A Memorable trip to Wayanad

January 2008 - The month when most of the placement blues was more or less settled, the month when Samanvay - the annual B school fest of Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras got over and and the most awaited mother of all fests - Saarang 2008 was getting over. It was time to plan a class trip - and time to decide on the venue for it.

With all the end quarter exams and special classes lined up to compensate the fest filled January, 3 days including weekend was all that could be squeezed from the system for the tour. After so much of deliberations and arguments and what-not, Wayanad district of Kerala was chosen as the destination. What started as a 50 member strong 'interested' party ultimately ended up as 22 members. Nevertheless, the tour was still on 'On-budget' since major part of the travel was on train and hence the costs were variable.

The TOCO (Tour Organizing Committee) had all the plans ready - but nobody was sure if the gamble of going to a little known place would be really worth all the effort. The plan was to travel from Chennai to Calicut by train and use a bus for all the local travel in Kerala. Even as the tour had begun, it was very clear that the success of the tour is not on the beauty of the destination but the spirit of the participants. And the fun had already started at platform no. 10 in Chennai central even while the departure of the train was delayed by two hours.

Two major towns in the district of Wayanad are Kalpetta and Sultan Bathery and we had to decide where to stay. After few googling, it was decided that we'd stay in Kalpetta. Few reference checks resulted in Hotel Affas being strongly recommended for stay. Fortunately or Unfortunately, the place was already booked and hence we stayed in another place called Chandragiri Inn. These people had put the pictures of their rooms on the website to attract customers and it was a real 'value for money' place to stay (A double cot room costed Rs.400 per night).

Day 1:
The itinerary for the Day 1 consisted of visit to Edakkal caves and Suchipara falls. Climbing Edakkal caves at 1 PM in the noon was not a great idea but that was the only time we could pack it in our schedule. After quite a steep trek and climb up the rocks, the scenic beauty from the top was really worth the effort. The return walk was spent chasing away monkeys using sticks which were trying to grab the cucumber and coconuts from our hands.

While Edakkal caves was a climb up hill, Suchipara falls was a walk downhill. Since entry would be closed by 6 PM, we had to reach the falls as early as possible. Reaching there at 4:30, we had sufficient time to enjoy the bath in the falls. It was followed by a camp fire and dinner in the open. After dancing through the return journey to Kalpetta in the 'disco bus' and few games back at the hotel, instructions were given to everybody to start the day very early next day.

Day 2:
First on the plan was the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. It is always a good idea to visit wildlife sanctuaries early in the morning, before 7 AM since most of the animals would have woken up and would crowd near water bodies. Since private vehicles are not allowed inside the reserve park, we had to engage with jeeps(500 per jeep for 8 persons) that were available at the entrance. Having stayed in IIT for two years, deers of any kind were of no fancy to us. Other wildlife that excited us were few untamed elephants and wild bisons which we could see at a close range. Unfortunately, half of the reserve was closed down that week since tiger census was in progress. So all we could see were only some pug marks of Tigers.

The next destination was the Kuruva islands. This was the best and most adventurous part of the tour. Kuruva island is a series of 80 odd islands in between the river. One can cross the river at knee deep points to traverse the area or could use motor boats. There are lots of places to just sit around placing your feet on water - chit chatting away eating everything the vendors sell there. The next destination was Banasura Sagar Dam, supposed to be the largest earthen dam in Asia. For people who have visited other dams, this place has nothing unique to offer other than a small wall on which you can sit and spend time watching the distant waves of the dam water. There is a boating club in the dam but we decided to reserve the boating for the next day on phookot lake. Dinner at Hotel Affas, which is the only place offering pure vegetarian menu marked the end of the day.

Day 3:
Day 3 was the start of the return journey and on the way from Kalpetta to Calicut, we had a stop at phookot lake. This place has an awesome lake where boating is the mainstay. All kinds of boat were on offer and Kayaking in the lake was the highlight of the day. With two hours left to board the train after reaching calicut, we wet our legs in Arabian sea at Calicut and set our journey back to sweet old IIT Madras.

At wayanad, we were told that there are few more waterfalls and wildlife sanctuaries to visit, which we had to skip because of time constraints. Overall, a nice place to unwind with nature and wild with no commercialization unlike other tourist destinations.

On a Cool Summer Morning

This was a song our Prof. played in IIT. Goes a long way in explaining the friendly atmosphere out there.


On a cool summer morning..

On a cool summer morning.. Went a girl for a walking.. (2)
Companion she was lacking, adada adada enna walking..

I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)

Girl from the west coast..

Girl from the west coast.. In a mundu was dressed. (2)
On every motion of her foot, the mundu went fattu fattu..

I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)

There came a hefty lad...

There came a hefty lad.. In a suit he was clad (2)
The way he talked was very bad, that made her think that he was a mad..

I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love.. (2)

Girl from the west coast.. Was in an aweful mood.. (2)
So she took a firewood and hit the lad on the head

Avada payyan pappadam aayi...

I will tell you how, this fellow fell in love..