InGk Travelogue to enchanting Wayanad

Wayanad ☺☺ Here we come !!!!

Some journeys are always special and unexpected … This wayanad trip is something like that …. When my hubby asked me “ Why can't we take a ride to wayanad …. I was like huh….Are you joking man !!!  The fact is I'm always worried about the long journeys as he ( my hubby ) alone has to drive up and down , as his wife is safely keeping her Driving license in her wallet and taking it only for the purpose of proof of identity 😂😂 I think you guys have got what I am trying to explain if not also no problem ..just leave it 🤗… okay we have decided to go ...when I approached family members to join with us , all gave me a tired and weird look and replied me “ njangal varunnilla ..ningal randalum poyit varu “ ( we are not coming , you both go and  come back ) Hmmmmm….

What to do ...so its we both are going ..

As it was suddenly planned I had to arrange my household chores accordingly ( Not much tasks still …)  all packing done on previous day …

We started around 6 o clock … the early morning rides are really good … for me it's like that … I feel very active and happy … You can enjoy some daily morning sceneries on the road side like a milkman on his cycle , a newspaper boy , Jogging personalities , People walking to temples / churches …. I used to look at them through the side windows .. In this journey too I did not miss it .. After an hour or more,  a coffee break was badly needed .. I saw the board of “ Indian coffee House “ it was a place called Akkikavu ..I just read it loudly so that he will stop .and ..it happened we got down there , had our breakfast with the hotel's special coffee. Honestly telling it was pretty good ...and one truth is that if you are damn hungry ...you won't look for taste ….just grab whatever you get. ..in my case it was a fulfillment .. After the coffee we just started our journey .Thirumandham kunnu bhagavathi temple was the first place we visited on  our way . .it's a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Bhadrakali located in Angadipuram place of Malappuram DT.

There are some temples which still owns some strict rules on dress code ..This was one among them ..Those people on trousers are not allowed to come inside the temple ... Unfortunately my hubby had to obey that rule as he was in casual pants..So I got inside the temple and offered prayers ...It is not so big temple there were many people who came to seek the blessing from this powerful goddess … Adjacent to this , there was one more Temple “ Sree Thali Mahadeva Temple “  seeked blessings from there too … From here the actual journey to wayanad starts ..

There are two routes to wayanad from here either via nilambur or via Thamarassery ..

My husband told we can have a greenery ride and we chose the first route .. before entering the forest , i checked in google for any other places where we can have look into ...There we found Connolly's plot world's oldest teak plantations. It's actually located 2 km away from nilambur town. Once you got inside you need to walk a bit and you will have to cross a hanging bridge which is across the Chaliyar river and you will reach the plantation. The most appreciable thing is that ,  our Forest department has taken good efforts to maintain the place neat and clean .. It was getting noon , we decided to have lunch in the next town once the forest area ended ..so had tender coconut and left nilambur.. And the scary journey ( for me it was bit scary 🙄🙄) started ….i could not find much vehicles on our route … we just opened car windows for some time so that we can have a fresh breath ..the effect of tender coconut was almost at its final stage ….my stomach started crying ...imagine we were on the forest route and only in the next town area i could witness some shops so by taking enough water i managed my hunger somehow. ..

The happiest moment was seeing a shop it was a petty shop , got some banana from there..and journey continued … we travelled some of the towns under tamil nadu region and again came to kerala ..On the way could see  many tea estates and tea factories ..it was a beautiful viewing of landscape ..

Time just flew ...on seeing the board of Sulthan bathery only could believe that we have reached wayanad …In sulthan Bathery there was an ancient jain temple  ..it comes under archaeological survey of India ..we just only had a walk to there since Edakkal caves was our first spot left bathery soon. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we reached there …no worries ….next full day is awaiting us ..so cool ..🤗.

We had to visit  Bathery again as our stay was in  KTDC 's Pepper Grove ..I would say it was really good .  We were on a non ac room and we did not feel the killing heat of summer ...as the area was surrounded  by many mountains and trees it was cool over there … evening we had a walk around … Our car was desperately in  need of a clean up ..

Took the car to the nearest water station  and the Service boy really did a wonderful job ...our car looked fresh and stylish ...I found many tribes walking on the bathery town  ( locally known as “ Adivasis “) carrying wooden sticks and some vessels , i hope they are back to home after daily work ….. and there were another category too who were simply sitting in front of roadside shops having a tea, or holding a cigarette or eating some snacks ..They are not interested in going for work and earning some bucks  ...🤓🤓 I doubt they are of that genre who expects their wife to bring the daily bread….aww..life sucks ...😏😏 Observing all these checked into a small restaurant. I did not take my lunch properly so was damn hungry … Had a coffee and vada ...after roaming some more time in the town back to hotel.

We have planned to go Edakkal caves next day early in the morning and from there Kuruva Island and back to home ..

Two days are not at all enough to explore Wayanad..  If you guys are planning to visit here , make it as a long one so that you would be able to see all the beautiful places here ..

