Trip to Kodagu in Madikeri - 1

I initially planned to go to Kodaikanal for my 5th anniversary. I cancelled it because it started raining. Handling kids in a 10 hr bus ride was going to be tough for 2 of us.

We decided to go be closer home viz Kodagu.

We planned to stay a day in Madikeri and a day in Kushalnagar. We booked for a day in Kaushalnagar on Veerbhoomi resorts and a day in homestay in madekari. I searched for homestays on need. They looked pretty expensive. One of my colleagues had noted down a number when he was in Madikeri gave me. The guy whom i called Nanda promised me I will thank him for making him stay in a house. It was a single bedroom house close to Raja's seat costing Rs 750 per day in including breakfast.

Decided not drive in my M800 car, took a Volvo bus. It reached madekari sharp 1 PM. The homestay owner Prithivi took me to his place in an auto. It was raining pretty heavily in Madikeri. Packed out lunches and went to homestay. The homestay was located about 500 mts from Raja seat on a hillock. It had a beautiful view of Madikeri. It was nice cozy single bedroom house, just enough for us and 2 kids with option for making coffee.

We had out lunch and planned to go Abbi falls, Omkareshwara temple and Raja's seat. Prithivi aranged for an auto and bargained for Rs 180. The rains very lashing and there was no power in Madikeri since previous night. The auto had adequate cover to protect us from getting wet.

We reached Abbi falls, luckily for us the it was just drizzling. It was a small trek down in a plantation to reach the falls. Luckliy the kids decided to walk down.

The sight of falls was awesome, the rains had made the river full (is it Cauvery?). It was very nice sight. Last time when I had gone there, we could get into the water. Now there was no question of it. There is a hanging bridge for people to stand and relish the spray of the falls. Took photos and recorded in handy cam. Best part was getting wet in the spray, spent an hour or so. While coming back it was a climb we had to carry the kids and the bag. It was a bit tiring.

Then we went to the Omkareshwara temple, this is inside Madikeri. The temple kalyani was overflowing and water had flooded the entrance. The auto driver Jayram took us round to another entrance which was on higher ground. It was a nice temple. me and Kids stayed at the entrance watching the overflowing kalyani. Prathibha finished her prayers and came back.

We then went Raja's seat. It is a very small park with a very beautiful view. Last time when I had visited I was rather disappointed. Now the park is well maintained.

We took the toy train, charge for it was Rs 5 but there had to be min 20 people. We were about 10 people we paid 10 per head asked the driver to run it. The kids atleast enjoyed the ride.

We rested for the rest of the evening. We requested the homestay guy to send us dinner as it had started raining and there was no power in Madikeri. He sent us so much food, lot of food went waste. We had a candle light dinner. It was not a romantic dinner, with Rishabh touching the lantern and starting to wail. Putting the kids to sleep was a big achievement and we were glad to sleep.

Next morning we decided not to go out any where. Morning was Madikari was covered with mist. It was a beautiful sight from the hilltop home, spent time filming and relaxing. Had a loooong bath. Luckily a gas heater was installed. Ate a nice break fast prepared by Prithivi's household. I actually liked the idlis (not exactly my favorite).

Prithivi dropped us of to bus stop, we took the local bus to Kushalnagara.