God's own country..
The much awaited,most anticipated,most ill-planned trip to the god's own country finally happened last weekend.A little insight into the ill-planned part of the trip..Ever since we got to know abina was going back home we had been wanting to go to wayanad...especially after all the questioning session i had with abina in third yr..i was more than enthued n excited to see the place..so the four of us (me ,g ,tik and ant) started talking abt the trip..all along it dint strike any of us that vishu was round the corner and we mite not get tickets.such things werent even considered.we initially had plans of directly going to majestic n getting tickets..but some sane being amongst us thot we shud book in advance and hence tried..there came the disappointment..no tickets available till 17th april..we were all heart broken..but that dint deter us from calling up all arbid travels and finding out ticket availability...we finally did manage to find one ofcourse at an atrocious rate..but such things were least considred..nothing cud stop us from making the trip..hence started our journey at 10 friday night.
It was a pretty comfortable bus journey and we reached Kalpetta,one of the towns of Wayanad district around 5 saturday morning.We were feeling sad for abina and her dad who had to come all the way from Panamaram(this is where abina stays,30 mins from kalpetta) to pick us up at wee hours..but things cudnt be helped...we met them at kalapetta and started towards panamaram when one of the tyres got punctured..we werent planning to let such things dampen our spirits by calling it bad omen..so we took it in the right sense and changed the tyre and started the journey..we cudnt see much of the surroundings as it was still very dark and we were too tired that we jus wanted to hit the beds straight away and thats exactly wat we did...
We woke up around 9 and went for bfast..greeted by the smell of puttu wafting from the kitchen..we were too kicked abt the whole thing..having authentic mallu food..something which we've been longing for all along..the day started on a good note with a brilliant breakfast...we desperately needed to walk after bfast since all of us had hogged like no man's business..abina took us around HER plantations..wat a sight!!!!it was jus wonderful..so much of greenery..all at once..too much to take especially for us who had seen nothing close to that in chennai or even blore for that matter..the very fact that we were breathing cold fresh air in wayand was thrilling..thats definitely a luxury considering the traffic in blore or chennai..through the plantations we proceeded to reach a river bank..river bhawani..the weather was pretty hot but the water was cold..it was a pleasure walking across the river on the check damn with water lapping at our feet..it was past 1 in the afternoon and we had to get back coz we had a loong journey ahead to soochipara falls...
aunty packed lunch for all of us along with loadsa fruits n stuff and we started to soochipara falls..it was long drive around 50 kms,and when we finally reached the sky had darkened a bit not becoz it was late but becoz it was abt to pour..all of us were secreetly praying it shud stop wth a slight drizzle and not rain on our hopes n plans..and our prayers were answered..we had a late lunch near the falls and after that started the trek..we had to trek close to a km to reach the bottom of the falls..since rainy season hadnt begun yet there wasnt much water but still it was worth all the walk n travel..we had to leave in a hurry coz we had to reach pookottu lake which wud close by 6 in the evening..
by the time we reached the lake,it was close to 6 and they had stopped letting in people for boating..we were too disappointed..it was a close shot..there again luck shone on us and they agreed to let us boat!!!!that was like totally unexpected..we boated in the lake which had naturally taken india's shape..it was like a map in water..another of nature's creations..it was beginning to get dark and we had one more place to cover before heading back home..the hairpin bends....
the road connecting calicut and wayanad has 9 hairpin bends each of which is too steep and a proper 180 degrees turn..we literally had to cling to the jeep so that we dont get thrown out..therz a small story associated with these bends..a long time back when there werent proper roads and routes one local man came up with a proper route connecting calicut and wayand..the britishers dint want the man to take pride in finding the route hence beheaded him after getting all details from him..after that roads were laid and a proper route came into existence..ever since that hapened any vehicle which went by those hairpin bends met with an accident..the story here is the soul of the man was angry..so they had to do some poojas and stuff and pacify the soul.therz a huge tree in the beginning of the road lading to the bends..the belief is that the soul of the man is chained to the tree..so any vehicle that passes by has to stop at the tree and the ppl hav to pray for a safe journey back n forth..we followed the belief and prayed for a safe return...
it was very dark by the time we strarted back home and we went out for dinner..we had nice parottas,another speciality of kerala with stew..it tasted heavenly..we had to get back to bed early coz we had a long day ahead of us....the nxt day morn we woke up and the first thing on agenda was visting the family temple of paashunatha and padmavathy..the god and goddess of the temple ..considered to be very powerful deities..after that we had to get back home for bfast.again we were greeted with another mallu delicacy..aapam with stew..no one realised how many of those aapams were going in and we stopped only at the stage where we thot our stomachs wud burst...
