Wayanad-Day 2

(Continued after a long gap from previous the post) 

The Plan: We had decided to go to the hotel first because we were closer to Kuruvadweep, check out the interesting places nearby and go for trekking up the Edakkal caves the next day.

Reality Check 1: Since I belong to the generation which still believes in verifying googled information by asking people-we checked with the hotel manager about our proposed route. He discouraged us strongly from taking the shorter route so we ended up taking the more popular but longer route-through Sultan Bathery.

Reality Check 2: I am a map freak. GPS notwithstanding I had downloaded and customized a route map beforehand and got really upset to know it was left behind at home. 

My elder daughter took over immediately-she is sometimes the wisest one in the family-“Mom, that map is in Bangalore; we’ll manage without it. Tell me what you want” -searched online and drew the one I needed, at the breakfast table:

The first part of the drive was lovely-an empty road meandering through shrubbery which became denser as we drove into it, merging into the Muthunga section of the Bandipur reserve. 

A few hundred miles out of the concrete city and it is another world. Once you get used to the quiet you hear a noise of a different kind-monkeys chattering across the bushes, the dry grass crackling under their legs, a constant hum of the cicadas which almost reaches as a crescendo as you stand still.  There weren’t any tigers to spot-never seen one in the entire Bandipur-Nagarhole region but yes monkeys and deer and a few elephants braving the summer heat to hunt for fodder. 




A giant Malabar squirrel dashed across the road as the forest thinned out and we drove right into a Kerala police check-post! 

Thanks to friends who traveled the road before, we had the PUC ready. But  the bigger issue was alcohol. 

Kerala had prohibition when we visited-sale, purchase and transit of any form of alcohol was banned and the police carried out the most rigorous searches I had seen-the group in a car in front of us was asked to alight; all their bags were searched and the police were trying to check under the seats and probably under the mats too. 

They didn’t have sniffer dogs-so we were not searched that thoroughly-my husband was just ‘warned’-“Any liquor Sir, and you will have to go to JAIL”

BTW: The longest queue we saw in Wayanad, around 50+ people standing in a drizzle was outside a toddy shop –but I guess that’s another story.

PS: Prohibition has been withdrawn since then, probably because drinking stats actually went up while the state lost the taxes. It still makes sense to check rather than go to jail!

Wayanad-Driving through hills, forests and a river valley-Day 1

The Holiday Resolutions:

There are too many things to do right here. I get more tired planning for and recovering from vacations. Let’s not go anywhere this time. 

Ok, we'll take one small break. But this time we’ll not drive-let's take a flight, or a train, or a cab, or hire a driver…

The Reality:

Driving for three and a half days through steep hills, sharp bends, lush forests and the Kabini river valley.

The Decisions:

Since this was an unplanned, unintended trip we quickly decided on Wayanad because it was the only non-visited destination within driving distance. We booked our hotel after a quick Face book research, packed a few sets of clothes, filled petrol, and decided to leave early on Saturday morning.

My husband decided to work from home on Friday to ensure we pack in early on Friday evening. He was determined we would leave as early as possible on Saturday to avoid the traffic jams that happen on exit roads to Bangalore at the onset of all long weekends.

I dread waking up early in the mornings. And I have memories of long traffic jams on National Highways as early as 5.30 am and continuing all the way to Mysore when we had travelled to Coorg on another long weekend.

So we took the inspired decision of leaving right then (Friday evening) and spending the night at Mysore. (We get to sleep till 7.00 am that way).

The Drive-Phase 1: Bangalore to Mysore

We also tried to avoid the other Friday evening travelers-specially the buses travelling from Madivala to Coorg/Kerala/Tamil Nadu by taking Mysore road. That was a bad idea. The entire stretch is in a mess because of the debris from the first phase of Metro construction and the excavations happening almost up to Bidadi for the second phase.

My husband tries to take over driving through most difficult stretches of the road, but due to the infallibility of Murphy’s Law, I usually get to drive through these interesting lengths. And so I negotiated through the Friday Namaz traffic, the going home for weekend traffic and the Metro mess for an hour and a half and before the city let us go.

Then the holiday began for real.

We made the customary halt at Kamat’s. The girls are now too grown up to play with the geese and too jaded to enjoy the ‘mudde idli’ but we still stop here every time we cross the place. And after the initial drive this was a welcome break.

The next part of the drive was smooth except for pockets of traffic when we crossed the intermediate towns. The big jam,right on the National Highway at the usual quiet town of Mandya was unexpected-this was first-day show for Bahubali2!

We reached Mysore without further drama and checked into the service apartment we had stayed in previously-it has homely food, enough space for a tired family of four with two teenagers and is located on the Ring Road so we don’t need to enter the city.

We had a leisurely dinner, squabbled over who’s sleeping where and usual, random stuff and planned the next day’s route before packing up for the day.

Rote Planning for-Phase 2: Mysore to Kuruvadweep

We had three route options from Mysore to Kuruvadweep, all pass through wildlife reserves and hence get closed after sunset:

1. Mysore (road will close between 6PM-6AM) > Hand post > Anthersantha > Bawali > 6km > 2^nd Gate junction (turn left) > 5km > Palvelicham > 1.8km >  (total 110 km)

2. Mysore>Hunsour>Nagerhole ( closed between 6 P.M. to 6 A.M.)Divert via Gonikuppa > Kutta>Tholpetty>Kattikulam (155 km)

3. Mysore> (via) Nanjanguad>Gundlepet> Muthanga wild Life Sanctuary> (Road closed between 9 PM to 6 A.M.) > Sulthan Bathery> Pulpally> Dasanakkara> Payyampally> Kurukkan Moola> (155 km)

We decided to take the shortest route to the hotel, check in, take rest and then explore the nearby areas.

Coming up in the next post: Welcome to Wayanad, by Kerala Police