A trip outside Bangalore was long on cards, so my husband, Nishant and I decided why don’t we visit Kerala and the general consensus was why not Wayanad, the district of Kerala that nestled in the green hills – the pros being it is not that far from Bangalore (its around 300 kms) and as it is not on the coast it won’t be that warm and humid in April. Hence, one of the best parts of the trip-that is planning- began – how, when and where- were the questions. Like every other person in the software industry, we camped on the net. The rates were exorbitant for most of the jungle lodges and resorts – hence we could very easily filter out quite a few and didn’t face much difficulty in choosing the final destination – The Rain Country resort in Wayanad district – that promised accommodation and services at not a very expensive rate. As, it was available only on Sunday and Monday (it being a long weekend), we decided to shorten the trip from three days to two.
So, all were set to start from Bangalore at the wake of the dawn - to save time and also so that our little one, Myra would cover most of the journey sleeping. Surprisingly , Nishant , Nishant’s mom and I were ready nearly on time and our mean black machine- Scorpio left the den at 5:40 am sharp – off to the hills and jungles of Wayanad, via Mysore.
We could zip-zap-zoom from Marthahalli to Mysore road in mere 20 mins- which otherwise in sane hours would have taken an insane 1 hour at least. The Bangalore-Mysore highway was smooth as a butter top and the gentle cool breeze put me to sound melodious sleep. So my daughter (she is 9 months old) and I took the advantage of being in the back and slept for a good one hour. We passed through Kamat and Coffee day – the winding road looking like a giant snake still sleeping in the early morning hours.
We entered Mysore ring road by 8:30 am and just after crossing Mysore made our first stop at a small coffee shop- that served steaming hot coffee. I was not wide awake still and not in much mood to have coffee – so it was snacks for me – ‘thepla’ and some other stuff which we had picked up from Nilgiris a day before. Myra was wide awake by now -we could really catch her amused expression after seeing the surroundings.
After a break of half an hour there, we were all set to attack the next 170 kms. We crossed the edge of Bandipur sanctuary by taking right from Gundulpet(it is around 60 kms from Mysore). To our dismay it was more of outskirts of the sanctuary and we didn’t see any wild life except some monkeys jumping on the road side in anticipation of some food from the passers-by. The road was not too good with some humps and potholes here and there – so we had to slow down a bit. We passed by a few over-adventurous people parking their cars in the “no stopping zone” of the forest area. It really showed how much we humans love to disturb the wild life just for the fun of it.
The good roads marked our entry to Kerala – as against the bumpy ride in and around Bandipur. We entered the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary (in Kerala), which is around 100 kms from Mysore at around 11:30 am. It was another 1 hour drive to Sultan Bathery a small town on the foothills of Wayanad. The greenery of Kerala was soothing to the eyes and we couldn’t wait to reach our resort.
We reached Wayanad at around 12:45 pm and contacted the resort person. He asked us to reach the Indian institute of hotel management, where he met us in his jeep. We were then informed that our Scorpio wont go till the resort because of lack of any access road till there.
We parked our Scorpio there and jumped into his jeep which off-roaded for the next 3 kms through the jungles of Wayanad – the jeep jumping up and down the undulating terrain, the thick vegetation around making the ride a welcoming change from the broad smooth highways back there.
The resort had a few Kerala style traditional cottages that were quite spacious and beautifully constructed. Our cottage was on a small hillock that overlooked a small lake where two geese were lazing around. There was a small stream flowing on one side of our cottage, the falling water giving a melodious background score to the very scenic setup. It was 2 in the afternoon now and we ordered for lunch at our cottage itself. Traditional and delicious Kerala food was served and we enjoyed our first meal thoroughly. It was time for some relaxation – while the sun slowly set behind the hills, the twilight giving the resort a halo. After the siesta at around 5 pm, we enjoyed our evening coffee and sandwich at the verandah outside the cottage. It was then time for a short walk around the lake. A hammock slung across the branches of two trees on the lake-side, while a swing lazily perched itself on another tree branch. We clicked a few snaps and just ambled around. Myra thoroughly enjoyed watching the geese making sounds and tip toeing around the lake. The resort lights had started glowing now and we headed back towards our cottage.
The dinner was palatable and after an early one we were off to sleep in the bit chilly and a very silent night – a refreshing and much needed change from the noisy IT city. We woke up to the birds chirping – with south Indian breakfast served in our cottage. After this it was time for some gup-shup over coffee while we gradually got ready for our journey back home.
While going back through the jungles- we could see a couple of vehicles that had stopped in the middle of the trail- we were told that they had seen a python and king cobra- going into the thick green. The mention of the creepy crawlies was enough for us to hop out of the jeep in hope of seeing one- but I guess we were a bit late. Anyway, our journey till the parking was eventless and we headed back to Bangalore at around 12:30 pm- our eyes still feasting on the scenes of the beautiful green hills. Though we wanted to stay there for at least a few more days, it was time to get back to daily grill. We stopped at “coffee shop” near Gundulpet for our lunch – it served tasty dosa, biryani and egg masala.
We entered Bangalore at around 7 pm and were back at home in another 1 hour. It was an overall rejuvenating though short trip with fond of God’s own country.
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