Describe your trip.
we took this trip by road from Bangalore to Chikmaglur ( Magundi town in Chikmaglur district to be precise) at the end of April 2006.
The destination was River Woods( https://riverwoods.biz), a coffee plantation. The deal was that we stay in this plantation bungalow which is literally home. Hence the term homestay. It lived up to this very well.
The route we took was via Hassan, Halebid, Chikmaglur town then to Magundi. The roads were excellent and we were able to maintain a high speed for the larger part of the distance. There is a rumbly stretch for around 10km towards the end but not of serious nature. Even those stretches are under repair, so subsequent travel should get better in those areas.
On the return we missed Halebid and went directly from Belur to Hassan. This road has to be travelled to believe it. It’s out of the world. If you can take this route for the onward journey it will chop atleast an hour from your journey time compared to taking the Halebid road. There are enough of Petrol bunks on the way, so there is no cause for worry. For those owning Mahindra vehicles there is a service centre in Chikmaglur town itself and this is not too far from Magundi.
At River woods we stayed at the Prashanthy estate and occupied one of the many bedrooms with attached bath in the bungalow there. The place was very clean, neat and... just like home ! The place is surrounded by plantations, gardens and forest. So you can look out of your bedroom window early in the morning and see and hear all types of birds. The sound of peacocks will echo in the hills around.
At mealtime we met other guests at the dining room and had very very sumptuous fare which was deliciously Mangalorean. We could choose the type of food and it was made to our liking. Tea/coffee was there whenever we felt like it at anytime of the day. There is a cook who’s always hard at work preparing the next meal but very pleasant to chat with too.
For fun we had a personalised plantation tour by the estate manager which took the better of 3hrs since we also stopped over at the river which runs next to the plantation. The river was very nice, calm and a spot for viewing lots of birds as well. We went equipped with binoculars, so we were lucky to spot many of them.
We also trekked a short distance to another spot in the river where the kids as well could swim around. The water was very clean and really fun for all. There are lots of uniquely shaped pebbles that the kids like to pick up.
There is also a very nice fishing spot with a hut on the banks as well where our kids, 4 and 7 yrs respectively caught a fish each in the 1st 15 minutes there. This was very thrilling and we caught many more on subsequent visits to the spot.
We had a very very helpful and pleasant caretaker, Yogesh who really took good care to ensure we had a really good time. He seemed to be at our disposal at all times though catering to the needs of other visiting families too.
We had all the assistance to take our little one to the doctor at 2am one day when he developed a very high fever. The caretaker and cook stay in rooms in the bungalow and are at hand for any emergency as well. Their network with the staff in the plantation and local area are a help.
I would recommend this for families for sure since it cover a large set of requirements for a good vacation. It provides a good place for other groups as well since accomodation is no issue, food on demand and as per your liking and timing is there, the river and hills around make for good sport like fishing, boating, trekking, bird watching, etc. So I would say it covers all types of travellers/vacationers.