The most unplanned and sudden trip with friends happened in 2018 in October month. I had never been on a trip without my family. Yes, It was my first trip with friends. So, the destination was decided, And It was one of the most beautiful places in South India. Coorg: The Coffee Destination. It is also known as “The Scotland of India”.
Well, I was a bit scared but, life teaches us to overcome our fear. I was travelling with two of my friends, named Akshay and Arya. So, We had booked an overnight journey by Bus which was approximately about 6-7 hours journey. The plan was sudden, still, we were able to get stay in one of the better hostels in Coorg. We left Bangalore on the night of 17th October. The night was thrilling, since, we got the cheapest Bus to get there, It was still a better choice to get there as the seats were comfortable though. We talked for like 2-3 hours sharing our childhood stories with each other.
It was 5 in the morning when we finally reached our destination: Coorg, Full of mountains, Misty and Chilled weather, reminding me of the winter days with the smell of Coffee. We booked an auto from the dropping point to our Hostel which was like 10 km from there. The auto-ride was thrilled as we could see the mountains, coffee plantations, curvy roads and the mist touching our faces along with the cool breeze.
Day 1:-
We reached at 6 in the morning at our hostel, we decided to take a rest for a few hours. We left for Golden Temple/Tibetan Monastery around 12. Also known as The Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery which is the largest teaching centre of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. It had the statue of Lord Buddha which is 60ft. in height whereas the other two statues of Guru Padmasambhava and Buddha Amitayus are 58 ft. They are made of copper. It was full peace there and It was worth to go there on the first day. to do
We continued our journey on the next day towards Dubare Elephant Camp which is a forest camp on the banks of the river Kaveri. We crossed the river by a motorboat. And we reached there to check out the camp where People were enjoying taking the selfie with elephants, even you can bathe elephants with their master which was fun though. Unfortunately, the river rafting was banned in that camp due to some unlucky accidents and we were really disappointed with that. After that, we reached a lesser known place of the Coorg: ‘Chiklihole Dam’. It is not among the best tourist spots but, it’s definitely a nice and calm picnic spot. We decided to spend some time there as clouds had really made the environment relaxing and calm. After some time, we went to the must visiting tourist spot of the Coorg: ‘NisargDhama’. It is a short Island formed by the Kaveri river which makes it Unique. We reached at Island by crossing a hanging rope bridge. There were deer, rabbits, children’s playground as well. The most exciting part was that you could go to the bank of the river, sit on the stones and feel the flow of the river touching the legs which can totally make you feel energetic again. So, we decided to get back here the next morning for an awesome bath. We got back to the hostel by 7, as it was getting dark and our hostel was a bit far.
It was a fun day. We went to NisargDhama again to take a dive in water of the Kaveri River. We had a lot of fun there. After that, We went to the famous fall of Coorg: “Abbey Falls”. It is located in between of coffee plantation and it’s located on some height as compared to the level of the city. The walk to the falls from the main entrance is around 1 km walk downwards throughout which takes you through coffee, cardamom, pepper and other spice plantation. Unfortunately, Trekking was ban here again because of land sliding in that area and the hanging rope bridge was down because of that which was used to cross the fall to go trekking. The sound of the waterfall was soothing our ears. It was an amazing time there, We spent almost 2 hours there.
The trip comes to the end when we had to finally get back home. But, We had still 12 hours left before we board our bus. So, we decided to go to “Raja’s Seat”, which is a pleasant spectacle of refreshing layers of greenery, located on a height. We could see the view of the whole city which was residing between mountains. It was an unforgettable moment. After spending 4-5 hours there, we went to our Bus station. The trip was all good till now, but, at last the moment came which you can never forget. I won’t say that It was tragic but, it was a little thing which I won’t forget ever. We had booked our bus ticket of Karnataka Transport which was scheduled to come at 10:30 PM at Bus station. You usually will get the message of your Bus information two hours before scheduled departure. It was 9:00 PM and we hadn’t got the information of our Bus yet. We went to enquiry system too, and they had no idea about this Bus. It became 10’o clock, and then 10:30. There was no sign of the Bus. We were searching for the Bus, asking every Bus conductor, if that Bus was going to Bangalore.
But, As I said, It wasn’t tragic. We got the message of our Bus information at around 10:35 PM and Bus finally arrived at boarding point at 10:45 PM and We boarded the Bus finally. That’s how my first memorable trip with friends come to an end.
