Yours Consciously Sneha

Tag: waterfalls

Tea & some conversations in Chikmagalur: Megur Homestay

Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.-Gary Snyder

The house at a distance is the Homestay I stayed in.

Every time I am in Chikmagalur, it has always taken me to surprise! There is a charm about this place that keeps pulling me towards it, and yet again the charm is only getting brighter with more glitters-credit goes to the place I stayed in. Megur Homestay is located around Kelagur Tea & Coffee plantations, one of the rarest views to see both tea and coffee plantations together & that holds the main reason why I chose to stay here. It is not just coffee in Chikmagalur, tea & some conversations happen too!

Pepper & Oranges in the backyard of the Homestay around coffee plantations

Mr. Sudhakara Gowda owns Megur Homestay, an agriculturist, one of the oldest and proud natives of Chikmagalur. The zeal he has when he explains every detail on the places excites anyone to sit & listen to him. We were having conversations on how coffee was first brought to Chikmagalur or rather India itself, I only knew that Baba Budan bought the coffee beans while coming from Haj; who was also the first to introduce coffee in India. Later it was British who got the beans from Africa & few other countries to India, something else which I didn’t know was Cardamom & Pepper is native of Western Ghats too.

Woke up to the smell of tea from the closest tea factory, sipping coffee overlooking the mountains; my brain was wondering whether to enjoy the signal from my taste buds or the nose! We then took a morning walk around Tea plantations, mist was just clearing off and showing us the way, my eyes turned green seeing acres of tea leaves, mountains at a distance, coffee plantations peeping on the side. My host was sharing the pain of finding the labor lately as most of the local crowd move to cities for jobs & easy money. However they have also been seeing lot of migrants from Bihar, Orissa & few other parts from North who come here looking for jobs.

Well the two World’s most favorite drinks are Coffee & Tea; I was still very surprised to see both the plantations right opposite to each other. The dense landscape on the right corner are the coffee plantations, those are the trees grown around the plantations as coffee needs more shade. During rainy season the shade will be minimized by cutting the branch of the trees for the rain water to enter the plantations. On the other hand tea needs more sunlight and hence less trees around them, even if there are trees it would be trees like silver oak that’s seen in the picture which doesn’t give too much of shade for the plantations. Due to less rainfall, lately sprinklers are used in the tea plantations. I will remember this every time I sip coffee/tea hereafter.

With food everything is my favorite and Akki Rotti stands at the top, authentic Malanad food. Yet again, every meal I had here was very delicious along with the Fresh Orange Juice from the backyard 😉

Gadaayi Kallu is on the left corner, the one in the front is Kudremukh.

15 Kms drive from the Homestay is Rani Jari: A tale that happened 250 years ago when Ballalarayana Durga was invaded, it is said that Rani (Queen) was trying to escape & jumped off this cliff, hence the name Rani Jari. Rani Jari has the view of a hamlet in South Canara; it was amazing to see those hamlets with paddy fields & rubber plantations standing at a point of Chikmagalur district to Mangalore District. Hill on the left is Ballalarayana Durga, ruins of the fort still exists on top of this hill.

There is an ancient temple of Kala Bairava Swamy temple built by Balalla Raya. This temple is completely built only by stones & also some amazing carvings on those stones. While we were driving to Rani Jari we saw muster of peacocks, unfortunately couldn’t capture a picture then. We stopped over at a small waterfall amidst tea plantations, where again muster of these beautiful creatures were chilling by the water.

I was hosted by Megur Homestay, Luck I tell you!

Blooming…

Wild Flower

January 29, 2016
A Dessert: Wayanad

In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks-John Muir

Having a mind that always wanders, itchy feet which cannot stay in one place; Kozhikode/Calicut was just not enough so I had decided to go to Wayanad after my friend’s engagement. I have been to Wayanad a few years ago and I know there would be still a lot more than I wouldn’t have explored.

