[vijayols]

Truly understand how click baiting works now. Was equally surprised to know that this time my wife had planned a weekend gateway at Varanashi for us to drive to for our annual anniversary trip.

It been 20 years and we have just loved our monsoon trips to celebrate our anniversary.As always Kanthi does the planning and my job is simply to be the designated driver for a major part of the journey. In fact after we parted with our Yeti Kanthi is hardly game to drive for long periods though both of us love to drive.This time it was the first family drive on our new "family member" Neelu our preowned Hyundai Tucson.

Varanshi Organic Farms(Ph 9482213019)at Adyanadka near Puttur in Karnataka was approximately 350 kms from home. It was a 100 acre forested organic farm mainly having varied trees following permaculture but had a lot of cocoa trees planted which is owned and managed by Dr Krishnamoorthy Varanashi and Dr Ashwini Varanashi and their son Partha Varanashi.

We didn't get the pleasure of meeting Partha a champion swimmer but got to meet his amazing parents and enjoyed their hospitality which included steaming cups of strong coffee,some exotic dates filled roasted cocoa beans and a bite of dark chocolate all made by cocoa grown in their farm.

Since the anniversary fell on a monday and our daughter agreed (or was it coerced??)we decided at the last minute to start on Friday afternoon right after her school disbursed braving the evening Bangalore traffic to wade our way through and hopefully reach Sakleshpur by 8pm.


An A Frame home at Varanashi.


A Pool at Varanashi.


The Dorm Stay At Varanshi.


Spidey women Kanthi trying some age defying acrobatics.

So here's the thing about our anniversary vacations.No prizes for guessing how the weather is generally going to be and on that we make efforts to only travel to the western ghats which are completely rain hit.Hardly leaving the first few hours of the drive were did we ever not see pouring rains.And pouring believe you me meant next level rains as it was relentless and heavy bordering on down pour pretty much most of the times.

But boy was it exhilarating driving Neelu in the highway though I hardly pushed the beauty beyond the 80-90kmph range.Neelu drank diesel especially in the comfort and sports range which I was using most times and was probably averaging 8 to 10kmpl.Only in the eco mode did she relent to give about 15kmpl.

The route took us via Bangalore-Nelamangala-Hassan- sakleshpur where Kanthi made a quick booking for the night at Cliff Hanger Home stay run by a friendly host Unnati.Dinner as per her suggestion was at Ossur hotel on the newly built bypass highway and the food was pretty decent.

It continued to pour as we tried to settle in in the empty rooms in Cliff hanger Homestay and we were forced to change rooms twice as rains crept through the mangalore tile roof till we found a dry room to settle for the night.


The lovely Neelu parked on the porch @ Cliff Hanger.


Looked like a different type of lemon.


The house from outside.


View from the home.


The room where the roof wasn't dripping water.

Had a fairly early start (By our holiday standard at least) and was served a couple of hot cups of coffee by Unnati.They did not have a cook that day and we had to have our breakfast somewhere on the highway.

It was pouring all the time as we hit the highway towards Dharmasthala-Puttur- Varanashi Farm.It was about 150 kms away.

The drive was fun as expected in the monsoons with the clouds as always adding to the wonderful scenery.


On Charmudi Ghat route.Lovely as always.


A temple on the way to the farm.


The mud route on the way to the farm.


Jack fruit season as we saw most trees being fruit laden.

We were at the farm by lunch time.The road till here was now a proper highway despite construction still happening.Was a bit of a mixed feeling as I missed the usual adequately broad roads with a feeling of the forest surrounding you which now is a proper 3 lane highway each side with hardly a view of the forest. Price to pay for "progress" I guess better roads and faster speed at the cost of daresay Nostalgia and a better world.

Stay options here at Varanashi was the mud house where we were staying,an A frame house,a tree house and some tented stay options besides the dormitory.


The mud house.Our home for the next 2 nights.


A peek into the room.


Me trying to be a spidey now.Rock climbing is taught here.

With not much to do smrithi spent her time catching u with some books while me and kanthi decided to don our raincoats and explore the farm.After all there was 100 acres of it.


The other Mud houses.


The Bon fire area.

[vijayols]

First up was the Turtle pond.

There were multiple ponds which we discovered in the farm.The landmarks we were checking were the pool with the diving board,the 2 tree houses,a gazebo type platform for water sport,the dorm,the skating rink and the nursery area.


The pool which we hoped to enjoy on a non rainy day.


The tree house.


Water sport activity.


If there is a step then it is meant to be climbed

The wooden platform seems to be for some activity based programs.


Looking down from the tree house which was locked and to be explored later.


The Dorm building either occupied by volunteers or like now some agri college kids.


The US style skating rink with a basketball hoop.


Some more mud houses.


Relaxing in the tree house overlooking the lake.


The Nursery.

It had become dark by now and the rains continued to pour so we hurried back to our room and headed for dinner.

Hoping that Sunday would give us a respite from the rain and an opportunity to enjoy all that the farm had to offer as entertainment.

The whole night it continued to pour and the night was spent with the typical jungle sounds along with the sound of the frogs croaking.

Sunday morning surprisingly opened up to some respite from the rain.Short enough for us to enjoy a dip in the pool and a chance to float on a surf board with paddles.Smrithi had a chance to dive from the 20 foot platform which was exciting(for her. Terrifying to even imagine for me scared as i was of water in a pool).


We managed to get to the tree house with the keys.

After lunch me and kanthi decided to take a walk and possibly cover the full property again and also pay a visit to the main house and meet up with Dr.Moorthy and Dr Ashwini and maybe pick up some ripe jackfruit back home.


View from the tree house.


One more pond.


Water water everywhere.


Love just walking through a forest.


Learning carpentry.


The beautiful Neelu.


Photo of a drone shot of the farm.

We had a lovely walk and also topped it with some hot coffee and some chocolate made from their home grown Cocoa beans at the main house.

The next day was our special day and was celebrated with rains again.We had a early start to reach Bangalore by late evening but not before we paid a visit to their chocolate factory.

Journey back was fun and had a blast driving Neelu in the rains.That concludes our weekend Varanashi trip and looking forward to our next drive.

[Aditya]

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