Far from the madding crowd
October 29th, 2006 | Published in India & Around, Living, Nature & Wildlife, Photography, Sports & Adventure, Travel | 27 Comments
A road trip to Chikmagalur on the Diwali weekend. October 21–23.
A journey through Karnataka’s beautiful countryside and a couple of days in the peace and quiet of a coffee plantation is all I needed to relax and rejuvenate. While I love the festival of lights, the noise makes me crazy. I must have been a dog in my earlier birth, I think!
Another road trip we decided would be perfect way to spend the weekend. We packed our equipment and luggage (I threatened everyone to carry just one piece, since my Zen can only accommodate that much) and we set off on Saturday morning.
The weather was perfect, the skies were azure blue dotted with beautiful fluffy white clouds. The highway was smooth and it didn’t take us long to reach Belur.
After that the roads deteriorated, but the scenery made up for the potholes and bumps. Once we started ascending the Chikmagalur hills, we got the true taste of off-roading as the Zen bounced up and down the hilly terrain. But all in all, she behaved rather beautifully.
Two hours from Chikmagalur, as we were ascending yet another hill abound with dense coffee plantations and I was giving up hope of reaching anywhere that my fellow passenger pronounced, “we’re nearly thereâ€!
After about 20 minutes of ascending, we descended about 1.5 kms from the narrow road, through another thick plantation and suddenly in front of us is this lovely 30 year old bungalow! Nestled deep within the plantation, perched on a slope, she sat comfortably looking onto the mist covered hills of the Western Ghats. Even in my dreams I couldn’t have asked for a better location.
The trip meter read 344 kms.
In the morning, I woke up to the most gorgeous view ever. A river of clouds snaked through the distant hills with the rays of the sun just beginning to touch the mountain tops. It was an almost surreal feeling to wake up to such a sight outside my window!
We spent much of our time at the homestay lazing around, looking out into the hills, sipping endless coffees on the patio and eating like it was going out of style. With a Mangalorean cook in the house, we had every kind of chicken possible for all our meals and it was all so delicious that I had visions of not being able to leave the place as I couldn’t get out of the door.
I convinced one of my fellow travelers into a game of Frisbee so I could burn a few calories though I don’t think much was expended. Scrabble, sketching, listening to old songs and day dreaming and a campfire in the evening were the other pastimes as the holiday quickly passed and it was time to leave this little corner of paradise.
On the way back, we made a small deviation via a place called Magundi, to another plantation called Avanti Estates where we met Philomena Perez, who happens to be a politician besides owning a few plantations in the area. She told us about the woes of the tribals, her stint in the Women’s Commission, before she sped off for another meeting. She said she hated going to Bangalore these days. “We are blessed,†she said to referring to the peace and quiet existence and we fully agreed. She showed us around her lovely house (including a bathroom that was the size of my bedroom, actually bigger!) and we could only gape in admiration.
From there, we made a stop at the town of Belur, where after lunch, the ancient monuments invited us with their beauty and grace. The hot afternoon sun burnt into our bare feet as we trod around the temple premises, but we were a determined bunch. We roamed around and then sat for a while admiring the stone carvings and surging crowds who had braved the afternoon heat to listen to the guides explain the history behind the temple.
Alas! It was time to move on. 4.30 pm. We were back on the highway. Good roads again and after a coffee break at Chananrayapatna (where we also took some time to admire the beautiful sunset) we were back in the hustle and bustle of Bangalore city around 9.30 pm. Hungry and tired, we stopped at Casa Picola for dinner.
The trip meter read 700 km.
A great weekend. And a great sight to end another trip!
Facts about Chikmaglur
Chikmagalur, the district head quarters of Chikmagalur district is 251 km from the state capital of Bangalore and surrounded by the Baba Budangiri hills and dense forests. The rivers Bhadra, Tunga, Hemavathi, Nethravathi, and Vedavathi flow all year round. The district is rich in iron, magnetite and granite deposits. The name Chikmagalur is synonymous with verdant forests, beautiful water falls, cool coffee estates and charming temples tucked away in the mountains. : From Wikipedia
October 30th, 2006 at 11:36 am (#)
Sahi Hai Yaar.….every long weekend..n u guys hit the highway !!!! :)
Lovely pics as usual Anita.
BTW have u visited Pondicherry ??? if not, any plans of coming here in the near future ??
