Monsoon, the very word never fails to bring a smile on our faces. It immediately creates a bounty of serene picturesque images in our minds. Be it walking or dancing in the rain, jumping in the puddles or just sitting beside the window and watching the rain fall, these things can make one feel excited and happy.
Monsoon in Coorg was in its full glory. Rain had turned whole of Coorg into a beautiful green carpet and the beauty of Coorg had unfolded to its maximum. It was the best time to enjoy cool darkness of the monsoons, pitter-patter of rains, sounds of flowing streams and to soak in the natural beauty. Since, we had the spirit of adventure in us to venture out some jaw dropping sights of Coorg in rain. We thirteen; five from Kochi and eight from Bangalore planned to visit Tadiandamol and started our journey towards Virajpete on 19th June, 2015.
As planned, we all met in Virajpete and started our ride to Coffee valley homestay. It was an awesome tightly packed eventful half an hour ride in jeep amidst heavy rain. The aura and aroma the coffee and plantations created were sure to make us fall in love with this place. We all freshened up soon, had breakfast and made our move towards Tadiandamol.
“The most beautiful places are at the end of really bad roads”. Tadiandamol fits this bill quite correctly as it evokes several epithets like sprawling coffee plantation, colonial bungalows, gushing waterfalls, lush green forests, undulating challenging mountain ranges, splendid nature and exotic scenes.
The road to Tadiandamol was a treat for the eyes – every inch of road was wet and every bit of earth was green. Distant hills were covered with clouds indicating many more rainy sessions ahead in the day. Despite the fog and the drizzle, it was beautiful, comforting and elating. It took us half an hour to reach the base from Kakkabbe village. Ahh! It was drizzling. We put our trek clothes on and started our trek. By that moment rain got heavier. We started our trek with ferocious winds, muddy little trails and heavy water droplets. We were getting tiresome as we ascended as it was more of wild storm than usual rain. But, we continued. Entire duration made us realize what we have been missing all these days. We never felt this close to nature before. Stunning!
Wind was so heavy that all our raincoats and caps flew in the air and barely could we stand still without any support. Rain along with wind made it impossible for us to pierce through it and proceed any further. We were sure by then that rain gods weren’t any kind to show any mercy on us. Hence, we decided to move back and ascend another hill close by which looked little easier to climb. We also had strong bunch of people in group (Mani and Shivashree) who decided to give up their fight with natural forces and made their move back to Jeep to enjoy the shelter and hot Pulao which we had got packed from Homestay.
We then for a long while trekked along the ridges with the engulfing mist which had reduced the visibility to less than a hundred feet. This was supposedly the dangerous stretch during the trek as there was hardly any support and the tracks were either slippery or had gravels. With low visibility and incessant rain we trod forward precariously and reached the vantage point which was engulfed in mist denying us the beautiful vistas. There was a play between sun and clouds. The sky use to turn magical blue showing up gorgeous vistas, but in a moment it use to turn grey as menacing rain clouds pour out in burden; silence all around, not even a single bird call in the air. But this is exactly how a monsoon trek is like and we absolutely had no complaints. This was definitely a tailor made monsoon trek. Rains, mist, vistas, vantage points, greenery, waterfalls, wind and wet earth all made it a perfect one. Except for the low point of not making to the summit of Tadiandamol, the trek was an absolute rejuvenation.
We began our walk further down to where the resort vehicles were waiting to take us back. We reached homestay, freshened up, and enjoyed the nature around sipping hot coffee and munching hot pakoras. The crimson haze was all around as the silhouettes of silver oak and coffee plantations stood out in the twilight. The owls hoot welcoming the night. Another day in the wild ended as the rain tumbled down again.
20th June, 2015. Day 2 started with the phrase “Oh, it’s raining again,” slinking out the door from the morning commute. Sometimes it fell in big fat drops, pummeling plants like a boxer. Sometimes it blew in gently, as fine as sieved icing sugar. Sometimes the wind whipped it in sideways streaks across the windows. Sometimes, just sometimes, it stopped falling from the sky altogether.
A quick breakfast and piping hot coffee- we packed and headed towards Kushalnagar to visit Dubare Elephant camp and Namdroling Monastery. We reach Dubare after a journey of two hours or so. Cauvery River was at its flowing best and the rain which had not stopped ever since we landed in Coorg helped it and above all it was the best time to experience the white water rafting.
River rafting was new to most of us and we definitely were looking forward to this adventure. After the declarations, instructions and guidance, we geared up to raft in cold waters of Cauvery. Being amateurs and beginners, we were skeptical in beginning but slowly turned confident and rowed according to our guide’s guidance. After an initial stretch of calm waters, our guide stopped rowing and asked us to take a plunge. Our very own Michael Phelps (Chinmay) was the first one to plunge into the water taking a forward dive standing at the edge of raft. Later one by one all just jumped into the cold waters except for the courageous one (Ashaya). He was courageous enough not to let guide push him into the water. Finally with all courage he held the raft and made his move towards water rather making a jump and as expected immediate reaction of him being “Pull me back. I’m dying, I can’t breathe”, safely he was pulled back to the Raft. Rest swam, frolicked and played for about a half an hour before getting back on the raft. Then we began with rapids, each definitely was adrenaline rushing ones. Each rapid had dips and rocks which we had to raft through and the excitement grew as we passed each rapid. The two hours of adventure was definitely exhilarating.
We then freshened up, had sumptuous lunch in Kushalnagar and made our way towards Bailkuppe, which has one of the first Tibetian settlements in India. The monastery here is home for more than 5000 lamas of Sangha community. The place houses five monastery of Lugsung Samdupling settlement of which Namdroling monastery is the most famous. The golden temple here is a beautiful blend of contemporary and traditional architectural styles. As there was some religious event going on in the temple we couldn’t enter inside, but just the gaze of interiors from doors was enough to praise its beauty. The stunning three large golden statues of Buddha, the altar decorated with colorful flowers and incense and the walls with colorful mural art depicting Lord Buddha’s life were magnificently alluring. We listened to the monks chant their mantras while others played long hornpipes, huge drums and conch shell. That really was a kind of experience one never will forget.
