Day 2: WAYANAD.. The Lap of Nilgiris!!

It was 1 in the morning. We were still playing cards and chatting. We had totally forgotten that we had a bus to catch at 7. That was the only bus to our next destination, which is Wayanad, from Mattanur. If we miss that bus we would have to travel some 20 kms extra. Realising this i pestered everyone into bed. I kept the alarm for 5.30. When i woke up i found guru already up n ready. He dint play in the night as he was tired. The time was 6 and 5 of us had to get ready. I immediately woke all up n pestered them into getting read. I took a quick shower and packed a few of my clothes and got ready. It was already 6.40. The guys had to do everything in a fuzz as we had no time. It was already 6.55 when we left home. We reached the Bust stand just after 7 and unfortunately the bus had left!

Now the only way out for us was to travel south by a 20 km and catch a bus from a place called Kuthuparamba to Wayanad, which was about 94 kms from there. We had a hard day ahead of us. We got into a bus and reached Kuthuparamba in half an hour. We waited in the bus stand for some 15 mins but dint find a bus to wayanad. We saw an array of Jeeps on the road. Benny said we should just try renting a Jeep for a day. That would make our trip more enjoyable and les tiresome. I agreed but the others were against the idea saying it would cost a lot. But Benny and I somehow talked them into the idea and they agreed. We got into one of the Jeeps and started our 4 hour long journey into the mountains.



The Jeep we Rented! It was costly but worth it!!

The route to Wayanad was filled with reserved forests on both sides during the initial part and towards the end it was Mountains, Tea estates and Mountains all the way!! It was a great experience! As we took the Jeep we could stop every now and then and enjoy the surrounding nature. It was about 9 when we realised we hadn't had our Breakfast. So we decided to stop at the next hotel. But we weren't surprised that there was not a hotel that we found until 9.30. We had a small breakfast. Outside the hotel there was a small spring with ice cold water coming from the mountains. We had a small dip in it.

The spring at the Hotel! It was damn cold. But was awesome!!

We started the journey into the mountains of the Western ghats. With our jeep moving up every feet, we could feel the chillness in the air building up. It took us some 40 mins to reach a small town called Mananthavadi from where we had to climb up another 30 kms. From what our driver said this route was gonna be really exhilarating. And it was. We made our way through the Muthanga reserve forest. It was more like a jungle safari but we couldn't spot any animals but our cousins the rhesus Monkeys!!

We took rest on this mountain highway linking Mysore n Kerala!!

I forgot to tell u where we were headed to. We were on our way to the Tirunelli temple which was on the peak of a mountain. It is a beautiful place. The place was a remote village. There was hardly an independent house in the area. Full of forest cover and this temple on the mountain. Awesome scene it was. An amazing visual treat.

Tirunelli. Nothing but thick forest on the Bluish Mountains.

We reached the place at about 11.30 AM. We bid a big bye to the Jeep n the driver and plunged straight into action. There was a spring in the place which comes from the top of the mountains. Its called the PAPANASINI spring. Thats the major attraction of the place. So we headed straight fo the spring. We had to Climb down some wat seemed like a 1000 steps down to reach the spring. The route was awesome with Green forest around and the chill breeze blowing on your face. The fleet of steep steps we had to climb.


At first sight we saw a small spring of water flowing down from the forests. The volume of water was too little. We thought this wouldn't be fun. But as we climbed down we found it was quite an interesting place to be. There was a small pool of water at a point. That was the point till which tourists are allowed. The water came from beyond the point from the mountain through the forest. We thought we should just try climbing up beyond into the forest. This is where the real fun began. Though Guru and Leo were against this idea, we forced them into it saying things like "Be a man", "Life's all about risks and adventures" and stuff.

The spring came through huge rocks. We climbed the rocks and made our way through. At a point there was a fence made of bamboo sticks and a board read "Do not Cross". But nothing could stop us from going further. We climbed over the fence and continued our trek. The route was really scary owing to the fact that we were the only human souls in about a KM radius. Also it was a thick forest. The water was filled with blood sucking Leeches. All of us fell victims to these creatures. My leg after a leech made its way through.

The rocky terrain i was talking about.

We climbed up the rocks for a long distance. Beyond a point it had become utterly impossible to traverse. Also we were hungry and thirsty. So we made our way back. On the way back we stopped at many pools of the spring and took a dip. It was the most refreshing dip of my life. It was just awesome.
Wow What A Bath it was?!

After the dip in the pool.

We also took a god bath in a big pool of water. After this awesome experience we made our way up the stairs to a Hotel at the top. We had a great Kerala meal and many snacks. The 4 hours trek had really taken every bit of Energy out of us.

Earlier we had planned of going to an old palace in Mananthavady. But now it had already become 4. We had to travel 40 kms to reach my Grand uncle's place were we were supposed to stay for the night. We took the last bus from Tirunelli bound for Mananthavady at 5. The route back was awesome and we got to see many more animals this time.

We reached Mananthavady by 7. Then we had to take another bus to reach my GU's house. We reached the house by 8. He was there waiting for us. We were given a separate room on the first floor. We went and took turns teasing each others for the silliest of jokes, which we called "Mokkai". By now everyone of us had started cracking the silliest jokes and this was fun. This way we took bath changed clothes and spoke to my Grand uncle and aunt and their son. Then we played a couple of rounds of Cards. At 10 we were treated for an amazing meal.The guys just loved the food. It was a completely different country side dishes which they've never even heard about. They even loved the house. It was a new house and was surrounded by Rubber plantation all around. At 11 we went up and started playing cards which had now become the most interesting thing after the roaming.
My Grand uncles House were we stayed!

Thus the day two went fabulously well. We had the times of our lives. I was the happiest off all cos i hadn't disappointed them by bringing them here. Its past 12am now. Somehow i completed the 2nd part after almost a month. More to come. The third day is the most thrilling of all. A day none of the 6 would ever forget, thanx to Benny. Do be in touch and lookout for the Google Ads on the sidebar. Click on them and do me some Good.. Lolz..
Be back in a while, Hopefully.