Places to Stay and Eat at Kushalnagar and Madikeri
At Kushalnagar, the two good hotels are:
1. Kannika International (Ph: 08276-274728, 273401/02/03). It has slightly old look. I didnt check out the rooms but the food is very good.
2. Hotel Shylaja Arris (Ph:08276-272762) This was a newly built hotel so the rooms very neat and fresh. There were a few teething problems but I guess they would have solved it by now. Their restaurant serves Andhra food ("first restaurant to serve Andhra food in Kushalnagar" etc). The food was OK.
3. Nisargadhama (Ph: 08272-228305) This is the Forest Office number in Madikeri. You will need to call them and send them a draft if you want to book a cottage at Nisargadhama. The location is superb but the food is pathetic in the canteen there. Even if you are staying here, it is better to head for Kannika or any hotel in that vicinity.
At Madikeri
1. We stayed at Brahmagiri Comforts.(Ph: 08272- 225866 / 224866 / 224867) The road leading to it is very narrow and steep. You need to ask for directions getting to the hotel or you will miss it. It is a mediocre hotel. We didnt eat there. There is a good vegetarian restaurant on the main road, less than 5mins from this hotel. We had food there which was good.
At Bhagmandala
1. I dont know about the staying options here but the best and probably the only place to eat is the Hotel Mayura. The lunch was good here.
At Kakabe
1. I didnt notice any good eating places here. If you are going to Kakabe, ensure you get to the Iguttappa temple during lunch time. That way your food problem will be solved :))
Friday, December 15, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Trip to Madikeri, Bhagmandala, Talacauvery and Kakabe
We started from Kushalnagar in the morning after breakfast and headed to Madikere. Madikere is around 45 to 50 km from Kushalnagar and you should do this distance in an hours time. This is the ghat section but the hills slope very gently. So the drive is quite good and not very strenuous.
We got to Madikeri and went to the hotel, Brahmagiri Comforts. We just dumped our bags here and started for Bhagmandala and Talacauvery. This road is also on a ghat section and has many twists and turns. On the way there is a small shop where you can have a cup of coffee and can also buy coffee powder and spices. What caught the eye was the slogan there, which went 'Drink and Drive'. They meant coffee ofcourse :)) We stopped here and h
ad a cup of coffee, bought some spices and drove down to Bhagmandala.
Well, if you are not too religious a person, there isnt much to do at Bhagmandala !! You can see two river streams joining there. There is also a temple here which you can visit.
From there we went to Tala Cauvery. This is the birthplace of Cauvery. There is a small tank built here and you can take a dip in that. Take a change of clothes along if you want to take a dip. Next to this spot are steps which lead up to the peak of the mountain. Frome there you can see a lot of the Brahmagiri ranges and also the hills of Kerala. Since it was close to lunch time and we were hungry, we didnt climb up this mountain.
On the way back we stopped for lunch at Hotel Mayura at Bhagmandala. This is the only decent place to eat in the whole stretch from Madikeri to Tala Cauvery. So ensure your stop is such that you are at Bhagmandala when you are hungry :)) The food is good here but do expect a crowd since everyone going this side wants to eat here !!
Starting from the hotel, we went headed for Kakabe. For this you need to go straight thru a village road without turning left at Bhagmandala. It is better to ask people at Bhagmandala on the road that you have to take. This drive is excellent. It takes you thru lot of plantations and except for seeing a town bus once in a while, you get absolutely no traffic on the road. It is very peaceful.
Our destination at Kakabe was the Iguttappa temple. When you reach the taxi stand at Kakabe, you need to take a right and follow the sign boards to get to this temple. The temple is on top of a hillock and is on all sides surrounded by mountains. You can see Todiyendamol, the tallest peak in Coorg, from here. The temple is a Kerala style temple.
As luck would have it, we reached there when the temple was closed. We got there around 4pm but the temple opens only after 5pm or so. They close at 1 pm. So keep this in mind when you plan a trip to this temple. The priests were very nice people and asked us to stay back. But I didnt want to drive late in the night not knowing the route. So we put a small donation in the hundi and the priests gave us some prasad and some coffee !! We started from here and drove back to Madikeri.
The next day morning, we left for Abbey falls. These falls are part of a private estate. We reached quite early and so the crowd was very less. You need to park your car and then walk down for 10 mins to get to the waterfall. This walk will make you feel miserable. It is not
the strain of walking but the strain of seeing !! Everywhere along the path plastic is strewn. Empty chips packets, cigarette packets, empty plastic bottles etc etc.
But your anger vanishes when you see the falls. Abbey was in its full glory when we went there. It was a wonderful sight and we could go down and stand in the water. We didnt take a shower in the falls but you could do that if you take a change of clothes along. We stayed there for quite some time and by the time we were leaving, it was getting crowded.
