Wayanad District, Kerala.
It is a nice hilly region with beautiful coffee estates spread across this piece of the earth. It is pleasure to be around this place driving across the ghats cutting the coffee estates. It is also highly recommended as an apt tourist destination if you have got couple of days with you and planning to get away from this hectic City Life. Wayanad constitutes of many picturesque places one must see while in this district. It is north of kerala and is different from the other side of kerala viz., trivandrum, kovallam. cochin etc.
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Drive around the hills, Wayanad |
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Landscape, Wayanad |
Travel:
This is pleasure driving and one can thoroughly enjoy the thick forest while driving. It is adventurous too with sign boards indication caution signs for wild animals (it is very safe as long as you are not getting out of the car and spending some leisure time).
The route is, Bangalore - Mysore(140km) - Nanjangud (50km) - Gundlupet (40km) - Sultan Bathery (55km) and you are in Wayanad. The distance happens to be around 280Kms, and believe it, one will never have felt the distance due to excellent road conditions. It takes around 4 to 5 hours of time to reach Kalpetta, Wayanad. If one starts at 7am in the morning from Bangalore, then one can estimate to reach by 1:30pm in the noon with an hour of breaks for refreshments.
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Route View |
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Drive around the Coffee Estates |
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Drive Around the Coffee Estates |
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Coffee Estate |
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Road View, on the way to Wayanad |
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Road View, On the way to Wayanad |
Stay:
There are many good resorts and hotel rooms in Wayanad. Especially in Kalpetta which around 20 odd kms from Sultan Bathery. Kalpetta is the right place to halt as all the tourist places described below are nearer from this place. Except for Meenumutti Falls. The most prefered resort is Vythiri which is little deep in the forest/plantations. But it is pleasure staying in this resort however it is little expensive. If one prefers to stay in a Hotel, then a better option would be Woodlands Hotel in Kalpetta. It is quite reasonable and very accessible.
Places to visit and Why one have to ?
Banasura Sagar Dam
This place is awesome. There is always enough water in this place and the dam is really huge. One has to have enough energy to work on the dam from one end to the other. The other attractions are motor boats, at a reasonable cost the boat men take you around riding into the peaceful water. It is definitely a thrilling experience. The water is clean and it does not stink.
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Banasura Sagar Dam |
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Banasura Sagar Dam |
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Banasura Sagar Dam |
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Banasura Sagar Dam and Park |
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A Motor Boat Ride |
Looks dumb from outside. But once you get to top of the dam, you can see a wonderful landscape. More like a reservoir though. In that one can take ride on a speedboat worth 450Rs for 15 minutes. Trust me, it's really worth it. The Dam is quite a walking distance with some steps to climb from the parking place. So it is better be prepared.
Karalad Lake
Filled with Lotuses. No boat rides. Looks good for pictures though.
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Nice Lotuses |
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More Lotuses |
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Another view |
Pookod Lake
Very nice place. Boat Ride(normal) available but Lake closes by 6PM.
Sad thing about Wayanad District is Life starts to shut down by 8 PM itself.
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Reflection of Sun in the clear waters. |
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Pookod Lake |
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Premises of Pookod Lake |
Chain Tree
As the tale goes, an Adivasi youth named Karinthandan was instrumental in guiding a British Engineer through the difficult mountain terrain into Wayanad. Eager to take credit for the discovery, the engineer conveniently killed his guide, whose soul according to the legend constantly haunted subsequent travelers. It is further believed that a priest chained the troublesome spirit onto this tree. Worth the visit.
(Pictures are not allowed...)
Lakkidi View Point
Just a kilometre from Chain Tree is this place. On the way to Shabarimala from Wayanad.
known as the ‘Gateway of Wayanad’, Lakkidi is an ideal place to experience the awe-inspiring beauty of Wayanad.Lying close to Lakkidi is an amazing vantage point – the Lakkidi View Point, offering dazzling views of the surrounding cliffs and valleys
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View Point |
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Some Construction, Visible from the view point |
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View Point |
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View Point Land Mark |
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Traffic on the Road visible from the View Point |
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View Point |
Kanthampara Falls
Water falling from max height of 10-15 feet. Surrounding landscape is good and the route one gotta take from Main road to is this place is beautiful. If you can get here by 10am, then you will get privacy and can enjoy for quite sometime.
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Slight Aerial View |
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Another View |
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View from the other side of the falls. |
Meenmutty Falls
One of the most Adventurous and Dangerous place I've ever visited all my life. Trekking/Walking down the mountain terrain with rope as support at some places, other places you got to stay towards the rock and walk. One wrong move and you ll be risk life. You got to pay for entry and also you are putting your life at little risk. Trust me on is it tiring, but worth it for adventure.
Once you are near the Falls, it will surely take your breath away. Worth it and must visit. This is the only place which is little away from Kalpetta and a drive of 45mins to 1 hour is expected. And this happens to be the key spot if you are in Wayanad for tourism.
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Falls @ the Bottom |
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Falls at its best. |
Sunrise Valley
Road leading to Sunrise Valley is hopeless. But then once you reach the place, you ll get a beautiful view of Mountains and a Valley. Best place to be there is either at Sunrise or Sunset.
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Sunrise View |
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Sunrise View |
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Sunrise View |
Soochipara Falls
1 km of walk inside the forest. Easily accessible and No RISKS when compared to Meenmutty Falls. Once you get here, you will surely love it.
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Sochipara Falls |
Karapuzha Dam
Looks dumb from outside though. Once near the Dam, you get to see a wonderful landscape. Best time to be is during Sunset.
Thirunelli Temple
In my opinion this is a must visit temple as it is unique in nature and located at an altitude. This is a very divine place with lot of sanctity. It is little hard drive but definitely worth it. One need to watch out the route and you will hardly find people on the course of your journey to this place. However there are good sign boards which will guide you to this place. The best part after reaching this place is, you can find a UDUPI hotel. If you are craving for some Karnataka Food, I bet you will love this.
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Main Temple |
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Inside the temple premises |
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Nice Hoarding |
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Showing the Hills behind the temple |
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Some Staying Place |
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Udupi Restaurant |
Also visited Phantom Rocks, Pazhassi Raja Tomb
No wonder people call it " God's own country ".
Let's talk about Food
If you are from Karnataka, then one will have difficulty w.r.t Food. Believe it or not, no one eats meals for dinner. Coconut Oil is used even for Pickles, that's tastes nice in a way. In the afternoons, for lunch, if one likes boiled rice or would like to try then just hop into any of the local restaurants and you could enjoy the same. In case, you are against such rich, then one should survive with Chapati, Parota. There are couple of udupi restaurants in Kalpetta who serve perfect recipes of Bangalore, but please note the timings and there is no meals at dinner even here. Non Veggies will not have any problems.
People: Friendly and Helping. Could find people talking in Kannada
Overall
Place: 10/10, Hotels and Hospitality: 8/10, Food: 810. Night Life - 1/10( everything closes by 8:30 PM)
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