On the third day of our holidays, we decided to explore Coorg. Our first destination was Kabbe Hills.

Kabbe Hills is located in the southern part of Coorg, close to the border with Kerala. I was looking for a short, easy hike that my kids could enjoy, and online reviews indicated that this might fit the bill. It was a 90 minute drive from our place of stay, but it was a pleasant drive on road winding through coffee estates and small towns.

The last stretch of road before we started the hike was especially narrow and winding, but it was well maintained and led to a small parking space. Commendably, there were toilets at this place.

There is a forest check-post before the start of the hike. They did a through check of our bags, as food is not allowed on the hike. We decided to leave one of our bags behind. Our kids were unhappy as they were looking forward to a picnic lunch.

From the base, the hill appeared very tall, but it did not take more than 45 minutes to reach the peak (even at the slow pace we were doing, with numerous halts to catch our breaths). The reviews were right, it was an easy hike, with some nice views over the surrounding hills and countryside. There was a steady breeze blowing, which ensured that we never felt hit, even though we did the climb in the afternoon.

Descending down and walking back to the car, we then decided to visit Chelavara falls, which we had passed on our way up.

The parking space here could only accommodate a couple of cars at a time, so I had to wait for some of the parked cars to drive away before I could park the car and walk towards the falls. It’s only a brief walk to the falls, which had a surprisingly decent amount of water flowing, even though we were not in the monsoon season. It was a pleasant spot, but probably not worth driving a long time to visit.

After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we headed back to our treehouse and relaxed with another nice cup of strong filter coffee!

After having stayed in a homestay the last time we visited Coorg, we were looking for something different this time around. And we found it at the Econest Treehouse.

As the name says, this is a treehouse, located within the grounds of an activity camp. Situated just off the main road and on the way to the Dubare Elephant camp, the location is easily accessible from Bangalore. It is situated amidst lush greenery typical of Coorg and also offers good views of the surrounding countryside.

The main attraction is, of course, living high up on a tree. A steep climb leads to a cosy room with a loft and sit-out. It’s perfect for a small family and my kids enjoyed climbing up the ladder to the loft. But we found storage spaces to be limited.

Typical Coorgi home-cooked food is served at the place, and it was just delicious. As was the filter coffee, of which we consumer numerous cups, while admiring the peaceful surroundings from the sit-out.

Another attraction of the place is that it is located within the grounds of an activity centre that offers ziplining and other activities.

Special mention must be made of the host, Praveen. Nothing is too much for him as he strives to keep guests satisfied. He is easily one of the best hosts we have come across and a key reason why our stay was so enjoyable.

Almost exactly a year since our previous holidays to Manipal and Udupi, we took our next holidays / road tip. This time, the destination was Coorg and Mysore.

We headed out at 8 am and had to navigate through traffic to hit the Tumkur highway. The route we decided to take was via Nelamangala, Channarayapattana and Kushalnagar. It took us a while to get on the Hassan highway and our first halt for breakfast at Malgudi Mylare Mane. We had traditional dosas and filter coffee before continuing onwards.

Our next halt was after we turned from Channarayapattana to Kushalnagar. We stopped for freshly squeezed sugarcane juice. Interestingly, a family that was having breakfast at the same restaurant as us also stopped at the same small juice stall while we were there – what a coincidence! Refreshed, we headed for our lunch stop – the Tibetan settlement at Bylakuppe.

There are many traditional Tibetan restaurants around the Namdroling Monastery at Bylakuppe. But our first port of call was a Pizza restaurant, which had spacious open seating. While enjoying our pizzas, we also ordered thukpa from the adjacent Tibetan restaurant, which was delicious!

We then drove the short distance to our place of stay while in Coorg – the Econest Treehouse near the Dubare Elephant Camp. More about this unique place to stay in a subsequent post!