Coorg

There's some catchup to do on this blog for me, and I'm afraid some of it will just be missed. But I can at least write something, so I'll start with two weeks ago, when I took a trip (I thought) to Bangalore.

Muru, a fellow ex-Appianite, has returned from the States to his native Bangalore, where he's in the process of trying to start his own IT consulting company. Another ex-Appianite, Phil, who's in his summer break at Chicago GSB, is in India for the summer to lend a hand. This is all the excuse I need to hop on a plane, fly an hour south, and see what would happen in 48 hours.

I honestly had no idea what we were doing there, even whether we'd stay in town or leave for the weekend. I figured I'd let the local decide, and with so little time I correctly assumed that regardless, I wouldn't be bored. At any rate, Muru and Phil looked at what was within reach, what they had already seen, and decided that a place called Coorg would be the best bet. We literally decided what to do less than 12 hours before the trip, and that turned out to be just enough time to book all we needed. My only complaint is that the trip took 7 hours from Bangalore, but we had plenty of time to chat, had some excellent food on the road, and saw some terrific scenery when we got close to Coorg.

To give a bit of background on Coorg, it's actually a region, not a city. The region is what's called a hill station, somewhat like Coonoor, where I went with Pam and William in April. While Coonoor is known for tea, Coorg is better known as a coffee growing area. But the real attractions are the hills and the cool air, and they did not disappoint.

We first stopped for some relatively low-impact whitewater rafting, including an icy jump into the river (whose name I do not know), and then went to the coffee plantation where we were staying to dry off. It was a rather rustic place, with the sheets and towels clean but certainly not luxurious. But it was all we needed, and even the dinner conversation turned out to be enlightening. The other four guests were call center workers from Bangalore, youngish professionals about our age. Mainly it was interesting to hear people really talk about that sort of work when they didn't know (as these four didn't) that I spend my days interviewing people like them for visas. The night took an unpleasant turn only when I put my arm on the table and spotted a hungry leech, maybe an inch long, digging in to the inside of my forearm. A quick pass of Muru's cigarette encouraged it to let go, and I was left without so much as a mark. That's when I decided it was time to go to bed.

A creek/stream goes right through the center of the plantation, and the next morning we took a walk in it, literally. The forest on the sides was a bit thick and leechy for hiking, but the stream itself was cool and crystal clear, and the water was generally a perfect ankle depth. No wildlife was sighted, just some leeches which were quickly removed with help of a bag of salt - they shrivel away from it like slugs - but we really had the feeling that we were hours away from civilization.

That feeling was confirmed the next day, when we returned to Bangalore and were reminded that we were in fact hours, many hours, from the city. I went straight back to the airport. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun somehow. Thanks to Muru for the last-minute arrangements!