The Hills are Alive - Chikkamaglur

With our soul and stomach sated, we turned back East to climb up the Western Ghats towards Chikkamaglur. We were looking forward in anticipation to a twisty turning hill road, with panoramic views. And boy did it deliver. This drive (about 90 mins of climb up and then along the hills), was the most enjoyable drive of our trip.

As we climbed we passed mainly the traditional moist deciduous forests of the Western ghats. Then we were driving in the clouds for about 25 mins, with hazard lights on and lower visibility, but still gorgeous. As we started descending again, and came out of the clouds, the vegetation had changed, to tall trees in a fairly standard sequence - we were in the coffee plantations of Chikkamaglur.

Villa Urvinkhan - The Brave Men of the Forest Estate

My friends had recommended this place so strongly, that we had planned our entire trip around it. The estate is almost 500 acres, and Google Maps just led us to the entrance. Luckily MapMyIndia (which we had running in parallel), took us all the way into the villas (about 3-4 km from the main road).

The estate is run personally by the proprietors, who also live on the estate. Its been in the family for many hundred years. The warmth, care, and attention to detail gave us the feeling that we were living in the homes of dear friends.

It was just a perfect place to relax, take long walks, enjoy the weather, and spend some quality family time bonding with each other. The perfect weather for hot chocolate, the local estate Braveman coffee, playing games and reading books by the fireplace.

We taught the kids Court Piece (card game from our childhood), and we played it for hours.

The views, the greenery, the bird song, and the rustically furnished cottages were simply to die for. Sense of relaxation and rejuvenation was complete.

On one of our walks, we enquired what the trees with the big yellow fruit were? They were ripe Pomello fruit! Sure enough, we got a special serving of fresh Pomello plucked from the trees for breakfast next morning, and a few to carry home with us.

The entire estate thrummed with the easy schedule of the plantation life, and the warmth of the hosts.

Our First Time Fishing

A short trek through the plantation to a natural pool of water was the scene of our first attempts at fishing.

Unfortunately, we were not patient enough, and the fish too smart - they always managed to eat the worms off the hook.

Our guide, promptly caught a fish in 2.5 mins flat, just to prove that the fish existed, and our own ineptitude.

The thrill of the catch, and the excitement of putting the fish back in to the pool made it all worthwhile.

Vintage Cars & Antiques

The villas boast a collection of 4 or 5 vintage cars from the 1930's to 1950's. For all of us, it was the first time seeing this generation of cars up close. These must have been very tough to drive, as the steering wheel squeezed into my stomach. (People may have been fitter then?)

Leeches, and more leeches.

Each time we walked into the estate, we wore gumboots (freshly doused in phenol), to deter leeches. And we had high socks, rain pants tucked into our socks, full sleeve dry fit Tshirts tucked into rain pants, and then a sturdy rain jacket. Well prepared? Not in the face of the determined leaches, whom we saw climb up all the way to the face to reach exposed skin!

A few did manage to latch on, but didnt do much as we quickly flicked them off. Ofcourse, my son brought the entire 500 acre estate running to us, with his loud shrieks when the first leech touched his hand. They walked away smiling indulgently - city kids!!

We thought we had won the war, and escaped without damage, when finally on the walk back home from dinner, one attached itself, and we pulled it off - bled for 15 mins.

And we ate...

We ate 5 meals and 2 rounds of snacks while at the estate. Each meal surprised and delighted us. The food was rich in spices, very different from the combinations we normally encountered. The fresh fish was outstanding, and Vikram quickly clocked up his best food in the world counter :)

Vikram’s "Best Food in the World" Counter: 33