Blogs from Madikeri, Karnataka, India, Asia

May Day is a public holiday in India, celebrated on 1st of May. Taking Friday off work a 4 day weekend to Coorg was on the agenda. After much planning and problems we (9 plus driver) finally left Bangalore at 6.30am. With only a couple of stops - and no breakfast we arrived in Madikeri 12.30 and ready to eat some really good food! After breakfast/lunch we wondered around Raja’s Seat and Gardens. Beautiful rolling, layering misty hills which stretched back as far as the eye could see. During the peak of the day the large shady trees allowed us to relax and take in the beauty which was Coorg. Second task of the day - check into the accommodation we had reserved. Let’s just say we were ALL very glad we didn’t put a deposit ... read more

Coorg is on the Western Ghats. Set amidst verdant valleys, imposing mountains and teak wood forests, this is one of the most beautiful hill stations you can visit. Misty hills, lush forest, acres and acres of tea and coffee plantation, orange groves, undulating streets and breathtaking views are what makes Coorg memorable. Coorgi cuisine is famous and unique, especially for non-vegetarians as it is based on game meats, pork and other delicious ingredients. Popular dishes are pandhi (pork), koli (chicken) and yarchi (lamb) spiced with pepper, kokum, bamboo shoot, red chilly, bembla curry, kadumbuttu, noolputu, voti and excellent coffee. After slogging our ass off in office feeling trapped in the corporate world.Coorg was a welcome change. We had to catch a bus from Pune to Bangalore on 3rd April, took us 16 hours to get there, ... read more

We found the most beautiful guest house here owned by anub a crazy eccentrick owner. Anub took us to his family village out in the forrest, we walked through,rice paddy fields and farmland to a natural spring where we filled up all the water containers. After we went to one of anubs houses and ate dinner, then went for a short treck through the forest to soak up the quitness and relax. We stayed one night outside of madikeri so we could go trecking, an israili girld ola joined us, the walk was up to the top of some massive hills the view were excellent. After we went to a waterfall and was glad of the cold fresh water to dunp my hot body in. We spent the afternoon trying to charm a rather good looking ... read more

The bus ride from Kannur into Coorg was unbelievable. Can a bus really traverse this road? You bet it can. And keep from overturning or breaking an axel? Yes, that too. Amazingly, in India they will get you there no matter what it takes. So this road was, for the most part, dirt but not just rough and rocky dirt, there were moments of that too, but craters and bluffs, ledges and embankments, hairpin turns that would stick a bus like an unruly hair. T held his motion sickness at bay and I just laughed the whole way. I enjoy India for all its comical, zany, ridiculous yet matter of fact way of doing things. It just happens here and no one thinks much of it. What ever "it" is. INDIA!, fuck yeah! We arrived ... read more

Saturday 10th November. The day when finally Simon's Indian Experience really began. All 7 of us are from all kinds of backgrounds, but we are share an interest in sustainable living and the organic movement, and we all seem to get on pretty- indeed very - well. First of all, we had to pile ourselves and possessions into a minibus, and become acquainted with a mode of transport which was to serve us well, if not comfortably for the next 10 days. That first day we met very bumpy roads, but had no idea that they were like 6 lane highways compared with the ones that we would meet deep in the countryside of Karnatika and Kerala. Bangalore itself seemed to go on and on and on, and even when it seemed definitively to haver petered ... read more