It was the much needed break for all our team members and we decided to go on an overnight journey. Staying in Bangalore the choice wasn’t that difficult to make and everyone agreed to freeze on COORG. So we didn’t have much days in hand and since we were with families and a group of 16 multiple things had to be planned precisely including the venue, the transport, the food and many other miscellaneous things.
So we started our hunt for searching the best venue for us in Coorg. With lot of searching on the internet, visiting various blogs for reviews and other review sources, we narrowed down on 3 places, TATA – Plantation trails, Misty Woods and then finally we searched a fairly new place “Coorg County Resorts”. Coorg County Resorts gave us the flexibility of having as many separate cottages we needed while as in plantation trails has a limited of 5 Rooms. So if you are in a big group, specially families included then it might become a challenge.
So we made our booking in Coorg County Resorts, although couple of reviews we read on http://www.oktatabyebye.com/ were not that well. The reason was we were talking to the GM and he ensured that all what he commits would be done. The resort offered us multiple different types of cottages, so they have around 2 Palace Villas, some 5 Delux Villas, and few Standard Villas and about 10 Delux rooms.
We started off in the morning at around 7.30 although the plan was 6.30 and the delay is self explanatory. By around 10ish we have reached “Kamat’s” on Mysore road where we feasted on hot idlies, wadas and best was onion rava masala dosa. The tea was bit disappointing, but the coffee which I was having was nothing less than great.
Our next stop was Golden Temple – The Buddhist Monarchy. This was the most awesome Buddhist temple I ever saw. The humungous structure is completely gold plates and we were left awed when we saw the huge, around 15 – 18 feet idol, Lord Buddha and 2 other idols on either side of same size which looked like queens and they all were made in GOLD. The environment was nothing less than divine as there were atleast 500 monks reciting chants on the beats of the drums with such harmony and accuracy that made us stand still for moments we knew we will not forget.
Coming out of the temple wasn’t an easy task, but after clicking lot of memorable photos and shooting videos, and keeping the time schedule in mid we had to drag ourselves out. The temperament of ours soon changed as we entered the Tibetan market which is right opposite to the temple. Every one flooded on the feng shui shops and then we could hear nothing but bargaining. I got for myself few good mementos as a Chinese mask, feng shui bells, show pieces and yes Chopsticks which I have been searching for quite some time.
By around 3 we decided that we were on the threshold of messing up our own schedule and that the resort manager had called us to let know that the lunch has been made ready and they are waiting for our arrival. So our planned arrival time was 1.45 at the resort and we reached at 3.15, so we were on a right on spot. So our plan was to finish off lunch and reach madikeri, but that seemed a remote possibility after it started raining. So we decided to settle back in the resort and enjoy the greenery and solitude around.
So let me write about the resort.
So we started our hunt for searching the best venue for us in Coorg. With lot of searching on the internet, visiting various blogs for reviews and other review sources, we narrowed down on 3 places, TATA – Plantation trails, Misty Woods and then finally we searched a fairly new place “Coorg County Resorts”. Coorg County Resorts gave us the flexibility of having as many separate cottages we needed while as in plantation trails has a limited of 5 Rooms. So if you are in a big group, specially families included then it might become a challenge.
So we made our booking in Coorg County Resorts, although couple of reviews we read on http://www.oktatabyebye.com/ were not that well. The reason was we were talking to the GM and he ensured that all what he commits would be done. The resort offered us multiple different types of cottages, so they have around 2 Palace Villas, some 5 Delux Villas, and few Standard Villas and about 10 Delux rooms.
We started off in the morning at around 7.30 although the plan was 6.30 and the delay is self explanatory. By around 10ish we have reached “Kamat’s” on Mysore road where we feasted on hot idlies, wadas and best was onion rava masala dosa. The tea was bit disappointing, but the coffee which I was having was nothing less than great.
Our next stop was Golden Temple – The Buddhist Monarchy. This was the most awesome Buddhist temple I ever saw. The humungous structure is completely gold plates and we were left awed when we saw the huge, around 15 – 18 feet idol, Lord Buddha and 2 other idols on either side of same size which looked like queens and they all were made in GOLD. The environment was nothing less than divine as there were atleast 500 monks reciting chants on the beats of the drums with such harmony and accuracy that made us stand still for moments we knew we will not forget.
