Photograph Courtesy: Gowtham Shravan Kumar
We made a sudden plan to visit Madikeri, and it was the best weekend trip I ever had. Located in the Coorg district, Madikeri is a hill station known for its coffee plantations. My friends and I left Bangalore on Friday night and reached Madikeri early morning on Saturday. The bus dropped us on the main road, and we had to walk to the farm house, Nisarga, where we would be staying for two days. We were walking on a narrow mud road through a thick forest and the road was flanked by coffee plantation. It was strangely exciting to walk through the forest, at that early hour of the day. We could hear the sounds of different birds and insects as if they were welcoming us. The road opened to a beautiful meadow with mist rolling in and sun about to rise. We stood there spellbound. With the rising sun, the mist started to dissipate. Now the entire meadow was covered in a soft glow of dew drops. We watched the sky changing its color from red to orange to beautiful golden and decided to explore the landscape after our breakfast.
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Photograph Courtesy: Gowtham Shravan Kumar
The whiff of freshly ground coffee refreshed us and the farm grown veggie breakfast was delicious. However, the most interesting part of the breakfast was the conversation with our host. He told us that Madikeri was named after Coorg’s king, Mudduraja, and was earlier called as Muddurajakeri. After our breakfast, we went to explore that peaceful heaven and to our surprise, we found a small stream of a river near to the property. Without a second thought, we all went in and sat down on a rock in the middle of the stream. The velvety soft, gurgling river water crashing against you is one the most relaxing things you could ever experience in your life. I could have spent the entire day sitting on that rock, but we had more places to explore, so reluctantly I walked out of the stream.
Photograph Courtesy: Gowtham Shravan Kumar
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Photograph Courtesy: Gowtham Shravan Kumar
We went to see the Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery, which is located in Bylakuppe. The monastery was established in 1963 by Penor Rinpoche. Another interesting place to see in Madikeri is the Omkareshwar temple, which has both Gothic and Islamic styles of architecture. Also, visit Kaveri Nisargadhama, which is an island reachable via a hanging rope bridge.
Photograph Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Our two-day trip ended with mouth-watering local delicacies and homemade ginger ale. It reinstated our belief that Madikeri is one of south India’s most charming holiday destinations.
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