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1. Wanderlust Wayanad A Welcome Break

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The stage was set- hectic office hours with lot of messing around with data, chaotic atmosphere, stagnant numbers with no signs of growth, ball being passed from one court to another with no resolution around, extremely scorching weather acting as on add-on and thus that called for a much needed welcome break.

2 friends (me and my friend priyam) -No planning, just a thought to explore the weekend outside Bangalore on a Friday night where there is peace in nature, poised weather, great natural ambience to stay and no laptop buzzing around. A google search of 5 minutes landed us to unanimously unravel Wayanad.

With an object oriented approach in mind to explore Wayanad and thanks to Navigers for fulfilling the procedural operational issues in terms of cab booking and a driver guide familiar to Wayanad sightseeing for 3 days. A quick google search for the best places to see in wayand resulted in finalizing few places for 2N/3D wanderlust- eddakal caves, chembra peak, pookode lake, sochipara falls, kuruvadweep and Banasura sagar dam.

 

With basic travel toolkit in hand- a water bottle, set of clothes, dental kit, DSLR and shades complete our itinerary for the travel. Started at 2am in the morning, seemed to be an entire different Bangalore as against what it is supposed to be in the day, reached the first kaleidoscopic spot of Wayanad at around 9am – Eddakal caves. Fascinated with the reviews on various blogs about this place, we decided to have a glimpse of this artistic naturally carved beauty. Eddakal caves contains the ancient script of homo sapiens and we decided to sneak peak into the calligraphy carved out on the rocks, got to know how during those days homo sapiens used to protect themselves from harsh weather and animal danger.

Before check-in at Hotel Haritagiri, Kalpetta(Wayanad) we already ambushed ourselves in Eddakal caves and then after 2 hours of rest on the swimming pool couches at the hotel, we made our next move to the hysterically famous peak chembra peak. Broken roads, narrow creeks, whirling winds, cab running at 20Kmph, howling sounds and sun setting slowly resulted in creeping of some fear in our minds. So we decided not to spent much time on top of the chembra peak, with quick snaps taken on the top, we decided to retrace our footsteps back to hotel.

 

Next morning, Our schumacher ferrari driver decided to take us to man made island- Kuruvadweep. Lying on the outskirts of wayanad, close to 70kms from kalpetta, we reached in just 45 minutes and had a quick check-in with the tickets. We enjoyed the bamboo rafting at the island and took some snaps on the dangerous slippery man made carved rocks at the island to relinquish ourselves from the scorching heat. Sochipara falls was a failure as there was no water due to absence of monsoon.

2nd Day evening, we explored pookode lake with boating for an hour on a lotus filled marshy lake and then quickly made our way to Lakiddi view point which lies on the border of wayand and Cochin. An absolute mesmerizing beauty with breathtaking moving clouds touching the feet of Lakkidi mountains


3rd Morning was actually a showstopper of the trip with mind boggling scenic experience of Banasura Sagar Dam- a must see beauty before anyone concludes the Wayanand trip. Lying on the tributary of Kabini river, this largest earthern dam in India and proudly the second largest in Asia, gives an absolute awe-inspiring jitters to the mankind. Marshy mangroves with wild fauna staring at us from other corner of the dam enthralls both of us to take a speedy boat and have a walk the talk with the beauty of Banasura sagar dam. Banasura encompasses everything- a 1 km trek to reach the top of the dam, a mammoth solar panel to shade the customers from scorching heat, a speedy boat ride to explore the jungle area of Banasura dam plus warning signs at few places sighting the view of water floating snakes to be beware of. 

I forgot to tell that yes we did try some adventurous sports activity at Banasura sagar dam like dirt motor biking, archery and shooting which concluded our Banasura trip

Finally, A much needed welcome break with memories to cherish forever concluded with a wayanad trip. A highly recommended place to take a quick break from Bangalore rusty weather and of course a place away from the office mess. Thanks to Navigers for being with us throughout ..Memories :)

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