Finally after countless debates over place selection, numerous changes in itinerary, postponing the dates and a long wait of 4 months the day arrived when we left for Mangalore…. Our long awaited trip since last year.
It was Independence-day week of August when we decided to get free from hectic schedules, corporate milieu, barmy routines and the universe of my cubicle. We had booked air tickets 4 months in advance to get it cheap (Hyderabad –Mangalore via Bengaluru, 7K approx. [return]).
We had booked a cab (Swift DZire) from “Siddanta Tours-Mangalore” over phone conversation. The plan was to visit tourist places in and near by Mangalore-Udupi-Madikeri-Kasaragod in 5 days.
We reached Mangalore at 9 :30 AM. Our cab driver cum Guide (Mr. Lokesh) was waiting at exit gate.
Day 1: 13th August 2014,
We had brunch to a local tiffin center and headed to Madikeri (Coorg).
Distance between Mangalore to Madikeri is approx. 150 KM and it takes 3.5 hrs to reach.
The way to Madikeri is a breeze to drivers except approx. 10 KM before Madikeri. Throughout the journey what you will find is lush green view on both sides of road, panoramic landscapes and beautiful Villas/Houses [looks like everyone is rich hereJ] and one small waterfall in the end of journey.
We stopped here at the fall for a tea break.
We reached Madikeri @ 3:30 PM. There our Driver had a contact who took us to a HOME STAY.
As long as you don't get hyper upon there is "no cupboard/no Towel/no soap/on Mosquito repellant/no room service and no hot water in night…", The room was pretty decent for 400 bucks per head per night :).
This was our first home stay experience so no complaints… rather a nice experience. I think room stays will be more or less like this only after all they are not hotels. So If you are planning to stay in a HOMESTAY then you must bring your own Towel/Toothpaste/Soap/Shampoo/Mosquito Repellants with you.
Later on we got to know we could have gotten same kind of room for much less money but its ok as we didn't want to spend much time searching a better option to stay than to visit places.
It was 4 PM by the time we settled in, and then we headed to Abbey Falls.
One has to walk almost 1 km inside rain forest down to reach the Fall. The path to the fall was just awesome. Completely surrounded by green forest, super loud chirping of crickets and low light in the evening was making the whole environment mysterious. You can hear the waterfall sound from the beginning of the path.
There is a hanging bridge right in front of the fall, view from which is stunning. As we were here in mid monsoon, we witnessed this fall at its peak, the powerful force of roaring water stream was falling from the top to the boulders, if you shout here then you are talking normally….
The wind was creating a misty drizzle towards the bridge, enough to drench someone standing over there, an amusing experience though. We manage to get some good pictures from the bridge as I had my xperia –z with me; it comes handy near beaches/waterscapes where I can’t take my DSLR. Beware of leeches they are plenty in number here.
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| Dense rain forest on both side of the Path |
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| Crazy friends on the hanging bridge in front of the Fall |
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| Abbey fall front view from the bridge |
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| One can get a good view from behind the barricading |
After spending an hour or little more, we left for RAJA’s SEAT .
What you can get here is a very beautiful panoramic landscape scene from the viewpoint and a beautiful garden, worth spending a reasonable amount of time here watching semi cloud clad mountains and greenery below you.
If you visit this place in summer, it is said that one can witness the spectacular view of Sunset and Sunrise. Alas… we had chosen to visit in monsoon… but still the view from the point was placid.
It was dark by the time we left the Raja’s seat, had nominal supper to a normal restaurant and returned to our temporary nest.
Day 2: 14th August 2014,
We started from home stay by 9:30 AM for Dubare:
In Dubare, there is an elephant training camp at the Kavery river bank and the edge of Dubare forest, we learnt that here elephants used to be trained for Dussehra celebration in Mysore, now they are just for tourist attraction; one can do a short elephant ride (very short that we chose not to J).
You can get a good view of landscape, do trekking and gain knowledge about the elephant’s habits. This camp is governed by Forest Department.
When we reached here, it was 12 PM, few local approached us and if we want rafting or visit elephant camp or both.
We choose to do both, elephant camp closes for visitors by 1:30 PM. We paid 30 RS per head to cross Kavery river to reach the camp.
Spent some time here watched elephants closely, trekked a few distance, took some good pics crossed the river back to the origin. Now we were ready for rafting.
