the journey continues…

Staying in Bangalore and not seen Coorg yet?? So a weekend we were in Coorg with friends.
Coorg also called as Kodagu is 250km from Bangalore passing through Mysore.Since Mysore was not in our itinerary we bypassed it from Srirangapatnam and took the Bangalore – Mandya – Srirangapatnam – Hunsur – Piriyapatna – Kushalnagar – Suntikoppa – Madikeri route.
Coorg land is rich with many coffee estates and they grow the best coffee in India.Most of the houses in Kodagu have some one in the Indian army or navy.They are well known for their bravery and hospitality.There are many sites in the internet which gives info about homestays,food etc in Coorg so travelling is not at all a problem here.
First day we covered Iruppu falls,Bylakuppe Golden Temple,Dubare Elephant Camp.
Next day we went to TalaCuvery and BhagaMandalam.

Iruppu

Iruppu falls

Golden Temple is a major attraction at Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement. The gold coated Buddhist statues in the monastery are impressive and unique, explains the rich cultural heritage of Tibetans.
They have good accommodation facilities here.So we stayed here for a night and early morning visited the temple.

Golden Temple,BiluKoppe

Monks inside the temple

Monk & Buddha

Dalai Lama

GoldenStatues

Paintings on the wall

Dubare elephant camp is good for children.We can bath the elephants ,feed them,have a ride and enjoy.But there are timings for these activities.I remember we should be there before 10AM in the morning to do all these.

Dubare elephant camp

ElephantRide

Dubare Camp

Tala Cauvery where the river Cauvery originates, is my favt spot.We did pooja and archana here.We also did a small trekking to Brahmagiri, a small hillock near by which gives a nice view of western ghats.

TalaCauvery

View from Brahmagiri

Few kilometers away is Bhagamadala where River Cauvery merges with the rivers Kannike and Sujyothi to form a Triveni Sangama.

Triveni Sangama

Bhagandeshwara Temple

Bannerghatta National Park is around 22km from Bangalore. Its wild life sanctuary that spreads over 525 sq. km. A zoo and a butterfly park are the main attractions here.
The forest department also has safaris like lion safari,grand safari etc. inside the park which gives a closer feel of wild animals.When we went on safari we spotted lions,tigers,white tigers and deers.
Ticket prices are reasonable and park timings are from 9 to 5pm except on Tuesdays which is a holiday.
Butterfly park is well maintained and less crowded compared to zoo.We didn’t spot much butterflies as it was an off season.
This is a good family outing spot and if kids are there then they will really enjoy a lot.

Recently we had been to coorg and chikmagalur. Both the time we stayed in homestays. Somehow I felt homestays are better choices compared to Hotels as they would be having homely atmosphere and you can have home food which you will miss always .
So in Coorg we stayed in a home stay called Palace Estate.Its a pretty nice place in between the woods maintained by a Coorg family. The place is very remote and is entirely sorrounded by greenary and there is no network also.So if you want to spend a weekend without any traffic noise,mobile calls this is the best place to go !!!

HomeStay

Balcony

Have a cup of coffee in the morning , take a walk amidst the coffee plantation,have a shower in the private falls [ which was awesome ] and relax.They also gave a nice breakfast,lunch and dinner mostly prepared in coorgi style.
10 mins from the homestay there is a palace called Nalkanad Summer Palace where you can see some of the old paintings. This palace was built by a Kodagu King named Lingaraja and now it has been protected by ASI.

Palace

Waterfalls

“Thadiyandamole” which is the highest peak in Coorg is 6km from here and is a very good spot for trekking.Top of the hill provides a scenic view.
Padi Igutappa Temple which is a very auspicious temple for Coorgis is 7 km from here.

My Favt dew drops

Woodys

They have a website of their own where you can find more details
www.palaceestate.co.in.
Make sure you book in advance before going there.

Few weeks later we visited chikmagalur,there also we stayed in a homestay called Woodways.
This homestay is also remote and sorrounded by coffee plantations.You can take a coffee tour,do trekking,
bird watching etc.This place fills with you so much positive energy and makes you feel fresh.
You can stay here for a weekend and visit places like Kemmanugundi,Bababudangiri,Mullayyanagiri etc. which are near by. Pics are below

homestay

front view

coffee with cam

Wonder La and Innovative Film-city are the 2 major amusement theme parks around Bangalore.
Both comes in the Mysore Road near to Bidadi.There are signboards along the way for both the places.
Wonder La has varieties of water sports as well as amusement rides.They also have a nice musical fountain show and laser show inside the park.Park and water is well maintained here.
Weekends and holidays would be really crowded and you need to wait in a long queue for each ride.Ticket price starts from 400 rs I believe.

Fountain Show

Giant wheel

Rides

SDC10231

Innovative Film City is just 5% of the Ramoji Film City,Hyderabad.
All the rides,shows,games inside are meant only for children.Inside there is a Dinosaur Park,Wax Museum and Ripleys’ Believe It or Not.They also have Tent Talkies where we watched Nagaru Haavu [Vishnuvardhan] Movie which was a nice experience.

FilmCity

IMG_2942

Lakshmi Touring Talkies

Wax Museum

Wax Museum

Water without pipe!!,Ripley's World

Shops inside

Dinosur Park

Apart from this there is a Mirror Maze and a miniature city.There is a Aqua Kingdom for playing with water.They also show a 4D movie which was good.

Miniature City

Ticket price starts from 750.I felt its bit costly.There is McDonalds,Coffeeday inside.Local food stalls are also there but quality is very bad.[I remember there was a small cockroach in my lemon rice !! ]
Most of the parts are still under construction!!.