On this trip, I decided that we should visit the state of Karnataka -
more specifically the Kodagu (or Coorg) region.
It is at a higher elevation and isn’t heavily visited by tourists. About a week before our arrival I began to
plan, but soon realized that just getting the train tickets we’d need would be
a daunting task. This led me to contact
an Indian travel agency despite my misgivings about entrusting someone. I ran several ideas by Murugesh (the agent)
and he quickly gave me estimates. In the
meantime, I discovered that our next-door neighbors wanted to go to the same
area and they decided to come
along. The final itinerary was to travel to
Mysore, spend one night there and then proceed to Coorg where we’d stay two
nights. Murugesh had originally made a
suggestion of a hotel in Mysore that is of a higher class than we usually go with so I
told him that I’d wanted to stay in The Green Hotel – it has some
environmentally friendly features and gives its profits to charity. Based on that he selected a homestay in Coorg
that he thought I’d like. It was then
that I turned over all arrangements to him.
It was a great decision to make – we were picked up right outside the
ship, given all our train tickets, driven to the station and led to our seats
(okay, the last part was overkill, but it was part of the guide’s job so we
went along with it). We didn’t have to
worry about a thing and the entire trip only cost us about $550 – the lack of
headache was worth every penny.
We met our driver right outside the ship at 4:30 a.m. to catch the 6 a.m. train to
Mysore. It was a 7 hour ride, but we
were entertained by constant visits from train staff providing passengers with
water, then biscuits, newspapers, apple juice, coffee, tea, lunch, etc., etc. The scenery was also interesting.
We arrived in Mysore and were met right outside our train
car by our driver who took us to a market which was supposed to be one of those
“musts”. It was colorful with conical
mounds of dye being sold and an olfactory overload due to the jasmine, incense
and essential oil purveyors.
We found that the banana section was peaceful – no one is
going to try to sell tourists 100 pounds of bananas:
It was also full of hawkers selling cheap anklets and
sandalwood items. Mysore is famous for
its sandalwood and silk. In the end, I
purchased 15 anklets for approximately $8.
I was resisting the vendors who walked with me the entire length of the
market trying to talk me into buying and finally one said he would sell me all
he had for 400 rupees. I gave in and
said okay – they are a variety of styles and I’ve worn one and gave two to a
student who wished she’d gotten one. I
am sure they will fall apart in no time, but they are pretty. I joked with the vendor that I was going to
go open my own shop.
After fighting off offers of sandalwood fans, incense,
boxes, trinkets, etc. we’d had enough and went to Chamundi hill to visit the
Chamundi temple. The temple is dedicated
to the goddess Chamundi who defeated the demon buffalo, Mahishasura. After that, we walked down a hill to see a
Nandi bull (Shiva’s vehicle) carved in 1659 from a boulder. He is 16’ long and 25’ wide. The Nandi bull is one of my favorites!
We were exhausted after a long day of travel so we spent the
evening having beer, appetizers and dinner at the hotel restaurant. At the end, we asked to see their tandoor and
they happily took us into the kitchen.
The hotel had a beautiful garden and the restaurant is on the far side:
The rooms were clean and the bed comfortable. There were monkeys the following morning, but they left us
alone:
After some shopping at the nice little hotel shop, we set
out for the main course of our visit – Bel Home coffee plantation! The 3 hour drive took us across the Mysore
Plain into the Western Ghats. For the
last hour the road was very curvy and even when the roads weren’t winding, the
driver wove across the road to pass auto-rickshaws, goats, cows, bicycles,
pedestrians, large trucks, etc. Both
Debby (one of our traveling companions) and I were feeling green around the
gills and were extremely happy to get to our destination. The upside of that last hour was that it was
beautiful driving up through the hills.
We got to Bel Home in the early afternoon and were met by
our hosts Ramollah and Vijai –two of the nicest, most hospitable people you can
find. Ramollah and Vijai are Kodava
people – an interesting “tribe” found in the Kodagu or Coorg region. Historically, they purchased their land back
from the British who’d made them into coffee plantations. They are a light-skinned people of unknown
origin who have very different rituals and beliefs than those in surrounding
areas. For example, they worship nature
and their ancestors instead of the idols worshipped by Hindus. They eat a lot of meat – especially pork –
and alcohol is not forbidden. In
addition, they are big field hockey players (many famous players are Kodavas)
and are the only people in India allowed to carry arms without license. They are a martial group and have had a
strong role in the Indian military. They
aren’t out starting fights, but had to protect themselves and traditionally
hunted a lot. These days, they are very
well-educated and are having a difficult time keeping the plantations in the
family as children get degrees and move to cities to work. I’m not sure what will happen to these
beautiful plantations in the next generation.
