[graaja]

A Weekend Drive to Virajpet

Drove to Virajpet for the long weekend from 14th to 17th April. Friend and TBHPian KarthikK suggested a nice homestay called Coffee Trails and also gave a few tips on things to do.

Started from Coimbatore at 7:30AM. Took the following route to the homestay: Coimbatore - Sirumugai - Bhavani - Bannari - Dimbham - Chamrajnagar - Mysore - Gonikoppa - Virajpet. On the way stopped for lunch at Mysore and caught up with a couple of friends and their family, and reached the homestay at 6 in the evening. Overall a good drive. Below is the Google map of the drive route.



Coffee Trails Homestay:

The homestay is situated on the slopes of a hill at the outskirts of Virajpet. They have 4 rooms which are very neat and clean. The rooms we got had balconies with a view of the beautiful valley with a layer of mist floating above in the mornings and evenings. The staff were very friendly and responsive to all the needs. A few pictures of the property.

The room with a balcony outside.


The balcony.


They have a small recreation area with games like carrom, Lido, table tennis and darts. We had some fun time with family playing these games.








The beautiful lawn.


View of the parking area from the lawn.


Dining room.


The cook made us some tasty local dishes for breakfast and dinner.

Kadumputtu with cowpea gravy. This tasted similar to Puttu/Kadala curry of Kerala.





Thappal (puris made of rice flour and rava) and black channa gravy. I polished off some 10 of these puris





Their package dinner - Chapati, chicken gravy, rice, sambar, rasam and a vegetable. Simple, yet tasty.





Pork, chicken biriyani and gravy.


We wanted to taste holiges. They arranged holiges from a local family and served with coconut milk. I have tasted holige + ghee combination. This was the first time I tasted holiges with coconut milk and they were just awesome. We also asked them to pack 10 holiges and took back home. They were that good.

[graaja]

The usual places to visit from Virajpet are Talacauvery and other spots of interest near Madikeri and the Golden temple in Kushalnagar. As we had already seen these places earlier, I wanted to explore some lesser visited places around Virajpet. KarthikK provided me with some options.

1. Kunda betta viewpoint
2. Chelavara water falls
3. Kabbe hills trek

Decided to visit Kunda betta view point on Friday and the Chelavara waterfalls and Kabbe hills trek on Saturday.

Kunda betta view point and the Google mix up:

I entered "Kunda betta viewpoint" in Google and plotted a course. Google plotted the below course.



We had to take a narrow single lane road from the main road. At the point marked with a red circle in the map, there was a still narrower road which looked like inaccessible for the car. In hindsight, that gate is a clear sign that it is private property.



So I parked the car in a small shoulder by the road and we started walking on the trail.



The trail.





About a kilometer in the trail, we came across a couple of dogs barking ferociously (they did not show any signs of attacking though) and a person came out of a house nearby and told us that this was private property.



I apologized to him and said we were looking for the Kunda betta view point and he said he had a few other visitors who were misled by Google maps.

The right approach was from a school that had to be reached from another single lane road from the main road. By now it was noon and I decided to drop the Kunda view point plan.

The kids had wanted to have some momos and noodles and decided to visit the Tibetan monastery in Kushalnagar for this.

In the evening after we came back to the homestay, I enquired with the staff and they told me that we had to go to Kunda high school and get a ticket from there and go to the Kunda view point. The right map to reach Kunda school is below.



Will do this during the next visit.

Tibetan Monastery (Golden Temple), Kushalnagar:

I then plotted a course to Kushalnagar. Got to drive through some beautiful winding roads.





We reached Kushalnagar around 1:30 PM and went straight to a restaurant named "The Tibet Kitchen" and had some tasty momos, noodles, thukpa and coffee.

Momos.


Noodles.


Thukpa (soupy noodles with rich flavor)


Coffee.


I would rate 5/5 for the food and 2/5 for the service which was very slow. If you are in a hurry to finish off lunch this is not the place. But if you have time to spare and looking for good food, then this is the right place.

We then visited Golden temple. A few pictures from this visit.





















Returned back to the homestay in the evening by 6:00 PM, had an early dinner and called it a day.

[graaja]

Photo-shoot of the car and some beautiful flowers:

On Saturday morning spent some time clicking some pictures of the beautiful flowers in the garden and the car with these flowers in the foreground.

[graaja]

Chelavara Waterfalls:

After the photoshoot and a nice breakfast, we packed some sandwiches and set out to visit the Chelavara waterfalls and Kabbe hills trail.

We missed my friends Dr.AD and Robimahanta who crossed Virajpet around 9:30 by 30 minutes. We were at the waterfalls at the time they crossed Virajpet on the way to Neeleshwar on their weekend trip, documented by Dr.AD in the below post.

