We had Ashwin and his team over for the weekend, they were supposed to be 24 but only 18 finally managed to make it. They had arrived on the 19th of September and were received in Srimanagla by Rakesh and Arun. All of them made to rafting and also to Iruppu falls
As usual photos when I receive them
Forgot to mention last week, Sanjay had given us a review at Raahi.com, you can read it here
Sanjay was one of the first ever guests to come to Bethel, this year, he was here on the 12th of July, he sent us some of the photographs that he had taken when he was here..
View from Bethel homestay
Rafting
The Final Lift
September 6th was a full house for us, we had Sudhir and his team numbering 22 who had joined us.
They came in a mini-bus through the Nagarhole forest to Srimangala where we received them. We left the bus in Srimangala and them transported to the homestay in Jeeps. It was already late in the afternoon and they were thoroughly famished. As usual we had called upfront and the just as the guests entered the homestay, hot food was laid out and ready for the guests and they dug into it.
This is the fag end of the Rafting season, a good rain and the water levels go up, a dry spell and the water levels go down. We had seen that the waters were good on Saturday, so Rakesh suggested that everyone do the rafting immediately rather than waiting for the next day. So soon after lunch the teams left for the 3.30 PM rafting session.
The rafting session was among the best we had for a long time, of the 22 guests, Aravind had to opt out of rafting because of medical reasons, the rest took to the water. All the four rafts hit the water, the guides Ashok, Mahendra and Muhammad took our guests, while the fourth was taken by a new guide, Andrea, who has joined the team. Prakash and Alok who are the organizers of the Rafting also joined in. One of us almost always are with our guests when they raft, this time Rakesh decided to watch from the sidelines and do some photography instead.
The rafting itself was very eventful, the most promising group of rafters were with Ashok, they were paddling well, however when they actually hit the water, their raft flipped at the Wicked Witch …and the rafters had to be rescued by the other rafts.. — Goes to prove, Man may try his best but finally it is the River that Rules. It was perhaps one of the longest sessions of rafting we did this season and it was past 6 by the time everyone got back to the homestay.
Dinner followed and some of the folks carried on partying till late in the night, while others tired from the journey and the rafting session hit the sack. Sudhir for one had body ache from all the exhertion and was unable to sleep! The teams plan was they would all be up and join for the trek at 630 AM in the morning….and we were thinking…hmm a 4 hour journey in a slow bus, 3 hours of rafting.. partying late night.. that means the only way they are getting up at 630 AM is if they are talking of 630 AM GMT not 630 AM IST 
. To their credit, by 1030 AM they went for trek, the weather was pleasant and I think everyone enjoyed the experience, they returned back for Tea and then left to the stream. The original plan was to spend some time in the stream and then start the return journey with a stop at Iruppu falls, but they enjoyed the stream so much that they decided to stay there for more time and skip Iruppu falls
The team left after lunch and were just in time to take the train home..they forgot a Torch and a Docking station back at the homestay though 
We were able to meet some very like-minded gentlemen in this group, Daniel, who is a prominent member of the “Madras Bulls” and Kandan, who wanted to make a documentary of treks in the Western Ghats on a back pack and Bull
For the less-informed, the Bull, refers to the Royal Enfield “Bullet” motorcycle, “Madras Bulls” – is the Royal Enfield Motorcycle Club of Chennai
Both Rakesh and I are “Bullet” riders and affectionadoes..and have been planing a trans Himalayan trip for some time now… if we are able to take a break from our homestay operations.. 
On the September 6th saturday we had Sandeep and his team (Sandeep, Prithvi, Vinay, Praveen, Sunay and Yogesh) who joined us for rafting, they did not stay with us but we helped organize their rafting session and choose their trekking spot. Sandeep had been to almost all the treks in Coorg and was looking for a new place to trek, so we suggested Chembara peak, which is the highest in Wayanad. (2100 m above the sea level
(10Km by foot) as mentioned by Sandeep)
Way to go guys..thats is one cool trek
Some of the photos are here as they put it…
The folks who finally made it
…Left to Right: Prithvi Vinay Praveen Sunay Yogesh, Photographer : Sandeep
Vasanth and his wife Gomati had joined us on the September the 3rd, they were on their first trip after marriage. They were planning to tour Coorg and Mysore over the week. Arun received them in Mysore, they went through the Nagarhole restricted road on the way to the homestay.
They were with us till the 6th of September, when they left back to Mysore; We had arranged for a place for them to stay in Mysore from where they could do sightseeing in Mysore before returning back home.
They went for the trekking, the spring waters and then they went to Bylakuppe to visit the Golden Monastry.
We also had a good suggestion from Vasant, rather that is a mistake from our side which needs correction.
We always ask our guests about the dietary preferences to come up with our menu and we also enquire if they consume alcholic beverages. We do not stock liquor in our homestay and we always ask our guests to stock up at Kutta or Gonikoppa, the last towns where they can find wine-shops. If our guest do consume alohcolic beverages, we generally offer a complimentary bottle of home-made wine (subject to availability) as a part of the package. — but this is never ever mentioned in our website..and in fact I realize we never mention it anywhere!!
Vasanth is a “almost” a teetotaller in the sense that he only has tasted wine. When Arun asked him if he consumed alcholic beverages, Vasanth replied ‘no’ , without realizing that we give home-made wine as a complementary drink….:|. ..Better communication on the package would have helped….
Just for information: Wine making is a cottage industry in Coorg, Wine is made from several things here, Cherry, Gooseberry, Beetroot ..even Betel leaves. Most of wine is just a few months old, has little alcholic content and it is not exactly connoisseur material, but it is different. Do remember to take some back.
Vishu and Pradeep who were in Bethel on the August 30th weekend have given us their reviews,
Check them out here, from Vishu and this one from Pradeep
Pradeep also had suggestions for us
1. The toilets may need a little extra covering, mainly to keep bugs and other insects that are attracted by the light. The openings can be covered with mosquito mesh to take care of it.
2. Coffee was not strong enough. I was looking forward to some good Coorg coffee but was kinda let down.
Pradeep, Thanks for your suggestions, the second one is really embarrassing ..Coorg is literally Coffee country!!
Vishu also mentioned that the Cottages are sparse. ..that is true, we are really spartan in our interiors, our focus has been to cleanliness and ensuring that the basics are perfect; Some creativity can help for sure ..
Vishu, thanks for your suggestions ..We will act on them.
And thanks for the reviews guys, it really matters to us.
This was one really long week, first we had Archit and team (numbering 3) who visited us from the 26th of August to the 28th. The we had Sridhar and team (numbering 12) visiting us on the 29th and the we had Pradeep and his team (numbering 6) for the weekend.
All in all last weeks rest was well needed, a lot of folks went rafting and had a lot of fun.., as usual photographs as I get them..
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