Trip to Wayanad (Rain Country Resort, Lakkidi, Kerala)

Trip date: 01 Oct to 03 Oct 2010 (3 days 2 nights)

Transport: Maruti SX4 driven by myself and my wife

Who all : Myself, my wife, my 2 kids and my parents

This time we absolutely hadn't planned for a trip. Not once, but several times I have noticed that trips which happen without much planning turn out to be much better. This was one such...

30th Sept 2010 (Thursday) was a day which was much in the news... Schools and colleges were closed for next 2 days.. My company was closely watching the situation around... Police had issued section 144 (no crowding in public places).. come 3:00 PM the whole country (India) was glued to TVs.. CRPF and para-military forces were on high-alert in and around Ayodhya.... Yes as you might have already guessed, it was the day when Allahabad high-court was supposed to release the verdict on "Ayodhya Ram Temple" issue.

Since my wife had holiday for 4 consecutive days, she came up with the idea of going on a trip... but I was wondering what would be the consequence of the verdict however I gave her my 50-50 acceptance.. Verdict came... personally I felt it was a good decision by the judges. India reacted in a matured way... we observed the situation till the night and planned for the resorts in wayanad and finally we were 100% sure of leaving the next morning..

Trip Route:

Bangalore -> Mysore -> Nanjangud -> Gundlupet -> Sulthan Bathery -> Kalpetta -> Lakkidi

On the way, we had to pass through the beautiful strech of Bandipur Sanctuary.

Day 1 - 6:30AM - Departure from Bangalore

We headed on Mysore Road and decided to reach Mysore and stop for breakfast there. On reaching Mysore, we took the direction towards Exhibition field, then towards St.Philomena's Church and further.. On the way we stopped for breakfast at Vishnu Bhavan.

Day 1 - 8:30AM - Breakfast @ Vishnu Bhavan, Mysore

Post breakfast we headed on the national highway (NH212 - Bangalore to Calicut) towards Nanjangud. From Nanjangud, we headed in the direction of Gundlupet. Then we hit the Bandipur Sanctuary... it was all green and that stretch was quite beautiful. As soon as we entered the forest there was a sign board "No parking, No Horn (honking), No picnic".... wondered what happens if some vehicle breaks down!!!. Hmm.. on the positive side, roads are good... and unless there is some problem with the car nothing much would go wrong. Look around while you drive through.. if you are lucky you might notice some wildlife.. unfortunately we couldn't... We passed through Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta. From there our landmark was to find a Coffee Day outlet and further down, a college "Oriental School of Hotel Management". We asked for this college and headed further. We noticed the resort's sign-board pointing left and I could notice it would be an uphill journey. First it was 1.5 Kms of asphalted narrow uphill curvy road.. next ~1.5 Kms was gravel road. Up-hill the road was quite narrow, hardly one car could pass comfortably, but we faced a couple of on-coming vehicles.. yes cross-over was not very comfortable, but barely managed. Finally we reaced our 1st destination "Rain Country Resort"

Day 1 - 1:15PM - Reached Rain Country Resorts, Lakkidi, Kerala

We had a quick glimpse of the nature's creation around. We started shifting the luggage to the cottage.. We had the option of choosing either a "Wooden Cottage" or a "Cottage with open bath". Although latter was interesting for the open-bath option, we found the former to be of different style.. interiors of wooden cottage was entirely made of wood... hmm the name itself says so!!, its location (right in-front of a buzzing stream), adjacent to the dining-hall, the view from cottage, everything made us choose the "Wooden Cottage". Lunch was ready... and we were all very very hungry!! Post lunch we decided to hang around the resort and enjoy the nature's creation..

There were geese (2 of them) around the pool. They were the main attraction for Shreya & Shravya, who were all excited to see the geese from such a close corner.. Yes the geese did pose for me too.. It was getting misty, with a few rain drops here and there....

Kids and Deepa got into the mood of jumping into water.... Hmm.. the water stream right in front of our cottage was quite a fit.. By then it started drizzling, but that couldn't deter our moods.. We got down the stream and played for a while.. shravya too enjoyed .. After playing in cold water under the rain, it was time for hot water bath for the kids... I then noticed little black stuff sticking to shravya leg, tried wiping it off with the towel with no success... with a closer look I was shocked.... it was a leach!!! Luckily it had not yet attached fully... so it came out easily with almost no bleeding. Lucky Shravya...

Day 1 - 8:00PM - Dinner time

Menu: Phulka, mixed veg curry, dal tadka, pineapple raitha, rice, rasam, curd, fruit salad

Later in the night, we played some games with the kids.. they enjoyed all the attention... Soon it was time to sleep. I was planning for some bird photography in the morning... Set the alarm for 6AM.