Coming out of the temple wasn’t an easy task, but after clicking lot of memorable photos and shooting videos, and keeping the time schedule in mid we had to drag ourselves out. The temperament of ours soon changed as we entered the Tibetan market which is right opposite to the temple. Every one flooded on the feng shui shops and then we could hear nothing but bargaining. I got for myself few good mementos as a Chinese mask, feng shui bells, show pieces and yes Chopsticks which I have been searching for quite some time.
By around 3 we decided that we were on the threshold of messing up our own schedule and that the resort manager had called us to let know that the lunch has been made ready and they are waiting for our arrival. So our planned arrival time was 1.45 at the resort and we reached at 3.15, so we were on a right on spot. So our plan was to finish off lunch and reach madikeri, but that seemed a remote possibility after it started raining. So we decided to settle back in the resort and enjoy the greenery and solitude around.
So let me write about the resort.
The resort is on the kushalnagar to madikeri road approximately 10 KM after kushalnagar and 20 KM before madikeri. There is lush greenery around and in the whole premises of the estate. Gardens are well maintained. There is a swimming pool, which is fairly big, but since it rained the day we reached there, we couldn’t enjoy it. The electricity is a constant problem in the entire town, but good that the resort has complete power back on generators to run the hot water geysers and AC’s. In terms of facilities there is a recreation room, which has few indoor games like Pool, Carrom Board, Chess and also a few fitness equipments mostly cardio. We struggled to play pool because one of the cue’s didn’t have a tip, but anyways who was playing seriously. Most of us enjoyed different games throughout the evening.
The rooms are of different types. The best one’s are the Villas and I was staying in the Palace villa which has amenities like AC, Fridge, TV etc. It was decent accommodation and had the look and feel of antique villa with complete wooden furniture. Since all the Villas are located in the vicinity of trees and plants, you have a very good feeling of enjoying nature. But the catch is that you do not have the liberty to keep the door or window open in the evening as you wouldn’t want to become a feast for the mosquitoes. We had to rely on the AC for the ventilation in the room. Overall it was ok and if I have to rate the place on scale of 10, I would rate it 7.5. There are other options as well like the standard villas and deluxe rooms. The furniture in all the rooms was almost similar.
In terms of service, the staff is very courteous but we had some challenges in response time to get some things done. So you can’t expect a 3 start service, but then you can get things done by talking to right people managing the place. In terms of Price the quoted price was around 6500 Rs for the Palace Villa, but for a group of 16 and since we needed atleast 8 cottages we worked out a deal with the resort. I bet you can do the same.
Next day we started off to Dubare, the elephant camp. An ahoy! We actually clicked snaps with elephants bathing in river. There was a small baby elephant who was stealing the show with its childish acts. Being adventure enthusiastic group nothing stopped us from booking a boat to do still water river rafting. We called the boat on the other side of the river and for the next hour 11 of us must have lost atleast 1000 calories and that was thrilling. A must to do experience.
On the way return we had our food at a small but very decent hotel called Kingsway inn which you will find opposite to top in town and just after SBI bank. The food was served amazingly fast and to our surprise it was way too good as compared to many places in Bangalore. I would recommend this place if you need to stop over for lunch.
The journey started back and people with all the adventure in rafting, travelling settled back in the bus and proceeded back to namma bengaluru.
I would love to write more about the size of the blog would go obese. So if you have any queries I would be more than happy to respond to them so you can freely bug me on kanumerouno@gmail.com
Lovely temple. I really liked your post. Kushalnagar literally means the "City of Gladness" and is believed to have been named by Hyder Ali. A few nearby tourist attractions around this town include The Namdroling Monastery, Harangi Reservoir, Kaveri Nisargadhama, Dubare Elephant Camp,Chiklihole Reservoir and Herur. Check out Atithi Comforts Kushalnagar, a budget hotel in Kushalnagar.
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