Wayanad Trip - A look back (Day 1)

8 Aug 2008, Friday

We started the journey from Technopark, our office campus. Technopark is Asia's largest technology park. Its in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. Its a two day, three night trip. The plan was to start on Friday evening and reach back on Monday morning. Every one get inside the bus. The tour is a package from Indurcity, Wayanad package. It cost us 1400 per head which includes travel and accommodation for one night at Sultan Battery near Wayanad. It was a 49 seater air bus.

Dinner
After traveling a few kms the guys began dancing and shouting. We had our dinner from Kollam at around 8:30pm.

A photo session after dinner, Where were the girls ?

Its a long way
We were planning to reach Wayanad at morning. So its a long way from Thiruvananthapuram. We had to travel the entire night to reach the destination. Some people slept in the night. Few of us stayed back the whole night playing cards, anthakshari and all.

9 Aug 2008, Saturday
On the way to Wayanad we stopped at some place, i don't remember the exact name of the place. We got refreshed and had breakfast from that place.


At around 9:00am we resumed our journey to Wayanad. On the way we can see a lot of greenery. Below is one of the snapshot of the greenery.

A snapshot on the way to Lakkidi, Wayanad

Lakkidi
Lakkidi is a prominent Hill Station, about 58 kms north east of Kozhikode and five kms south of Vythiri. Lakkidi, the gateway of Wayanad, lies atop Thamarassery, a ghats pass at an elevation of 700 m. above mean sea level. Lakkidi also boasts of the second highest degree of rainfall in the whole wide World. A Tour to the rain soaked silhouettes of Lakkidi would enable the Tourists to decipher the same magic.

Lakkidi, which is also recognized for its cultural vitality and verve. Kunjan Nambiar is a poet dramatist of great name and fame in Kerala who expertised in the art form of Thallu, which literally means " to jump" or" cut a caper". Kunjan Nambiar the popular Poet from Lakkidi, used to perform in the Chakkiaars, groups of Drummers, and he fused his style, Thallu with images and themes from Mahabharata and Ramayana in a way unique to Kerala's Art forms.

The lofty mountain peaks, the gurging stream, luxuriant vegetation and the bird's eye view of the deep valley on the south, with its winding roads, are breath taking. The 12 kms. long journey from Adivaram to Lakkidi through ghats road with nine hairpin bends amidst thick forests, is a fascinating experience. Irulas and Mudugars are the main tribes inhabiting the Waynad region which houses the rain soaked Lakkidi as a famous Hill Station in India. The Waynad region is home to Malleswari Peak, which is home to an India renowned Shiva Lingam.

Our first destination was Lakkidi. We reached Lakkidi at 10:30am. The view from Lakkidi is fantastic, nature at its best. Every where we can see the greenery. After spending some time over there it started drizzling. We left from Lakkidi at 10:50am.

View from Lakkidi

The wet road at Lakkidi

Pookot Lake
Pookot Lake, about 13 kms from Kalpetta, is undoubtedly the most beautiful tourist spot in the whole of Wayanad. The lake nestles in the lap of mountains surrounding it. Boating in the Pookot Lake is a memorable experience. Tall trees and dense forests that line along the pathway around the lake provide a visual treat. A freshwater acquarium with a large variety of fish is an added attraction.

With its own dream-like serenity, this natural fresh water lake surrounded by meadows and trees on all sides is a haven for peace-loving travellers. It is located half way from Calicut, half an hour ahead of Kalpetta. The weather here is salacious; the scenic beauty, hypnotising and the nature, unspoiled. The pathway around the lake is lined by thick bushes and tall trees which further add to the overall charm. One of the main tributaries of the Kabani River – the Panamaram rivulet originates from Pookot Lake and then tumbles down into Panamaram valley.

This is a beautiful natural fresh water lake surrounded by evergreen forest and wooded hills. Boating facilities, Children's Park and shopping centre for handicrafts and spices of Wyanad are arranged by District Tourism Promotion Council. These provides recreational facilities to the visitors. The lake has an area of 8.5ha.and the maximum water depth is 6.5mtrs.The lake is 3 km south of vythiri resorts.

At 10:55am we reached the Pookot Lake. The entry fee is Rs.10 for individual person. Some of us went for boating, some gone for exploring the forest like woods over there. Tourists can walk around the lake. One thing we need to care about is the leach. We left Pookot lake at 12:05pm.

Entry board

Queue for boating

Big trees and ponds can be found around the lake

Lake view

Lunch
We had lunch at 12:55pm. It was a nice lunch, every one enjoyed the food.


After having a really nice lunch we headed to Soochipara at 2:00pm. On the way to Soochipara lots of tea gardens can be found. Here are the snaps of a few of them.


Our bus got stuck in the mud, on the way to Soochipara. The roads are slippery and they are not wide enough for this kind of large buses.
Soochipara
This falls is around 22 km from Kalpetta, situated near Meppadi. This is one among different other waterfalls present in Wayanad. But Soochipara falls stands apart. One can reach the waterfalls after a 2-km walk into the dense equatorial forest of Wayanad. Here, one can find nature at its thundering best. Soochipara is a 3-tiered, powerful waterfall. The waterfall ranged from 100 to 300 feet in height and is a luxury to the eyes. This is a prominent place for leisurely destination. This place is a blessed place as its divinity is obvious in the beauty of the nature. And the cliff face here is ideal for rock climbing.

We reached Soochipara at 3:35pm. We had to walk for a km to reach the rock and the waterfall. We had lots of fun in the water pool -bathing, playing etc. The way to the rock (Soochipara) was blocked as the way was too slippery. Hence we didn’t visit the rock, the needle rock. We left Soochipara at 4:50pm

Path to Soochipara rock and waterfall

Waterfall at Soochipara

Nipin's home
Our next destination was Nipin's home. Journey to Nipin's home was exciting. Since the road to his home was not wide we had to catch jeep for reaching his home. We can find lots of jeep running as taxi in Wayanad. We had tea from Nipin's home. We left Nipin's home at 7:40pm.


Hotel (Sultan Battery)

Now we need to find a place to stay. We had booked for rooms at a hotel at Sultan Battery. It was a good hotel, buffet was also available for dinner. We decided to had food from outside, as it was very costly.


Sultan Battery is a medium town in Wayanad district of Kerala, India. It derives its present name from Tipu Sultan of Mysore who captured the Jain temple here and used it as his battery here in the 18th century, hence the name Sultan's Battery. Later, came to be known as Sulthan Bathery, its Malayalam version of the name.

The town is the largest town in Wayanad District.It lies on the Kozhikode -Mysore National Highway (NH 212).98 km from Kozhikode town. It is also 115 kilometers from Mysore and about 100 kilometers from Ooty (Udagamandalam). The people primarily depend on agriculture for living.

Sultan Bathery is situated about 930 metres above mean sea level. One could find beautiful folded hills across the horizon. The climate is pleasant throughout the year.The town sees the National Highway 212 passing through.The town is the centre of tourism in Wayanad District.

Dinner
We had dinner from a near by restaurant from the hotel we stayed. Some people opted for going to "thatuukada" to have dinner.

The story of Day 2 in the next post. A journey through the Muthanga wildlife santuary.