Best Places to Visit in Southern India: A Long Weekend Backpacking Adventure

Travelling has been a practice known for ages, irrespective of any differences. Humans have learned the importance of travelling across generations, associating with various reasons. The urge to visit different places, such as the Best Places to Visit in Southern India like the Scenic Hills, and see how different races and species exist has originated from many objectives such as the need for better learning, better protection, and progress, cut to today, for experiencing a sense of sheer fun, adventure, and happiness.

There have been several changes in the perspective, however, as people now see trips as the ultimate way to de-stress from routine living. 

Bringing my second trip of the year, first being the Mahabaleshwar trip, into the picture my initial response, before the week-long trip began, was to let myself go carefree. So how did the trip pan out? Was it as relaxing as hyped up it seems? Well, the next few lines will give you the gist. 

Seeking my soul, 

I wandered; 

Lost yet Certain of my way, 

Searching for an adventure

I found the Perfect spot – 

Bright and Clear like a Shining Star, 

My Eyes looked at the clouds, 

Thoughts wanting to roar loud,

Sipping my Coffee of Coorg, 

Biting on – 

The Famous Paak from Mysore;

Absorbing the hills of Ooty in the background, 

I sat with my eyes glued on the Statue of Adiyogi 

Witnessing calm, comfort and luxury all in one place. 

Am I a poet? Nah! But – 

मैं शायर तो नहीं, मगर ऐ हंसी,
जबसे देखा मैंने तुझको, मुझको शायरी आ गई।

Planning the Week-Long Duration 

For corporate workers like me, getting the leave approval signature for the trip to the Best Places to Visit in Southern India was nothing less than sheer excitement. I had to cool down my brain as I began counting backwards to the D-day of the trip. A trip that involved loads of destinations to discover and hostelling our way through hill stations. I was about to relive my most cherished days – Hostel Daze.

Finalizing and booking the hotel rooms and hostel dorms weren’t too hard. The challenge we had was to look for some local driver cum guide who could take us around. 

Imagine finding someone who could drive us from state to state, to the worth-visiting places in all those chosen cities and fit within our budget parameters! Quite a task, isn’t it? 

Luckily, after extensive research and inquiries, we found the right guy for the job – Venkatesh, aka Venky bro. He’s going to be mentioned quite a lot throughout our journey. Together, our gang of 3 doctors, 1 businessman/attorney, 1 HR guy and Me – An Engineer/Writer set out for the long-planned trip. 

The Journey: To The Wonderland! 

Summarizing the trip: Memories, emotions, and dreams turned real, inked with cherished experiences. But, as it is said, words have the power to take us on journeys to faraway lands. Let’s give it a try, shall we? 

To begin our journey, we started with a journey from Vadodara to Ahmedabad airport from where we boarded our flight. Boarding the flight from Ahmedabad, our first stop/layover was at the renowned Banglore airport. After spending a good 3+ hours at the airport, we boarded our next flight to Mangalore airport. 

From there we had a four-seater booked with a driver cum guide for our group of adventure seekers, hopping from city to city. Our schedule in order of stays included Coorg, Mysore, Ooty, and finally Coimbatore. Did I mention how the climate of 39 degrees Centigrade saw a drastic drop to mere 14 degrees as we entered Coorg? 

The fog and rains turned temple visits into fun explorations, enhancing the enchanting environment.

Dubare Elephant Camp

We explored renowned temples, forts, zoos, Dubare Elephant Camp, monasteries, pine forest, rose garden, and countless other captivating places.

Monasteries

Wandering Through the Coffee Plantations at Coorg 

Have you ever heard of the Bird’s Eye chilli? Probably not. 

Coorg Coffee plantation offers the world’s hottest chilli; taste it to experience the fiery flavor. Hear me out though, even if you’re big for spicy foods, think twice before you try this experience. Eating this chilli was probably the first highlight of my trip to Coffee Heaven, such an ironic welcome! 

As we moved through the coffee plantation, getting coffee data fed into our brains by the guide, my excitement couldn’t wait to arrive at the coffee market where we could get coffee similar to and even better than Starbucks coffee! 

Soon, we reached the coffee market where we were served a complimentary coffee to taste. 

Heavenly!

Sipping the premium hot coffee in the cold climate of Coorg is one of the unbeatable experiences one can have in a lifetime. If the notion that girls love shopping more than boys had to be turned false, you should’ve watched us go berserk at that market. 

