Waking up inside the clouds of Mullayanagiri

We drove down from Bengaluru early on a Friday morning, aiming to beat the Nelamangala traffic. By the time we crossed Hassan and climbed the twists into the Baba Budan Giri range, the city haze was completely gone. Our stone cottage sat right in the middle of a 40-acre heritage Arabica estate. There is something profoundly restorative about waking up at 6 AM to the chatter of Malabar grey hornbills, stepping out onto a wet stone patio, and having the estate caretaker, Muthu anna, bring over a steel tumbler of freshly roasted filter coffee brewed from beans harvested 100 meters away. We spent afternoons walking unpaved trails lined with silver oak trees and wild pepper vines, and evenings reading by the crackling wood fire. If you need to hit the reset button on your mind, this is the place.