Top 5 Monsoon Picks!
In and around Bengaluru.
And it's a wrap! Of season monsoon.
The season has its own nuances, good, bad, ugly. You can like it, love it or hate it but definitely you can’t ignore it. It’s like the constant metamorphosis of magic and mayhem. We call it mesmerising at times and devastating at other times.
This year proved good for the southern part of India though. The fiery face of monsoon was mostly unseen and people like me managed to steal a few peaceful moments with the medley of rhythmic raindrops and musical forests.
If you had to call it a wrap what would be your best five picks of the season? Being restricted to this part of the country, I have chosen my best picks mostly concentrated in South and West India. Let me take you on a magical monsoon trip from Bengaluru.
THE LIT WATERFALL
Come monsoon and the world goes frenzy to rush to the tallest, largest, grandest or most voluminous waterfall. Spoilt by choice! But must confess every waterfall is a beauty in itself. If the waterfall was human it would represent the different faces of mankind. Or maybe women from different states, countries and so on. The list is long. So are the number of waterfalls in this world. The sheer milky fall and the misty air gives it a special aura around it.
The love for waterfall also varies. Some want to just look at it from distance, while some want to embrace it! Some only want an Instagram moment, while some would admire every possible frame of it. Some want to feel the mist, some want to feel the gigantism!
Every waterfall blooms to its best during monsoons. The sheer proximity of Bangalore (where I live) to parts of Western Ghats has often led to tête-à-tête with waterfalls of different shapes and sizes and each of them have the power to leave us spellbound. But this one definitely took my heart 'coz it shone at night. I named it ‘The LIT waterfall’.
This monsoon we chose a place tucked in the forests of Coorg, hidden from the crowd, serene and calm for spending a few days in peace. And beyond our expectations we saw this cute little waterfall, roaring with full energy. We enjoy a waterfall in daylight but at night we can only hear it. Well, we could do both with this one because it is lit!
Piercing through the dark night lies a sight to behold! I could not only hear it but also watch it in all its glory while enjoying my lip smacking dinner and relaxing drinks. Flowing adjacent to the resort made it almost a part of it and gave the much needed peace and space to admire and enjoy it. Just this one element gives Ayatana Coorg a very high score out of the many such exotic resorts in Coorg. Must visit at least once.
BEACH RAIN DANCE
No guesses needed, of course it's my favourite destination, Goa. If you want to enjoy the real rain dance, head to Goa during monsoon and stay at Cidade de Goa, my monsoon pick. Roaming around in pouring rain is one kind of fun activity that I enjoy along with playing with sea and sand, or sitting quietly and watching the sky turn blue to grey to black before it starts pouring down with all its fury and showers its love on me.
Short and sweet. If you want to know more about this destination during monsoon, check this story :
SIVASAMUDRAM AND FISH FRY
Rain drops and road trips are inseparable. As the sky starts turning grey what does a heart want? To hit the road and set off for some destination unknown. But that remains a dream, in real life instead we set off to places like Hogenakkal Falls or Sivasamudram Falls and come back to the grind, of course all content and happy. Waterfalls are same everywhere then why wander from one place to another in search of something new? That’s how a cynic thinks. For we romantics, gazing at the mere fall is romanticism to the core!
But there’s more to it. Cauvery river and on its banks sits a couple selling fresh water fish tawa fry, fresh and tender. That was the first time I actually understood how a freshly fried fish tastes. And yes I am a Bengali, what an irony! Trust me, what we get in cities could be never as fresh as what we could get at the banks of Cauvery river. Score 100/100 to akka’s tawa fry and hard rock music of Sivasamudram waterfalls.
FILTER COFFEE AT CHIKMAGALUR
Chikmagalur is another gem of Karnataka. It not only boasts of Karnataka’s highest peak but also flaunts ample number of cozy homestay surrounded by coffee plantations, forests and hills. Can say, very similar to Coorg in terms of geography and serenity yet has a persona of its own. For Bangaloreans it’s a tough choice between the two.
Just five hours from Bangalore Chikmagalur is all about vast expanses of coffee plantations and wonderful filter coffee. Nevertheless, other parts of Karnataka are no way behind this place when it comes to filter coffee. Since the time I moved to south India I strongly believe ‘real coffee is filter coffee’. Once you have that you will forget any other western format of coffee. Apologies to others, no hard feelings.
One such cozy homestay where I keep revisiting is Coffee Bean Homestay. Nice clean wooden cottages surrounded by coffee plantation, delicious homely food, excellent host and a few cuties roaming around to play with. Add to it our favourite filter coffee. For me staying there means waking up to a forest view or relaxing in the balcony chitchatting with my partner, where the sound of forest acts as the best background score ever. Then we enjoy cold rainy nights with bonfire, some music and a round of wine tasting till the sumptuous dinner gets laid out. Amidst all of it the tiny ones are never tired running and playing around.
HOT CHOCOLATE AT LAZY SUZY
Last but not the least, it’s the unmissable hot chocolate of Lazy Suzy at Indiranagar, Bengaluru. Monsoons are futile till we visit Lazy Suzy in pouring rain and dig in to their delicious dishes and a cup of HOT chocolate. I may not have travelled throughout the world yet l can vouch for it, this one gotta be the best hot chocolate one can ever get, just tastes heavenly. Thick, rich, chocolaty..talk to you later, I need to go there now!
There are umpteen places which have a special aura about them during this season, like Sakleshpur, Kabini, Gokarna, Jog falls, Bandipur, Wayanad (or say whole of Kerala) or any place in the Western Ghats The list is long and never ending but I have picked my best 5. What about you?
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