PAYANIGA

Journey to Kerala | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 @ Wayanad

We got up a little bit late on Sunday. Got ready and headed towards Meppadi. Our first destination – Chembra peak, which is the highest peak in Wayanad, at 2100m above sea level. Trekking to the top takes 3-5 hours depending on the trekker. We took 4 hours to reach the top, including an hours break for photo-shoot & resting.

Initial 25% of the trek is very steep. And we have to walk through the bushes. Luckily we were there just 2 weeks after the rainy seasons & were spared by leeches. We stopped at half way mark, the Heart shaped lake & spent more than half an hour. It was a very clear sky, with scaattered clouds here & there. Chembra was giving us chance to enjoy the view from up above.

We put on our backpacks and headed towards the top. the fonal stretch of about 20-25% is also bit steep. And we reached the summit around 1PM. We stayed there for almost an hour – Shashank got busy clicking & I took a short nap :D. View from the top was awesome. It was almost 2PM and we were hungry as we had a light breakfast in the morning and few bread slices while trekking.

Descent was very quick we took less than 2 hours to come down. We had a late lunch @ Meppadi and headed towards Soochippara falls. In this place, one has to walk down for a kilometer to reach the falls. Though we were tired, we went down to the falls. Sat there in silence watching the water flowing down. It was a refreshing thing to do, just sit and watch.

From there, returned to our base-camp, Shashi’s place. Packed our luggage, bid Shashi & his family adieu. Caught an overnight Kerala transport bus to Bangalore.

Still there are plenty of places which we didn’t visit like Kuruva dweep, Pakshi patalam, Meenmutty falls. But with a good experienced driver Sathish, we were able to visit lot of places in three days. He knows Wayanad region like back of his hand, he took us through lot of short-cuts which saved us a lot of traveling time. If you happen to visit Wayanad in future & plan to hire a jeep, then let me know Sathish is the best person for that. I can give you his contact details.

Kerala, I’ll be back soon. thats for sure :)

Journey to Kerala | Day 1 | Day 2 @ Wayanad | Day 3
The night was cold. We got up early and were ready for another safari. It was misty & visibility was very less. Soon mist cleared away and made way for Sun rays. Sighted same species of animals – Deers, wild elephants, and plenty of peafowl. We were not lucky enough to see a tiger. A group who started 15 minutes before us the previous day had seen a tiger.

From there we started towards Banasura dam. We stopeed at Sulthan Batheri & paid a visit to a ruined Jain temple in the middle of the city. We had lunch in Batheri and proceeded towards Banasura dam. This is also another tourist place being promoted by Kerala Tourism Dept. They have recently started speed-boating in the back-waters. But no photography allowed :(

We spent almost an hour at Banasura dam. We got extra boating as not many tourists were there at that time. From there we headed towards Kuruva dweep. But we were late to reach there. Kuruva dweep closed by 5.15-5.30 PM. And we reached there by 4.15PM. One hour is nit sufficient for the island. Hence we kept that place for our next visit and changed our plan to go on a safari in Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary.

Change of plans to go on a safari in Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary turned out to be a wise idea. I happened to have a life-time experience. We got mock-charged by a wild elephant. We saw a herd of Indian Bison, a herd of wild elephants – 11 in size. They got disturbed by our presence on that pleasant evening and an elephant mocked to chase us.

After the exciting safari we started back towards our base camp, Kalpetta. It was a roller-coster day. Wild safari, visit to a temple, speed-boating and another wild safari, getting mock-charged by an angry wild elephant.Reached Kalpetta in time for dinner. Discussed next plan with Sathish, gulped down the food and hit the bed.

Journey to Kerala | Day 1 @ Wayanad | Day 2 | Day 3

We woke up to chirping sound of birds. It was a welcome break from the busy day schedule. Went for a small walk with cameras dangling around our neck. There were plenty of birds around us.

When we came back, Sathish (our jeep driver for the next three days) was waiting for us. We told him all the places that we wish to visit, and he promised us to show maximum number of places with enough time for us to spend in those places.

In Wayanad region, all the tourist places are scattered acroos the district. Hence one has to travel a lot, its more like a chicken run. And better suited vehicle for that area is a Jeep. Out first stop was Vythri view point. From Kalpetta town, after 10-12 KMs starts ghat section which takes one to Calicut. View from this place is awesome. One can see the twisty roads down below & vehicles crawling like ants one behind the other.

From there we went to Pookoot lake. We decided to walk around the lake instead of boating and spent more than 2 hours. Shashank got busy shooting birds and I took photos of water lilies. From there we startedtowards Edakkal caves. En route Edakkal, we visited Karapuzha dam. It is still under construction. But still there was some water to attract some birds. After a short photoshoot there, we started towards Edakkal.

Edakkal is the place where prehistoric rock etchings are found on the walls of these caves. The Petroglyphs in Edakkal caves dates back to 1000BC. The caves are some where in the middle of the Ambukuthimala. One has to doa bit of hiking to reach the caves. And the Ambukuthimala peak is further high ad steep. Since we were running out of time for the safari in Muthanga wildlife santuary, we decided against going to peak & headed towards Muthanga.

We reached Muthanga wildlife santuary in time for the safari. We dumped our luggages in the wood-house and plunged in to the forest to have look at the wildlife. We spotted plenty of deers, a herd wild boars, and a lone tusker munching supper. We watched him having food for more than 10 minutes. He got bored and went inside. We returned to our rented wood-house. Retired to bed early after a quick dinner. Day was great, I was enjoying every second of it.

Journey to Kerala | At Wayanad – Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

When PV said he is getting married and that too in Guruvayur, Kerala, I was happy at the thought of getting a chance to travel to Kerala. Marriage was on Nov 30th, Thursday. Shashank & I charted out the plans, take two days off to make it a 4 day weekend – one day in Guruvayur, attend the marriage. Then head back to Wayanad to spend remaining three days.

After a hectic day at office, we started from B’lore on Nov 29th, Wednesday at 10PM. PV’s friends were also to accompany us during the onward journey. Travel was slow, long and quite restful. I slept most of the journey. It was almost noon next when we reached Guruvayur. After a quick refreshment, we wished PV & his new partner and out sight-seeing in Guruvayur. The place was crowded, as it was the season of Ayyappa devotees. Due to lack of time & heavy crowd, we skipped visiting the temple of Guruvayurappan. And started towards Wayanad by 4PM. Journey to Wayanad was again spent sleeping in the vehicle. We reached Kalpetta, district headquartes of Wayanad district. Reached Shashi’s (my relative) place, where we stayed for the next three days.

I was totally happy to be back to the land of tea estates, to the land of banana chips & coconut oil, to God’s real own country, back to mother nature. After three years, I was in Kerala again.