Tripadvisor came in handy and off we went to Linger at Balur Estate, a serene plantation in the Mudigere District of Chikmagalur.
There is something very comforting about road trips, those excited high-pitched conversations, those stopovers for hot chai and breakfast, the super-saturated greens in paddy fields, the roadside mounds of just harvested golden corn, those "Please stop stop, I need to click" to Mr. Husband....
A good 6 hours later with two super quick stopovers, we reached Linger at Balur Estate tucked amidst deep green coffee plantations. The byline at the plantation says 'Just do nothing'.
Excited at the prospect of doing just nothing we entered this 150 year-old colonial bungalow with cool terracotta tiles under our feet.
Lovely huge windows that seem to be framing the beauty of the plantation and also an easy outlet for my daughter to sneak a few pieces of biscuits to the friendly estate dog~ Raja and his unnamed furry friend.
Raja waiting for biscuits under the window...
Beauty in what remains;-)
Bulbuls, barbets, drongos, swifts seem to be welcoming us with their musical chirps. It did take me a while to tone down my city-bread high frequency to a more nature inspired one, but I did get there soon:-)
A lovely cupboard filled with books...
We had the whole place to ourselves with Ratnamma, the hospitable lady cooking us simple home-ly meals, she could have been your ever smiling relative in your ancestral home with whom you would hang around in the kitchen helping her cut vegetables or learn the local recipes. Only here she spoke to me fluently in Kannada assuming I would reciprocate with enthusiastic Kannada jargons. Enthusiasm intact I struggled with my spoken Kannada, with few words of Telugu, Tamil, English thrown in and a good measure of sign language!
...and we communicated.
She made us cups and glasses of chai while we read, watched & dreamed...
The ever smiling caretaker Amza who is called Azma due to a spelling mistake. The Kannada speaking Nepali watchman Prem Bahadur, the dog, Raja who took the 'Just do nothing' byline of the estate too seriously. All of them played a part in making our stay at the estate an enjoyable one.
A few breath-taking frames from the 400-acres of the estate and what little we did at the estate...
Our morning plantation walk path...
There are many streams criss-crossing the estate...
Fresh green pepper vines...
Balur Estate Bungalow at a distance...
Glistening dew drop...
Coffee berries...
Wild ferns...
I am not much into nature or macro photography but the place was so beautiful my camera seemed to gravitate towards these treasures of nature :-)
My daughter with a beautiful flower...
With cold hilly stream caressing our bare feet we decided to return to the estate soon....
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