Exploring Victory Coffee Plantation in Coorg, Family Fun and Games, Lunch in Gonikuppal Village, Relaxation at Victory House

Exploring Victory Coffee Plantation in Coorg, Family Fun and Games, Lunch in Gonikuppal Village, Relaxation at Victory House

Sat, Jan 11, 2025:

Coorg:

After the past three days of hectic sightseeing, today was devoted entirely to R&R—Rest and Relaxation—much to Chriselle’s relief. She had been a trooper over the past few days and had stuck it out without complaint through a whole lot of trekking and traipsing despite being horribly afflicted with plantar fasciitis. She was ready to hunker down and simply enjoy chilling over the next couple of days.

Accordingly, we all woke late after luxurious lie-ins but found ourselves hungry enough to do justice to the promised huge breakfast that the Air B&B tout.

A Royal Breakfast at Victory House:

We found, to our astonishment, that breakfast was actually home-cooked, made lovingly by the hands of the proprietress, Kaveri herself, with the assistance of a man who also served us. When we arrived at the table, we found that fresh, hot dosas were being delivered to our plates, right off the griddle. They were delicious on their own, but there was accompanying potato bhaji, should we desire to stuff them and make malasa dosas—which is what I did. There was also a Coorgi vegetable curry that was to be eaten with rice stringhoppers and fried bananas that were absolutely delicious. There was freshly cut watermelon too and the ubiquitous Mysore filter coffee which was always superb. Kaveri informed us that the coffee from her own estate is marketed and is available online under the name of KavBrew through her daughter. Believe me, we could not have expected or been offered a better repast.

A Long Exploratory Walk on Victory Estate:

After breakfast, replete with a really delicious meal, we decided to walk off our hearty indulgence by exploring the vast acreage of the coffee plantation. The weather and temperature were simply perfect and with Kaveri instructing us to follow the garden pathways of her property, we found ourselves enjoying tropical flowers and lush greenery. As the morning went by, we stopped to admire an abundance of crotons in various shapes and colors and we identified various types of ‘ginger’ flowers—shell ginger, red ginger, torch ginger (which is a most striking and unusual flower that I had never seen before). There were loads of heliconia (known commonly as crab claw), as well as birds of paradise in varied colors. There was also golden trumpet, Brazilian plume, Amazon Lily as well as the more commonly found hibiscus, ixora, etc. We found a lake and bordering it were touch-me-not plants that we stopped to examine. It is incredibly soothing to walk amidst colorful greenery on a lovely day. We also stopped to admire coffee bushes that were heavy with berries, ready for the picking. Needless to say, we took a lot of photographs and then, when we had traversed quite a bit of the estate, we sat down on the parapets above the culverts (I learned a new word for the large drainage pipes!) and gabbed about relatives, family history, etc. It was such a companionable morning and one we thoroughly enjoyed.

Then, just as we were ready to return to Victory House, along came Kaveri to find out if we’d found the coffee drying terraces. We told her that we had not. And so she offered to walk with us and show us the place herself. In the process, we learned more about her own family background and the estate and plantation that she so lovingly tends. Once at the coffee terraces, we saw a vast amount of space devoted to drying berries that were in various stages of dehydration. They would all have to become really black before they would be peeled, shelled and roasted. It was fascinating how much we learned about coffee from having spent only two days in Coorg.

Fun and Games at Victory House:

And then, we slowly made our way back to Victory House. As it was still only about 11.00 am and we had no thoughts of lunch at all as our sumptuous breakfast still sat high in our tummies, we decided to gather together on the porch and play games. We thought we’d start off with Dumb Charades and so we divided ourselves into two teams, separating couples, and off we went. We had the best time and the most hilarious experiences as we tried to mime the names of Western films. It was truly super fun. The game went on for quite a while before we stopped to think about lunch. This was primarily because Brigadier Ponnappa kept asking us if we were going to leave the estate to explore at all! We told him that we only wanted to stay in one place and enjoy the beautiful house and garden! Anyway, after a while, we decided to go out and explore the nearest village, called Gonikuppal, where Kaveri told us there were a couple of restaurants from where we’d get a good meal. She recommended a place called Durga Bhoj and so off we went with our driver Ravi taking us there in our van—at a distance of about 20 minutes’ drive.

Lunch at Durga Bhoji at Gonikuppal:

Needless to say, Gonikuppal is a one-horse town (if that!) and but for a main street and a couple of intersecting ones, there is nothing much to see. We found the restaurant and made our way to the top floor where we were seated and handed menus. We found Coorg Pandi Pork on the menu and decided to have that with chapatis and Vegetable Korma. Everything was good and very reasonable and we had a good break. Chriselle picked up some Cadbury’s chocolates which we all shared for dessert while back in the van.

It was then that we thought about ordering dinner in. Our hosts had to leave to attend a party and we had the place to ourselves. We sat down and did some more chinwagging, quite happy that we’d spent a very quiet, restful day—it provided a breather in the midst of the hectic pace of the rest of our travels.

Long Afternoon Naps Bring More Relaxation:

It was then that we thought about ordering dinner in. Our hosts had to leave to attend a party and we had the place to ourselves. We sat down and did some more chinwagging, quite happy that we’d spent a very quiet, restful day—it provided a breather in the midst of the hectic pace of the rest of our travels.

It was then that we thought about ordering dinner in. Our hosts had to leave to attend a party and we had the place to ourselves. We sat down and did some more chinwagging, quite happy that we’d spent a very quiet, restful day—it provided a breather in the midst of the hectic pace of the rest of our travels.

As soon as we reached Victory House, we adjourned to our individual rooms for afternoon naps—some taking longer ones than others. Before we knew it, it was late evening and we were ready to re-group over wine, gin and tonics and nibbles (which we had carried along with us)—sundowners enjoyed in true British plantation style!

It was then that we thought about ordering dinner in. Our hosts had to leave to attend a party and we had the place to ourselves. We sat down and did some more chinwagging, quite happy that we’d spent a very quiet, restful day—it provided a breather in the midst of the hectic pace of the rest of our travels.

We did call in for more food—this time we ordered Roast Pork and Paneer Masala with rotis—all very satisfying indeed. We talked about our plans for tomorrow and our decision to leave right after breakfast—which meant that we’d need to re-pack and get organized for a fairly early start.

And with that, we cleared up after ourselves and returned to our rooms to take a long needed rest at the end of a very rejuvenating day.