Wanderlust- Wandering into Wayanad

Incredible Wayanad: Nestled in north-east Kerala, Wayanad is the “green paradise” home to luxurious coffee estates, breath-taking waterfalls, wild life sanctuaries replete with scenic beauty. If you have a sense of aesthetics, this is your cup of tea (or should I say, “cup of spices”). I waded into Sultan Batteri (important town of Wayanad) at around 2 a.m. The place was really misty and I had a feeling that the vehicles that did help commute upto there were all driven by intuition on the part of the drivers. You can hear dew drops trickle down the leaves and then you know you're in Wayanad. But by morn 9, the mist is eaten up by the scorching sun – blazing down at you. If you are into Kerala breakfast, you'll be served the “puttu”. After having done that, we wandered into Kuruva island. This place is fantastic and inhabited by tribals, yet completely packaged for the “wild” tourist. You can spend a day in the island simply exploring it (surprisingly, you have Wi-Fi out there). More wandering in Wayanad can take you to “Chembra peak” (wow, really. You'll be jealous of rich film stars that can buy coffee estates at this place! Its beautiful to trek up the peak), “Soochipara waterfalls” “Meenmutty waterfalls” “Pookkal lake” and “edukkal caves”. Now, watch out for the waterfalls – there are still primitive and ridden with rocks that are slippery. Many have cracked a skull there (but most of them have it cracked anyway, don't you think?? hehe) Edukkal Caves are also quite a climb, from the peak of which (you can trek up the peak only before 4 pm, after which the place gets misty) you can see Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. I was thrilled to see a Mohiniyattam dance performance when we climbed down the caves. As a stray tourist, I was thrilled to eat the 'amla honey” which is available at almost all stores. Do check out the muthanga wild life sanctuary. Time flies at Wayanad. No wonder somethings are called “timeless”. Oh, while you are in and around, check out the array of spices that Wayanad stores offer! You'll be interested to know that I have something called the “pathimugam” that I randomly bought. This place can get addictive, I suppose. I'm already wanting to get back and take another look.