WAYANAD is a hill station, a wild life sanctuary and a spice / tea county combined into one. It is one of the many paradises in God’s own country, located near the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border .
Wayanad is a district in the Malabar region, about 100 kms north east of Calicut. It can also be accessed from Mysore by a good road (< 130 kms). There is also an average road link between Ooty and Wayanad (< 100 kms). This region is part of the Nilgiri bio-sphere (consisting of Wayanad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai sanctuaries)
Our sojourn in Wayanad began with a stay in Pachyderm Palace located on the southern edge of the Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary.
We took the Hunsur road from Mysore and entered the Nagarhole sanctuary thru the north entrance and drove right thru the jungle to the south end to reach this small and cozy guest house (around 110 kms and 3½ hour drive). It was a very unique experience to drive right thru a big sanctuary in our car. While doing so, we spotted a bison in a casual mood, lot of chital and a couple of wild boar.
Though the name of the place sounds big, very few people know the lodge by this name. You would have to ask directions for the guest house at the forest check post in small town of Kutta, to get to this guest house located close to the check post. You would be reminded that you are in the jungle by the call of deer and their twinkling eyes at night (from your room). We also spotted a chital inside the guest house premises at night.
Owned by a business man in Cochin, this place is very popular among foreign tourists and not well known among Indians. The place offers homely and clean accommodation. Full board tariff costs 1500 Rs per couple per night and the stay is really worth the price. Forest entry charges are extra. Food prepared by the local caretaker (who is the all in one person) is simple, very tasty and quite filling.
An easy way to make a booking would be to contact itnatureclub.com. We hired a jeep (550 Rs per trip and the cost can be shared with other guests) to go into the jungle 4 times during our 2 nights stay. We sighted at least a couple elephants at 15 to 20 ft distances. The photograph of one such tusker is now a proud display in our living room. We saw herds of bison and chital, few sambar deer and wild boar. We were not lucky enough to sight a tiger and a leopard. We missed one by 10 mins and the other by 30 mins. We also took 2 night safari’s using our car. It was a scintillating experience to sight animals at night (10.00 pm). I still remember our car light being reflected by the eyes of chital, sambar deer and the bison. We sighted a single bull (bison) less than 5 ft away from us.
It was really refreshing to take a stroll early in the morning around the cottage, taking each step carefully with your heart beating steadily at a higher rate expecting the unexpected.
The best thing I like about this place is that mobile phones do not work and the nearest land line is at least 10 min walk from the guest house. This forest in Kerala is called Tholpetty wildlife sanctuary. There is a more popular wildlife sanctuary in Wayanad, called either as Muthanga or as Wayanad wildlife sanctuary.
After a wonderful 2 days, we drove 80 kms south east to Lakkidi, located on the Mysore – Calicut highway. We stayed at a resort that is as close to Mother Nature as possible, Rain Country resorts.. The resort located at a height of 1300 m, can be reached by taking a diversion from the highway. We took the winding 3 km dirt track thru tea estates past the clouds in first gear (only), all along wondering what would happen to our vehicle to reach this resort. We were pleasantly surprised by this breath taking and scintillating resort which is still carefully tucked away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Hats-off to Mr.Anil, an erstwhile tea estate owner with a heart for mother nature, who visualized and constructed this one of a kind resort.
There are totally 8 cottages in this 20 acre property. Each cottage is an actual old style Kerala home, which has been dismantled and rebuilt on the hills. Each has subtle variations in style. Each one is however loaded with basic amenities including a very clean toilet. You have the option of choosing a cottage with closed bathrooms or with partially open bathrooms (would recommend choosing the open ones and be closer to nature) The whole spirit of the resort takes a couple of hours to sink into your mind and soul. You could sit in the front sit- out of the cottage and just keep observing the wonderful movement of clouds for hours together.
There is no electricity in the resort. Generator is used to supply power between 6.00 pm and 12.00 mid-night and again between 7.00 am and 10.00 am in the morning. There is a natural swimming pool with water flowing from an uphill stream flowing into a pond and the overflow meanders downward.
Words cannot explain this resort. I request you to have a look at their website https://raincountryresorts.com to visualize this whole experience. No phones, mobile phones and TV in this resort. However BSNL phones seem to work. There is a good restaurant serving a multicuisine menu. They also have a few basic game options like carom, badminton and fishing.
We stayed at this place for 2200 per night per couple on half board basis (including breakfast and dinner). On the day we stayed, we were the only guests in the resort and so were upgraded to their honeymoon cottage located in a small semi-secluded hill inside the resort. We just spent the day idling around and digesting this whole new experience.
There are a few more nature resorts in Wayanad. They are Vythiri resort, Jungle Park resort and Green Magic resorts which have huge properties situated inside vast plantations (100 acres or more). All offer equally good experiences and leave equally big holes in the wallet.
Pocket friendly options are Green Gates resort, Stream valley cottages, Hotel Woodlands and Hotel Haritagiri .
What to See :
1. Phokoot Lake :
Located 13 kms south of Kalpetta (district headquarters). Pretty close to the main road. This lilly pond / lake has a very natural environment. It is surrounded on all around by high mountain ranges. A scenic walking trail is available along the periphery of the lake.
2. Edakkal caves :
Pre-historic caves situated around 25 kms east of Kalpetta. Need to take a 1 km trek to reach the caves consisting of New stone age writing. Supposed to be a worthwhile trip. Could not go because of time constraints.
3. Chain tree :
An English man shot down a local tribe who actually discovered Wayanad. This tree is supposed to have the spirit of the local tribe, which has been tied down using the chain.
4. Lakkidi view point :
You could see the winding uphill road from Calicut from this view point close to Lakkidi. Located 15 kms south of Kalpetta.
5. Tirunelli temple : Known as the Kashi of Kerala. A sacred Hindu shrine located around 70 kms north west Kalpetta (close Nagarhole sanctuary). It has a site with embossing on a rock, supposed to be the feet of Lord RAMA. A sacred river Papanashini runs in this place.
Please go enjoy this natural paradise before it is spoiled by city folks like us.