Weekend at Wayanad

I had been longing to see Wayanad and Malabar side of Kerala for a very long time. The opportunity presented itself on a weekend (28-29 January, 2012) when I planned a ride from Bangalore to Wayanad, but I sadly couldn't find anyone to accompany me. So alone was my way forward. Before the ride, I got my bike serviced with an engine overhaul, got a Cramster tank bag and a pair of DSG riding gloves.

Route Map

I got up at 4.30am on a chilly Saturday morning and pushed the bike out of the parking lot into the cold dark night. The sun was not up yet. I rode out of Bangalore city by 5.15am. I took the Kanakapura road instead of the SH17 to Mysore. It was a good decision as the roads were smooth, traffic free and curvy. The chill was getting to me and my hot breath inside the helmet made the visor fog up hampering visibility. Slowly the sky started turning violet and then to a pinkish orange as the sun started peeping up through the horizon. I saw the sunrise with hills in the backdrop and a small lake by the side of the road. It was a majestic sight and I forgot all the cold and chill at that moment. There were huge peepal trees lining the road with their hanging roots swaying in the morning breeze. I passed Kanakapura and reached a place named Malavalli from which there was a deviation to be taken to reach Mysore. Those roads were narrow and lined by sugarcane fields, small huts and playful children making their way to school. After a while, a man waved asking for a lift. I stopped and asked 'Kahan jana hai bhai?' which he didn't understand. A girl probably studying in 8th or 9th standard hopped on to my bike. She kept asking me 'Kannada gotha?'. I kept telling 'No kannada... kannada nahi nahi... kannada theriyathu!' But then her brother pointed to her and told me 'school... school' From that I understood her school is along the way and I've to drop her there. So off we went. After some distance, she waved to another girl walking on the road and said 'Akka... nillri'. That girl too hopped on the bike and three of us made our way forward. The girl tapped on my shoulder as we came to an intersection and I understood their school might be near. Both the girls thanked me with a lovely smile and I gave them a goodbye. They waved to me as I rode off to Mysore. I reached Mysore by 9.00am and rode to a Kerala restaurant that I know, which near to the Mysore palace bus stand. I had hot appams and channa curry along hot tea. After taking a couple of snaps of the majestic Mysore Palace, I hit the NH212 that leads from Mysore to Calicut in Kerala through the ghats of Wayanad.

Jumbos at Mysore Palace

NH212 had a lot of traffic with cars buses and trucks jostling for positions. The road wasn't too wide and before long a KSRTC Airavat Volvo bus ran me off the road as it overtook another bus! I found a lot of hotels by the side of the road with nameplates written in Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, presumably because many vehicles travel to Ooty, Coimbatore and Calicut through this route. I reached a place named Gundlupet, from where the road to the right leads to Wayanad and Calicut and the road to the left leads to Ooty. I took the deviation towards Wayanad and was pleased when I saw a sign board that said Sulthan Bathery was ahead. The roads were almost deserted of vehicles, but there were a lot of farmers who were spreading hay mostly from sugarcane plants, on the road for it to get dried up as vehicles ran over it. I ran over a pile of hay and nearly lost control as the bike wiggled from side to side. Learning a lesson not to ride over hay, I continued more cautiously and entered the Bandipur Forest Reserve. This vast stretch of forest is shared by the three states- Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Kerala it is known as Muthanga reserve, in Karnataka as Bandipur reserve and in Tamil Nadu as Mudumalai reserve. The road that passes through Bandipur forest reserve is closed from 6pm to 6am because of elephants and other wildlife crossing at night. The roads winded with many dips and crests through the forest and I was throughly enjoying riding through them.

Through Bandipur forest reserve

There were huge dried up bamboos lining the road, its branches curving and forming a canope above the road. A few more kilometers and I finally came to the Kerala state check point with a blue sign board inviting me to Kerala.

Welcome to Kerala

I reached Sulthan Bathery by 12.10pm, it was getting really hot and my shirt was soaked in sweat, beneath my jacket. I went to a hotel to have lunch, but the meals wasn't ready yet. So I had porotta with beef curry and walked outside to have a smoke. The shopkeeper gave me a ciggie and warned me to be wary of police. I went to a secluded corner and took a puff. I thought about this place. The name 'Sulthan Bathery' was derived from Sultan's battery which comes from the fact that Mysore ruler Tippu Sultan raided Malabar (northern Kerala) through the ghats of Wayanad and his arms and ammunition were said to be stored at abandoned Jain temples after he drove the Jains out, back in the 18th century! The place has a lot of history, doesn't it. But talking of history, more was in store as I reached the Edakkal Caves through a winding and broken up road. An arduous climb brought me to the foot of the caves.

