My World

12 January 2019

Wayanad Chronicles - Day 2 - Vythiri

Continued from Wayanad Chronicles - Day 1

Being a week day, whole family was busy with their routine and we planned to start for the day. We were joined by hubby's cousin and we wanted to have Vythiri tour for day 2. Vythiri is known for its tea estates and contribute to most of Wayand's tea market. The plantation is so beautiful that you just want to get down at each estate you come across and go on clicking the pics. Yet HML Tea Museum with estate is some thing you can plan to visit, if you want to get deeper about tea or have a tea tasting session. The museum has a collection of old tea making machines, photographs of tea processing, type of tea and much more. If you have enough time, you can take a tour of the estate as well. Lunch for the day was at Aryabhavan Mess Food. This mess on Wayand - Kozhikode Road serves pure veg sadhya style lunch on banana leaf. One of the very few pure vegetarian homely food to find in Wayand. Don't look for hygiene, but the food is authentic and tasty.

With all their lush green tea estates, this region also houses most of the resorts of Wayanad. Enjoyed the lush green tea estates and headed to Lakkidi view point, the point which gives the beautiful view of the Thamarassery ghat. While returning back we stopped at Chain tree to hear about the monument and the story of Karinthandan. Its said Karinthandan was killed by British officers and chained to the tree. Since then the chain has been growing with the growing tree.

Lakkidi view point

Chain tree

Pookot lake

Just few kms from Chain tree is Pookot lake, which is surrounded by the mountain range and offers boat ride.

Wayanad Chronicles - Day 3 next on the series

18 November 2018

Wayanad Chronicles - Day 1- Himavad Gopalswamy Betta, Bandipur and Sulthan Bathery

Mysore - Himavad Gopalswamy Betta - Bandipur - Sulthan Bathery-Venniyode

We had been planing a visit to Wayanad for few years now. Hubby's aunt stays in Wayanad and it used to be his regular summer vacation trip during childhood, and he always shared wonderful memories of Wayanad with me. So during the Diwali long weekend this year we planned our visit to Wayanad. It definitely was to be a leisure trip no much of running around. So we started off from Bangalore by 6 in the evening, halted at Mysore, and started in the morning for Wayanad. We were on Mysore Ooty round by 9 AM, our plan for day 1 was to cover Himavad Gopalswamy betta and Sultan Bathery. We took pit stops on the way to enjoy the paddy fields of Najangudu and reached Himavad Gopalswamy Betta by 11AM. The forest authorities have become strict nowadays and they have stopped allowing private vehicles to the hill. There are KSTRC buses playing from the foot hills to the temple. Himavad Gopalaswamy betta is the highest peak of Bandipur Tiger Reverse and you get the beautiful view of the forest. Dedicated to Gopala, Lord Krishna the temple is well known for being chilled throughout the year, even at the highest temperatures down hill. Its just not the inside of the temple but also the entire plateau with the cool breeze. If you are lucky enough you spot wild life, we were told its common to encounter with elephant herds en-route to the hill or near the temple. Its the smell of the temple prasada(offerings to devotees), which attract these elephants, our bus driver said. By the time we were back at the foot hills it was already 1:30, looking out for decent food joints, we drove back to Gundlupete. Himavad Gopalaswamy bette is on Ooty road, you need to drive back to Gundlupete and take the other deviated rout to Sulthan Bathery. With quick lunch at Gundlupet we started off to Sultan Bathery. One of our reason's to avoid night travel and take the day trip was to enjoy the drive through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. With every rare calls and around the water bodies we looked for the sighting of tiger or elephants, the only animals we could spot were lots on monkeys, deer herds, peacocks and many birds. This rout through Bandipur is closed from 8PM to 6AM, one of the few national parks which closes late, while most of the other parks close by 6 in the evening. We reached Sulthan Bathery by 4PM and drove to Ancient Jain temple. Built in 13th century, the Jain temple served as a place of worship and a ammunition store during the rule of Tippu Sultan, hence the city gets its name Sultan Bathery(Tippu Sultan Battery). From Sultan Bathery we drove to Kainatty Ananthanatha Swamy Jain Temple to join cousins for Mahaveer Swamy Mokshakalyana Mahotsava, a celebration as part of Diwali. We called for the day at cousin's place in Venniyode, which is around 13km from Kainatty.

Kerala, travel, Wayand Diaries, Wayanad, Mysore, Sulthan Bathery, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, Gopala Swamy Betta, Nanjangudu

Paddy Fields of Nanjangudu

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Pic Courtesy http://wayanadtourism.org/explores/jain-temple,-sulthan-bathery

Wayanad Chronicles - Day 2 next on the series

7 July 2018

Catching up with the winged beauties at Bhigwan..

Though we had visited Sewri in Mumbai for Flamingo watch, we missed the visit to Bhandup pumping station, where agencies offer boat ride through the lakes to get the better view of winged beauties. I had come across many of my friend's photographs which had been clicked on boat ride, and they couldn't be missed. Bhigwan in Pune Sholapur border also attracts Flamingos and immigrant birds from Dec to almost May. So when we planned our visit to Padharpur in Feb, we thought of connecting Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary. Its an hours drive from Dahigaon to reach Pune-Sholapur Highway and another 25km till you reach Kumbhargaon Flamingo Point. There are many agencies in Kumbhargaon who offer the bird watch service, we had booked with Agneepankh Flamingo Point. We had been coordinating with Mr. Sandeep Nagare, the owner of Agneepankh for the visit. But the phone network was really bad towards the end, however the localites easily guide you. Mr. Sandeep Nagare, owns a house there and offers home-stay option. There is enough parking near his house, and a member of Agneepankh took us to the lake. The boat ride is around 20 mins(to reach the bird), they take you to the deeper waters with motor boats and then row as you near the birds. The number of birds when we visited was really low, when compared to those we had seen in Sewri, and didn't spot a single Flamingo. Even the mangroves of Kalwa and Bhandup in Mumbai offer you with Flamingos during the season. We were really disappointed, but the only good thing was we were able to view them from near.