Madikeri - Scotland of India

It was yet another holiday from school & office & it was a long weekend and we wanted to go some place. Mr. Peter & I are kind of last minute travel planning people. And it generally works out well for us. This is a travelogue that happened 3 years ago, but we had such a good time that I'm still able to recall all the wonderful things we did there. It was a trip to Madikeri. 

Madikeri is the capital of the district of Kodagu (also called as Coorg) in Karnataka. It's a cooler hilly town bordering the forest ranges with plenty of plantations around, especially coffee. It's perhaps, this climate & hilly terrain of Coorg, that inspired the British to occupy this area for over 100 years & they called it as Scotland of India. 

The front area with a reception, the living room, dining hall and some classic artifacts

It's approximately a five and half hour drive from Bangalore. We went by our car and Mr. Peter drove. The roads were good and well maintained. We reached Madikeri town by noon. We had lunch from a local hotel, Kodava Cuisine, where we ate the Coorgi Pandi Curry and rice dumplings. It was spicy and delicious. After lunch we checked into The Lodge, a heritage home stay. It is situated very conveniently in a quiet neighbourhood just off the bustle of Madikeri town, yet close enough to be easily accessible. It is a beautiful old home whose heritage charm has been perfectly maintained and wonderfully fused with basic modern amenities. We got a nice room which had a private sit out. 

After checkin, our first stop was to see the Abbey Falls. It is located around 8 kms from the town of Madikeri. The waterfall is located between coffee plantations, spice estates and green trees where several streams join from the mountains and gush down to join the Cauvery river. The roar of the falls can be heard from the road. The roads were narrow. Cars can reach the entrance of these falls from where a downhill walk of 500 metres on slightly paved steps takes one to the waterfalls. It was a magnificent sight. The waters were in full gush. It was our kids' first sight of a natural waterfall. There was a hanging bridge built across the gorge here offering a good view of the falls. 

Abbey Falls is great during the Monsoon Season

Next stop was the Raja's Seat, we didn't want to miss the sunset. It is a small pavilion with a garden surrounding it; offering a view of the green valley below. According to legend, the kings of Coorg spent their evenings here. The sunset was spectacular and the sight of the far stretching blue mountains was breath taking. An added attraction was a toy train. This lovely train takes adults and children around the park to enjoy a view of the mountains as well as the Raja’s seat from a distance. The garden also had a musical fountain show. It was nice. 

Raja's Seat & Musical Fountain in the garden

For dinner we went to Raintree Restaurant, which is a multi-cuisine restaurant, very close to the Raja's Seat. Here, they served some really delicious food made from their local spices, which we had to our heart's content. 

After that we retired back to The Lodge. Had a good night's sleep. 

Next day we woke up to a beautiful morning. A visit to Coorg is incomplete if you haven't had their coffee. So our morning began with a nice hot cuppa o' joe sitting in our private patio amongst the cool misty breeze while listening to the chirping of the birds. The complimentary breakfast consisted of the local favourite : akki roti with some veggie curry. 

We packed up and checked out. On our way we halted to see the Madikeri fort. This fort was first built in the last quarter of the 17th century. It was a good walk in the morning. There is also a museum inside that has many historical artifacts & antique items related to the fort & surrounding areas.

Next stop was the Cauvery Nisargadhama. 

It is a 25 acre island formed by river Cauvery with bamboos, teak, sandalwood trees, streams and wild life covering it. Here we saw deer, elephants and peacocks. There were also high tree houses made up of wood & bamboo.

Nisargadhama is also famous for its hanging bridge which connects the island and helps travellers to cross the Cauvery river. 

Finally we decided to head back to Bangalore. It was a fun trip after all. 

There were still more places in Coorg that we didn't explore like the Tibetan Monastery, Elephant Dubare Camp, Iruppu Falls and some more. All that to be covered next time. 

So Coorg....we'll be back!!