.after bfast we started on our journet to kurva dweep..an island 20 kms away from wayanad....by the time we reached we were totally excited abt being on an island..a first time experience for most of us....we were 9 of us and only one boat was available..since one was already ready some of us hopped onto the boat and coaxed the boatman to take us around the river surrounding the island..the others waited on the bank for the nxt boat..the boat ride was wonderful..we went under the archs that some trees made with the river..things which we've seen in movies..such overwhelming beauty....our happiness knew no bounds ..we spotted some weird birds..finaly we were ferried across to the island..it had nothing but trees..such wild growth..we were hoping to sight some snakes atleast..but were pretty satisfied with the snake skin we found on the island..
the river biforcates in the beginning and as it flows splits into many more small rivers each encircling an island..kurva dweep is a collection of 65 islands apparently..we crossed lotsa small rivers to reach the other side of the bank..ran over rocks n stones..had lunch in the middle of the water each of us perched on rocks..one of the best luncheons ever..no one had the heart to get out of water except for anta who was more than happy:)...we had to walk back qite a lot to reach the ferry point..we were again ferried back and we left the place and started towards tholpetty,wild life sanctuary....i was too kicked abt spotting wild animals and was praying desperately that we shud spot atleast a lion:D..
when we reached tholpetty we had to get permission to use our own vehicle inside the forest and a guide accompanied us....all of us were sitting on the edge of our seats ready to spot wild life...the weather was good..cool breeze and a slight drizzle..perfect..wat more cud we ask for..as we drove inside there was no sign of life let alone wild life...we were kinda getting sad when we suddenly spotted 3 wild buffalos running around n playing..they had such sharp horns..some of us were kinda taken aback and held on to the person sitting nxt to them for assurance....the excitement started all over and continued when we spotted wild elephants with such looong shaaarp tusks..they wud kill a person with one slight stab..that sharp...we had to maitain the noise level down so that they dont get scared...i was still hoping we wud spot a tiger or a lion..but in vain..the other half of the drive all we spotted were more elephants deers and a wild pig:(
the trip was getting more fun by the minute but we started sulking coz we had to leave that night..no one had the heart to leave..we drove back home and in the way stopped at some ayurvedic medicine shop..we bought quite a lot of things and headed home..our luck..there was no power coz it had rained heavily in panamaram whne we werent thr...so we had to spend the rest of the evening in darkness..we packed our bags with a heavy heart..aunty asked us to stay back till vishu n then leave..if only we cud:( jus before dinner we were in for a surprise..uncle gave each of us loadsa pepper and coffee beans from their plantation and a few vailla beans too..oh btw..till i saw it two days back i was under the assumption vanilla was a synthetic flavor..but it comes from beans..its basically a climber ..the beans hav to be dried and processed to be used...uncle gav us a few vanilla beans as souvenir...it was time to leave..with a heavy heart we bid our byes to the rest of the family..promising them that we wud get back again:)it was one helluva trip!!!!! (snaps will be added soon)
It was a pretty comfortable bus journey and we reached Kalpetta,one of the towns of Wayanad district around 5 saturday morning.We were feeling sad for abina and her dad who had to come all the way from Panamaram(this is where abina stays,30 mins from kalpetta) to pick us up at wee hours..but things cudnt be helped...we met them at kalapetta and started towards panamaram when one of the tyres got punctured..we werent planning to let such things dampen our spirits by calling it bad omen..so we took it in the right sense and changed the tyre and started the journey..we cudnt see much of the surroundings as it was still very dark and we were too tired that we jus wanted to hit the beds straight away and thats exactly wat we did...
We woke up around 9 and went for bfast..greeted by the smell of puttu wafting from the kitchen..we were too kicked abt the whole thing..having authentic mallu food..something which we've been longing for all along..the day started on a good note with a brilliant breakfast...we desperately needed to walk after bfast since all of us had hogged like no man's business..abina took us around HER plantations..wat a sight!!!!it was jus wonderful..so much of greenery..all at once..too much to take especially for us who had seen nothing close to that in chennai or even blore for that matter..the very fact that we were breathing cold fresh air in wayand was thrilling..thats definitely a luxury considering the traffic in blore or chennai..through the plantations we proceeded to reach a river bank..river bhawani..the weather was pretty hot but the water was cold..it was a pleasure walking across the river on the check damn with water lapping at our feet..it was past 1 in the afternoon and we had to get back coz we had a loong journey ahead to soochipara falls...
aunty packed lunch for all of us along with loadsa fruits n stuff and we started to soochipara falls..it was long drive around 50 kms,and when we finally reached the sky had darkened a bit not becoz it was late but becoz it was abt to pour..all of us were secreetly praying it shud stop wth a slight drizzle and not rain on our hopes n plans..and our prayers were answered..we had a late lunch near the falls and after that started the trek..we had to trek close to a km to reach the bottom of the falls..since rainy season hadnt begun yet there wasnt much water but still it was worth all the walk n travel..we had to leave in a hurry coz we had to reach pookottu lake which wud close by 6 in the evening..