We drove back from Madikeri, with a brief halt at Nisargadhama, for my daughters to say Hi to the rabbits and then had lunch at Kushalnagar, before heading back to Bangalore. We got back to Bangalore late in the evening.
We started from Kushalnagar in the morning after breakfast and headed to Madikere. Madikere is around 45 to 50 km from Kushalnagar and you should do this distance in an hours time. This is the ghat section but the hills slope very gently. So the drive is quite good and not very strenuous.
We got to Madikeri and went to the hotel, Brahmagiri Comforts. We just dumped our bags here and started for Bhagmandala and Talacauvery. This road is also on a ghat section and has many twists and turns. On the way there is a small shop where you can have a cup of coffee and can also buy coffee powder and spices. What caught the eye was the slogan there, which went 'Drink and Drive'. They meant coffee ofcourse :)) We stopped here and h
ad a cup of coffee, bought some spices and drove down to Bhagmandala.Well, if you are not too religious a person, there isnt much to do at Bhagmandala !! You can see two river streams joining there. There is also a temple here which you can visit.
From there we went to Tala Cauvery. This is the birthplace of Cauvery. There is a small tank built here and you can take a dip in that. Take a change of clothes along if you want to take a dip. Next to this spot are steps which lead up to the peak of the mountain. Frome there you can see a lot of the Brahmagiri ranges and also the hills of Kerala. Since it was close to lunch time and we were hungry, we didnt climb up this mountain.
On the way back we stopped for lunch at Hotel Mayura at Bhagmandala. This is the only decent place to eat in the whole stretch from Madikeri to Tala Cauvery. So ensure your stop is such that you are at Bhagmandala when you are hungry :)) The food is good here but do expect a crowd since everyone going this side wants to eat here !!
Starting from the hotel, we went headed for Kakabe. For this you need to go straight thru a village road without turning left at Bhagmandala. It is better to ask people at Bhagmandala on the road that you have to take. This drive is excellent. It takes you thru lot of plantations and except for seeing a town bus once in a while, you get absolutely no traffic on the road. It is very peaceful.
Our destination at Kakabe was the Iguttappa temple. When you reach the taxi stand at Kakabe, you need to take a right and follow the sign boards to get to this temple. The temple is on top of a hillock and is on all sides surrounded by mountains. You can see Todiyendamol, the tallest peak in Coorg, from here. The temple is a Kerala style temple.
As luck would have it, we reached there when the temple was closed. We got there around 4pm but the temple opens only after 5pm or so. They close at 1 pm. So keep this in mind when you plan a trip to this temple. The priests were very nice people and asked us to stay back. But I didnt want to drive late in the night not knowing the route. So we put a small donation in the hundi and the priests gave us some prasad and some coffee !! We started from here and drove back to Madikeri.
The next day morning, we left for Abbey falls. These falls are part of a private estate. We reached quite early and so the crowd was very less. You need to park your car and then walk down for 10 mins to get to the waterfall. This walk will make you feel miserable. It is not
the strain of walking but the strain of seeing !! Everywhere along the path plastic is strewn. Empty chips packets, cigarette packets, empty plastic bottles etc etc.But your anger vanishes when you see the falls. Abbey was in its full glory when we went there. It was a wonderful sight and we could go down and stand in the water. We didnt take a shower in the falls but you could do that if you take a change of clothes along. We stayed there for quite some time and by the time we were leaving, it was getting crowded.
We drove back from Madikeri, with a brief halt at Nisargadhama, for my daughters to say Hi to the rabbits and then had lunch at Kushalnagar, before heading back to Bangalore. We got back to Bangalore late in the evening.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Trip to Kushalnagar
Last year (2005), just after Diwali, along with my wife and two daughters, I went on a trip to Coorg. Coorg is a district and the places we visited included Kushalnagar, Madikeri, Bhagmandala and Talakaveri.
We started early in the morning, around 6:15, from Bangalore. Enroute is our favourite breakfast place, Kamat Lokaruchi, in Ramnagara. The dishes are good and the coffee is better :)) From here you proceed towards Mysore and before you reach Mysore, you need to take a right leading into Srirangapatna. I dont know how the road signs are now, but we almost missed the turn. So keep looking out for this. You will need to go to Hunsur and from there to Kushalnagar. Keep a map with you.
You can easily reach Kushalnagar by lunch time if you are out of Bangalore limits by 6:30am. We reached there during lunch time. I had booked accommodation in Nisargadhama.
