Wayanad - Day 2

Read Day 1 here 

Vettaiyan got released and learnt Ratan Tata expired. 

After breakfast we started out Day 2 at 09:00 AM. Our first stop was at Karapuzha Dam. There was almost no crowd when we reached there around 10:15 AM. There are some standard rides there and there is also longest Zipline. They have VR zones like we see in any city mall. But the dam and the garden around that and the view of the mountains from there is awesome. It is well maintained.

Our next destination was Edakkal caves. I didn't know what was in store and it is not a easy one. From parking till the ticket counter is a steep walk. There are lot of shops on the way and every one literally pulls you. From the ticket counter to the actual cave is a heavy climb. But I could see small kids just doing it easily. At last when you reach the cave it feels good. The downward journey is also not an easy one. My legs are still aching.

We had lunch after that and headed towards Muthanga for 15:00 Hrs safari. We reached the ticketing counter by 14:45 but they opened exactly at 15:00 Hrs. The Jeep costs Rs 2000 and for the bus it is Rs 350 per head. They said no Jeep available so I went ahead for the bus but we had to wait till the bus is full. The safari started around 16:00 Hrs. The trip lasted an hour during which we could see few Elephants, some were walking with humans, and few Deers. Other than that it was just the expanse of the trees. Some fell asleep. It was raining and it was very chilly.

On the way back we stopped at the Jain temple. There is nothing much to see but I could tick off that in my list.

We came back the resort around 18:45.

It was raining on and off and it was mostly chilly. It gets chilly especially during the nights.

To continue in Day 3.

Wayanad - Day 1

 Based on recommendation from a friend who visited Wayanad few months back I planned to visit Wayanad between Oct 9 - 12. I booked my tickets for Chennai to Kozhikode and return and also blocked hotel bookings. Post that Wayanad was badly impacted because of rains. The news that was coming out was very grim. I did not change my plans and still went ahead with the visit.

We started from Chennai on Oct 8th taking Mangaluru mail from Chennai Central. The train started at 20:10 and we reached Kozhikode 10 mins delayed at 07:40 on the 9th of Oct. Prior to this I searched on what to do in Wayanad and prepared plan based on location of the places where I was planning to stay.

I had chosen Sylvan resort for my stay based on my search in agoda and bookings. I called the resort directly and made the bookings. They also gave me a reference to a driver and I had arranged for him to pick us at 07:30 at Kozhikode. He was there waiting for us as we reached Kozhikode. We got into the cab and our first stop was for breakfast at Annapoorna around 09:00.

Then we proceeded towards Wayanad and the route offers some scenic views of the mountain. There are 9 hairpin bends. The roads are quite wide. We stopped at Lakkidi view point. It was not as cold as I expected. The view was great.

The next stop was at En Ooru a tribal village set up. We have to wait for a Jeep to take us further inside and there are two options to book the Jeep. You can either book an entire Jeep or book for shared. Booking for shared is not a good option as we had to wait for 8 people. Many people book their own Jeep so wait time is high for shared option. En Ooru has some shops and scenic settings in the top of the mountain. There is some good amount of walking.

The next stop was at Honey museum and one volunteer comes with each visitor group and explains interesting things about bees. I learnt a lot about drone bees, queen bees, worker bees, bee wax, different types of honey etc. There is a shop where you can buy different honey.

Had lunch around 13:30 in Vythri and when we came out of the hotel it started raining and we reached the resort. The resort is set in Kalpetta and it is around 2 kms from Kalpetta town and the road is not a easy route. It is situated in remote part and it will be difficult to walk to nearby places.

The resort itself is surrounded by thick forest. It was as if you are inside a jungle. The view from the room was great. The staff are very friendly. The only gripe I had was it was raining continuously. The staff took us around the resort which has a farm, a pond and some interesting plants. All the while it was raining and he warned us about leech, so I was looking out for leeches throughout the walk. 

We settled inside the room for the rest of the day and I started typing this. The resort has good wifi connection. There is a great little pool as well and kids playing area.

I am hoping for a sunny day tomorrow and hope we will be able to hit some of the places I had planned.

This is my first visit to Kerala. Everyone I spoke to can respond in Malayalam mixed Tamil. It is slightly difficult to understand but we can manage. Buses mostly has name boards only in Malayalam which is a problem for non natives.

Will update more in the next post.

பறக்கும் பாம்பு

பாம்புகள் என்றாலே சிறு வயது முதல் எனக்கு ஒரு ஈடுபாடு. பாம்பை பிடித்து விளையாடும் அளவுக்கு பெரிய ஆள் இல்லையென்றாலும் அதை பார்த்து ரசிப்பது எனக்கு பிடிக்கும்.

சில நேரங்களில் பாதுகாப்பிற்காக பாம்புகளை கொன்றிருக்கிறேன் சோகத்தோடு. இதற்கு காரணம் பாம்பு என்றாலே விஷம், மரணம் என்று மனதில் பதிந்து இருப்பதால் தான்.

பாம்புகளில் தான் எத்தனை வகைகள். உங்களுக்கும் பாம்புகளில் ஈடுபாடு இருக்குமாயின் இந்த http://www.flyingsnake.org/ இணையதளத்தை பாருங்கள். பறக்கும் பாம்புகளைப்பற்றி சில நல்ல படங்கள் உள்ளன.

சென்னையில் பாம்பு

சுமார் இரண்டு வாரங்களுக்கு முன்பு சர்ச்சுக்கு கிளம்பிக்கொண்டிருந்தேன் ஒருவன் ஓடி வந்தான். "பாம்பு பிடிக்கிறவர் போன் நம்பர் வேண்டும்" என்றான். எங்கள் வீட்டுப்பக்கம் பாம்புகள் நடமாட்டம் உண்டு. என் தம்பியை கூப்பிட்டு வாங்கி கொடுத்தேன்.

சர்ச்சு முடிந்து வந்தவுடன் அவர்கள் பிடித்தது ஒரு பெரிய சாரை பாம்பு என்று அற்ந்து கொண்டேன். பார்த்தவர்கள் அது மிகவும் பெரிதாக இருந்ததாக கூறினர்.

இதற்கு முன்பு பலமுறை பாம்புகள் வந்துள்ளன, இதில் கஷ்டம் என்ன என்றால் அவைகள் வீட்டுக்குள் வந்து உட்கார்ந்தாலும் நமக்கு அவைகள் தெரியாது. எங்கேயாவது எதையாவது நோண்டும் போது விருட்டென்று வெளியே வரும். கடவுள் தான் ஒவ்வொரு முறையும் அதை கண்களில் பட வைக்கிறார்.

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சிவாஜி டிரைலர் பார்த்தே, ரஜினி மிகவும் அம்சமாக உள்ளார். எதிர்பார்ப்பு அதிகமாகிவிட்டது. சீக்கிரம் வாங்க சிவாஜி.