It was a senior lawyer from Mumbai who planted the idea of going to a resort in the Western Ghats amidst Coffee Estate. He had to come to Mangalore in connection with a court case and he took advantage of that occasion to go to a resort in Chikmagalur. He liked his stay in the resort amidst coffee estates. He gave a very good account of his sojourn there and hence I also thought I should visit one of the many resorts which have mushroomed all over Chikmagalur and Mercara areas. I also chose Chikmagalur as my destination. I invited my German friend who was to visit India in May 2016 for our annual trip to some place. She had absolutely no objections and hence I started surfing the net for a reasonably priced resort. I came across two resorts in Chikmagalur. I selected the one called Thodadahalii Home stay and another Coffeebeans home stay. I chose the first and went ahead with the booking.
One should state here that though I chose that place, I was always scared of travelling on that route especially the section between Beltangady and
Chikmagalur. There are hundreds of curves which makes the journey a boring one. But my enthusiasm to go there overshadowed this dampening part of the journey.
The date was set. But a couple of days before the date of the journey, I received a message from the Homestay contact person stating that as there was a bereavement in the family, all the bookings had been cancelled and the amount paid as advance would be refunded. Though I was disappointed but I did not give up. I requested them to find an alternate Home stay so that I should not disappoint my German friend who was coming all the way from Germany They understood the genuineness of the request and then they directed me to another resort called “Coffee beans Home stay”.
We after an arduous journey reached the Home stay facility on a bright sunny afternoon. One very important development I had seen on the way are the small well furnished and attractive restaurants in places where there are petrol filling stations. They are really well furnished and maintained and are having clean and neat toilets and otherfacilities to relax. The snack served there was excellent. This shows that road journey in India can be pleasant.
The Coffee Beans Homestay has well furnished accommodation. It is nestled in the midst of a coffee estate. All around there are various type of tress apart from Coffee plants. The hospitality is par excellent. Not a big resort. It has its own advantage as they can attend to the guests individually. What attracted us is the interest shown by a young man who is the owner of the same. He would talk to everyone and partakes food along with the guests. He has very good ears because he would listen to what any guests says very attentively and with interest.
There is tour of the estate with the Manager of the facility. The ‘walk’ was very exhilarating as one could breathe fresh air which had beautiful fragrance. One could see several types of medicinal and other plants and trees. There one can see a few birds chirping and flying around. The Manager would identify the trees and the birds and sometimes gives the description of the tress and the efforts put in by the family since generations to maintain and expand the coffee estate. The coffee estate workers were found taking their places to start their work of tending the plants or trees or weeding out wild growth.
In the evening we had the opportunity to stand on the highest point of that area to witness the sunset. We are not new to watching such sun sets. All over the world we had watched it. One should add here that the sun always plays truant in the evening which disappoints the watchers. To reach that point, one had to drive through very narrow roads and on the edge of the cliff. Very drive was adventurous. I do not know whether the driver of the jeep was driving so to add some thrill to our stay. As usual sun was not allowed to come out by the thick layers of cloud. Disappointed we were about to return but suddenly
The Coffee Beans Homestay has well furnished accommodation. It is nestled in the midst of a coffee estate. All around there are various type of tress apart from Coffee plants. The hospitality is par excellent. Not a big resort. It has its own advantage as they can attend to the guests individually. What attracted us is the interest shown by a young man who is the owner of the same. He would talk to everyone and partakes food along with the guests. He has very good ears because he would listen to what any guests says very attentively and with interest.
There is tour of the estate with the Manager of the facility. The ‘walk’ was very exhilarating as one could breathe fresh air which had beautiful fragrance. One could see several types of medicinal and other plants and trees. There one can see a few birds chirping and flying around. The Manager would identify the trees and the birds and sometimes gives the description of the tress and the efforts put in by the family since generations to maintain and expand the coffee estate. The coffee estate workers were found taking their places to start their work of tending the plants or trees or weeding out wild growth.
In the evening we had the opportunity to stand on the highest point of that area to witness the sunset. We are not new to watching such sun sets. All over the world we had watched it. One should add here that the sun always plays truant in the evening which disappoints the watchers. To reach that point, one had to drive through very narrow roads and on the edge of the cliff. Very drive was adventurous. I do not know whether the driver of the jeep was driving so to add some thrill to our stay. As usual sun was not allowed to come out by the thick layers of cloud. Disappointed we were about to return but suddenly the Manager saw the sun just peeping out of the clouds and he shouted ‘look it is there’. Yes, it was there and slowly he came out of the clouds and again disappeared behind the clouds . We instead of watching it were taking photographs. That is what happens nowadays people busy taking pictures instead of watching the event. I do not know why we should think of preserving what we saw without seeing it attentively. However the sun set created a colourful sky on the west.
There was bon fire at the end of the day. It was very interesting as the organizer saw to it that all the guests sat together so that they could acquaint themselves with each other. Before the bon fire was over, there was heavy rains together with thunder and lightening. The streak of the lightening and sound of thunder sent chilling feeling down to the very marrow of one’s bones, splitting asunder one’s usually calm exterior and leaving one trembling, afraid, and in need of flight. But that was a very good experience. In that calm environment, the thunder echoed through the forest and the lightening suddenly showed how beautiful the natures is. It added some thrill to the get together. However the rains cooled down the weather in that area and we had a very pleasant night.
The experience on the whole was worth the amount spent. We were not disappointed but said good bye to our host by taking with us some fond memories