This is on the banks of Cauvery and is a tourist spot. It looked great but I realized the problems much later in the day. If you are there without your kids, it is a great place to stay. Lot of bamboo trees and the Cauvery flowing nearby. Late in the evening, the caretaker came and told us to keep all our belongings in a big wooden box !!! He said that rats generally come into the room at night. My kids were scared and wanted to know what else came in. Frogs certainly did. So the night was spent with the lights switched on !! You would be better off staying at either Kannika International or Shylaja Arris, the two decent hotels there. And dont even think of eating in the canteen at Nisargadhama.On the first day e
vening, we went to Bylakuppe, where the Tibetian monasteries are situated. This is off the Hunsur-Kushalnagar road. If you are coming from Kushalnagar to Hunsur, you need to take a right turning. It is close to Kushalnagar and there are lot of signs. You should visit the big monastery here, which is excellent. Dont go there thinking you will get some Tibetian stuff there. Whatever the shops had was the usual junk you would get in Bangalore. The monastery is a nice place. Dont miss it.Tibetian Monastery at Bylekuppe
It was raining the next day. So we started a bit late and went to Dubare. This elephant
camp on the banks of Cauvery is an excellent place to visit. You need to drive from Kushalnagar towards Madikere. A couple of kilometers after Nisargadhama, you will get a cross road. You need to take the left turn here. The road leads to Siddapura but you dont need to go that far. After some distance on this road, you will need to take a village road to your left. You will see a sign here. Drive carefully and slowly since there is almost no road here.Dubare is a n
ice place. Lot of water in the river. You need to cross to the other bank on a boat. There you can interact with elephants. You get to wash them and feed them. As can be expected, the kids love this a lot. Since the parents are tired of washing and feeding their children daily, they dont want to do it one more time ;)) Just kidding. You will also get a good lecture about the elephants and their habits. Then you will be taken on an elephant ride. If the rush is high, there will be a long wait for this ride !! If I were to go again, I will skip the elephant ride and go sit with my feet in Cauvery. That is a great feeling.We had lunch at Dubare. There is a restaurant here and we were not sure how good it would be but the lunch turned out to be hot and good. We then got back to Nisargadhama. My daughters had by this time formed a great bond with the rabbits there and kept on feeding them. In the evening we moved from Nisargadhama to Hotel Shylaja Arris.
Will write about the visit to Madikere, Talacauvery and Kakabe in my next post.
Traveling with the family in a car
I started actively traveling only after I had two kids !! That too after my second kid was more than 5 years old. Traveling with your family is great fun and at the same time a great challenge as well. I will give some idea of what to expect when you travel with your kids and what I generally do to ensure we have a safe and pleasant journey.
Making two kids sit in an enclosed automobile for 6 to 12 hours is a real challenge. Kids have attention span which is lesser than the time between two shots in a MTV video !! So boredom sets in quite fast and f they are bored, you are sure to hear about it :)) Once they start either nagging or crying, headache to you will be inevitable. So when you set out with your kids, the first thing you should take care is to ensure they are occupied for a major amount of time.
In case your car has a DVD player, your task becomes easy. But many of us poor souls either dont have it or dont want to have it. So you will have to look at imaginative ways to keep them occupied.
One of the best ways is to let them sleep !! In case you have a car like Maruti, Santro or such, you can fold the back seat completely, put on a bedspread and give them a pillow. This will enable them to sleep for an hour or two. In case you have a car like Innova, Qualis or such, you will not have much problem of space. So if you plan to travel regularly with your kids, buy a car which gives them space to sleep. Cars with a boot dont allow you to fold the rear seats completely and getting space for kids to sleep will be a problem.
The next option to keep them away from boredom, is to feed them at regular intervals :) Yup, they seem to develop an insatiable appetite when they travel. So it is always a good idea to carry with you some chips, wafers, biscuits etc. As usual, kids like junk food more (which the parents like as well but dont admit the fact), which is not very good for health. So give these stuff in small doses. Nowadays you get cornflakes of various flavours in small packs. These are healthy and the kids seem to like eating it without any milk. Try and carry eatables which are dry so that you dont need to stop at regular intervals to wash your hands !! Also carrying some tetra packs of fruit juices would help.
Next option is to carry lot of music that the kids like. Depending on their age group and their peers, the music would vary from 'Karadi Tales' to the latest rage. Ensure you play music which you like once in a while. Otherwise you may get frustrated by the music that they play and your road rage will increase !!
Another option is to start playing some word games. These generally keep them occupied for some time. The type of games you play depends a lot on the age group of your kids. You can invent some games as you go along like asking them to look out and tell you all the objects that are green in color. Maybe not a great game, but hey, it keeps them occupied.
