By Asha Vishwanathan.
Asha travelled to North Kerala (Wayanad, Kannur in addition to Kasaragod) alongside her identify unit of measurement on the Best Kept Secrets of Kerala trail by .
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| Asha's ikon of her beach abode inward Kannur! |
It was a dream to convey a weeklong opor-garai inward Kerala alongside all the flavors of nature – The mountains, seas in addition to backwaters. Thanks to Kissan for sponsoring the opor-garai in addition to to Indiblogger in addition to Republic of Republic of India Untraveled who enabled the same! arranged all the bookings in addition to went that extra mile to tailor the whole trail to suit our requirements.
We (Me, my married adult man in addition to my vii twelvemonth quondam son) started our journeying yesteryear route on 28th October,6.30 AM from Bangalore. We stopped for breakfast at Kadambam (78 Km from Blr,Sarjapur Road) which serves fantabulous S Indian dishes. Their specialty is a delicious sweetness Pongal.We passed through Mandya, Mysore,Nanjangud, Gundalpet in addition to reached Sultan Bathery inward Wayanad yesteryear 1.55 PM.
Treasure Trove Cottage
We were at Treasure Trove, our showtime goal at 2.10 PM (280 Km from Blr).Treasure Trove is a homestay located close Meenangadi in addition to has 2 lovely bamboo cottages on stilts. These cottages were built yesteryear Uravu, which is a small-scale scale bamboo manufacture inward Wayanad. They convey all the modern amenities in addition to a overnice bamboo balcony surrounded yesteryear a canopy of trees where ane tin simply sit down in addition to hear to the chirping of the birds in addition to run into the sunlight filtering through the trees. The cottages are located amidst java plantations in addition to furnish ample opportunities for sighting dissimilar birds in addition to butterflies.
Bamboo Balcony
Our hosts, Sunil in addition to Reena in addition to their 2 beautiful children were warm in addition to hospitable. Food consisted of unproblematic but delicious Kerala nutrient served inward the primary house. In the evening, nosotros went for a plantation walk which culminated inward a spectacular persuasion betoken of the distant Chembra peak.
View from the plantation
There are lots of places to run into inward Wayanad similar Pookote Lake, Banasura Dam, Soochipura Waterfalls, Chembra peak. Some of them nosotros had seen on before visits in addition to some of them were closed similar Edakkal Caves (closed on Monday) in addition to Kurva. So nosotros decided to explore the nearby places. Phantom Rock is a rocky mount which looks similar the stone inward Phantom comics. It affords a scenic persuasion of the nearby peaks.
Phantom Rock
Karapuzha Dam is some other identify situated unopen by. We visited the Wayanad Heritage Museum which houses archeological artifacts including some, dated 1 in addition to 2 AD. Since the deep wood trek which had been the initial plan, was suspended, nosotros took the Jeep safari into the Muthunga Wildlife Sanctuary. You convey to attain the counter genuinely early on (preferably yesteryear 6.30 AM) equally it’s on a showtime come upward showtime served footing in addition to exclusively forty jeeps are allowed inward the morning. We spent good over 1 hr inward the safari but didn’t spot anything much, other than some deer in addition to peacocks. The exclusively highlight was a fresh kill of a porcupine yesteryear a leopard alongside the spot marked yesteryear fresh blood stains, lot of quills in addition to the footprints of the leopard.
My ikon of the treasure trove cottage
We started from Treasure trove at 10.30 AM on 30th Oct for our adjacent goal – Blue Mermaid, Kannur. We took an within route equally the highway route was riddled alongside pot holes. We stopped at an quondam Jain temple on the agency in addition to flora it real intriguing though it was manifestly non maintained in addition to was surrounded yesteryear overgrown vegetation. The route from Wayanad to Kannur had breathtaking scenery, surrounded yesteryear thick vegetation in addition to tall trees on either side.
Blue Mermaid, Kannur
We reached Thottada hamlet close Kannur in addition to equally the winding roads twisted in addition to turned, the vista opened in addition to all of a precipitous at that spot was the sparkling blueish Arabian Sea ! We reached Blue Mermaid at 3.00 PM, located deep within Thotada village, 130 Km from Wayanad. We were warmly welcomed yesteryear Indu in addition to her staff who runs the homestay. We took the room on the showtime flooring equally it had a real scenic persuasion of the sea. The room was overnice alongside laid clean sheets in addition to linen in addition to a overnice bath.
