Wrote this long back.Thought of sharing here.
We did a trip to Wayanad somewhere around 2014 ,when my boy was 3 years and sharing the travelogue experience.
My boy is in his holidays and I wanted to take him out! Unaware of the destination, I casually had a chat with my husband a couple of days before Christmas. Prompt came the response and he said “we will go to Wayanad”…A million questions then. How do we get the tickets? Book the resort? And finally I decided that this plan is not going to work. But the husband was still trying to make the plan work!
25th morning the husband finally confirmed that we will go to Wayanad and conveyed, that the tickets had been booked through tatkal As always we are good at the last minute plans and packingL.Boarded the Mangalore mail from Chennai and reached Calicut…From there we took a car to Wayanad. Since all the resorts were full, we had a narrow option of staying in a hotel and managed to booked an okeyish hotel.
I am not sure when my travel sickness would end. Phew! The moment the car started to move, my stomach went for a churn and then I started to puke ,least did I know that I will fall ill !It was not a good start but still I managed to refresh myself and was ready to visit places…Wayand climate was not great and that disappointed us a big time!
Day:1 Edakkal caves and Muthanga forest:
We had no clue on what we would see in Edakkal caves ,we did not even search about the place much in google! We commuted through a car. My hunger pangs was just crying and unfortunately we could not find any vegetarian hotel. But managed to find a hotel! we had dosa, which was pathetic! We then started to walk …Just few steps and I could not budge further. I told my husband not to embark further but he was too motivating with his words! Narrow steep path and we were puffing and panting! Trekking along with a 3 year old is definitely not a joke! The husband and I took turns to carry the boy! The boy even climbed the rocks to reach the caves :)The path is just unassumingly steep and narrow! The husband and I are slightly on the bulkier end but We managed to reach the top of the cave after what it felt like an eon :)There we witnessed the excellent panoramic views of the mountains and it was too green all around and was so soothing to our eyes!Climbing down is an another story which requires a separate post!
And then we travelled to Muthanga forest range! Was totally sick but then the husband stood in queue for 2 hours to get the tickets. We then boarded the jeep and was taken inside the forest. We heard that the forest has tigers ,bisons and elephants. But we managed to see only peacock, elephant and deer! We were taken till the first 10km of the forest! It was an experience indeed! The forest has routes to Mudhumalai and Bandipur forest ranges.
Day:2 Thirunelli temple, Kuruva island and Soochipara falls
Thirunelli temple is one of the temples of Vishnu and we had nice dharshan. Walking few kilometers inside the temple ,we chanced to see “Panchatheertha” where people perform”Tharpanam”..the water was just pure! The papanasini temple was just inside the rocks!We also chanced to go to the pond and touch the Vishnu padha!We did not miss to taste the banana flavoured with sugar, which was served as a prasadham.You will need to travel through the forest to reach this temple.On our journey,we chanced to see an elephant crossing the road just before our car!Have never seen an elephant cross the road so elegantly!
Kuruva Islands:
That was our first boating experience with my son!We heard that it has rare species of plants! But we did not explore much as we were too tired and could not walk! You will need to travel through boat to reach the land where you can walk and see the plants!
Soochipara falls!
The roads to this falls were too rocky and you will need to park your vehicle well ahead! Again climbing with our kid was a real challenge! We chanced to see an auto and managed to climb half of the distance through it but climbing the rest of it took so much out of us! We were happy to see the crystal clear pure water from the falls but never managed to bath.We saw the falls from distance and travelled back.
Day3: Banasurasagar dam and Calicut beach
One of the best places of our visit was Banasurasagar dam!Such a lovely place…Cool and misty weather…I was too scared to board the boat but took a chance and it was a worth one! The motor boat took us around the dam and it covered some 2km distance! It was an experience which I could not express through words!
The last spot that we visited was Calicut beach .We had 1 hour to kill and the cabbie suggested this beach! Unlike Marina,you don’t have to walk long to see the water…Just few steps and you will be near to the water!A calm and cool beach!
A visit to Kerala is just incomplete without tasting the delicacies .But this time we had to miss the Aapam,vegetable stew and puttu kadalacurry!
On our way to the Edakkal caves,we kept on munching the juicy pineapples. Molayeri(bamboo rice) is famous there and we chanced to eat molayeri unniyappam and payasam!Loved it!They also sell the gooseberries and mangoes soaked in brine solution!The taste of gooseberries soaked in pure honey still lingers in my tongue.
When we came out of Muthanga forest range,we got a bag full of forest gooseberries and they were slightly bitter!Converted them to neernelli and sweet gooseberries.
On our way back from Thirunelli temple,we got forest oranges..Tangy to the core!But who cares,we loved it J
Of course a trip to Kerala is incomplete without getting chips!of various kinds!Nendram chips,chakka chips,sweet chips and all that!
And the trip would be close to our heart as it was the first trip we went out as a family with my boy!
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