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Published: February 18th 2010
I left the pary scene of Goa on the night of 15th Feb, taking an overnight train to Kozhikode (all the locals still call it Calicut).
Wayanad district, is about 3 hours road trip from Calicut and I took a KSRTC bus to get there. Well, the cost logic made complete sense (it costs 5% that of a taxi cost 😊 It was one helluva bone-crunching, nerve-wrecking ride, especially in the nine hairpin bends thats there in the ghats between Calicut and Wayanad.
We all have screamed at rash bus drivers when in our cars, well if you sit inside a bus, its even more crazy 😊 but those guys usually know what they are doing and music sure helped in enjoying the scenery rather than focusing on the few inches separating the edge of the bus tires and the cliff 😊
A state transport bus ride has its moments. While the people who travel in it may have lots of problems in their lives, they sure have an amazing sense of humor once you get talking to them. I guess that sense of humor is what makes the common Indian such an intriguing person. A joke, a
smile is never too far away when you are amidst the common Indian 😊 And if you share music with them (I shared mine with an old couple, must be in their 70s), well then the conversation gets even more interesting. It was awesome to see the reaction on the old man's face listening to Beatles (he requested me to turn the volume to max, saying that his wife still doesnt let him listen to loud music at home, so this was his chance 😊 Some things remain the same irrespective of nation, class, age 😊
Wayanad is known to be one of the most beautiful (and least visted) parts of Kerala. The wildlife sanctuary at Wayanad borders two other sanctuaries, Bandipura in Karnataka and Pudhumalai in Tamil Nadu. I visited the sanctuary through the Muthang gate, but cant say it was a great experience in terms of wild animal sightings (very high standards after Kenya). But the sanctuary itself was a calm place, not much crowd
After the sanctuary, I visted Edakkal Caves, the driver said its only 1KM walk from the place where he dropped me, he forgot to mention that the place climbs up 500m
in that 1km walk 😊 Was pooped with that walk, but enjoyed it. After that I went to a waterfall and did something I havent done in a long time, sat under the waterfall like for an hour 😊
Feeling refreshed and post lunch, went to Pookot Lake, through some really picturesque drives of tea plantations. Pookot Lake is a place where one can go completely silent and just enjoy the calmness of the water.
Finished the day off by visiting the viewpoint of Wayanad which gives great view of a significant part of the district (love the greenery) and also of the windings roads we had come through. A measure of how dangerous the roads are was evident from an accident that had taken place there just the night before (private bus went over the edge, 3 died)
After almost 9 hours of being on the road, was back at the hotel and crashed early. Next day got back to Calicut (enjoyed the ride more this time) for a night's stop-over before the next stop
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Gouri
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winding roads ....wooooo
winding roads will surely churn ur interiors.... :) i love the water fall pic......