Beach at Blue Mermaid
The beach was secluded in addition to had exclusively a few people from nearby resorts. The golden sands in addition to the sparkling body of body of water welcomed us in addition to nosotros spent most of the 24-hour interval at the beach. The nutrient at Blue Mermaid was authentic, lip smacking Kerala nutrient in addition to had a decent spread. It included dishes similar Drumstick leaves Mologoshyam, Theeyal, Puttu, Stew in addition to Vazhapoo curry.
My ikon of the scene from Blue Mermaid
Since nosotros didn’t desire to rush simply about seeing places, nosotros decided to throttle ourselves to simply ane – Fort St. Angelo situated quite unopen by. The fort is massively built alongside laterite stones. It boasts of a rich history in addition to was inhabited yesteryear the Portugese,Dutch, Ali Rajas of Kannur in addition to British at dissimilar periods.
Fort St. Angelo
After 2 days of soaking upward the sands in addition to the sun, it was fourth dimension to start for our tertiary & in conclusion goal – Oyster Opera, Chervattur. The route from Thottada hamlet to Padanna hamlet close Chervattur took us through several small-scale in addition to sleepy Kerala towns, backwaters, quaint bridges, discreet temples in addition to interesting roads.
And the in conclusion stretch was a plough from the primary route which led to the isle in addition to thence the sight took our breath away. Backwaters in addition to lush kokosnoot trees flanked us on both sides in addition to nosotros finally reached Oyster Opera at 1.10 PM,73.5 Km from Kannur.
Oyster Opera, Chervattur
Oyster Opera is a resort run yesteryear Mr. Gul, who owns several mussel farms. It consists of v or half-dozen cottages, each alongside its ain individuality based on its placement in addition to the fabric used for construction. We stayed at “Shrimp”, a quaint cottage built alongside laterite stones alongside an open-roofed bathroom, facing the backwaters. The beauty of the landscape cannot hold upward described inward words in addition to the photos maybe depict a lilliputian of what nosotros genuinely saw. The cottage alongside its stone steps nigh kissing the backwaters, alongside a lazy hammock swinging betwixt kokosnoot trees was a dream come upward true.
The afternoon nosotros reached, cyclonic winds in addition to pelting striking the waters. Though, nosotros were confined to the room, it was an sense to sentry the winds in addition to the black clouds swirling on the horizon in addition to the waters reflecting several foreign in addition to mysterious colors.
Backwaters at Oyster Opera
The adjacent day, nosotros opened the door to hold upward greeted yesteryear the shimmering clear waters in addition to a blueish sky. We spent the fourth dimension inward Oyster Opera, simply drinking inward the beauty, canoeing inward the small-scale inlet of H2O in addition to boating inward the backwaters. The nutrient was also amazing alongside a total Kerala sadya, idichipuzhunja payasam, kappa in addition to several other delicacies. The owner, a real humble in addition to unassuming man, himself served the guests.
Morning sunlight
It was shortly fourth dimension to exit in addition to nosotros bid cheerio to the beautiful place. We took the Ranipur route via Madikeri which was supposed to convey improve roads than the primary roads. But the route after Panathur inward Kerala, was rough. The mountainous forests amidst pouring pelting alongside bad roads combined alongside the threat of wild elephants would convey been arduous , if it were non for the fantastic scenery in addition to the fact that our automobile was the exclusively vehicle for hours on end. After nosotros stepped out to admire a hidden waterfall in addition to got dorsum to the car, nosotros were inward for a nasty surprise when nosotros discovered some un-invited guests – 7-8 leeches inward the automobile !! We had donated quite a flake of blood to 3 of them who had instruct circular in addition to satiated! We painstakingly searched in addition to deposited them dorsum on the grass in addition to bid them a hasty goodbye.
We had a suspension journeying at Mysore Infosys campus for ane black in addition to returned dorsum to Bangalore on Sabbatum evening, s Nov after a 1040 Km route trip in addition to our hearts in addition to minds total alongside the beauty of God’s Own province !
Author Bio: The writer is an information technology professional, exploring the roads less traveled in addition to rediscovering her artistic callings inward life.She blogs at http://themoonstone.wordpress.For to a greater extent than ideas on offbeat in addition to responsible destinations inward India, visit www.indiauntravelled.com or join on Facebook and Twitter. To contribute invitee posts / photograph essays to this blog, delight ship your story ideas to shivya@indiauntravelled.com.