At the foot of the Edakkal Caves

There was a huge crowd near the entrance as it was closed until the people who were already inside the cave made their way out. The valley was filled with trees with pepper twigs and coffee plants whose flowers gave a pleasant aroma. Monkeys kept leaping and swinging on the tree branches. I sat down near an elderly woman and her son. They were from Pattambi in Palakkad district and I chatted with them. I enjoyed their Palakkad accent and showed them a map of Wayanad and discussed about the must-see places. Eventually we were allowed to move into the caves.

Entrance to the Edakkal Caves

The entrance to the cave is a hole between the rocks where you have to squeeze your body through without banging you head on the rocks. Inside the cave, space opens up and steep steps you to the top of the hill.

At the top of the Edakkal caves

Panting and sweating I climbed till I reached the top. The view from the top took all the fatigue away as I gazed open-mouthed at the stunning Wayanad landscape.

Wayanad seen from top of Edakkal caves

The term 'Edakkal' means 'stone in between'. It is said that the cave was formed when some rocks got stuck in between two huge rock clefts as you can see in the photo below.

Inside the Edakkal caves

There are carvings are of human and animal figures which indicate human settlement from as early as 8000 years ago! I bought a Wayanad tourist guide from a cheerful young chap and started my journey towards Kalpetta to view the beautiful Pookot Lake. The time was around 4pm as I reached Kalpetta which was a busy town and then through the winding roads lined with tea estates I reached Vythiri.

Tea estates at Vythiri

I asked for directions to reach Pookot Lake to a man who incidentally was a policeman stationed near the Lake. He was on his way to duty and I gave him a ride. As I said I was coming from Bangalore, he told in astonishment: "From Bangalore? On a bike...? man, its amazing!" These little things give me a sense of accomplishment and I had a wide grin on my face :)

Pookot Lake

There was a pretty huge crowd at Pookot Lake all queuing up for boating. I wandered by the side of the lake and walked deeper to more isolated places where monkeys were doing mischief atop the trees. I sat down in an old bench and admired the laid back beauty of the lake and the water lilies swaying in the gentle breeze.

Waterlilies at Pookot Lake

I wanted to ride on the ghats, so I rode towards the road leading to Thamarassery past the fabled 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 travellers. It is further believed that a priest chained the troublesome spirit into this tree.

Chain Tree

There were some cars parked by the side of the ghat road as people got down to see the awe-inspiring sight of the road curving its way down the mountain.

At the Ghat roads

I had a grin on my face as I rode on the sweeping corners and tight hairpins, the engine revs booming on each downshift into a corner and the tyres at the limit of their edge grip.

Awe-inspiring Ghat roads

After some spirited corner carving, I returned back to Kalpetta to search for a room to stay overnight. Most of the tourist homes were filled and I had a feeling whether my luck will run out on finding a room. I found one room at Arun Tourist Home which was comfy enough for an overnight stay.

Room where I stayed

I bought some chips from a bakery nearby and then took a bath and asked the reception guy on where to have some tasty non veg food. His suggestion turned out great as I had beef biryani and fish curry. I then walked around the town a little, bought some cherries and called home to tell about my adventure. I went back to the lodge, saw the film ‘Janapriyan’ along with the reception guys there and went off to sleep at 10.30pm as it was going to be long day tomorrow.
I set an alarm for 5.15am next morning. Dozing off was not an issue as I was dead tired after all the riding. The alarm buzzed and my sleepy eyes opened to find Kalpetta covered in a veil of mist.

Kalpetta covered in fog

Never seen this much fog after the winters at BITS Pilani. The water was freezing cold and somehow I managed a bath. I packed up my stuff into the wonderful Cramster bag, returned the keys of the room, thanked the reception guy and kick started the bike which was completely went with fog droplets. I filled her up and the guy at the petrol pump appreciated the tank bag. Off we went to Manathavady, taking it steady as the road was slippery and visibility low due to the early morning fog.

Foggy ride to Mananthavady

A Maruti Alto car zipped past me and I heard a loud crash after sometime. The car slipped and went off road at a breakneck speed and flipped over. But the two guys in the car were not seriously hurt and the people assembled there indicated the driver was drunk. One guy asked me if I was a journalist when I snapped a couple of photos of the destroyed car!