Day 2 - 6:00AM - Wake up time...

It had rained the whole night and it was stilly misty outside. I could hear birds chirping.... but could notice very few birds.... probably rains played a spoiled sport!!! Deepa and kids woke up by then.. we also got morning coffee/tea. We then went for a walk around the resort..

Day 2 - 9:00AM - Breakfast time..

Menu: Bread-butter-jam, Poori Bhaji, Idi appam, Veg curry, Fruit juice..

Post breakfast it was time for us to go for some sight-seeing..... On returning, the plan was to shift to a new resort which was just next door... So we packed all the stuff, parked our car at the new resort. Hired a car for the trip..

There are quite a few places to look around...

+ Edakkal Caves

+ Kanthapara Waterfall

+ Pookot Lake

+ Banasura sagar dam

+ Wildlife sanctuary

+ Trekking... and .... many more..

However for us, we had seen a few places already (edakkal caves)... and this we wanted to keep it as a liesure trip.. So we just chose 2 places Banasura Sagar Dam and Kanthapara Falls.. First we went to the Dam.... Whats so special ??? Yes this is really special because this is a large dam surrounded by beautiful mountains.. This is a natural dam (minimum construction) which is also called as "earth dam". We also enjoyed boating in the dam, which was great too.. They take us in a speed boat for around the dam, closer along the mountains, its all so scenic and beautiful. I was so busy watching with my own eyes that I absolutely forgot to capture through my lenses...

Day 2 - 2:00PM - Lunch at Udipi Restaurant..

Then we headed towards the Kanthapara Falls... Its a 2 stage water falls.. which are about 100 mts apart.. First one is quite shallow.. but water is very very clear.. Kids can enjoy a lot walking in the water.. Its also possible for us to sit under the falls (it is just about 5 ft high), which we didnt do... coz it had started drizzling. After little walking in the water, we walked towards the next stage.. That was supposed to be a deep water fall... and we were at the top adjacent to where the water would fall from... We couldn't see the depth as it was all very very misty... but still it was a good experience.. under the rains, right next to a water fall... misty view... amazing.. gotto experience it to believe it.

Day 2 - 4:30PM - Reached Orchard Resort

Our second resort... all this multiple hops because of last minute planning.. but no regrets.. it was all good. This was of a different kind, but scenic again. We had a pool in front of the cottage, a water stream on the adjacent, another cottage on the other side of the pool and behind it the mountain range.. check out the picture..

After returning from the falls (all drenched in the drizzle), it was time for some hot hot onion pakoda and tea/coffee. Sitting in front of the cottage and sipping on tea/coffee while it was raining outside.. too hot.. too cool!!

Day 2 - 9:00PM - Dinner time

Menu: Phulka, dal, veg curry, rice...

After the dinner, we were all tired and soon it was sleep time.. Here be clear to specify whether you need veg or non-veg food if you ever visit this place....

Day 3 - 7:00AM - Tea / Coffee

After tea/coffee we went around the resort walking. Here also we had a couple of ducks, which had quite special looks.. Kids again were stuck to them. This time, the biscuits we had taken for kids, they fed them to the ducks... yes the ducks were enjoying a different meal for a change. With my cam in the hands I started searching for birds. My mom also joined me and helped in spotting the birds... It was tough, I could not get too close as I was a little cautious about leaches around.. Tried using the zoom lens, but no luck. But with this trip I learnt a lot about bird photography.. what are the factors that can prevent us from getting good crisp bird photos. May be I can write all that in a seperate post..

Day 3 - 9:00 AM - Breakfast..

Menu: Bread-butter-jam, Grape juice, Poori-sabji, Idli, Sambhar, Chutney, Omlette too..

So many varieties... hmm.. I tasted almost everything nibbling on each of them.. We spent some liesurely time till about 11:30AM (Sunday). Then it was time for us to pack-up.. We started heading back to Bangalore..

On the way back we had a few breaks... here they go..

1. Near Vythiri bridge for some shopping... there is a very good handicrafts (wooden articles, cane baskets, etc) shop near the bridge. For spices there are lots of shops between Lakkidi, to Kalpetta to Vythiri..

2. Sulthan Batheri... Check out "Grand Bakery" which is right on the main road (you will find it on the right side). Lots of varieties of banana chips (atleast 3 to 4 varities).

3. Nanjangud.... Checkout the famous Shiva temple (Nanjundeshwara).. and its my cousin sisters place.. We had a very late lunch (4:00 PM) at my sister's place.. and started from there at about 5:30PM back towards Bangalore..

Day 3 - 8:00PM - Reached Bangalore (R R Nagar, Mysore Road)..

To any other part of Bangalore, you need to proportionately add another hour or more to your itinerary..