The Scotland of India, Coorg- A two day trip with the family

This trip with the family was long due. Since all of us were in Mangalore(my hometown) to attend a family function, we decided to go to Coorg/Kodagu for two days. We were 7 of us (my family and my cousin’s family) and we booked an SUV for the trip. The distance from Mangalore to Coorg is around 150 KM ie approximately 3 and a half hour drive. The roads were great and the weather was very pleasant.As we had gone with our parents, we did not include any adventure stuff on this tour.

We started from Mangalore at around 7:30 AM and had our breakfast at the famous KT hotel (Lakshmi Nivas) in Kalladka. This place is known for its coffee and tea.

We reached Coorg at around 12:00 PM. Our first stop was the Bhagamandala. We first visited the Triveni Sangam (Confluence) of 3 rivers namely Cauvery, Kannike, and Sujyoti. Then we visited the Bhagandeshwara temple. The temple is situated on the banks of river Kaveri.The temple is open till 12:30 PM. We Attended the Arti at the temple and then had our lunch (Prasadam) at the temple.The food was really tasty.

The next stop was the Talakaveri, the birth place of the River Kaveri. This place is around 5 KM from Bhagamandala and is 1276M above sea level. We offered our prayers in the temple.

There are steps in Talakaveri that lead up to the Bhramagiri peak. Our parents were reluctant to let us go to the peak as it was around 2:30 PM and very hot. However, we three ( My niece, sister and I) insisted on going to the top. The 350 approx steps were totally worth it. The View from the top was totally amazing. We took several snaps and were back within half and hour.

Raja seat is a sunset view point.There was also a toy train ride (INR 30 per person) which we enjoyed thoroughly. We watched the day come to an end. The sky was lit with beautiful hues of Orange and red. We returned home and our host, Mr. Bharath served us the yummy dinner.

We started our 2nd day with a visit to Omkareshwara temple. The temple was very near to our homestay. The place is very silent and calm. Since it was very early in the morning, it was very breezy and cold.

After the visit to the temple, we left for Bylukuppe, the Tibetan colony. We visited the Namdroling Monastery in the Camp 4 of the Tibetan settlement. The statues and the paintings of the Golden Temple were exquisite. After spending some time here, we left for Dubare elephant camp.

Dubare elephant camp: The Dubare elephant camp is a forest camp on the banks of river Kaveri. The elephants here are trained for Mysore Dasara. There are over 150 elephants in this camp and are taken care of by the Karnataka Forest Department. One has to reach the camp by taking small boats. But we were not fortunate enough, as the entrance closes by 11 AM. So we started playing in the Kaveri river beside the camp. It was totally fun swimming around and splashing water at each other. We spent around 2 hours here. Then had lunch at a restaurant in the city and left for Mangalore.