Chikmagalur has the topography of an ironing board, but hills rise all around it, growing coffee in the mottled shade of silver oaks. Most of these are vast farms run by owners who have only recently realised that they grow some of the world's best coffee coffee that'll stand substitute for prayer on any day. Stop by Panduranga on MG Road for coffee beans or freshly ground powder. To arrange an estate visit, call Mohammad Aseem (Tel: 9844168948). Mullaiyanagiri, the highest peak in Karnataka, is around 6 km from Chikmagalur. Its 6,000-plus ft height is employed mostly to watch sunsets. Another good stop on the way to Bhadra Sanctuary is Nature Craft (Tel: 08262-262026). It's around 9 km out of Chikmagalur and sells artefacts fashioned from coffee wood. Dattatreya Peeth, a laterite cave on the Baba Budanagiri Peak en route from Chikmagalur, 32 km before you hit Kemmannagundi, is considered holy by both Muslims and Hindus. The peak gets its name from a legend coffee farmers love to relate. The story goes that coffee was introduced to India by the Muslim saint Baba Budan in the 16th century, who smuggled in seven coffee beans in his belt from West Asia and planted them here.