Wayanad, The untouched beauty of Kerala
Back in July, 2015 I started researching for weekend getaways when one of my friend showed interest for travel & trek. After coming up with a list, Wayanad, Kerala seemed suitable choice because of it’s lush green nature and complete jungle. I just wanted to get disconnected from the whole crowd and go relax somewhere out in a place full of nature.
While in tea-break conversations I got to know that one of office colleague and friend has already been to there the previous year. And he suggested me a resort with tree houses. The tree house thing was quite appealing to me as I have never seen one before for real.
Since then I started discussing this among my friends and in office, at the end a group of 9 friends gathered to go for Wayanad. The appealing point was same for them too, experiencing the stay in a tree house.
So we made the trip in September 2015 to Wayanad from Hyderabad, for 4 days. We started at evening 6 from Hyderabad and reached around morning 9:30 at Sultan Bathery, which was nearly 50 Km far from the resort we were about to stay.
If you’re staying in Hyderabad and thinking about visiting anywhere in Kerala then there is only one bus is available(at the time we travelled) through Suresh Kallada Bus travels, which connects directly to Sultan Bathery, which is in South Wayanad and it’s the prime place connecting all popular points in Wayanad.
Now Wayanad is divided as “South Wayanad” and “North Wayanad”.
Most of the places to visit are in South Wayanad, while North Wayanad consists of Thirunelly temple, a couple of Wild life sanctuaries. Specifically:
North Wayanad:
- Papanasini
- Pakshipatalam
- Thirunelly Temple
- Kalindi River
- Wayanad and Aralam wild life sanctuaries
South Wayanad:
- Chembra Peak
- Edakal caves
- Pookode Lake
- Malabar wildlife sanctuary
- Banasura sagar dam
- Meenmutty and Soochipara waterfalls
Below are some pics of our trip of the beauty of Wayanad.
That’s me looking out when my friend pointed that he saw an elephant with tusks having his breakfast, while our bus was crossing through Bandipur National Park.
On way to our resort from Kalpetta through Kattikkulam towards Thirunelly.
Finally we reached near our tree house resort.
And finally we reached our resort. The Kalindi river flowing was simply music to my ears.
As you can see, you can have candle light dinner on the rocks. Even can have a bonfire. The resort staff arrange that if you want. :)
What more you want. River, swing and a book. A perfect setup. The rhythmic noise of the kalindi river was so tranquil that few of us just sat there for 30 minutes without getting freshen up.
Once we got freshen up it was around 3 O’clock and we just drove to a nearby hill and few of us climbed it up. It was not actually a trek but we were so pumped up to climb that mountain. The problem was it was full of leeches. You need to be careful about leeches when you trek in any Kerala mountains. The one way you can save yourself is, you can apply turmeric paste on your feet or can take salt or salt water with you, which would be really helpful in removing leeches from your skin.
Here’s a pic of the trees inside that mountain we have climbed. Not a good idea.
So you can see it was actually not a good idea to trek like that. But after reaching at top, it was a worth the view.
Once we got down, we first cleaned our shoes and socks using salt water from some local people. Few pics on our way back to resort of Lush green Wayanad.
Back at resort had a hearty dinner full of each ones preferences. You can have a peek here. ;)
And that’s how the day one came to an end.
The night was peaceful, sound sleep because of the tiredness. But still had to wake up early with just 4 hours of sleep, as we have to rush towards Chembra peak trekking point. It was a pleasant morning.
So after being 1 and half hour late, we started our itinerary for the day 2.
Finally reached at the entry point for our trek at Chembra. You can see the mountain from some distance and the Tea estates. Its a good sight. And the weather added extra charm to it.
Half way up the trek, you can see the view of the surrounding with a awesome weather. Rain, misty, sunshine and cloudy. All at once. We were lucky that day to experience something like that and it was an animated trek for me as this was my first trek.
The misty mountain. This was indeed an incredible view. We just stood there looking at the beauty of nature for some time and below pic actually doesn’t even showcase 20% of what we were experiencing there.
Finally at heart shape lake. This was close to the end of trek point for us as the weather became unfavourable from here on. Otherwise you can trek around 1 more Km from here I believe.
We were all soaked by rain and some of our shoes were under the attack of leeches.
Finally at the peak of the trek. You can see the weather here. We were literally inside the clouds I can say.
After trek, we had some snacks as we couldn’t find a place lunch. But if you visit Kerala, do try to have some Malabar biriyani. It’s different from hyderabadi biriyani and full of various condiments.
After this we moved to Pookode lake which also had a great misty view.
But if you’re taking a stroll around this place then be careful of the leeches and monkeys.
At the evening we went for some local shopping. Now Wayanad is again a good place where you can get good Tea, Natural honey, Coconut oil, Condiments and many other things. Especially I found the local made soaps which I brought some with me were really good. It was already 8 O’clock in the evening and we started driving back to our resort, yeah again 50 Km, which actually turned to be the best part of our trip.
It was pitch dark after Kattikkulam and inside the jungle it was like a death chase, the way we saw darkness. Four of us were sitting at the backside of the jeep and the darkness will leave you spellbound. I dare you if you can watch a horror movie the same night after experiencing something like this. I was easily able to perceive the intense of those horror movies they show in bollywood. If we just turn the lights off of our jeep then no one would have been able to know what is beside them just at 2 feet distance.
Again once in a while you will get to see lights of a vehicle from far distance which will create a scene of “strings of light in the woods”. Which was looking so magical. We normally see this kind of views in some fantasy movies. I don’t have any pics of that but the below google pics can give you a glimpse.
Moving ahead some distance we started seeing some wild animals and especially elephants.
Those are two different wild free elephants. Happy to see them like that, Free. And thankful that they were in a good mood. ;)
And as I said if the lights turned off, you won’t even get to know what’s there besides you. It was that pitch dark.
With that again a stomach full dinner from the cooks of Kalindi river resort. We were so thankful that they waited for us even we came back so late at night.
On the 3rd and 4th day we changed our plans to visit Coorg, Karnataka instead of more of South Wayanad. I am restricting the topic to Wayanad itself.
Finally on the last day of our stay, we were all like same when it happens while packing your bags at the end of a trip. You know, “No I don’t want to return from this place” kind of baby crying. :P But have to return, the holidays came to an end and so our journey.
While returning some of us visited the Thirunelli Temple. Couldn’t take pics as it was not allowed.
From there we started off to Mysore, which was our pickup point for reaching Hyderabad. Few more pics along our way through Bandipur forest.
It was great trip. A much needed break for me.
And we’re very thankful to our driver and friend who is a very humble person and helped us a lot. We’re very happy that because of us, he first time trekked to Chembra peak with us even after being a local at this place for 40 years.
In future I would like to visit Wayanad again and Keralas other places too. Especially with my parents.
If you want to visit Wayanad, here is a tip for you. It’s better to visit during the end of Rainy season till the end of Winter. Also with that remember new year wouldn’t be a good choice as resort prices would be sky rocketing. Be careful about leeches and do your own research.
So good luck. Happy journey. :)
