A trip to Wayanad

Had been to God's own country over the weekend. One might need a week's time to see enough of Wayanad. We had only three days, but we did not rush to squeeze in many places.

Kalpetta seems to be the prominent town in Wayanad district and other places of interest are easily accessible from there. One cannot afford to sleep along the route from Calicut to Kalpetta, unless he/she is colour blind.

On Cloud 9

Can't afford to sleep

Rain or Sun - Its always beautiful

Although this place is second to none of the hill stations in Tamil Nadu, I could barely see a queue in any of the places. Thanks to lack of commercialisation.

Pookot Lake:
Situated some 20kms from Kalpetta, this lake is ideal to visit in the evenings just when the Sun falls behind the adjoining mountains. It is advisable to wear shorts or three-fourths, a good pair of sandals and have a watchful eye unless you want to donate blood involuntarily to the leeches surrounding the lake.

Probably one of the fewest lakes, where I didnt see couples lost in love on the boats.

Edakkal Caves:
Takes about an hour's drive to reach there. There's steep concrete path stretching for about 1.5km between the parking lot and the mouth of the cave. The main cave is another 200 metres climb from there. After all the pains one can witness the cave that recaptures the days of cavemen.

Inscriptions of the cavemen

There is another small peak to be scaled from there. Worth every bit of effort to reach the top.

Soochipara falls:
Easily the pick of our trip. There can be no better camera than the human eye, to capture all that the falls offered. We were welcomed by a gorgeous arc of rainbow. There was no way one could go near the torrents. We were lucky to find a small bed of rocks that was shallow enough to let us have a dip. The water was so pure and fresh, that we never felt like stepping out of the water if not for the darkness.

Breath-taking

Rainbow

Feels like heaven

Thirunelly temple:
This a 1500 year old temple, about 60kms from Kalpetta. Housed within the woods, whatelse can one ask for on a bright morning. Just behind the temple is a small stream trying to find its way through the woods. Named Papanasini, the stream is believed to have a cleansing effect.

The dilapidated structure showing Chola style of architecture

Except for the food, it was a very memorable trip and a nice retreat.