek those 8kms; the only risk , slipping on the hills due the continuous rain or worst, getting a leech on my leg(something the place was infamous for) yet I took the risk. Luckily the the uphill trek turned out to be quite fantastic; owing to my umbrella and waterproof shoes , the fun of trekking in rain was worth the effort. The thick cover of trees always persuaded me for a minute, to contemplate at them and spend few more minutes just in their company. For the fear of leeches, I controlled my wanderlust and progressed.Thankfully, after climbing for 4kms ,a family driving uphill gave me space in their car.

The moment I stepped out of the car, I paused , paused for a moment , gazing at the gate with a wide open mouth. The gate was GRAND, with a board saying - TALAKAVERI-THE ORIGIN OF RIVER KAVERI. At this moment, I knew Coorg was the right decision. On one side there was this grand temple and on the opposite, lush green hills playing with clouds. It had to be tale from mythological times for it was too good to be true. I could hear those conch shell sounds, often played in the Hindi Mythologoical shows to welcome someone (that was in my head perhaps or maybe it was the beer, never mind :P).Maybe it was the aura of that temple, maybe be the torrential rain or maybe the sprawling greenery, the place took a hold of me. The temple inside was magic in itself, drenched in rain and filled with the chimes of bells. And no doubt the beautiful architecture was keeping my eyesight on a hold. The temple was not extravagant yet the hills along with the downpour made its presence much more impactful and soothing to the soul. After grabbing a seat and soaking in the sounds of rain against the courtyard of temple , I decided to leave as the evening began to approach, and no signs of public transportation appeared.

As I decided to trek down back and started to move, luckily the shopkeeper of the temple spotted me and himself asked to drop me down on his scooter. Woah, "South vs North , definitely South"something that was taking a grip in my mind day by day , got further strong after this. The scooter ride started and ended with the same thought. Thanking the guy for his ride , I finally caught a bus back to Madikeri from Bhagmandla again before walking again for a km just to absorb the hills.

Back in Madikeri and its characteristic rain, I weighed down the options of either going to elephant camp tomorrow or leave for Udupi tonight only. With my body tired of walking in the cold rains and eyes urging for some sunlight, a bus to Udupi seemed to be the answer. Moreover the temple of Tala kaveri along with the hills somehow calmed the hunger of my inner explorer( well, for a few hours atleast).

So with a promise of coming back here again for the elephant camp, I gave a final goodbye to city's fort, and those mosses in the creeks(something that always caught my eyes) with the last cup of coorgi coffee and boarded the bus to complete the last part of my Karnataka chapter -Udupi, the lazy coastal town.