Wonderful Wayanad !!!
- VagaBong Journey
- Jun 25, 2021
- 6 min read
“If something good happens,
Travel to celebrate…
If something bad happens,
Travel to forget…
If nothing happens,
Travel to make something happen…”
When you have been bitten by the travel bug and you know there is no medicine but exploring new places, what would you plan on your birthday? Yes, you get it right, obviously you travel to some new places to satisfy your nomad soul. This time our destination was Wayanad.
Wayanad is all about beautiful green countryside with lovely waterfalls, lakes and wildlife surrounded by tea and coffee estates. The literal meaning of this place is “land of paddy fields”. This is a picturesque plateau situated at a height between 700 meters and 2100 meters above the mean sea level nested among the mountains of the Western Ghats on the Eastern portion of North Kerala and on the sides of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States.
While making your itinerary you can divide this place by four main places – Kalpetta, Sultan Bathrey, Mananthavady and Vythiri. You can include the below places in your itinerary.
Kalpetta – Chembra peak, Sunrise valley, Neelimala View Point, Meenmutty falls, Soochippara Waterfalls/Sentinal Rock, Kanthanpara waterfalls, Banasura sagar project.
Sultan Bathrey – Muthanga wildlife sanctuary, Edakkal caves, Chethalayam Falls.
Mananthavady – Kuruva Island, Pazhassi Tomb.
Vythiri – Lakkidi, Pookode Lake, Chain Tree, Karlad Lake.
We planned to cover most of the places in our two days trip but sometimes rain and sometimes our laziness restricted us to explore few places only.
Day 1 (10th June, 2017)
We left Bangalore around 4 AM. The route we had taken is Bangalore - Mysore - Gundulpet - Right turn towards Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary- Sultan Bathery - Wayanad. There are two other routes but we found this route was the best depending on the road condition and if you take this route you will overwhelmed during your journey through the Muthanga WildlifeSanctuary.
Our plan was to visit Kuruva Island or Kuruvadweep first, followed by Edakkal caves and then go to our resort. We reached Kuruva Island around 10:30 AM. Kuruvadweep is the only island surrounded with naturally purified water source in Kerala. These group of islands consists of dense and evergreen forest that is uninhabited and hence home to rare kinds of flora and fauna: endemic species of birds, orchids and herbs namely. Its unique geographical characteristics make it a place where not only the leaves but also silence is evergreen. Kuruva Islands is 17 km east of Mananthavady.
We spent some quality time in Kuruva Island. Walking on forest trails, crossing the water body by bamboo raft, having fun in the river were really a package of sheer happiness. Having spent a lot of time here, we realised that we don’t have much time to visit Edakkal Caves as it should be closed at 4 PM. Some of us were also a bit tired because of the hectic travel, so we decided to check in to the hotel.
We had stayed in Pepper Grove (KTDC). Located at Sulthan Bathery in the heart of Wayanad, Pepper Grove is an ideal place to stay and reach out to the best that Wayanad can offer. The ambience of the resort was very much impressive and we strongly recommend this place.
When you have a group of talented friends and a guitar with you, you always have a good time, needless to say that we spent a great evening in the hotel. Then my friends did some arrangements for my birthday. It was one of the best birthdays I have ever spent. Thanks a lot to Jyoti, Sounak, Abhay, Rahul, Riki and Swati to make my birthday so special and they knew exactly what I want on my birthday, to spend some time on the lap of nature. Our plan for next day was to visit the Edakkal cave first and then go to Kalpetta.
Day 2 (11th June, 2017)
We left resort around 9 AM. Edakkal cave was few kilometers away from our hotel. We had a short trek to the cave from the starting point and it took us almost half an hour to reach the cave. The caves contain drawings that range over periods from the Neolithic as early as 5,000 BC to 1,000 BCE. The youngest group of paintings have been in the news for a possible connection to the Indus Valley Civilization. Historian Raghava Varier of the Kerala State Archaeology Department identified a depiction as “a man with jar cup” that is the most distinct motif of the Indus valley civilization. The finding, made in September 2009, indicates that the Harappan civilization was active in the region. The “a man with jar cup” symbol from Edakkal seems to be more similar to the Indus motif than those already known from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The marvelous view of the panoramic landscape from the top was the icing on the cake. We tried archery on our way back to the parking area and that was a mind-blowing experience.
Then we were heading to Meenmutty falls. You should never trust google map when you are in Wayanad. After taking two three wrong turns when we were almost near the place, we stopped at a place to ask the direction and then few locals said us that the fall is closed due to some reasons. We dropped the plan to visit Meenmutty falls and were heading towards Kanthanpara waterfalls. Luckily this waterfall was open and we had a great time there. It is a small waterfall with a shallow pool where someone can enjoy swimming and the scenery was quite good.
Our next destination was Soochippara Waterfall. This waterfall is a place you shouldn’t miss when you are in Wayanad. Though it took us almost an hour to reach the waterfall but walking through the mist while experiencing the greenery and the complete serenity of the place amazed us. The waterfall is quite big and you can feel the magnificence by the thundering shower. I had the information that someone can take a dip and swim in the shallow pool but we came to know that swimming is prohibited here. It was already 4 PM and all the tourist places in Wayanad are closed either at 4 PM or at 5 PM, so we decided to go back to our hotel.
Day 3 (12th June, 2017)
It started raining since early morning and we managed to leave our hotel at 9:30 AM. We wanted to visit Chembra peak and see the heart lake as that would be an extraordinary site. It was quite far from our hotel and when we almost reached there, some local guys said that the place has been closed since last few months. A wildfire took place four months back in the forest area and the trek route to Chembra peak was closed due to that reason.
It is very much frustrating when you waste nearly two hours to visit a place and when you reach the place, you come to know that the place is closed. Our plan was to get back to Bangalore on the same day and the check post of the forest road in Muthanga wildlife sanctuary get closed by 6 PM. We could visit only one place in that scenario and decided to visit Pookode Lake keeping the time limit in mind, which is quite near to Chembra peak.
We reached Pookode Lake around 12:30 PM. This lake is a natural fresh water lake nestling amid evergreen forests and mountain slopes and the place is very peaceful. We spent few hours in that place. Boating in the lake during heavy rain was amazing. We left the lake around 2:30 PM. After having lunch, we started our journey to Bangalore. Driving through the forest is always rejuvenating and we spotted herd of deer in few places during our journey. All the journeys has to end at some point and we reached Bangalore around 10 PM.
You have to be very careful when you are making an itinerary for Wayanad. The tourist points are far from each other, almost all the places will be closed either at 4 PM or at 5 PM, trusting google map in Wayanad can make you agitated and if you want to cover all the places, I would suggest you to be there for 3-4 days at least. I had done all my research but I didn’t find any news regarding Mennmutty falls being closed or the news regarding Chembra peak. I think the tourism website of Wayanad needs to be more active and they should update the website regarding the information if any place is closed due to any reason. It would save us a lot of time and we could have planned our itinerary better.
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