Got up late as usual today , I don’t know why that during my travels around the cities of Karnataka I have felt so lazy and lethargic at times . I just mated to stay in bed all day eat strawberry ice cream and enjoy mutton fish and rice . I didn’t want to go out again , not in the hot afternoon , not on the day of holi , today and tomorrow will rage the celebrations of holi in India and I will have to see it for the first time in Coorg .
Although the city has very tall and large mosques and churches it is still a Hindu city steeped in the texture of Hinduism and its many rituals . The city is full of temples big and small , I am sure people will celebrate holi with lots of enthusiasm here .
As for me I spend hours catching up the latest news on YouTube.com , I also want to start reading a new book , let’s see if we can get to that .
Coorg has been a laid back experience for me I have not pushed myself much into exploring major placeless here , I do go for walks in the evenings and that gives me a fairly good idea of this city .
The transportation used by the locals is either an auto or a local bus service . It has many departmental stores , saree shops , gas station , I also enjoy the strawberry ice cream served in the city .
I spent the entire afternoon rubbing sandalwood oil all over my body I had got it in Mysuru and had kept some in my bag , this was the best time to try it on and I did rub a lot of it on my legs and thighs . A nice shower would be perfect after the oil massage. I feel blessed at this point , got a lot of happy holi messages on my mobile and on Facebook it seems people are celebrating holi all over India although that doesn’t seem to be the case from my bedroom window I can see no holi celebration juts the normal slow traffic passing by , no banners or colours or crowds it was as if business was usual .
I am grateful for the holiday and the change I am just trying my best not to rush too much and not to push things let things just evolve organically . I think an open mindset and no expectations are vital tools of a good traveller . The ability to mingle in the crowd and then to stand back for a while away from all the hum drum of it all .
The dense forest area along with the lush green coffee plantations are the pride of Coorg . The tall palm and coconut trees gives the city its own unique picture postcard look .Its like a city straight out of Malgudi Day’s the famous R.K Narayan novel . It is laid back as if frozen in time , one can see the occasional mobile phone shop or an electronic showroom along with a garage but nothing more .
Coorg known as the coffee and spice capital of India is a hill town 260 km from Bangalore and was merged into Mysuru District . By the late afternoon I could not take it an more my room was now a boring den I wanted to get away from and I duly did , I took my taxi out into the by lanes and coffee plantations of Coorg . The city has mosques , temples and churches their is a sizeable muslim presence here as one can see women in burkha all the time , I did spot a few nuns as well . But half an hours into my journey I still could not see any holi celebrations inside or in the country side of the city .
The drive through the lush plan tress , water ponds and coffee plants was itself very relaxing . Coorg is hilly with winding slopes it gone up and down covered my green tress on either side palm tress , coconut trees all lined up in dense forests . By the early evening we managed to get to the Dubare Elephant camp . This was a water body and I could see bathing elephants from afar . I did venture in and managed to click an elephant bathing , there where people on boats some trying to get a dip into tiger watering hole itself .
My last stop was a spice store selling chocolate and spices , I got some coffee and sandalwood oil as well as I feel it is great for the muscles of the body especially the. limbs . The way back took a while as we drove past coffee plantations being watered by jets of spray and water , that is the way they water coffee in this part of the world . I managed to stop over again and again and managed to get glimpses of country side life in Coorg and how people get by day to day in this exotic hill station often called the Scotland of India .
I had some local chocolate on my way back in the taxi I had done some shopping at the spice store . I managed to get a real feel for the place today indeed Coorg has been a lazy discovery .