When I was researching about Kozhikode/Calicut, Tusharagiri Falls caught my attention as there were 3 waterfalls on the same trek. It was on the same route that we were driving in from Kozhikode/Calicut to Wayanad and I couldn’t say no. As we were driving to falls, I saw these tall trees with a cup-tied at the bottom. I asked my driver and he said those are rubber plantations, it was my first time to see them. Facts of Rubber Plantation in Kerala: The first rubber plantation in India was set up in 1895 in Kerala, Kerala is still the highest producer of natural rubber in India, rubber is made out of the liquid(latex) obtained from these rubber trees. Each of these trees is tied with a cup at the bottom where the latex is stored.

The first waterfall is called Eerattumukku, the Second one is called Mazhavilchattam and the Third one is Thumbithullum Para. Although there was hardly any water in all these 3 falls and was mostly filled by locals, the trek through the forest was a memorable one. Absolute silence among the trees, birds chirping here and there, noise of water sliding through this silence, staircase formed through the roots of the trees; my itchy feet was finally dancing with joy.

Also read: Still Water | Still Time: Alleppey

The journey from Kozhikode/Calicut to Wayanad was one beautiful road opening up to mountains on both the ends, watching the sunset on the move, sliding the window pane to get some fresh air which I always crave for and now my mind that wanders was finally dancing with joy.

Also read: A city with Spice: Kochi!

I stayed in Coffea Aroma along with 2 of my friends; the name of this place was a catch as I always thought Wayanad has only tea. 5 Kms drive from the main road in the Jeep brings you to this unique place located amidst coffee plantations. As soon as we entered, we were greeted with the music of water passing around, coffee plantations surrounding us, hills at a distance waving at us, was a soothing experience staying here. As most of the major waterfall is usually filled with locals/tourists, it’s a blessing to have a private waterfall in here.

About 5 Kms from here is the Chembra peak, when I decided to trek here all I heard was it takes about 3-4 hours (2.5 kms one side) to climb up which was even more exciting. It is mandatory to take a guide along while you go here for trekking and for my luck I found a guide who could speak Kannada. Have been to Kerala many times earlier and this is the first time ever to find someone who can speak Kannada so fluently, thanks, Chandan! This is why I like traveling; never know what is in store for you. Every step you take is an adventure, every moment is filled with surprises, and every decision brings you happiness.

Chandan is a BA student who is working as a part-timer guide during his holidays and also a native who lives in a village around Chembra Peak. We were climbing up through the forest having conversations about studies, wild animals, and my blog. Sunlight would prick eyes to slow down and I wouldn’t want to give up reaching the peak, we reached in 50 minutes and Chandan was all happy that he could go home soon.

Standing up in this peak where even sky seems reachable, mountains are just a piece of cake, the breeze was the icing and the naturally formed heart-shaped lake on the hill was the cherry. I sat on a rock watching the hills, opened my book to write and the flow just went by; solitude at its best while nature was in rest.

Blooming…

Wild Flower

January 20, 2016
Fairyland: Ella!

While the journey to Ella was just so more than beautiful, I was pretty sure this piece of land would be even more beautiful and I was not too surprised. Stayed in a budget hotel and later hiked with another Austrian friend I met for about 7 Kms to Ravana Waterfalls. On the way to the falls, all we could see is valleys and rivers flowing by, green mountains standing up and cheering while we were walking.

Little Adam’s Peak is in Ella and was about 5 Kms walk from where we stayed, the next day morning we went walking up the hill and stopped over a place for a cup of tea and this was the view from there.

Also, read TRAIN LULLABY!

Australian friend whom I had met in Kandy joined us too, while we continued to walk through the tea plantations, I still remember an old lady passing by smiles and say Hello! This is one nice thing that I have to mention about people in Sri Lanka, from a young tuk-tuk driver to an old lady who is plucking tea leaves will all have a smile on their face and would not forget to greet you! On my way from Kandy to Ella, I spent most of the journey with a family who was continuously feeding me food all the time 🙂

While we started hiking up, we were mesmerized by the view that we saw everywhere. Clear skies, triangle-shaped hills, lake and waterfalls that was somewhere at a distance. Those clouds moving from one corner to other like they were passing letters from one hill to other. Those few hours I was living in a fairyland.

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Noise of the waves woke me up like an alarm

little I knew waves would be opening its arm!

I came here in search of something

you made me realize I had all in me that I was looking!

You have been knit by green wool

looking at your beauty my eyes were full!

