Madikeri, Mountains and Monks - Nov 9 2014

After a horrifically bumpy bus ride, seated in the infamous back seat and spending most of the time suspended in mid air, we finally reached Madikeri in the Coorg (Kodagu) region of Karnataka. We stayed in Chitra hotel, which was alright but nothing more, the restaurant had pretty good Indian food though. 

The next day we visited the nearby Tibetan colony of Bylakuppe, where we marvelled at the magnificent golden temple and many Buddha statues. The best part though was getting an inside tour from a friendly Tibetan monk who hunted us down outside the temple looking for someone to chat with. After being pretty much forced into rolling every prayer wheel in the premise and seeing some beautiful stupas (which are not a common sight in the south of India), we were invited into his tiny room where he treated us to some home made tea (which tasted like soup) and pieces of stale sweet bread which were lying on his bookshelf by the dozen. He told us about the life of a monk which surprisingly includes some sponsored world travel, and we had an interesting conversation about enlightenment, reincarnation and death- which in his eyes was not much different than falling asleep. We parted ways not before he gave us each a pack of cookies from his rather large stash (of course they contained butter so Daniel couldn't eat them and I was left with the burden of finishing them all).

The next day we embarked on a 3 day trek which we managed to organise through Travel Coorg or Coorg Trails who as it turns out is run by the same people. On the first day our lovely guide Chanapa led us on a climb to a 700 m peak which was a nice walk despite the fact that we encountered some leaches (!) on the way through the forest and that we were caught in a heavy fog so we couldn't see much views. We spent the night at his house in a small village where we enjoyed a hot shower and a lovely meal.  

On the second day of our trek we were joined by a nice French couple in their sixties who hiked with us around some coffee and rice plantations and accompanied us for another night of very warm hospitality at Chanapa's house. The last day of trekking was regrettably cancelled because I was feeling a little sick, but we still had a great night back in Madikheri watching a wonderfully entertaining Bollywood flick "Happy New Year" at the local cinema. The next day we embarked on what turned out to be a terribly exhausting journey to Kochi (Cochin), our first stop in the state of Kerala, proudly called by locals "God's own country". 

Hoysala temples of Belur and Halebid - Nov 9 2014

Leaving Mysore and heading towards Madikeri, we stopped on the way to visit the temples of Belur and Halebid in southern Karnataka. These two remarkable temples were built under the Hoysala Empire and are examples of the unique architecture of the time. We had a great luch at Vishnu Regency in Belur where we first tried (and fell in love with)a dish of mushroom manchurian. 

Chennakesava Temple in Belur

 

 Kedareshwara Temple in Halebid

Street Parade in Mysore - Nov 7 2014

Arriving in Mysore we got off on the wrong foot when we almost fell for one of India's infamous scams. We were taken by our rickshaw driver to a natural oil shop where, after some sweet talk and chai, they tried to coerce us into buying overpriced essential oils. We barely escaped and recuperated instead in a nice flower, fruit and vegetable market.

woman rolling incense at the fishy natural oil shop  

at the market:

Mysore is also famous for its palace, and it is quite impressive inside but unfortunately no photos were allowed.

We were not too impressed with the city and were ready to call Mysore a disappointment just as we stumbled upon a wonderfully crazy parade on the street which made the visit worth it.

unhappy peacocks

children on a float, not too impressed with 
the festivities

sugar-cane juice

temple at Charamundi Hill

                                   

Karanji lake

I was also hoping to do some yoga in Mysore as it is known as the home of Ashtanga yoga, but as it turns out most places only offer long term courses and not drop-in classes. so that didn't happen. We left Mysore after a few days and set out to explore the temples of Belur and Halebid.