by the time we reached the lake,it was close to 6 and they had stopped letting in people for boating..we were too disappointed..it was a close shot..there again luck shone on us and they agreed to let us boat!!!!that was like totally unexpected..we boated in the lake which had naturally taken india's shape..it was like a map in water..another of nature's creations..it was beginning to get dark and we had one more place to cover before heading back home..the hairpin bends....
the road connecting calicut and wayanad has 9 hairpin bends each of which is too steep and a proper 180 degrees turn..we literally had to cling to the jeep so that we dont get thrown out..therz a small story associated with these bends..a long time back when there werent proper roads and routes one local man came up with a proper route connecting calicut and wayand..the britishers dint want the man to take pride in finding the route hence beheaded him after getting all details from him..after that roads were laid and a proper route came into existence..ever since that hapened any vehicle which went by those hairpin bends met with an accident..the story here is the soul of the man was angry..so they had to do some poojas and stuff and pacify the soul.therz a huge tree in the beginning of the road lading to the bends..the belief is that the soul of the man is chained to the tree..so any vehicle that passes by has to stop at the tree and the ppl hav to pray for a safe journey back n forth..we followed the belief and prayed for a safe return...
it was very dark by the time we strarted back home and we went out for dinner..we had nice parottas,another speciality of kerala with stew..it tasted heavenly..we had to get back to bed early coz we had a long day ahead of us....the nxt day morn we woke up and the first thing on agenda was visting the family temple of paashunatha and padmavathy..the god and goddess of the temple ..considered to be very powerful deities..after that we had to get back home for bfast.again we were greeted with another mallu delicacy..aapam with stew..no one realised how many of those aapams were going in and we stopped only at the stage where we thot our stomachs wud burst...
.after bfast we started on our journet to kurva dweep..an island 20 kms away from wayanad....by the time we reached we were totally excited abt being on an island..a first time experience for most of us....we were 9 of us and only one boat was available..since one was already ready some of us hopped onto the boat and coaxed the boatman to take us around the river surrounding the island..the others waited on the bank for the nxt boat..the boat ride was wonderful..we went under the archs that some trees made with the river..things which we've seen in movies..such overwhelming beauty....our happiness knew no bounds ..we spotted some weird birds..finaly we were ferried across to the island..it had nothing but trees..such wild growth..we were hoping to sight some snakes atleast..but were pretty satisfied with the snake skin we found on the island..
the river biforcates in the beginning and as it flows splits into many more small rivers each encircling an island..kurva dweep is a collection of 65 islands apparently..we crossed lotsa small rivers to reach the other side of the bank..ran over rocks n stones..had lunch in the middle of the water each of us perched on rocks..one of the best luncheons ever..no one had the heart to get out of water except for anta who was more than happy:)...we had to walk back qite a lot to reach the ferry point..we were again ferried back and we left the place and started towards tholpetty,wild life sanctuary....i was too kicked abt spotting wild animals and was praying desperately that we shud spot atleast a lion:D..
when we reached tholpetty we had to get permission to use our own vehicle inside the forest and a guide accompanied us....all of us were sitting on the edge of our seats ready to spot wild life...the weather was good..cool breeze and a slight drizzle..perfect..wat more cud we ask for..as we drove inside there was no sign of life let alone wild life...we were kinda getting sad when we suddenly spotted 3 wild buffalos running around n playing..they had such sharp horns..some of us were kinda taken aback and held on to the person sitting nxt to them for assurance....the excitement started all over and continued when we spotted wild elephants with such looong shaaarp tusks..they wud kill a person with one slight stab..that sharp...we had to maitain the noise level down so that they dont get scared...i was still hoping we wud spot a tiger or a lion..but in vain..the other half of the drive all we spotted were more elephants deers and a wild pig:(
the trip was getting more fun by the minute but we started sulking coz we had to leave that night..no one had the heart to leave..we drove back home and in the way stopped at some ayurvedic medicine shop..we bought quite a lot of things and headed home..our luck..there was no power coz it had rained heavily in panamaram whne we werent thr...so we had to spend the rest of the evening in darkness..we packed our bags with a heavy heart..aunty asked us to stay back till vishu n then leave..if only we cud:( jus before dinner we were in for a surprise..uncle gave each of us loadsa pepper and coffee beans from their plantation and a few vailla beans too..oh btw..till i saw it two days back i was under the assumption vanilla was a synthetic flavor..but it comes from beans..its basically a climber ..the beans hav to be dried and processed to be used...uncle gav us a few vanilla beans as souvenir...it was time to leave..with a heavy heart we bid our byes to the rest of the family..promising them that we wud get back again:)it was one helluva trip!!!!! (snaps will be added soon)
posted by Sukanya at 3:44 AM
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