Water here is almost still, there were 4 small rapids, ideal for first timers or non-swimmers. Our rafting guide Giri was a fun guy, he made us fall in the river without prior alert, by knowing that the depth is 50 feet and 2 crocodiles were seen around, the experience became fearsomely exciting. The total ride was of 7 Kms [there is another 12km option but Giri said due to low water level its not possible, (seriously!, we went in monsoons and level was low??... must have rained less like no cats and dogs this year)] and we covered it in 45 minutes. In middle of the rafting, we took rest at a rocky bank, flew few hundred meters with the downstream, stood on a grove tree in middle of the river, watched wonderful river side scenery, paddled through the rapids, all in all we enjoyed thoroughly, thanks to our super enthusiast and caring guide Mr. Giri. This place is a must visit for nature lovers.
At end point of rafting you can find couple of change rooms. When we came on the road, we saw our driver waiting for us at a change room, we changed our cloths here and had coffee, what a taste, I think coffee was normal; it was the excitement and exhaustive rafting which made it taste soothing.
Coffee RS 10 per cup.
Change room: Rs 10 per person.
Rafting Fare: 600 per person for 7.5 KMs
Make sure you bring extra set of dry clothes, undergarments, and towels with you if you plan to raft.
For raft, Sarees and heavy cloths, keys, phones, footwear, Camera are not permissible, you must have to raft barefoot and in shorts/comfortable clothing.
After this we headed to Tibetan Golden Temple (Namdroling Monastery) in Bylakuppe.
Beautiful place, magnificent architecture and monk's chantings and music were more than enough to put you in a trance state. The paintings on the wall inside temple are splendid and feels epitome of mastery in artwork and intense attention to the details.
Felt euphoric here, took some photos then sat down on the temple steps for a while as I saw many tourists sitting there silently, perhaps they all were introspecting. The music and the chanting of monks were creating a spellbinding milieu… just close your eyes and feel your inner peace…
After spending a worthy time here we came out and had lunch at a restaurant run by Tibetans. Food was good and value for money.
It was 4 PM by the time we finished out lunch, now it was time to visit Cauvery Nisargdhama
This was hardly 20 minutes from the Golden temple on the way back to Madikeri. There is entry fee 10 RS per person and 20 Rs for camera.
At the entrance you will see a beautiful hanging bridge over Cauvery River (Nisargdhama is an island). Place is worth visit with family as kids will like Deer park, Rabbits and birds. This island is full of bamboo forests and other trees. The way which goes along the river bank is simply worth a walk with you companion. I found this place very picturesque and fun.
At the entrance on Nisargadhama, there are many shops selling handmade stuffs, cosmetic stuffs, homemade wine, things made of sandal wood etc.
We then returned to our home stay in madikeri, had supper with homemade wine (we bought rice wine which tasted like sort of soda, a little sour and lots of sweet and a bit of Sula)
Day 3: 15th August 2014,
Happy Independence Day… :). J, I see flags everywhere, at the house's roofs, on the vehicles, in many hands, the whole town of Coorg was tricolored, it was definitely a nice day for outing…
Had “Neer Dosa” [a must have breakfast when you are in Mangalore region] at our home stay and left for Mandalapatti.
Wish I could visit this place in summer or start of winter. What a place it is. This would be probably the best viewpoint in Coorg. The magnificent landscape will charm you to stay here forever. But in rainy season all we could see clouds, clouds and cloud clad mountains. Ideal place for trekking enthusiasts, photographers, nature lovers.
The road to this place from Madikeri town is considered dangerous for inexperienced drivers and only suitable for 4 wheel drives.
We paid 400 RS per head for a 4X4 jeep. At start it felt there is no need of the 4 wheel drive but as soon as the uphill road starts it becomes narrower, bumpy and dangerous. Since it was rainy season, the road had become more slippery and muddy, an excellent voyage for thrill seekers. Visibility was very less due to misty drizzling that even at 11 am vehicles had their head lights on. Side by side when fog reduces due to wind.. we get to see wonderful landscapes around us. This road is absolutly worth traveling.
So after a bumpy and thrilling ride of almost 60 minutes we reached to the entrance of “Pushpagiri Wildlife sanctuary”. Yes, this place is a part of this sanctuary.
We paid the entrée fee 20 Rs per head and started trekking towards uphill, it was cold.
Everything on the uphill was surrounded by mist and cloud. We put our camera into bags as lens was getting wet while taking even a single shot. Here again my xperia z worked :). Though we couldn’t trek much because it was continuously drizzling and raining in intervals, and trails were too slippery so we spent some time at the peak took some pics and returned to jeep [Keeping a resolution that I have to visit this place again in clear shiney weather].
