Chikmagalur

Coffee came to India through Chikmagalur: the Sufi Baba Budan is said to have carried seven beans from Mocha in the seventeenth century and planted them on the hills that now bear his name. The district today is a mosaic of arabica and robusta estates, shola forest and grassland ridges, with the state's highest ground rising behind the town. Mullayanagiri, at 1,930 metres, is Karnataka's tallest peak; the road climbs through hairpins onto a bare shoulder where the wind never stops, and a small Shiva shrine sits at the top.

Baba Budangiri, on the same ridge, holds the Dattatreya Peetha cave, revered by both Hindus and Muslims. A day here starts with mist over the estates and a cup of what was picked outside, then moves to Kemmangundi's Z Point for the drop into the Bhadra valley, or to the four-kilometre jeep track and stream crossings that reach Hebbe Falls. Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, an hour away, has tigers, gaur and a well-run boat safari on the reservoir.

Further west the Kudremukh range, named for its horse-face profile, offers grassland trekking to 1,894 metres. Sringeri, where Adi Shankara established the first of his four mathas, is ninety kilometres on, worth the drive for the zodiac pillars of the Vidyashankara temple and the tame carp in the Tunga.