Trip to Wayanad

My In-laws wanted to make a trip to Wayanad and wanted me and my wife also to join them. Saying a yes to that, made them go ahead in booking the tickets prior to the journey which was to be on 24th June 2010. All set and packed we were off to Calicut. Started on 24th night and reached at about 7.40 am in Kozhikode (Calicut) on 25th Morning. We had booked our package with Olives Homestay who had sent us the cab to pick us up from the station.

The journey from Calicut to Wayanad was beautiful. As we were driving through the ghat section, we could feel the mist and the cool breeze which was so pleasent that was welcoming us. There were showers of rain every 5 mins and then a pinch of sunlight after that which made the journey more relaxing and free from tiredness. I guess we opted for the best time to visit wayanad.

On reaching the place where we had booked (Olives Homestay), Mr.Biju who is in-charge of the homestay along with his family had immediately come out to welcome us. All settled we were served with a good cup of tea which was exactly what I wanted for that climate. Had few chit chats and then got dressed up to head towards Soochipara waterfalls which is one of the major tourist spots out there. We managed to reach there at around 4 p.m and started walking towards the falls. As we were heading towards it was getting darker and we were also running out of time. Managed to get to a level where we could view the falls and take some good pics. Walked back and purchased few home accessories which were cheap out there and started to our room again as we were a little tired. Back to room, me and my father-in-law settled up with few rounds of whisky & vodka along with some general chatting. The dinner was served, which had the Malabar fish being prepared along with some fish fry's, and few good kerala dishes. Had a great dinner and headed straight to our beds.

26th June was unfortunately a bandh in Kerala which had restricted us from moving out of our place. Mr.Biju & Family had provided us with an excellent breakfast that made us get settled up in the room watching the FIFA worldcup. At around 3 p.m we started to Banasura Sagar dam which was also a tourist spot and did a 10 km small safari ride where we were able to see few spotted deers and one Elephant which was quiet far from us. The climate and the greenery was awesome. I should say even though it was 7 p.m in the evening I could see brightness in the place. I was most of the time enjoying & gazing at the clouds near the hills which were moving pretty fast and pouring down few showers then and there. It was getting darker only after about 8 p.m where you could hear the frogs croaking and some unusual sounds of these forest insects around. We were served dinner with some new varieties of kerala dishes this time. Spent the night by chatting with my in-laws and watching the FIFA world cup and off to bed by 11.30 p.m.

27th June was the day we had to leave. Had a sumptuous breakfast and was given a warm send off by Mr.Biju & Family. We started at around 11 am and headed towards Pookot lake which was famous for boating. Went around the place and spent close to about an hour and asked the driver to drive down to calicut straight. There was a small issue also as we were still waiting for our return tickets to get confirmed. With the help of few known pals working in the railways we managed to get the m confirmed at around 3 p.m the same day. As we had little time more to be spent as our train was only at about 5.30 pm we drove to the beach in calicut popularly called as Kappad beach. Enjoyed some time out there and had lunch in the nearby restaurant. The cab dropped us at around 5 in the station and with ease we boarded the train and reached up Chennai at around 5.20 am. Good trip and worth making another one too.

I would personally recommend all to make a trip once to Wayanad. It is one place which is worth going for your vacation. I can also assure you that the place where I had stayed "Olives Homestay" managed by Mr.Biju provides an excellent hospitality and service which makes you have a good relaxed vacation.

For more pics Arvind Krishnamurthy Wayanad pics

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