Maruti Alto totaled

The sights of some marvelous churches along the way and being a Sunday, many people assembling for the Morning Prayer and sights of youngsters playing football in the mist made for a wonderful ride. I reached Mananthavady by 8.30am and had breakfast from there.

Churches along the way

Early morning footballers
Along the way to Mananthavady

Pazhassi Raja often called the ‘Royal rebel’ was a king whose guerilla warfare tactics resisted the British and Mysorean invasions for a long time till he was killed in a battle with the British in 1805. His mortal remains were buried in Manathavady and that was the place I was to visit next. The Pazhassi memorial was not yet open and I waited chatting with some guys from Kannur who also came to visit the place.

At Pazhassi Raja's memorial, Mananthavady

At 9am the gates were opened and I visited Pazhassi Raja’s tomb and a museum in honor of him and the Wayanad Rebellion.

Pazhassi Raja's tomb

The next place to visit was the famed Thirunelly temple, inside the Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary. As I moved along the way, I deviated from the main road to offer my prayers at the Thrissilery Shiva Temple which was an age old architectural grace.

Thrisslery Temple

Back to the main road again and I gave a ride to a man and he gave me advice not to over speed or ride along with some vehicles through the Tholpetty reserve as elephants were common to cross the road.
The road through the Tholpetty reserve was good at places but it pretty messed up condition mostly. The loose gravel made the front end slip and slide at many corners giving me couple of heart stopping moments. All went well and I zipped past a couple of buses and tempos carrying devotees to the Thirunelly temple. It was fun to see little kids pop their head out of the windows to see a lone rider zipping past.

Through the Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary

I reached Thirunelly temple and there were a lot of people on there on that Sunday morning. A marriage function was going on and I watched it for sometime since marriages happening in temples are becoming a rare occurrence nowadays, at least in the cities. I prayed at the temple, reveled in the natural beauty surrounding it and then bought some prasadams to take home.

Thirunelly Temple

Then I made my way to Papanashini, a mountain stream where people come to offer last rites for their fathers (Pithrubali). Seeing the stream made me eager to take a dip. There were a couple of guys who were also getting ready for a dip.

Papanashini

There were ladies around, but I didn't care. Off went my clothes, I wore a skimpy towel and went down to the pool. The water was freezing cold and for a moment a kind of shock went up my chest till my head as I pushed my body under the cold water. I instantly felt fresher and started floating and swimming around on the water. After half an hour I dried myself up, packed my wet clothes into a plastic cover and it was time to bid goodbye to Thirunelly.

I made my way towards the Kerala-Karnataka border. I was running a bit behind schedule and so I speeded up, but there were annoying triple bumps every 200m or so in the Nagarhole side of the forest. There were local people catching fish using towels and I stopped to take some snaps and there I met a guy and a girl who were also headed to Mysore on a bike.

Catching fish

I reached the Karnataka border checkpost where a female elephant and a cute little calf were cooling off with the forest guards keeping a watch on them.

Baby elephant with mother

There I met an elderly man who was called 'Gounder' by the forest guards and he asked for a lift and I obliged. The roads were shockingly bad now, there were no roads at all. It was a forest trail of gravel and loose mud. Gounder told it will continue like this for 10-12 kms. I was afraid of getting a tyre puncture. I dropped the Gounder off at this place, he insisted me to have tea with him. But I respectfully declined since I was running way behind schedule and the roads were slowing me down.

Kabani River

I exited the Nagarhole reserve into the SH33 road which was free of traffic and a good view of the Kabani river could be seen from there. I kept the speedo at a steady 80 kmph and made my way to Mysore. I reached Mysore by 3.30pm and fatigue was setting in. Legs and fingers were cramping up and my backside was getting saddlesore! I had my lunch and did a high speed run to Bangalore. The speedo needle went past 110 kmph and I tucked my elbows out, lowered my chest and head and my Pulsy munched up the highway. At around 6pm near Bidadi, a KSRTC bus veered off road and hit a tree.

Accident at highway

Passengers were mainly unhurt, but very shaken up but the driver broke his collarbone. An ambulance came and took the injured to the hospital and the police dispersed the gathered crowd. I lost my way a bit near Banashankari but made my way safely to BTM layout, where I stay. I stopped by a juice shop, ordered a grape juice and called my longtime travel buddy Vishnu to tell about my adventurous weekend! :)

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Text and Photography

Visakh. A