Held by the Hills: A Slow Journey Through Coorg

Around 11 PM, on a cold Coorg night, two hotel staff members patiently guided us over the phone from the main-road bifurcation all the way to the hotel, ensuring we faced no trouble in the darkness. That simple act of care stayed with us and reflected the genuine hospitality we experienced throughout our three-day stay in hotel 'Serene Woods'.

Once we finally arrived, the check-in formalities were completed, and a hotel staff member escorted us to our room. We instantly liked it. The room was well-equipped with all the necessary amenities and beautifully decorated with old-style wooden furniture, giving it a warm, rustic charm.

We freshened up, and just before going to bed, the sharp, unfamiliar sound of a deer barking echoed from the jungle.

Paputtu is a steamed rice cake made with milk and shredded coconut, served with a curry. It was soft, mildly sweet, and quite filling—simple food that gave us a nice introduction to the local cuisine.

The hotel follows a simple rule: guests need to inform the staff by 12 PM if they want to have lunch or dinner, along with the preferred time and menu, so the food can be prepared and served on time. Since we planned to explore the resort and spend the first half of the day there, we placed our lunch order during breakfast itself.

Just after breakfast, we went for a nature walk at Serene Woods hotel. Surrounded by coffee plantation and tall trees, the resort is built along a hillside, with cottages placed at different levels. The trail from the parking area was gentle and easy to walk on.

After returning to the hotel, I spent some quiet time sitting on the balcony, listening to Raag Pahari and looking at the surrounding green hills covered in clouds. It was one of the most calming moments of the trip.

After lunch at the hotel, we headed to Abbey Falls in the car we had hired from Bangalore for four days. As soon as we reached the parking area, the heavy crowd—even at the entrance—was hard to miss. That’s when I clearly felt the contrast between spending quiet, relaxed moments in a scenic place like Serene Woods and hopping between popular but crowded tourist spots.

We walked down towards the falls through a long flight of stairs, with dense greenery and hills on both sides. Since it was the rainy season, the waterfall was in full force and looked much more beautiful than during my previous visit. However, the crowd was overwhelming, and we couldn’t even stand there for a few moments to enjoy the view peacefully.

From there, we drove to the Coorg market to buy chocolates and coffee. On the way, we attempted to visit Raja’s Seat, but after seeing the crowd at the entrance, we decided not to get down.

That moment made me realize why I hadn’t truly enjoyed Coorg during my earlier visit. It wasn’t the rainy season then, when the hills turn lush green, and more importantly, we were busy rushing from one tourist spot to another. This trip taught me something important—that while visiting popular attractions matters, truly experiencing a place also means slowing down, relaxing, and soaking in its natural beauty and local life.

We returned to the hotel as night set in, and the cold felt sharper at Serene Woods, surrounded by hills, jungle, and coffee plantation. Before heading out earlier, we had already placed our dinner order. The food was fresh and tasty, and what stood out most was that the dinner was prepared according to our preferences.

We planned to visit Nagarhole Tiger Reserve the next day. Our safari was booked for 4:30 PM, as we had been advised by safari guides from Bandipur and Mudumalai National Parks that animal sightings are more likely in the early morning and evening hours. Based on this, we chose the last safari slot of the day.

Since we planned to leave for Nagarhole around 12:30 PM the next day, we requested the hotel staff to serve lunch a little earlier than usual. With the next day planned out, we went to bed early.

The third day in Coorg began with high hopes of spotting a tiger or a leopard at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. We finished breakfast early and got ready for the day ahead.

The jungle inside Nagarhole felt raw, dense, and deeply peaceful. Tall trees stood close together, their thick leaves slowing the raindrops, though we still got wet in the open, two-sided gypsy during the heavy rain. Soft bird calls echoed around us, and gentle ripples from nearby water bodies created a surreal atmosphere. At that moment, it felt as if the noisy, crowded city was the real jungle, while this silent forest was the truly civilised world. As we went deeper, the forest revealed its life quietly—an elephant standing near a waterbody, deer pausing silently among the trees, and mist floating lightly in the air. For most of the safari, we spotted only deer and that distant elephant, and the gypsy began its return towards the drop-off point.

Just when we thought the safari was over, the driver suddenly stopped the vehicle and pointed ahead. There, we saw a rare sight—a group of wild dogs, known to be dangerous hunters who move and hunt in packs. We were thrilled to have spotted them. After the safari, hunger led us to a nearby shop for tea and biscuits. Some police officers were also there, and the shopkeeper told us they had come from Kerala. She mentioned that people living in the nearby villages can speak both Kannada and Malayalam. After enjoying our tea, we began our journey back to the hotel, carrying with us the quiet memories of the jungle.

We reached hotel around 9PM. Our order for dinner was delayed that day as we couldn't order from the jungle we didn't have network most of the time. But they have managed somehow to provide us our chosen menu.

On waking up on the last day in Coorg, I felt that another cuisine the region is known for—Tibetan cuisine—should not be missed. So, we decided to have lunch in Kushalnagar. After a long discussion during breakfast, we finalized a restaurant located inside Namdroling Monastery.

After breakfast, we began our journey from the hotel with a promise to return to this place again during the rainy season. We were truly pleased with the warm hospitality of the hotel staff. Before leaving, we bought some coffee powder from the hotel, and they graciously gifted us a coffee mug with the hotel’s name printed on it as a souvenir. Every time we see that mug, we will cherish the memories of the time we spent in this very beautiful and peaceful place.

After that, we headed towards Kunphen Cafe, located inside Namdroling Monastery. The first thing we noticed was that monks themselves were taking orders and serving food. The café is operated by monks and offers vegetarian snacks along with Tibetan-style dishes.

We ordered thukpa, steamed momos, chowmein, and Tibetan tea. However, we felt that the café does not serve a purely traditional Tibetan meal. The environment was peaceful and tranquil, and being managed by monks made the experience unique. However, the food was just okay, and we did not find much Tibetan flavour in it.

We had tea and snacks near Hunsur Road Mysore. The restaurant was too good to speak about. Tasty food, very nice mild classical based music, staffs are cooperative and very friendly, quality and taste of food was superb. We enjoyed the snacks thoroughly. 

We reached home at 9 o’clock and slowly began thinking about how to return to our routine life in Bangalore, leaving behind the emotional attachment I had developed with the hills and the simple village life near the Serene Wood hotel. Even the staff there mentioned that they themselves cannot stay for long in city life, not even in Coorg town.

The clouds drifting over the hills, the song “Husn Paharon Ka, O Saheba”, the gentle drizzling rain, the workers tending the coffee plantations, and the hotel staff carrying out their daily room-service duties while getting soaked in the drizzle—all these scenes will remain in my visual memory for as long as I live in this beautiful world.