Kakkabe, Palace Estate

Kakkabe, Palace Estate
I eventually got my act together today and left, it was I must admit difficult but it was expensive staying at The Rainforest Retreat and time I saw some more of Coorg. I had a slow breakfast not to break with tradition and had finally said my goodbyes by 11am and was once again working hard getting the bike up the steep rough roads and back to Madekeri.

I eventually got some cash after some minor hassle and the associated delay and finally headed out towards Kakkabe. As I was leaving I spotted some tourists and it was the delightful German couple from the Green Hotel. We had a brief chat about various blah blah and I happily headed downhill for the first time in a while. The route was excellent, Madekeri reminds me a little of an northern Italian village in the hills without the wine, roads or hygiene. Certainly its not my favourite town, I cant really say why but noise, dirt and congestion are part of it. The road to Kakkabe was fabulous, the uphill stretches were not that tough, the downhills severely speed restricted due to the poor road surface.

The day was a little light on distance and effort, a good first day after so many off, but still a little light. I was invited to a festival in some small village which turned out to be a Muslim wedding, so I had a little rice, chicken and mutton, but didnt stay that long as somehow the welcome extended by the villagers didnt seem to be extended by the groom.

Kakkabe came and went without me realising it, its a small place with lots of Jeeps & drivers hanging around. Just out of the town I stopped at a bus stop junction to check where I was heading. The very expensive Rs4000 Misty Woods was heavily signposted and a local woman confirmed the Palace was up the road/ track, what wasnt up the track I was later to discover was the Honey Valley Estate where I was supposedly headed.

Passing the Palace I asked at the small shop where Honey Valley Estate was, 4km back the way you just came was the less than welcome reply. Luckily one of the staff of the Palace Estate was at the shop and he encouraged me to come and see what was available. I have a small simple room beside four annoyingly loud Bangalore holiday makers. The owner is a charming man and we came to an undisclosed agreement for full board, dinner will be served in half an hour and Im very much looking forward to it as Ive eaten very little today.

Its a pity the Indian guests are just so noisy as the location is excellent as is the owner. It is a little too much like a resort and that spoils it for me, this does have one good point, I am certain to leave in the morning.

There is a waterfall just up the hill through the coffee plantation and I practised my flute there briefly. There is a Czech family here and they turned up too listen and were very pleasant company though I stopped playing when I realised all three were there and not just the father who I had spotted about half way through my practice.


Dinner was good, plenty of it. The daughter of the Czech family struck up a conversation and I managed to get myself a share in the only beer for 100km! The father runs some software/ hardware house that makes vehicle tracking devices, so we had an interesting chat and I pointed them in the direction of The Rainforest Retreat and split early to bed.