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| Happy Independance Day |
We were heading to Mangalore now, bye bye Coorg, you are worth visit again and again.
So we reached Mangalore in evening around 4 PM, checked in a normal hotel of around 1k per night. After freshen up we asked driver to take us to the nearest beach which was PanamburBeach.
Though it was dark by the time when we reach here, but I guessed it is a beautiful beach, very les crowd, shallow shore, beautiful shacks everything looked charming.
Here is a port nearby. We stayed here for a while then went back to the hotel … had dinner and slept for next day travel.
Day 4: 16th August 2014
We started from our hotel to Bekal fort:
Bekal fort is in Kasaragod district in Kerala. It is the biggest fort in Kerala situated at Arabian sea shore. This fort is very picturesque. Distance from Mangalore to Bekal is approx 65 KM. There is a checkpoint at Karnataka – Kerala border if your vehicle is having National permit, the entry fee will be 250 Rs, if not then 500 or more. One must take permission to enter into Kerala.
The journey takes almost 90 minutes from Mangalore. On the way we found many unforgettable sceneries such as beautiful villas, landscapes, bridges, backwaters, Coconut laden forests, estuaries, all in all the journey to the fort itself is a treat to eyes.
We reached at Bekal fort approx 2 PM. We found here is a very organized place for parking, pay and use toilets adjacent to the fort premises.
Inside Bekal fort premise, there is a Hanuman temple.
Entry fee is 20 RS per person for Indians and 100 RS for International tourists. 25 Rs per Camera. Tripod and any kind of camera stand is not allowed. You need a special permission for that from Thrissur told by the fee collector. I had to deposit my tripod at fee counter.
Once I entered in the fort I found myself in an open field surrounded by huge walls and lush green grass.
Two side of fort is surrounded by Arabian Sea and other two side land. Weather was sunny and fort looked so photogenic that I took plenty of images.
Then we headed to Ullal beach, this is one of the best beach I’ve ever seen, it is 10 KM from Mangalore. It is dangerous as well because of the rocks. People who go onto the rock for better view of sunset may fell into the deep sea if they don't take proper care.
Sun was setting in our presence at the beach… on the ROCKS J but we were not able to see it properly as it was cloudy weather. But we sat for a long time until complete dark. I got some nice long exposure shots there. This beach is a worth visit place. There is very famous Someshwer temple situated beside the beach.
Day 5: 17th August 2014
Woke up early, had neer dosa and kerala style tea in brunch and headed to Moodabidri to visit a famous ancient Jain Temple (Saavira KambadaBasadi)
One word come in mind when you enter in the premises fantabulous, what an epitome of ancient architecture. I was deeply trapped by the architecture. Main attraction are the pillars and carving on it.
Entry fee is 10 rs per head and 25 Rs for Camera. Words can't describe this place I’m leaving you with below images.
After spending here a satisfactory amount of time, we left for THE KAUP BEACH.
Way to Udupi (Kaup Beach) from the Jain temple was a treat to eyes. I felt journey was better than the destination.
I confess, our Mangalore trip was based on this beautiful beach, this was in our top list since I had watched David movie. The Light house, Arabian sea waves hitting on rocky shore/beach, Benches under sky, shacks, magnificent view from the Light house.. God I was in xanadu…
Light house closes by 6 PM. I guess it opens by 2 PM as when we went there we were allowed to enter into it and we reached there by 2:30 or so.
Entry fee was 20 RS per person, 25 RS for Camera. Tripod is not allowed as there is a very narrow balcony on the top.
My main purpose was to take some good pics of it and surroundings that I did as much as I could. We went on the top of light house, spent hours there taking pics, watching rain coming towards us, watching sun go down. We walked on the rocky shore, sat for a long time on the beach side benches… it was a great relief. I managed to take some long exposure shots here too.
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| Do you see the rain... |
Finally on 6th day, 18th august we caught our flight from Mangalore to Hyderabad with lots of new travel experiences, a new level up to my photography learning, and a self told resolution that I have to come here again at least once more in this life…. And yes a big thanks to our tour driver/Guide Mr. Lokesh for being so modest and patient with us, I indeed learnt how to be or at least pretend to be calm with impatient and confused drones like us and reply with innocent smiley face...
Some Statistics:
Genre : Exploration, Trekking, Photography
Genre : Exploration, Trekking, Photography
Days planned for tour: 5
Approx Expenditure including everything: 18000 INR per head
People in group : 4
People in group : 4
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