Weekend Drive and Photoshoot in God's Own Country

I entered Chelavara waterfalls as destination and once again Google took us through some very narrow broken roads and stopped near a small trail going down towards the waterfalls. The right path was a kilometer before this spot where there is a proper parking place and a marked trail. But still the trail that Google pointed us also led to the same waterfall but from the other direction.

A broken road.


The car on the broken road.


The car parked near the beginning of the trail pointed by Google.




After hiking through the trail for about 500 meters, we reached the waterfalls. As this was not the monsoon season, there was very little water flowing the falls. Also, for safety, they had blocked access to the small pond at the base of the waterfall. So we had to be content looking at the falls from a distance.

[graaja]

Kabbe Hills Trek:

The next stop was the Kabbe Hills trail. This was a few kilometers further from the waterfalls. The drive was through very narrow single lane cement road with very sharp shoulders. Luckily we passed only a couple of cars and both these times, there was some shoulder to get off the road and make way for the oncoming vehicle.



The road ended in a small parking area and the peak that we had to hike to was visible from this area (marked in the below picture).



We parked the car and started walking. Though the elevation was just 100 meters, the hike was through a steep trail. We were greeted with breathtaking views of the mountains covered by layer of mist and clouds. Once we reached the summit, it was covered with mist and we could not see the valley on the other side. However, the wind and mist was mesmerizing and we spent about an hour sitting on the top of the hill and had our packed sandwiches. This hike turned out to be the best part of this trip. A few pictures of the scenery from this hike.

















The misty view at the summit.

https://youtu.be/ip3heOk40jg

We were quite tired when we returned back to the hotel late afternoon. Had a nice sleep, spent the evening playing carrom and board games, had an early dinner and called it a day.

[graaja]

Shiva Temple and Virajpet Town View

Friend and TBHPian Zebo had mentioned about a Shiva temple further on the hill on the same road the homestay was located and the beautiful views one can get of the Virajpet town from this hill top. This walk was also through a coffee plantation. We decided to walk to the temple and enjoy some views before our drive back to Coimbatore. The temple is about 2km from the homestay and is situated at the top of the hill. The road to the temple is quite steep and provides a fantastic cardio workout early in the morning. For those who do not want to take this steep walk, the road is wide enough for a car to reach the temple. The view point of the Virajpet town is about halfway up. A few pictures from this walk of the path, the breathtaking views of the town and the temple.

An early morning sun lighting up the valley.


Some beautiful violet flowers growing on a wall.


The path through coffee plantation.




This friendly dog accompanied us from halfway till the temple.




Some breathtaking views of the town covered with a layer of cloud and mist.














Calm and serene temple. Felt so peaceful, that we spent about 30 minutes at the temple.









We returned back to the homestay, packed up, had our breakfast and said our goodbyes to the friendly staff at the homestay and started our drive back to Coimbatore. The return drive was uneventful and we reached home by 6:00PM.

That's all folks, I have for now!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[JacksonStorm]

Nice Travelogue graaja!. Your travelogue brings back memories of our 2019 trip to Virjapet. As you mentioned, Coffee trails owner Ms.Ragini mam and staffs are very responsive.The food was fantastic and homemade. (Kerala style).
I am using this opportunity to present some photos during our trip to the coffee trails homestay Virajpet.

Golden Cheetah resting along with big brother at coffee trails:



Golden Cheetah resting alone at coffee trails:

[xantia]

It is great to be reminded of Coffee Trails. We had visited in 2016. Bookings were very easy with Ms. Ragini. Google Maps takes you there without a hiccup. I knew what to expect from friends who had recommended it. The entire layout of the homestay and landscaping, the hospitable staff and the food, makes it all special.

[AB10]

What a beautiful travelogue! The photos of the city and the waterfall are absolutely breath taking!

[jkrishnakj]

Coffee trails is a cool place. Reminded me of my visit a few years back. Great travelogue Graaja

Also, I must admit, it took me a couple minutes to go past the Milk/holige combo picture. That’s been my favourite combination for decades.

Loved reading this. Cheers.

[MadSnapper]

That was an amazing post. Thanks so much for the pics. Made an otherwise boring day at work really colorful.

[Air_Kerala]

Holiges. Holiges with coconut milk. Holiges with coconut milk and ghee. Thank you so much for culinary inspiration Graaja. The travelogue managed to gently stir the all chained up simple things loving me. Peace

[ampere]

A usual staple fare from the house of @graaja we have come to expect! South Coorg is an amazing place especially if you know which homestay to reside in.

And not to mention the nice winding roads through the valley! (And of course that beast of a car ! )

We were in Coorg last year end and winters were magical!

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

A usual staple fare from the house of @graaja we have come to expect! South Coorg is an amazing place especially if you know which homestay to reside in.

And not to mention the nice winding roads through the valley! (And of course that beast of a car ! )

We were in Coorg last year end and winters were magical!

Remember someone asking me what is the best thing to do in Coorg, and me replying "Doing nothing, while sipping a hot coffee in a balcony with some lovely view of a valley"