The important thing when traveling with the family is to time your stops properly. Proper planning becomes very important. Food has to be provided at appropriate time and the place should be such that all of you can take a hydraulic break. So check out where the best stops are along the way and then decide when you would like to leave from home. For example, if you are going from Bangalore to Kushalnagar, you can plan for a stop at Kamat Lokaruchi at Ramnagara for breakfast and you will be in Kushalnagar for lunch.
Also remember, boredom sets in even at the resort where you will be staying, especially if they dont have a TV with cable connection !! Lots of Jungle Resorts will fall in this category and so you need to be prepared for it as well. Since you cannot play out in the night, take some indoor games with you like Ludo, Cards etc. Encourage kids to paint / draw. The best option is to get them to bed early :)) Some resorts have camp fires which the children enjoy immensely.
You also need to ensure that you have your First Aid kit ready and the important medicines with you. You can sometimes be in a remote place and getting to a decent medical shop would be a problem. The least you should pack are tablets for headache (Saridon), fever (Crocin), antacids (Zinetac, Eno, Gelusil), stomach ache(check with your doctor), vomiting (domstal) etc for the parents. If any of you has motion sickness or feels dizzy on ghat roads, keep some betel nut powder and a pack of Poppins with you. Visit your doctor before a long drive and check what medicines you need to pack for the children.
I started actively traveling only after I had two kids !! That too after my second kid was more than 5 years old. Traveling with your family is great fun and at the same time a great challenge as well. I will give some idea of what to expect when you travel with your kids and what I generally do to ensure we have a safe and pleasant journey.
Making two kids sit in an enclosed automobile for 6 to 12 hours is a real challenge. Kids have attention span which is lesser than the time between two shots in a MTV video !! So boredom sets in quite fast and f they are bored, you are sure to hear about it :)) Once they start either nagging or crying, headache to you will be inevitable. So when you set out with your kids, the first thing you should take care is to ensure they are occupied for a major amount of time.
In case your car has a DVD player, your task becomes easy. But many of us poor souls either dont have it or dont want to have it. So you will have to look at imaginative ways to keep them occupied.
One of the best ways is to let them sleep !! In case you have a car like Maruti, Santro or such, you can fold the back seat completely, put on a bedspread and give them a pillow. This will enable them to sleep for an hour or two. In case you have a car like Innova, Qualis or such, you will not have much problem of space. So if you plan to travel regularly with your kids, buy a car which gives them space to sleep. Cars with a boot dont allow you to fold the rear seats completely and getting space for kids to sleep will be a problem.
The next option to keep them away from boredom, is to feed them at regular intervals :) Yup, they seem to develop an insatiable appetite when they travel. So it is always a good idea to carry with you some chips, wafers, biscuits etc. As usual, kids like junk food more (which the parents like as well but dont admit the fact), which is not very good for health. So give these stuff in small doses. Nowadays you get cornflakes of various flavours in small packs. These are healthy and the kids seem to like eating it without any milk. Try and carry eatables which are dry so that you dont need to stop at regular intervals to wash your hands !! Also carrying some tetra packs of fruit juices would help.
Next option is to carry lot of music that the kids like. Depending on their age group and their peers, the music would vary from 'Karadi Tales' to the latest rage. Ensure you play music which you like once in a while. Otherwise you may get frustrated by the music that they play and your road rage will increase !!
Another option is to start playing some word games. These generally keep them occupied for some time. The type of games you play depends a lot on the age group of your kids. You can invent some games as you go along like asking them to look out and tell you all the objects that are green in color. Maybe not a great game, but hey, it keeps them occupied.
The important thing when traveling with the family is to time your stops properly. Proper planning becomes very important. Food has to be provided at appropriate time and the place should be such that all of you can take a hydraulic break. So check out where the best stops are along the way and then decide when you would like to leave from home. For example, if you are going from Bangalore to Kushalnagar, you can plan for a stop at Kamat Lokaruchi at Ramnagara for breakfast and you will be in Kushalnagar for lunch.
Also remember, boredom sets in even at the resort where you will be staying, especially if they dont have a TV with cable connection !! Lots of Jungle Resorts will fall in this category and so you need to be prepared for it as well. Since you cannot play out in the night, take some indoor games with you like Ludo, Cards etc. Encourage kids to paint / draw. The best option is to get them to bed early :)) Some resorts have camp fires which the children enjoy immensely.
You also need to ensure that you have your First Aid kit ready and the important medicines with you. You can sometimes be in a remote place and getting to a decent medical shop would be a problem. The least you should pack are tablets for headache (Saridon), fever (Crocin), antacids (Zinetac, Eno, Gelusil), stomach ache(check with your doctor), vomiting (domstal) etc for the parents. If any of you has motion sickness or feels dizzy on ghat roads, keep some betel nut powder and a pack of Poppins with you. Visit your doctor before a long drive and check what medicines you need to pack for the children.
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