The trip to Coorg !

Just last week, I went on a trip to Coorg along with my colleagues. Yes, you guessed it - It wasn't an official trip :) It had been quite a while since I'd last been on a trip like that. Ofcourse i'd been to other cities in the last few years, but to a hill station - must've been sometime in 2000, (ya AD) I guess. So I was naturally very excited.

The first thing that struck me was that the place was sooooooo green !!! There was a lot of fog of mist ! And there were people who spent their whole life living in a place like that. Probably they won't appreciate the beauty as much as we did, coming from the miserable traffic - filled roads.

We reached the place about 3 in the afternoon. We were all put up in a resort. I shared my room with NR, a splendid guy. the same evening, we went to a place called Raja's seat; basically a view-point. A stunning one at that ! I won't try to describe how the view is from the place; would be a futile attempt given my meagre vocabulary.

The resort is basically in the middle of the jungle.There are beautiful waking trails that you can explore, and lose yourself in. So the next morning, NR and I set out on one such trail. Despite my best efforts, we managed to not get lost, thanks largely to NR's uncanny sense of direction. We realized soon that we were getting pretty late. The whole group was supposed to assemble in a common area by 7:30 , have breakfast, and leave for an elephant park. We rushed to the room , and NR went for a bath first. He was out in a minute, with a leech on his toe. It didn't seem big, so apparently he hadn't lost much blood. Having got the leech of his toe, we decided to drop it outside the balcony. They say - 'slippery as an eel'. Since I have not had the opportunity to study eels from close quarters, I will say ' slippery as a leech' . After about 15 minutes of strategizing, we came up with an innovative solution to trasport the leech to the balcony, and to drop it amidst the bushes. The leech had a safe, though not quite comfortable journey.By the time we were ready, it was already 8, and we rushed to the common room. Along the way, we saw RJ on his way too. We were thrilled that we weren't the only ones who would end up missing the bus. Indeed, when we reached the common room, there were just 5 of us in there. The other 25 were late:)

The morning was spent in a elephant sanctuary kind of place. I didn't really enjoy that. Basically the challenge was avoid elephant -dung wherever you went. You would see an elephant a mile away (though the dung was all around you) and then everyone would clap . Not particcularly thrilling. There was also an elephant ride arranged for those who were game for it. I thought for a moment that I'd try it out, and then immediately changed my mind. I was even more convinced when I actually saw the elephant - a depressed look on its face, while there were about 8 people sitting on its back, laughing and making strange noises. I believe that we should probably consider banning such rides, having so called 'fun' at the expense of the poor animal.
The latter half of the day was spent in a coffee planataion, a far better place I felt. SM asked the guide enough questions on the financial aspects of coffee to convince us that he'd be getting into the coffee bussiness soon.

The evening was spent in the common room, playing dumb charades. Was great fun, enacting and guessing the Hindi/English movies, in many ways the best event in the whole trip !

On day 3, I went on a walk while NR went swimming. I was soon back and ready. Yes, I managed to find my way back inspite of my best efforts to get lost. I guess I got lost in trying to lose myself, and thus found my way back. 'Utterly flawgical', you say ? Nevermind. I quikly got ready and waited for NR. NR was back, with no animal/insect attached to any part of his body and went for a bath. This time I was determined to not be late, as we had all decided last night that we would meet exactly at 8 this morning. NR wasn't out even after 15 min. I gently knocked on the door, and asked him to rush . NR said he was almost done. NR seemed to be really enjoying his bath. He was out after another 15 min. We made it to the common room at 8:10. This time there were 12 of us. A huge improvement. We all had breakfast, went to a stunning Tibetan Monastery on the way, and were then back in Blore.

All in all an amazing trip. I had loads of fun, and had a great time with NR. I think I should go on such trips a lot more often. Travel somehow widens your perspective.