Our collective expenditure at the market amounted to somewhere around 20K INR. The market offers premium spices, skincare products, and herbal, not limited to just coffee.

Satisfaction of the Mysore Paak 

If you have got a sweet tooth and are a Mithai enthusiast, the renowned Mysore Paak is a delicacy you shouldn’t miss. The creamy softness of the freshly made Mysore Paak in desi ghee; simply melts in your mouth.

The highlight of Mysore – the Mysore Palace was our place for some good long photography sessions. However, there is one incident that took place among so many that we fondly laugh about even after. So, while purchasing the tickets we didn’t know that the nighttime light show required a different set of tickets. 

Mysore Palace 

As we were waiting for the lighting to begin, we noticed the guards driving everyone out. Lo and Behold, upon enquiring we discovered the truth and went out to check out the light show ticket queue. Trust me, I have seen ants make smaller queues! 

As we made our way back, the rain gods seemed to be in a good mood as the rain thundered down. It means that missing the light show wasn’t so bad after all. After visiting the Mysore palace, we returned early for dinner as we had to find a proper restaurant that would serve multi-cuisine food. 

Judge all you want, but some of us aren’t so fond of eating South Indian food on a continuous basis. 

Fortunately, Venky bro had been our saviour in such situations. He suggested a multi-cuisine restaurant which turned out to be awesome. It satisfied all our taste buds as we ordered Dosas, Punjabi sabzis, Chaats and Panipuris, and whatnot! Not only did it satisfy our hunger but also helped ease our moods. 

Venky bro when we needed a good place to eat – 

After indulging in delicious food and purchasing the long-awaited Mysore Paak, we returned to our hotel rooms for a restful sleep.

The ZNMD Vibe 

Have you been in that dreamy state where for a moment, you subconsciously forget all your worries and feel light-hearted? Well, no I ain’t talking of getting high over some substance. It is the feeling that travel lovers embrace – the highs of adventures, new cultures and an absolute difference in the land below and skies above. 

Isn’t this the true definition of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara? 

Our travel plans largely consisted of going on long road journeys, stopping just for food or some chai/coffee, absorbing the scenic beauties and whatnot. 

As we went from Mangalore to Coorg, Coorg to Mysore, Mysore to Ooty and Ooty to Coimbatore in a four-wheeler, our souls found the perfect adventure ride through those roads with turns and canopies all around. This was the kinda ZNMD trip that has stayed as memories in our minds. 

Beauty of Ooty 

It was a dream that I never thought could come true – These were my thoughts when I could actually sense the air of Ooty entering my lungs after a long road trip. And if the fatigue was a sign, it was worth it to come for the scenic beauty of each and every place that Ooty offered. 

If you’ve loved Ooty in movies and wondered how it looks in real life, well, trust me it is a memory that would stay with you for a long, long time.  

Though, one piece of advice I would give is to take complete time for selecting and booking your place of stay. Especially if you prefer hostels/dorms for your trips. That’d make a complete difference to your experience. 

Fortunately, our group has a couple of nerd brains in terms of booking dorms, hostels, hotel rooms, and villas for any place on Earth. 

Pykara Lake     

There are places in Ooty where you can literally feel the falling head over heels in love with the places. To name some of these places, Pykara Falls, Pykara Lake, Shooting Point and Pine Forest are some potential Musts to visit at least once.

Vastness of the Spiritual Adiyogi

Whether or not you’re into spirituality, traditions and beliefs, the takeaway from the Adiyogi statue is the calmness and comfort it brings to thousands of people at once. I went in there with a soul seeking some blissful and comforting vibes and returned with more peace than words could describe. 

My soul felt at peace while being engulfed in the chamber of meditation. The atmosphere gave the perfect elevation and finishing touches. It felt like the timing of our trip was destined for execution by the corporation of the heavens. 

Home Sweet Home!

Now, although trips and adventures are what the human soul seeks, at last, it is our home that we yearn for. Home town, Home state; everything that our home has feels familiar to us. We’re attached to the things and people at home emotionally at some level. By the end of our stay in Coimbatore, some of us had begun yearning for our hometown. 

Though, the drastic change of temperatures from 14 to 31 degrees Celcius was something that took us quite a few days to settle into once we landed back. 
Back with loads of memories, adventures, lessons and gossip, we went separate paths with promises to meet again once things feel comfortable returning to normalcy. Hoping your day gets filled with fun and excitement with this blog and the moods only go higher from Yeh Bhi Theek Hai to Yeh toh Bahot Theek Hai!!