tirthan – ghumakadgeetika

Small city settled amidst the coffee estates and the deccan hills. It is a very popular hillstation for vacation in South India. The place has got many exotic resorts and experience homestays.

I would definitely recommend coffee estate stays for a different experience.

And if you got the money stay at the Taj Madekeri, the view from their infinity pool is like you are standing at the horizon where earth meets the sky.

My hault was at a hotel named chinmayee, 3 km away from the town, on virajpet road, rooms are basic but the USP is the view from the balcony.

If planning to stay there carry some packed food or ready to cook things as food is not available. And the network problem will haunt you coz you would not be able to use Internet. It’s easy to make phone calls however.

I spent my day chilling at the “PAUSE CAFE” the only cool place apart from CCD in the town, where you can relax for hours with a cup of coffee and nobody would ask you to leave. The music is good, there bakeries are, a must try.

The town is pretty different from rest of Karnataka, the people speak Coorgi instead of Kannad. The traditional attire is different.

The tourist should come here with the vision of solace not sight seeing, however there are 3 main places which one can visit.

Omkeshwara temple: it is within the city and can be walked to.

Dubbare Elephant camp: early risers, definitely have an advantage, coz if you want to see elephants bathing, it has to be before 8am. However I was not able to make it for this spot.

Golden temple or Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery: this is a must visit place, around 30 km away from the madekeri town towards the direction of mysore.

Enroute mysore from coorg, there is a place called Bylakuppe which is the second largest tibetan settlement in India. The main monastry which is also called the Golden temple is a worth the detour. The temple is magnificent. It is amazing to see the monks performing the Buddhist religious ceremonies and rituals.

Even though it is a famous tourist destination, it is maintained very well. This because of the rules. The people can only aquire a piece of land, if they have a paddy field.

For birdwatchers it is an exotic destination to visit. Below is an early morning captured still by me.

After a messed up month, it was time to take a trip up to the mountains to introspect.

Story of my expedition to tirthan…

A place which is less known to the outer world, the great mountains acting as a shield against the modern invasion.

A perfect workaholics retreat.

It has an easy approach from Delhi, people going by bus drop down at Aut (stopover just at the end of the 3km tunnel en route manali).Board a taxi @INR 900 to go to Goshaini (village consisting of 20 houses out of which 10 are tuned into home stays). Tip: make sure to book in advance In order to have a roof to sleep under.

Stay
The famous home stays are:

Luxury
# Rajus’s cottage – Inr 4000 per couple inclusive of all the three meals
# Trout valley- Inr 4500 per couple inclusive of all the three meals.

Budget
# Trout house owned by Khem singh ji
As I prefer an unplanned trip, we were homeless . All homestays were booked however we managed to get a room far away in the woods by the help of khem ji.

Things to do
#Trout fishing
#walk up to the waterfall, which is absolutely not smooth.

But you would have breathtaking views.

Spend a day and a half to actualy get into the feeler of the place. Early to rise would definitely be a wise decision.

17km away from goshaini is ‘Giyagi’ which is a bit on a higher altitude so one witness two terrain during the visit.

Stay
We stayed at Shringi homestay consisting of 3 cottages made of teak wood, low ceiling with a magnificent view.

The same is maintained by an old couple, surprising is that they have no helper. Also they have a tiny consumer shop with basic commodities. Tip: carry a tissue roll during the trip.

Things to do

# 5 km further is ‘Jelori pass’ which connects this secluded valley with the capital shimla. It has snow even during the month and of april.

# Small shacks selling rajma rice, maggie (oops this was when it wasn’t banned) and himachali chai (tea)
We were lucky enough to reach the place when hailstorm started. The temperature dropped drastically that we had to sit besides the stove (tip: carry at least a hoodie or a jacket along)

Jelori can be accessed by a two or a four wheeler and can be covered in half a day.
There is no direct bus from Giyagi to Aut.
There are three options-
*take a local bus to banjar and change
*take a shared gypsy to banjar and board another bus to aut.
*hire a personal cab

Overall a three day trip, which can be completed on a long weekend.

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Category: tirthan

The Green Kingdom of Madekiri (coorg)

Tirthan solitude