Southern India’s stunning secret
While Goa and Kerala have the most
well-known beaches and backwaters in India, today these palm-fringed lagoons
teem with travellers – and honeymooners. But sandwiched between them on the
country’s west coast, the neighboring state of Karnataka rewards those who dare
to drift from the typical tourist trail. Pristine backwaters lie untouched,
dotted with sleepy hamlets, while the seaside beaches and fertile hill country
remain equally undiscovered by the masses.
From Bangalore, Karnataka’s state
capital, a six-hour, 250km journey sees the landscape transform from outlandish
rock formations and lush rice paddies to dense wild forests and aromatic
coffee, cardamom and pepper plantations – all signs of arrival in Kodagu, Karnataka’s
hill country.
Better known by its anglicised name
of Coorg, Kodagu, a part of the Western Ghats (a mountain range and Unesco
World Heritage Site), has culture and cuisine that differs from anywhere else
in India. The local Kodava people, believed to be descendants of Alexander the
Great’s Indo-Greek soldiers who mingled with the natives, have a distinct
warrior-like upbringing: instead of praying with the fires and chants common
among Hindus, Kodava rituals have strong war-like elements, including the
symbolic use of a sword to chop banana stems during weddings. Legend holds that
back in the 1800s, young boys were fed tiger meat in the hope that they would
grow up to be ferocious warriors – and men who were brave enough to kill a
tiger were given the privilege of growing a unique curled moustache called a
galle meesey. The local food is primarily meat-based, unlike in the rest of the
country; signature dishes include pandi (pork curry), koli (chicken curry), and
bembla (bamboo shoot). Apart from in the homes of locals, Coorg Cuisinette,
located in the Stuart Hill area of Coorg’s administrative capital of Madikeri,
is one of the few authentic restaurants with these delicacies.
One of the most experiential ways to
discover Kodagu’s culture is through home or farm stays, many of which are
located on coffee plantations that were first planted by British colonials in
the 18th and 19th Century. Kodagu’s Green Dreams, run by local coffee trader
and connoisseur Narendra Habbar, is located on the banks of organic rice
paddies and backdropped by the gentle hills of the Western Ghats. The farm stay
offers accommodation in handcrafted huts built entirely with naturally and
locally sourced materials such as fibreboard roofs, pumpkin lampshades and
bamboo. Join Habbar for a plantation tour to track the journey of one of the
finest cappuccinos you’ll ever taste, all the way from leaf to cup.
Far from the traffic of many major
Indian towns, Kodagu’s terrain is ideal for hiking and cycling. Fields of
coffee and pepper stretch all the way to the horizon, occasionally giving way
to striking scenes of lush, undulating hills and waterfalls.
If the tranquillity of Kodagu’s
countryside does not curb the longing for Goa’s beaches or Kerala’s backwaters,
the coast of Karnataka, located 192km northwest, will; gentle backwaters
serenade sleepy villages on one side, while the Arabian Sea roars fiercely on
the other. Mangalore, Karnataka’s main port city, and Kaup (pronounced Kapu in
the local Tulu language), one of Karnataka’s coastal towns, are unassuming
gateways to the area’s virgin beaches and palm-fringed backwaters. Blue Matsya
is a lone, self-catering beach house along an isolated stretch of soft golden
sand – a personal beach paradise – with a fisherman’s family for hosts. Ram-anna,
the caretaker, often ventures out with his fishing boat into these waters at
dawn and returns home with fresh catch such as mackerel every evening, while
his wife Sarsu-akka whips up gently spiced fish curries with seasonal veggies
and locally grown red rice.
The local communities here depend
largely on fishing for their livelihood, and tourism infrastructure is still in
its infancy. Even so, the villagers exude hospitality, and despite a language
barrier, will walk – or row – kilometres to give you a tour of their land. Hail
a tuk-tuk to drive through a utopian stretch of the coast, smelling the aromas
of wood fires and homemade curries. At the north end of Kaup beach, Kaup
Lighthouse – manned by generations of local
guards since it was built in 1901 – offers panoramic views of the country’s
west coast, giving a birds-eye view to Karnataka’s centuries-old traditions and
raw natural beauty; a land that is undiscovered by the masses — for now.
