AWESOME!!!!
Friday night 8 o clock till Monday morn 8 o clock was full masti !!!!
There were 20 of us.
We reached Calicut at 7, had breakfast from hotel Dakshin and started to wayanad. On the way were sylvan hills draped in fog. The view from hair pin bends were breathtaking and slight drizzle now and then added chillness to the air. As per the rule of thumb we stopped midway to have ice cream in the cold :)
The cut road to the resort was very jerky and by the time we reached resort, we were dog tired. Bath in bone-chilling-cold water and sumptuous lunch got us back into life and we started clicking snaps of the lovely resort, the lake, swans and literally everything.
Then we got into the bus and went to Soochipara falls. a minor trek of about half an hour and we reached the falls. More snaps and trek back which was interrupted by welcome breaks of fresh lime sodas and pickled mangoes and pineapples.
Once we got to the bus we got to know that another bus has broken down on the road and won’t be moved till late night. so we happily tucked in cups of strong tea, coffee, bread omelets, Lays, Maggi, more sodas and pickled mangoes. The only toilet available was fashioned after the Slumdog Millionaire one, so had a feeling of being in the movie too... ;)
Then we called the resort and they sent us 2 jeeps. We slowly started walking down the road we came. Through out the way people were selling tea, coffee, spices, honey etc grown in the estates there. And after 2 km of singing songs, we got to the jeeps.
Now comes the best part.
We were all squeezed inside the jeep and the driver, George chettan was playing mal songs, we made him stop and started singing Hindi, mal, Tamil, English songs and even nursery rhymes during the whole of an hour long journey!!! Then George chettan stopped at Chain Tree and explained about Lakkidi.
Now Lakkidi deserves a special mention here as he certainly spiced up our rest of the trip that night. Posthumously of course. He was the tribal who braved the wild and the climate and climbed and panted up the hills of Wayanad from somewhere down in hope for a new abode for his abused tribe. Later British got there following him and finding this land of abundance killed poor Lakkidi and other tribals near a Banyan tree. Folklores sing that Lakkidi's soul wouldn’t leave Wayanad and was proving quite naughty by murdering people. So they exorcised him into a chain and tied it on that particular banyan tree where he was killed.
All this was explained on a pitch dark night along a lonely road in a strange land we had never visited.
Needless to say, rest of the journey was spent in scaring the weak-hearted.
Once back in resort, it was quite late and we quickly gorged down dinner and slept skipping the DJ night.
Up at 6.30 and another bath in cold water which gave goose bumps all over the body and numbed me for 5 solid minutes got me awake and soon all boarded the bus. 2 hours ride with a stop over for breakfast and we got to the base of Edakkal caves. We chose walking over getting a jeep for the steep climb and soon were breathless. After the steep road came steps after steps of stones leading to the caves. We climbed humming 'hum honge kaamyab..'
After taking in the breathtaking view at the top, we posed for more photos of us posing as if we were meditating, flying away and being kicked off the edge and learnt the reason why its called Edakkal.
There are 2 HUGE rocks which are almost parallel and between which there is a thin gap thru which light squeezes into the cave. Hence the name (eda(space) + kal(stone)). And yeah, there was also this stone on which Stone Age people had doodled in their spare time. (Sorry wasn’t really listening to what guide said).
Then we climbed down the caves after sodas and pickled mangoes, we got jeeps since didn’t have time for walking back and went back to resort to check out.
After lunch and checking out, we went to Pookot Lake. It wasn’t very happening at the beginning, thanks to rain. But we bought curios and coffee powder and honey amla(Gooseberry marinated in wild honey for such a long time that it blows up to double its size and is oozing with honey as you pop it into your mouth … yummmm…) from the curio shop. I didn’t go for boating, instead got 2 cups of hot steaming tea and sat watching the lake ripple in the rain.
Later we went for walk around the lake and found good locations to test our photography skills, we also had a running race for 4 and i won it hands down hahaha..
On our way back, Natasha got bitten by a leach and that scared us all a bit. Thanks to Mohan who played Knight in shining armor at the right mo.
Then we got traveling again and started our way back to Calicut.
There was dancing and singing and more snaps and pulling legs inside the bus and time just flew past.
At Calicut, we had an hour to get dinner and chips for which Kerala is famous for. So everybody spread out and met again at 8. Once inside the train and happy on a full stomach of dinner and sweets, we started Dumb charades and went on playing till 1.30 in the morning.
Morning came and so did Chennai. Everybody smiled, slapped backs, shook hands and hugged and went on their own ways.