October 30th, 2006 at 3:08 pm (#)
truly a blessed morning anita… i really loved that pic to bits… looking forward to wednesday holiday :-)
October 30th, 2006 at 9:01 pm (#)
Very beautifully taken pictures…conveys feelings of freshness and idling in the cool mountain air. Thanks for sharing.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:17 am (#)
[…] Anita travels to Chikmagalur over the weekend. Check out the beautiful photos. […]
October 31st, 2006 at 3:47 pm (#)
Awesome pics… came here thro a search page — would love to get some info on the home stay estate that you stayed in Chickmangalur — looks amazing…
thanks
vp
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:08 am (#)
Beautiful photos. Sounds like an awesome weekend. :)
November 3rd, 2006 at 8:05 am (#)
mehak: thanks! i have visited pondicherry, both in 2004 and 2005. not this year though…
divs: thanks! it was indeed a nice holiday :)
blogpastor: thanks a lot!
vp: thanks! a friend organised everything so will try and get the details from him.
swapna: thanks! it was awesome!
November 5th, 2006 at 10:02 pm (#)
Hi Anita,
Apologies for barging into your inbox like this. I was doing some research on homestays in chikmaglur and was wondering if you could possibly share the name of the homestay you stayed at?
I plan to go this coming weekend.
Thanks,
Eapee
November 7th, 2006 at 10:25 am (#)
eapee: if you can drop in a mail to anitabora5 at rediffmail dot come, i’ll send the details across.
November 10th, 2006 at 5:45 am (#)
The pics are just beautifull.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:48 pm (#)
hi, could you pls pls tell me the name of the home-stay! i’ve bin searchin everywhere.… cant find the suitable one… pleeeeeeeeeese help!
November 29th, 2006 at 8:28 am (#)
Hi..I had visited a place called ‘Nature Craft Home Stay’…very sweet people and the food is unlike anything I have ever tasted and the place is clean, very comfortable …paradise on earth :-)..no wonder no one wants to leave Chikmagalur…Guy who runs the place is Ansar Zahoor..08262–262026…Cheers!!
December 16th, 2006 at 10:16 am (#)
Hi,
Could you please give me the contact details of this place that u had been ? I intend to go there for NewYears along with my friends. Also please let me the cost etc.
Thanks,
Venkat
December 20th, 2006 at 2:40 pm (#)
Hi Anita,
Where is this homestay? I wanna visit them.
Best regards,
Ritu
February 27th, 2007 at 11:33 am (#)
Hi Anita
Could you please let me know the name of the estate you had stayed at and the cost for a night’s stay.
Also could I have a number where I could call and maybe get more details about the estate facilities etc
Thank you
March 27th, 2007 at 11:05 am (#)
Could u please send me the details of the homestay and the contact number.
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:49 pm (#)
Hi,
I got your site while searching for homestays at Chikmagalur. If you dont mind can I have their contact details.
Thanks,
Abhijith
May 21st, 2007 at 3:38 pm (#)
Hi
I came across your posting while seraching for homestays at Chikmagalur. Can you pls let me know the name and contact number of your homestay? Sounded interesting.
Thanks
March 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pm (#)
Hi
I came across your posting while seraching for homestays at Chikmagalur. Can you pls let me know the name and contact number of your homestay? Sounded interesting.
Thanks
March 24th, 2008 at 7:22 pm (#)
kindly mail me the details of the home stay
April 8th, 2008 at 1:39 pm (#)
Hi Anita
Could you please let me know the name of the estate you had stayed at and the cost for a night’s stay.
Also could I have a number where I could call and maybe get more details about the estate facilities
Thank you
May 9th, 2008 at 6:29 am (#)
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November 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm (#)
the best place to check in for your trip ion chikmagalur is NATURE CRAFT HOMESTAY
CALL THEM AT 9972161237 OR 08262262026
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 am (#)
All you enthusiastic eco lovers should visit my site www dot chikmagalurinfo dot net, bet you’ll love it…
May 29th, 2009 at 5:32 pm (#)
Why are you keeping the name a secret? It would be great if you said where you stayed!
May 6th, 2011 at 5:01 pm (#)
The EagleEye Holiday Home is located deep in the lush western ghats. This Holiday homestays offers more than your average getaway with the comforts of home away from home plus the convenience and beauty of being in Mother Nature’s arms.for more details visit http://eagleeyeholidays.com/
June 8th, 2011 at 5:44 pm (#)
Hi Anita,
I too have been a guest to this place some two years back. Indeed a very lovely place. Only worry was then was my car getting scrapped on the bottom while on the approach road but nothing such happened. We had a really great time there. BTW, there is a offroad trek from that place to Hornadu and we took that on a Jeep. Via that route it’s only 5–6 kms to Hornadu Temple. It was a mind-blowing experience.
Regards,