S is a local of Coorg and offered to drive us around town for some sight seeing. Waking up early we said our goodbyes to our friends who all pretty much live in Bangalore and we were ready to escape our prison.
In the Storm festival, you are not allowed to leave the festival grounds and at times it is way too restrictive. We joked that we were prisoners and a Irish guy joked that we were trapped in North Korea, but that is a bit extreme. Those running the event were being extra cautious, but overall it did not negatively impact my experience.
We made our escape off into the hills of Coorg with our first stop being the Talacauvery temple. Again, it was like a celebrity sighting with many kids asking to take photos. I was trying to share the words I know in Kannada while making some funny explanations-it was quite entertaining I must say.
The temple has the holy water available for bathing in front and B decided to go in for a dip. I wanted to do it, but again I was afraid of the germs. I decided to think about my higher power and sacrifice. I needed to stop being selfish and think about the meaning of dipping yourself in the holy water and cleaning myself of my sins. B and I ran in the water quickly and jumped out to avoid making another tourist scene. The cleanse felt liberating and I decided to mentally not worry about the germs and think about the meaning.
Next spot, the Calaveri river has been a holy place for years and years. The Bhagamadala is where the three rivers meet. This water I decided not to take a dip in, but B happily stepped in and asked for photos. He wanted to share his holy experience with his parents-sweet.
Lunch was at a local Coorg restaurant with Pandan Curry and a veg beet dish for myself with fresh lime soda and honey. It seemed to be quite the Coorg afterparty with many people from the festival at the same restaurant. We went to Raja’s seat after and I wanted to go on the train exploring Madikeri, but they just kept laughing at me-problem was I was serious ha!
amazing spices, honey, cashews, almonds, dates, sweet tomatoes, coffee yum!
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