—Categories: karnataka, sahyadri

Driving tour of Coorg

We decided to head towards Coorg on a pleasant winter morning. There were four of us, and we took my car. My car was pretty new for me, I was new to driving, and so were rest of the gang. This was my first outing in my car, and I was then not used to travelling much as I now do, so we were a bit anxious. Things worked out fine though. Though this was my first trip, I went back to Coorg many times later.

More about Coorg on paintedstork.com
* Hiking up the Brahmagiri
* Relaxing in Coorg in the monsoons

It was a weekend whirlwind trip. We planned to start early in the morning, something that never really happens ever! After herding everyone, we finally left Bangalore around 8am, sulking about being late.

It was a pleasant drive most of the way. We took the Mysore road, and the road was good till Srirangapattna where we turned right to avoid Mysore. The next stretch of road was narrow and pot-holed ridden till we reached Mysore-Hunsur road. We took deviation towards Nagarahole National Park(Not called Rajiv Gandhi National Park) after Hunsur and continued on the forest road.

This road passes through the National Park. You may sometime get to see some wildlife, primarily Chitals(Spotted Deer), Sambar, Elephants and Bisons when you are driving by. All we got to see were a few Chitals grazing by the road. We reached the park office in the afternoon and decided to take the jungle safari.

The safari must have lasted for an hour and we saw wildlife in plenty. Most of my sightings were first time in the wild, though I am now used to seeing them in plenty. We saw a few herds elephants which walked pretty close to our van. There were Chitals, Sambars and Bisons. I don’t remember well, but I think we did see a few peacocks.

Wild Elephants in Nagarahole

Wild Elephant at Nagarahole

We drove further towards Kutta village(which is in Coorg) from Nagarahole, had a quick coffee and then reached nearby Irpu falls in the evening. Evening is the best time to be at the waterfall. Irpu is a beautiful waterfall coming down from Brahmagiri hills where river Laxmana Teertha originates. We wandered around the falls for an hour or so and headed towards Madikeri.

Irpu Falls

Irpu Falls

Madikeri is more than an hour’s drive from Irpu. We reached there around 8pm and checked in to a small hotel.

Before everyone woke up next morning, I made a quick sneak visit to Raja Seat to take some photographs. Raja Seat is a small garden beyond which is a beautiful valley, often foggy in the mornings. The name comes because the King of Kodagu had constructed a small canopy here and often came to relax.

Raja Seat

Foggy morning at the valley beyond Rajaseat

When back, we had a small debate about places we should be visiting for the day. Being a short trip, and a car at our disposal, we wanted to cover every place, and each one of us wanted to be at a place of their choice. After much debate over breakfast, we headed towards Abbey(Abbi) falls, that being the nearest place.

Abbey falls is a not-so-big waterfall that happens to be inside a private coffee estate. With habitation upstream, and probably some coffee related work happening, water is not clean and you won’t feel too good about it. Nevertheless, a nice waterfall which is a much visited place in Coorg.

Abbey Falls

Abbey Falls

Our next stop was Bhagamandala and Talakaveri. Bhagamandala is the place where three small rivers unite to form Kaveri. As it usually happens(!), we saw only two rivers, and the third one is said to be hidden somewhere! Must be an influence from Allahabad! Anyway there wasn’t much to do in Bhagamandala. So we haded straight up to Talakaveri. It is a steep uphill and winding road to Talakaveri, and it took some 30 minutes to cover those 7-8 kilometers. But we stopped occasionally to enjoy the vistas of the planes below. Talakaveri is said to be the birth place of river Cauvery. It is on the top of a hill and houses a temple(like every other hill!). There is a small pond in front of the temple, from where the river is known to originate. The Brahmagiri hill ranges, which is part of the wildlife sanctuary starts from here. The peaks around look green in monsoon and are a treat to see.

We headed back to Madikeri and reached there for lunchtime. Our next stop was on the way back towards Mysore – Kaveri Nisargadhama near Kushalnagar. The Nisargadhama is a large area on the banks of Kaveri and has been developed into a touristy place by forest department. You can take a walk by the river, wet yourself in the water, see some deer in enclosed area or take an elephant ride here. We did not find much to do here, so we returned quickly and headed back to Bangalore.

