User:(WT-en) Bindaastrekkers

== Waynad Trip and Meenmutty Falls Trekking == We planned for 2 day trip to Waynad on 9th and 10th September 2006. Waynad, a district that is recognized all over for its hill-produce, is located much above sea level at the north Kerala's eastern frontier near the Sahya mountains. We planned for a 2 day trip to Waynad on 9th and 10th Sep 2006. The best place to stay is Kalpetta. To reach Kalpetta from Bangalore, drive to Mysore and take the Ooty road from Mysore till Gundlupet. You need to turn right at Gundlupet and take the Kozhikode road to reach Kalpetta. Kalpetta offers some decent accommodation and is a good place to stay for visiting all the places in Waynad. It is around 250km from Bangalore. We left Bangalore at 6.30 PM on 8th September 2006 and reached Kalpetta at 3.30 AM on 9th September 2006. I had booked rooms at PPS Tourist home in Kalpetta for 13 of us. The accommodation was very cheap. We slept for few hours and we were all ready at 8 AM. We had breakfast at the restaurant attached to PPS Tourist Home. '''PPS Tourist Home, 220-920. 203431 ppstouristhome@sify.com www.ppstouristhome.com'''

== Day 1: == We first visited Pookat lake. There were a lot of Tourists when we reached the lake. This freshwater lake is one of the most popular tourist spots of North Kerala. A long walk along the path that goes all round the lake is indeed tremendously relaxing. For children, there is a lovely park. Just next to the lake there is a well-maintained aquarium and also a green house and nursery. Boating facilities are also available. We hired 4 Pedal boats for 30 minutes. Boating was an enchanting experience. Our next destination was Meenmutty Falls. After visiting Pookat Lake, We took a drive on Kozhikode highway, then turned toward Meenmutty waterfall. Meenmutty waterfall is around 30km from Kalpetta. It is not for the easy going traveller and requires descending down a very steep slope to have a look at the fall. The climb back can be exhausting. The way to paradise is not easy. Same is the case with Meenmutty falls. It is around 3 kms from the Kozhikode highway. The first 1 Km path is muddy path and easy to walk. The remaining 2 kms is very steep and marshy. It is not suggested to trek in rainy season. But we, the Bindaas Trekkers planned to trek Meenmutty falls on 09-09-2006. We started our trek by around 3 pm after a nice lunch(time god without the coconut oil being used in the food). We applied lemon to our legs as a part of precaution against Leech; in spite of this some of us were still victims. The weather was quite encouraging when we started. Half way through the trekking there was a small stream. We stopped there to rest for a while and to click some snaps. We had almost completed the half way trekking, when it started raining. It was also getting darker because the path was very thick with tall trees. Sun rays were hardly reaching the floor. Now we stopped for a while and had a second thought of getting back. Many who turned back from MM Falls told us its very dangerous and steep. The rain started pouring very badly. In spite of all these difficulties, we managed to reach the falls by 4.30 PM and sight of the falls was worth taking risk. It was awesome. It was a big fall divided into 2 parts. We could not go very close to the falls because of the heavy rain. We were very happy with our decision to continue trekking in the rain. We spend some time near the falls and started trekking back. We were all completely wet and it was a great life time experience. Trekking back was also difficult and took us 1.30 Hrs to reach the Kozhikode Highway. We were back to the PPS Tourist Home at 7.30 PM. We were really very much tired and we caught up with a badly needed sleep for an hour and again gathered together in a room for boozing.

== Day 2 : == Our second day’s plan was to visit Eddakal caves and Kuruva Island. We left the Hotel at 9.30 AM and reached the Eddakal caves at 10.30AM. It is located at a distance of 10 kilometers from Wayanad. To reach the caves we have to walk a distance of 2.5 KMS. 1 KM on road and another 1.5 KMS using steps. It took us 30 minutes to reach the cave. The Guide explained us about the place. He told us that the caves were formed out of three huge rocks, one resting on two of them thus, making a hollow space in between. The place was very cool. The Beauty of the nature was very scenic from the top and treat to eyes. The rock climbing using rope was a thrilling experience. It took us an hour to reach the place where we had parked the Tempo Tracks. It was around 2.30 PM. We then had lunch and moved towards Kuruva Island. It is 40kms from Sulthan Bathery. This is a lovely island on the Kabini river. The relatively untouched island is slowly gaining popularity as tourist spot. The road is quite good and the last stretch of 4 KMS is very narrow. There were a lot of tea estates on the way. We reached the place at 4PM. We waited for the boat to cross the Kabini river. This boat can carry only 6-7 peoples at a time. So we divided our group into 2 and crossed the river. The island was a very quite place. We played some games there and spend sometime there. There was a small falls at 1 KM distance. We visited the falls and as it was getting darker we returned back soon, because the boat will not operate after 6PM. We crossed the river again and started traveling back to Bangalore.

Yogesh P Working as Sr. Manager in Tulsiyaan Hospitality Ideas Interested in Trekking. My website - www.bindaastrekkers.com