Coorg

Coorg is part of Karnataka state in South India although used to be its own independent state until 1955 and retains a distinct cultural identity.  Coorg is hilly, lush and green, it is dominated by coffee plantations and is a popular destination for weekend breaks from Bangalore (it being only a "short" 6 hour drive from the city, close in Indian terms).  Like many of the cooler hilly parts of India, there was considerably British influence earlier in the 20th century which is still evident through the high standard of spoken English and customs across the area.

We stayed in Coorg for three nights at a homestay owned by a elderly couple from the Coorg region who own a coffee plantation and grow every kind of fruit and vegetable going in their (large) garden. It was extremely quiet and restful, particularly because a storm had taken out the power lines shortly before we arrived so there was no electricity for most of our visit (bar a couple of hours with the generator in the evenings).  With no phone signal, we had certainly got away from it all (something I tend to be a bit keener on than Phil) and spent the weekend recharging our batteries.

We timed our trip to coincide with the "Coorg Escapade" - a three day programme of activities including a tough, hilly 10k run, cycling races and organised treks up a big hill.  Phil participated in the race and trekking and the whole weekend was well organised, plus our hosts couldn't have been more helpful in ferrying us around to the events and helping us to get involved.  I walked part of the running route and concluded that it was extremely steep!  Phil did pretty well and was one of the first to get up, but got overtaken by a few army runners coming down.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there - we saw a couple of storms and the rain was a welcome relief following months with no rain in Mumbai.  The car journey there (from Mysore) and back to the airport in Mangalore was long and winding, although I managed to keep my food down on one of the journey's at least though sadly not the other (car travel is not my favourite occupation at the moment!).

Here are a few photographs from our visit:

Our home for three days.  The house was built 20 years before almost entirely using materials found on the plantation (stone and wood).

Me and Kavita. Kavita is 20 years old and was working with her mother Leela to look after us for 3 days (cooking, cleaning etc.).  Leela has been the family's maid for 17 years and the family (Lal and Swathy) have funded Kavita's education.  They are currently encouraging her (and her family) to ensure that she finishes her nursing qualification and finds employment before looking for a husband. 

A coffee plant.  You can see the very small buds for the beans on the stem, but it will be many months more before these are ready to be harvested. 

Coffee beans once dried and in storage.  I can't remember if these had been roasted or not (I would guess not), but I know that the overall roasting / grinding / making into drinkable coffee process happens outside Coorg.  Our hosts receive bags of the coffee that they have grown back for their own use once the coffee has been prepared elsewhere.  Interestingly, the coffee that we saw in the state above did not smell at all.  The coffee smell comes only after the grinding / roasting phase later on.

View across the valley from Phil's trek.  As you can see, it is very lush and green. 

Transport from the meeting point to the trek.  According to Phil is was very precarious with 20+ people standing in the open top truck driving quickly on winding roads.  I ducked out of the trek in the end because it was too hot and, given the transport situation, I was relieved about my decision!

Phil walking up to the peak. 

Some of the many beautiful and colourful flowers in the garden. 

There were two pet dogs at the house, Pepsi and Pluto, and Pepsi had a litter of four puppies born three weeks before.  They were lovely!  There is one male puppy (the beige one on the left) and three female pups.  My favourite puppy was the small white one at the back.  Two of them were looking for homes but Phil put his foot down about me having one (thankfully not on a puppy).

Zoomed in puppy cam. 

When brought out of their box to see me, the boy puppy promptly weed all over the floor then left the area pretending it wasn't him (see him leaving the shot on the front right)! 

More puppy cam.  My favourite is the little one on the right (although adoption of this pup sadly wasn't to be). 

Our hosts kept bees.  Lots of bees.  Whilst I'm really not into buzzy things, these didn't bother us at all and seemed much more focused on their honey making (and the honey was very tasty!)

Pluto the dog.  The one without puppies but who likes lots of attention.  We only found out on our last day that dogs have a fairly high attrition rate on the plantation.  This isn't because they aren't cared for, but because they keep attacking cobras in the plantation and coming off worse (although they have killed some too).  Cobras!  I was assured that they come nowhere near the house and are very shy but I was still not too happy, especially after Phil saw a snake on a recent run too.  I'll be on snake alert from now on.