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| Wayanad Ghats |
Date: 29, 30, 31-March 2013
Group: Dimple and me
Mode of travel: Self driven Ford Figo
Total Distance: 840 KM
Total Fuel: 4500/-
Things to do at Wayand:
1. Take every morning walk at the estates around. Spend time there and relax.
2. Drive on the inside roads. It is so scenic.
3. Find a spot over Kabini river and jump into water with the village kids. Ducks and fishes will also accompany you. One nice spot is (11.775885,76.053561).
4. Talk to local people and listen to them. I came to know about things which I never knew or had opposite views. A visit to tribal village is a nice thing to do.
5. Spend time at the Wayand Ghat. If you really want to enjoy the place, carry a sound proof head phone with some nice music. The traffic on the highway will soon spoil the fun otherwise.
6. Visit the waterfalls. I would suggest Irpu over Soochipara.
7. Visit Banasura Sagar Dam and KaraPuzha Dam.
8. Visit Kuruwa Island.
9. Trek: Chembra peak, Bhramagiri, etc.
Day 1
We started from Bangalore at 9. The last night was hectic so the plan was not to rush the next morning. We ended spending lot of time in the city for starting late. By the time we crossed Mysore road-Nice road Junction, it was already 12:30. Not just time but the mess of the city roads is not a great start to God's own country.
The breakfast was done at Guru Hotel (12.792593,77.379405). It is a small place on the road side, no where compared to the famous Kamat but the tatte idlies are unbeatable. A cab drive took me here and since then I have looked nowhere else.
Further, we got stuck in traffic jam at Mandya for around 30 minutes. We reached Mysore ring road around 2:30. From there we took the Hunsur road to enter the Nagarhole National park. Just like every time, there were lots of deers and few elephants. No tiger even this time.
We reach Irpu Water falls at 4:30. 5 is the closing time so we were just in time. Without wasting much time, we took few clothes, camera and water bottle. It took around 20 minutes to reach the water fall. The first time was to jump under the natural shower. The best thing about Irpu water fall is that the access is very good. There is a ramp being made till under the water. The water amount was just perfect. Not less to reduce the fun and not more to give a hit. Every time I stepped under the fall to make it a one-last-time move but ended making many of such moves. It was very relieving. The other best part is the return walk is all the down hill and under the trees. So once does not get tired or start sweating.
From there we started towards Thirunelly. The drive is though the dense forest and the roads are full of curves. The Temple of the town looks very old and have a divine feeling. Not to mention the scenic view is simply amazing.
The night winded at the Misty Mount Home stay.
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| Nagarhole Deer - Every one gets to see this |
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| Nagarhole Deer - Every one gets to see this |
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| Nagarhole Deer - Every one gets to see this |
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| Nagarhole Deer - Every one gets to see this |
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| Nagarhole Elephant - Every one gets to see this |
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| Way to Irpu Water Falls |
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| Irpu Water Fall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Irpu Waterfall |
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| Misty Mount Homestay |
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| View from our balcony at Misty Mount homestay |
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| Kabini River |
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| Man pulling the baboo raft boat while going to Kuruva Island |
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| Bamboo raft at Kabini River |
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| Bamboo raft at Kabini River |
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| Kuruva Island |
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| Kuruva Island |
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| Kuruva Island |
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| Trek to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Trek to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Trek to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Trek to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Trek to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Reached to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall - All dried up |
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| View from Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Return Trek from Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| View from Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Banasura Sagar Dam |
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| Special Hat for the security guard at Banasura Sagar Dam |
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| Banasura Sagar Dam |
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| Banasura Sagar Dam |
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| Hut at the top of Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall |
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| Fun at Kabini River with Village kids, Ducks and fishes |
Day 2
The day started with a visit to Kuruva Island. The visit started with a Bamboo raft ride to cross the river followed by a walk at the Island and then river crossing between the rocks.
From there we went to Banasuramala Meenmutty Waterfall which was complete dry. Still we were enthused enough to trek till the top which gives a nice view of the valley and also of the Banasura Sagar Dam. On the return we had meals at a local restaurant and then halted at the Dam. There is a speed boat service at the dam but we were more comfortable sitting at the shores and looking at the view. While the return, we stopped at a bridge over the Kabini river. After parking the car on the road side, we climbed down and jumped into the river. There were village people enjoying and having fun. Not just that there were ducks and fishes to accompany us.
The day ended up with chatting to Mr. Binny about many topic like environment, farming, hospitality industry at Kerala, etc. He took us to a local coconut oil mill from where we bought 5 ltr of fresh oil at Rs 75/ltr. We also bought some other fresh spices like red chilly power, coriander power, black pepper, and Vanilla. I came to know that Vanilla is actually a plant.
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| Sunrise at Misty Mount homestay |
Day 3
We checked out of the home stay and started towards Wayanad Ghat. The view is amazing. On the way back we visited Soochipara Water Falls. The drive is very scenic among tea estates and smooth roads. However, I was not very impressed with the falls. The walk is too long specially the return walk which involves good amount of up hill. Not that we were tired but no one likes sweat after enjoying a water fall. Also, the rocks under the fall are dangerous and slipper. One needs to be very careful. There is no proper place to stand there. Many people were slipping. I would recommend Irpu Water Falls over Soochipara.
From there we started driving back to Mysore via Sultan Bethary. We crossed Mysore around 6 only to meet very heavy rain fall on the highway. The visibility was low and the traffic was heavy. Most of the cars decided to halt on the road side. I decided to carry. We touched Nice raod at 9:45 only to realize that the rain stopped at the border of the city. It was 10:30 when we reached home. The sleep for that night and many more ahead was full of scenic view of the forest and green God's own country.
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| Misty Mount homestay |
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| Our Host at Misty Mount home stay |
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| Wayanad Ghat |
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| Roads at Ghat Section |
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| Soochipara Waterfalls |
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| Can't believe she clicked that - I was just doing the favor |
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| Tea Estates while Soochipara Waterfalls |
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| Tea Estates while Soochipara Waterfalls |
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| Tea Estates while Soochipara Waterfalls |
General Information
1. Consider only home stay or Farm/Estate Stays. Avoid hotels. There is nothing much at Wayand to excite. One goes there to feel the nature which cannot be done at city hotels. City are full of traffic and noise from buses and trucks. Because of the high capacity crowd from Bangalore even home stays are getting expensive but it is not hard to find reasonable places. Just get away from the cities and the Highway (NH 212).
2. There are two good routes from Bangalore to reach Wayanad. One is via Nagarhole Nation park (Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta-Kattikulam) which takes to North Wayanad. The other is via Bandipur National park (Mysore-Gundlupet-Sultan Bathary) which takes you to South Wayand and most of the celebrated tourist spots. I would suggest to take one route while going and other while coming back. Just keep in mind that Nagarhole road is closed from 6 PM to 6 AM. Better not to plan driving after dark in the hills and forest.
3. Sultan Bathery and Kalpetta are two major cities. Though one gets almost everything there, I would suggest to stay away from there. Believe me, most of the fun is in on the inside roads rather than reaching the destination.
4. Basic food options are available at almost all the places. Carry water at all the places. Since most of the places are reserved forest the system is to pay Rs 20 while carrying the plastic bottle which would be returned on bringing the plastic back. I wish this model is adopted every where.
5. While visiting few places get free up with loo where ever you see the option.
6. Roads are in good condition everywhere in Wayanad district.