Elephant at Kaveri Nisargadhama

You can take elephant rides at Nisargadhama, but keep in mind that these pachyderms are often beaten and treated badly. You will be better off buying this guy a bunch of Bananas than trying to take him for a walk.

The drive back was uneventful till we reached Mysore Road. Being Sunday evening, Mysore Road was pretty crowded and it was a tough job driving in the lights. After a painful three hours drive in the night on Mysore Road, we finally reached back Bangalore around 11pm. It was a not-so-great trip, but being the first time driving trip and (at that time)being very infrequent travellers, we really had a great time.

COORG INFORMATION

Kodagu, or Coorg as it is written in English, is a small district south of Karnataka. It is a hilly region in the Sahyadri ranges and is known for many things including their distinct Kodava Culture, the green beautiful hills, waterfalls and coffee estates. Madikeri, sometimes written as Mercara is the district headquarters.

You can take ksrtc buses from Bangalore or Mysore to Madikeri. To reach Coorg from Bangalore, take Mysore road and drive till Srirangapattna. Turn right little ahead of Srirangapattna and drive till you reach Mysore – Madikeri main road and continue to Madikeri from here. You can also visit KRS dam, Balmuri falls, Ranganathittu and Srirangapattna if you have time, as they all are a short detour near Srirangapattna. Madikeri should be around 250km from Bangalore and can be driven in 6 hours.

ACCOMMODATION

Orange County is the only upmarket resort in Coorg. But there are hundreds of mid-range and budget places to stay all over the district of Coorg. Home stay is a popular concept in Coorg where you can stay with Kodava families and get a taste of local culture and cuisine. There are a few budget hotels in Madikeri where you can find accommodation easily.

PLACES TO SEE

Places to see in Coorg are plenty, and you can easily spend a month if you want to go to every one of them. The popular places are the Irpu waterfalls, Kaveri Nisargadhama, Tibetan monastery and settlement in Bylakuppe near Kushalanagar, Hebbe falls, Talakaveri where Kaveri originates, Dubare elephant camp, Harangi dam and many more. Nagarahole National Park is in the border of the district and can be done along with your Coorg trip. Depending on where you are staying, your hosts may be able to take you on short treks or coffee estate walks. Most people who come to

Coorg prefer to stay at a place and enjoy its beauty instead of going sightseeing.

For those interested, there are a few options to trek in the forest. Thadiandamol is the tallest hill in Coorg and can be done as a full day trek. Trek to Brahmagiri Peak requires two days though you can do it in a day if you are fit enough.

—Categories: karnataka, monsoons, sahyadri

Coorg – Irpu Falls and Trekking in Brahmagiri

When I got into the bus last Friday evening, I was headed towards fulfilling a long-standing plan: to climb up the Brahmagiri hills. Brahmagiri peak, located in Coorg district of Karnataka is a part of Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary. The climb goes through leech ridden tropical forests to grasslands and shola(forest high in the hills where grass is the dominant vegetation, and trees are found in small groups where water is available) above the forest line, and offers great vistas of Sanctuary area and the planes below.

Irpu Falls
Irpu Waterfall

We started our hike a little late on the Saturday morning. By the time we had breakfast, took the necessary permits and changed buses to reach Irpu, it was already 10.30am. Fortunately it was not a sunny day, which made the climbing easy. The climb starts from Irpu falls, a well known landmark in Kodagu(Coorg). Leeches waiting on the forest floor gleefully welcomed us into the National Park once we walked past the waterfall. The initial part of the journey offers easy walk via tropical forest and lot of bamboo, and starts getting steeper slowly. We encountered several streams on the way and water is in plenty. Forest floor all the way is littered with colorful dry leaves and green saplings besides the bridle path.

Coorg forest
Rich colors of the forest

It was 2 hours of climb before we left the forest below us and hit the grasslands. Some steep climbing for another 30 minutes and we reached our base camp – the Narimale forest camp.

Narimale Camp
The Narimale camp inside the forest

Forest stream
A Stream that runs next to the camp

Narimale camp is built to shelter forest guards who are on duty to watch against poaching. It serves as an excellent base camp to visit nearby peaks – Narimale peak and Brahmagiri peak. The presence of the camp also reduces the load of the trekkers by not having to carry any camping material.