The dinner was not so bad and had a good sleep too .

A sun kissed morning welcomed us ..

After the routine things, packed up for the Edakkal ...Signed out from the hotel too ..

It was around a half an hour journey from Bathery ..visitors were reaching ..there were many vehicles on the parking area ..So all set for the trekking ….and we started our walk ...there were many street vendors on both sides of the pathway till you reach the ticket counter ..

Decided to have a glance on these while returning …. Edakkal caves are the two natural caves which actually located above sea level on Ambukuthi mala .

Think a deeper climbing is required ..

You must always be hydrated when ever you are trekking else you may feel exhausted soon ..

Finally we reached on top and I loved to be there for long ….Aww….😍  the artistry of western ghats are on your palm … While enjoying the mountain view and taking snaps you must be very very careful as it's not so wide as the increasing number of fellow passengers makes the area even more congested ..

It can happen but be alert 🤗 safety is the priority isn't it !!!

Okay ..let me describe you the inside beauty of caves...The stone age carvings and many more pictorial writings been depicted on the walls ...it believed to be on B.C timings ...These are rarely seen and an archeological property .. … climate was getting red while we left Edakkal .. The next spot was Kuruva Island ..it was a journey of around 40 km... The place is kinda remote…. As the place name itself describes its a beautiful island surrounded by water , i must say  pure water ...yes it's crystal clear water of river Kabani ..The journey to this island also quite different ...you can have fresh air as the padiri reserve forest is protecting you from all other pollutions..

Once you get down in Kuruva in the vehicle parking area you need to walk for some time to reach the exact spot ..You won't find any classy restaurants here , only leaf roofed small tea shops or locally called as thattukada style are available ...as it was lunch time we decided to take lunch and then to enjoy the forestry activities …

A lady welcomed us for lunch ( probably she might be the owner, 🤔 don't know but she has good marketing skills to catch the customers )from one among the so called thattukada.. Meals were as good as it is 🤗 tummy is satisfied ...and we had a very very special desert item served  called as “Bamboo Kheer “( mulayari payasam ) .. made out of bamboo beans ..( i think so, 🤔 excuse me of its wrong , i actually forgot to make a deep study on this 😇 ) my hubby loved it very much and he had an extra glass too ...I didn't like that much ...just had as it's been offered ..🙄..okay we had a walk and reached the island ..There were many visitors like us ...

Bamboo raft ride is a different experience in fact through this raft only you can cross the river Kabani and reach the inner island area ...I think at  one ride this raft can carry around 15 -20 people. Life jackets will be provided to all , and before starting the ride we all are supposed to wear the same as instructed …. Me and my hubby wore completely ..but I found some among us were just playing with that not wore it properly ..The instructor were telling them , and those guys were not even giving their ears and so much busy to get a brand new picture for their whatsapp or facebook profile .. 😏 ..people won't change ..Okay and the ride started ...A man at the end holding large stick is making the movements ..you can float through the river ...which is surrounded  by lush forests ...Wayanad is a blessed district ….I was literally awestruck by the beauty of river and forest ….within half an hour we reached the island ...Here you can enjoy walk through a forest , the water flow between the rocks in fact this area can be renamed as kids play area ...I found many kids bathing , playing with the water ….Return too you have to get into raft , because that is the only way to cross the river ….Remember one thing only during summer period you can visit here , once the monsoon starts island will be closed as the water levels of Kabani will rise and its highly danger to have these raft rides…. On the way back to the parking area ...we had a strong tea and snacks from one of the small petty shop .. The Volkswagen Vento was ready for a return ride …I would say I was bit tired ..The return was not bad , we chose the Thamarassery churam ( ghat ) route .This is the mountain range which connects calicut and wayanad districts. It has 9 hair pin bends starting from Adivaram to Lakkidi view point .. As we were returning from Wayanad, Lakkidi view point was the starting point of churam ..This area is a major tourist spot … Travellers will have a break here and can very well get relaxed ...so we too had a break here and took few snaps, slight shower made it even more refreshing …okay ...back to the car ...Being a major highway, the number of vehicles passing through this road is extremely high ...so get ready to enjoy an ant's journey …( killing traffic jam. Makes me pretty irritated ...I can't imagine the mind voice of my man ...if I ask something he would have blasted at me ..) Thank god ..that didn't happen actually !! So we are almost going to finish the ghat …. Here is the twist ….once again google map is testing our patience levels !! What man !! After effect of selecting the shortest path led us to have some extra kms ride ...that too through the worst roads have ever seen … Managed all these and we never knew another traffic block was waiting for us to join in Calicut bypass ….😬😬😬😱 ...This too shall pass !! In between these events , somehow filled up tummy and reached our home around 11.30 PM… Next day is a start of a week .. can't even imagine about asking for a leave ...so I got under the blanket at the earliest … I hope you will get some time to explore Wayanad….Thanks a ton !!

Keep smiling 😊😊


Have a look at our route...!! 😉

Snapshots:
Aww... searching in my hard disk... 😕