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There are quite a few places of tourist interest in
Coorg. There is the Mercara Fort, Raja's Seat, Gadige
(royal tombs), Omkareshwara temple, Talacauvery,
Nalknad Palace etc. Nature lovers will find the
Nisargadama, near Kushalnagar, a wonderful place to
visit. There is an elephant camp where visitors can
feed the behemoths and interact with them. One of the
unique places to visit is the Tibetan Colony in
Bylekuppe near Kushalnagar. This is Little Tibet.
There are Buddhist monasteries, temples and buildings
built in typical Tibetan style. This entire area of
about 1500 acres is home to the Tibetans displaced
from their homeland during 1962. It is now the second
largest Tibetan settlement outside of Tibet! Tibetans
are enterprising and hardworking people who have
turned this once barren area into highly productive
agricultural land. This place is also known for many
typically Tibetan handicrafts, especially their
exquisite carpets.
The credit for starting eco-tourism in Coorg goes to
the Rampuram family who started the Orange County
Resorts in Siddapur. When this resort was opened a
decade ago, most including myself were highly
skeptical. There were doubts whether tourists would
want to shell-out more than Rs.2000 a day (tariff
those days) to spend time in the middle of a remote
estate with no other attractions or entertainment.
Skeptics have been proved wrong. Orange County with
its Tudor style cottages is one of the most sought
after holiday getaways in India. Coorg offers just
that - a getaway. People in the cities are willing to
pay good money just to spend a couple of days in a
quiet, clean and picturesque place away from the
noise, pollution and rat race they face day in and day
out in the metros. Another friend of mine commented
that Coorg is like one big Nature Clinic. After
spending a couple of days here, one gets rejuvenated.
Coorg now has half a dozen Resorts, and hundreds of
home-stays. Club Mahendra are the latest entrants
with their 5 Star Resort near Mercara.
Home-stays in Coorg offer the tourist a unique
experience of living with a Coorg family and tasting
some of the typical local cuisine. We served 'Akki
Otti and Bamboo shoot curry' to one of our guests and
their comment was - "This is food for the Gods!" You
could request your home-stay host for this
combination. Even during off-season, most Coorg homes
will have some Bamboo shoot pickled and squirreled
away in the attic.
Another attraction in Coorg is to attend a Coorg
wedding. Coorg weddings are totally different, and
there are a number of quaint customs, which the first
time visitor to Coorg will find quite unique.
Two of my friends visited us with their teenage
children a few years ago. From both the families when
the children got married they picked Coorg to spend
their honeymoon! Every first-time visitor to Coorg
would invariably want to come back again.
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