My Indian family:
They showed us to our accommodations – a building of about
80 years that used to house plantation workers and rice. They had remodeled it into two bedrooms and
two bathrooms. It had a lovely front
veranda where it was easy to spend time relaxing.
Ramollah and her assistant – an ancient woman who had been
on the plantation for 60 years – had prepared a feast of Coorg food for
us. It was delicious and convinced us
all that we had made the correct decision about what to do in India. We had two breakfasts, two lunches and two
dinners at Bel Home and they were all excellent. It was mild heat-wise, but very flavorful and
featured a lot of exceptionally prepared vegetable dishes. I’ve never had better beats, okra or eggplant
dishes. A pumpkin dish, in particular,
was out of this world. Of course, there
were rice dishes and breads served with every meal.
Our time was spent walking the plantation, learning about
shade grown coffee, looking at beautiful birds, spotting cool insects and other
creatures, hiking with their dogs Tigger and Patch and visiting with our hosts,
their children and his parents. They
provided us with a stack of books so we could learn more about the area and its
people – cooking, birds, flowers, coffee growing, Hinduism, Mysore painting
(Ramollah is a wonderful artist). The
weather was cool in the evening and the morning when fog would roll in – they
call the region “the Scotland of India”, but pleasantly sunny and dry during
the day. The pictures don’t do it
justice at all, but here goes!
View from plantation across neighboring hills:
Coffee trees – they trim them to about 5 feet high so that
the coffee berries are easy to pick. The
slopes of the plantation are incredibly steep:
Vijai with a pepper vine growing on the trunk of one of the
shade trees:
They grow vanilla as well:
Tigger – hiking partner extraordinaire:
At one point I mentioned, with surprise, to Debby and Sarah
that Tigger was neutered. Debby asked
why that was surprising and I said that it was because we were in any other
place than the US! Tigger and Patch were
happy, active dogs who accompany Vijai out on the plantation. It was fun to see two dogs that weren’t mangy
skeletons.
Tigger racing down path to say hello:
Scenes from on and around the plantation:
Poinsettias!
Greg's friend Rolly - he was as long as a tube of chapstick!
I feel very fortunate that we got to see this other side of
India. There are some that would say
that it isn’t the “real India”, but I think it is ALL the real India. It was beautiful, refreshing, relaxing and we
learned a lot. We were the only guests
and we spent an evening with the family in their home. They showed us a video that Vijai’s aunt had
made to educate others about the Kodavas and they shared their wedding album
with us so that they could show us some of the rituals they perform. There are no priests or ministers at such
events, it is all overseen by the elders.
I’d read that Bel Home has been rated as one of the top 10 homestays in
India and I’d say it belongs there. We
left with a bag of their coffee and a bag of their peppercorns as gifts – they
were generous with their time as well!
We sadly left our fabulous hosts and returned to Mysore to
catch the train. We visited a palace
because we were told we “must” although I have to say that we would’ve skipped
it had we not felt some pressure. It was
pretty, but after a few days of peace and quiet I wasn’t ready for the
sandalwood vendors. My temper was short
and at one point I actually elbowed a guy out of my way and threatened to break
his sandalwood fan like a twig. I didn’t
want a fan or a flute or a snake or a box or…I just wanted to be able to walk 5
feet unhampered!
Really, all I want is a lick!
We caught the 2:15 train back to Chennai, were met by a
driver who took us back to the port. We
had to show our passports twice and Sarah’s was taken and inspected because
they had accidentally stamped Oct. 2 on the visa, not Oct. 22. It doesn’t matter since the thing is good for
6 months…just more hassle. Although the
driver was able to pick us up at the ship without issue because they had the
proper pass the return wasn’t the same.
They had the proper paperwork, but this time wouldn’t accept the
photocopy of the driver’s ID. They made
us drive to a nearby building where they took his photo. We returned to the gate where the same men
examined our passports again. We arrived
back at the ship and had to show our paperwork yet again to get back to the
ship. In the course of about 20 minutes
we showed it 3 times.