More about Coorg on paintedstork.com
* Driving trip to Coorg
* Relaxing in Coorg in the monsoons

Tired and hungry that we were after a good climb, we quickly prepared food and hogged on it. After a short rest, we headed for Narimale Peak, which is 1.5km walk from the camp. As we walked through the grasslands, a Sambar emerged from the shola and ran away after seeing us. Some one in the group sited an elephant too. Narimale Peak offered us beautiful vista of the plains below, the sholas and the Brahmagiri peak at a distance. As the sun moved below the horizon, we made a quick retreat to the camp. It started raining as soon as we reached the camp and we were lucky not to get caught in the rain. We prepared an early dinner at the camp and then went to sleep.

Brahmagiri
Our escort takes a look at the sholas from the Narimale Peak

Narimale Peak
View from Narimale Peak

The next morning was foggy and the visibility was low. We contemplated over breakfast if it makes sense to climb the Brahmagiri peak in this weather. But since we did not have much else to do, we decided to make it anyway. The walk to Brahmagiri takes you through grassland, and occasionally through small patches of shola. Small white and pink flowers dot the green grassy plains.

Brahmagiri ranges
The peak to the extreme right is Brahmagiri where we were headed.

After an easy walk for almost two hours, we reached the foot of Brahmagiri Peak. As we looked up to it, the peak was completely covered in fog and we could not see what is up for us. The bridle path to the peak suddenly got steep and we were quickly climbing at 45 degrees. It soon got worse – it must have been around 60 degrees slope or even worse. It would have been a climb of may be 150 meters to the top but the quick ascent got us tired quickly. But once we were up there, the vista was beautiful and worth all the effort. Interestingly, while we climbed up in foggy weather, other side was completely clear and offered us nice view of a valley in Kerala.

Brahmagiri
At the Brahmagiri Peak. Inscription reads that the Peak is 1600 meters above the sea level and is 9kms from Irpu waterfall.

Brahmagiri
Walking on the ridges of Brahmagiri Peak

We rested here for a while and walked a bit on the beautiful ridges. A bit of walking and we saw a few Sambars and a ma elephant with its baby. Weather had completely cleared up as we headed back and offered good view of the surroundings and the Brahmagiri peak itself. We also got to see Wild Gaurs on the way back. A few of us discovered thorns of porcupines here and there. Elephant dung was littered wherever we went. A pair of Nilgiri Langur were spotted on a tree at a distance. There was life in every part of the sanctuary.

Brahmagiri
Nothing goes waste in the forest. Even the dung of the elephant supports some form of life

As we returned to the base camp, we packed up quickly and headed back to Irpu. An hour and a half and a lot of leech bites later, we were back at Irpu Waterfall for a refreshing dip in the water. We came down from here for a session of refueling our stomach and returned to the city by the overnight bus.

Brahmagiri Information.

REACHING

Brahmagiri wildlife sanctuary is a restricted area and one has to take permission from Range Forest Officer(RFO) at Srimangala village. Call the RFO a few days in advance and inform your trekking plans so that they can arrange a mandatory escort for you. Getting permits is easy and hassle free.

To reach Srimangala, take a KSRTC bus to Gonikoppal from Bangalore, which is 6 hours journey. Change buses here and travel for another hour to Srimangala. Pay the necessary fees at Srimangala RFO office and get your permits. You can also shop here for groceries you will need for your stay at the top. Irpu falls, where the trek begins is another 30 minutes by bus. There are not many buses from Srimangala to Irpu and you may have to hire a jeep if you can’t get a bus.

ACCOMMODATION NEAR IRPU

You can get no-frills accommodation at the temple near Irpu offers. There are also some home stay kind of resorts near Irpu, one is Ramcad which is pretty close to Irpu. Nearby village Kutta has some places like Pearl Garden, Chilligere Estate and High Falls Holiday

TREKKING IN THE PARK

The Narimale camp, which is in the middle of the forest, is the best place to stay. Camping elsewhere is probably not allowed, but check with the RFO if you want to. Narimale camp is 4.5km from Irpu falls and can be covered in 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on your fitness. From the camp, you can trek to Narimale Peak, which is about 1.5km, and takes around 1.5hrs to go and come back. Brahmagiri
Peak is 5kms and takes around 2 to 2.5 hours to climb up. Another place to visit is Munekal Caves, which is 3.5kms from the camp. Munekal caves is called as Pakshi Patalam at Kerala side of the sanctuary.