Mist was kissing the trees

trees were dancing with the chill breeze!

You made me experience Mother Nature’s lullaby

fell asleep on your lap like a baby!

Only in dreams have seen a fairyland

you are much more than a dream to see you this grand!

PS: Thanks to a friend for lending his camera to click this beautiful island!

Blooming…

Wild Flower

November 13, 2015
TRAIN LULLABY!

View from the train from Colombo to Palugaswewa (Galkadawala)!

Also, read Soul Search: Galkadawala

Railway Station in Kandy, first time for me to see a railway station where there is an end or should I say beginning! 🙂

I have always loved Train Journeys, there is something really special of those metal boxes which are linked to each other and run on small tires on a metal track. That noise of the engine is not annoying to me, the movements while sitting in the train is like a lullaby. I was very impressed with the railways in Srilanka; the links from one town to other is pretty good and I traveled only in 2^nd Class trains. All over Srilanka I mostly traveled in train: From Negombo to Colombo, Colombo to Palugaswewa (Galkadawala) and Kandy to Ella. All these train journeys have been incredible and the best train journeys I have been in so far. All you could get to see is trees, banana plantations, fields, lakes, lagoons, rivers and yes I saw a Crocodile too!

Kandy to Ella or Ella to Kandy is supposed to be one of the best train journeys in the world. I now pledge that it is the best train journeys I have been in so far, it is like I have been in a fairyland. Train literally passing through the clouds, rivers flowing with mostly Pinus trees around, tea plantations, waterfalls, fields, moving through more than 50 tunnels, lush green on whichever side you turn around.

Also, read Fairyland: Ella!

The trees were all in love cuddling with each other, my camera was feeling shy by clicking their pictures; my hair was getting curled up even more with the cold breeze. The mist was kissing the trees, trees were dancing with the chill breeze, trains tichik tichik noise was like a background music, audience like me were all happy and grinning with this mind-blowing performance by nature. While drizzles were dripping on my face, I had goosebumps in my brain wondering how nature can be so beautiful!

This 6 hours journey, 6 hours of my time, my lifetime is gonna be bookmarked forever.

Blooming…

Wild Flower

November 13, 2015
Slice of Heaven: Chikmagaluru!

A Good Vibe leads to a Good Start!-Sneha Marappa

Chikmagaluru has always been on the top list of my favorite places with the best of the climate that you can ask for, mountains stretching all around, waterfalls that you can see after every few meters on the road, the fog that hugs your body with the chill breeze where goosebumps too would feel good. I would never get bored to visit this place; my friend’s call it as my second home but I call it just like home. I have been going through a lot of blogs since many years and this travel blogger Shivya Nath is one of my favorites who had written about how to start solo traveling where she stated to start a solo trip with a known place that you are comfortable with and there you go, I knew which place to start with.

Been wanting to share this post from a really long time but there was something holding me back, maybe my conscious somehow knew I would be visiting this place again and again.

I have been to Chikmagaluru twice earlier so have pretty much seen most of the places around. As this was my first solo trip, I just wanted to feel comfortable in one place and come out of my hidden fears. I have always been scared of dark and staying alone, I really had to come out of that fear. One of my friends referred me to stay in this place, Devigiri Homestay, which had everything like I wanted. As comfortable as I want to be and as adventurous as I can be.

This is the tree house that I stayed in where there is no electricity, solar lamp is used instead and is about few meters walk in the woods from the main area. It was luckily a full moon night; there was moonlight peeping through those tall silver oak trees. I managed to walk all through gazing at the moon by telling thanks for shedding the light while I walked!

These pictures are from a short trek that I went through the estate I stayed in, got to witness the spectacular sunset amidst the mountains bidding goodbye for the day.

On the last day of any travels that I have gone so far, I have always felt wish I could stay longer. But on the last day of this one, I was very happy, there was a smile around me that kept saying this is not the last day, it is a beginning of many other travels in future. I made a promise to myself that I would never stop traveling and it will always or mostly be alone.

Green on the ground and green all around,

You made us swirl like a cloud.

All our senses had its feast,

You are a beauty and the beast.

Slice from heaven that came through rain,

You make us fall in love again & again!

Blooming…

WildFlower

October 23, 2015