[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

We needed some more rest


Stunning views




Guide telling us about his great tales


That is the last hill to climb




A look back at the hills we have passed








Wifey looking forward to the last leg of the climb, it was indeed steep


Jr. PPG is almost there at the top


continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

There she is Jr. PPG has scaled Chembra peak ahead of us


What a feat!


A happy guide sharing her joy


I am so proud of her!


Sr. PPG too scales Chembra Peak and claims her refreshments


Wifey clicking Jr. PPG, Hridaya Saras can also be seen


Wifey too scales Chembra Peak


One for the album


Sky was amazing!






One for the record! We have scaled Chembra Peak


Some time to relax and reflect






PPGs relaxing







continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

The other side had thick forests




Some peak played hide and seek


Amazing Sky


The pulse of the triumphant trekkers at the peak


The peak was at an altitude of 1849m


We reached the peak by 11:15AM. That meant a trek of 1 hour 45 minutes from the heart shaped lake to the top. The climb was quite steep, and slippery due to loose soil and dusty due to the loose soil spread by the wind.

Trek from Heart Shaped Lake to Chembra Peak
Start Altitude : 1381m
Current Altitude : 1849m
Climb : 500m
Distance : 2 KMs
Duration : 1hr 45 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Steep, Slippery climb


Upward trek Statistics

Trek from Parking lot to Chembra Peak
Start Altitude : 1072m
Current Altitude : 1849m
Climb : 800m
Distance : 3.5 KMs
Duration : 3hours with ample breaks

After relaxing at the top for nearly 30 minutes we started our return trek by 11:45AM.

continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

We started our return trek


Heart shaped lake looked quite far


Jr. PPG gets help for the descend


The descend was difficult than the climb


Sr. PPG finds the descend amusing as she slides at times


It's a long way down


Wifey takes a break


Some views around




Heart shaped lake was getting nearer


continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

The sight of heart shaped lake getting nearer boosted our energies


But the lake is still a long way


Sr. PPG gets herself clicked with the lake


Wifey too


Some other team had trekked till the lake


The lake was beautiful


We continued our descend


Wifey was finding the descend a bit difficult for her


Finally we reached the lake


it was 13:30 hours by the time we reached the lake. Which means we have taken 1 hour 45 minutes to descend from the peak to the lake.

Trek from Chembra Peak to Heart Shaped Lake
Start Altitude : 1849m
Current Altitude : 1381m
Climb : 500m
Distance : 2 KMs
Duration : 1hr 45 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Steep, Slippery descend

continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

After resting for 3o minutes at the lake we started our trek back by 14:00 hours

Some clicks from the return trek from the lake


















Can you spot our Civvy?


continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

We were in the last leg of the trek


We saw a small quail


PPGs have reached the finish line

Wifey too joins in. The first ever long trek for her


It was 15:15 hours which makes the return a 1 hour 15 minutes trek from the lake.

Trek from Heart Shaped Lake to parking lot
Start Altitude : 1381m
Current Altitude : 1072m
Climb : 300m
Distance : 1.5 KMs
Duration : 1hr 15 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Slippery descend


There was a class about forest and its importance going on


We sat there and relaxed while listening to the class




The complete Statistics for the trek

Ascend Leg

Trek from Parking lot to Heart Shaped Lake

Start Altitude : 1072m
Current Altitude : 1381m
Climb : 300m
Distance : 1.5 KMs
Duration : 1hr 15 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Moderate climb

Trek from Heart Shaped Lake to Chembra Peak

Start Altitude : 1381m
Current Altitude : 1849m
Climb : 500m
Distance : 2 KMs
Duration : 1hr 45 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Steep, Slippery climb

Upward Trek full Statistics

Trek from Parking lot to Chembra Peak

Start Altitude : 1072m
Current Altitude : 1849m
Climb : 800m
Distance : 3.5 KMs
Duration : 3hours with ample breaks

Descend Leg

Trek from Chembra Peak to Heart Shaped Lake

Start Altitude : 1849m
Current Altitude : 1381m
Descend : 500m
Distance : 2 KMs
Duration : 1hr 45 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Steep, Slippery descend

Trek from Heart Shaped Lake to parking lot

Start Altitude : 1381m
Current Altitude : 1072m
Descend : 300m
Distance : 1.5 KMs
Duration : 1hr 15 minutes with ample breaks
Difficulty : Slippery descend

Downward Trek full Statistics

Trek from Chembra Peak to Parking lot

Start Altitude : 1849m
Current Altitude : 1072m
Descend : 800m
Distance : 3.5 KMs
Duration : 3hours with ample breaks

Complete Trek Statistics

Distance : 7 KMs
Total Duration : 8 hours
Trek : 6 hours
Rest : 2 hours
Notes : Descend was difficult due to the slippery nature of the trail

By 15:45 we took our Civvy and drove on in search of some food.

continued...

[laluks]

Day 06
27th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Chembra - Kalpetta - Sultan Battery

We stopped at a nearby roadside hotel


They still had lunch available, though it was 16:00 hours


The owner was a friendly guy


Jr. PPG captured me in a pensive mood


PPGs are all smiles after some good food


The road to Chembra peak is inside this Chembra Estate gate




It was 17:00 hours by the time we exited this gate. I then took the Kalpetta route to reach our hotel by 18:30 hours.

I took a nice hot shower and quickly came back to the radar. HVK and many friends were trying to track my whereabouts already. I walked to the next property of Isaac in the campus, Hotel Regency. I found HVK manning the hotel counter by allotting rooms to his fan club members who have joined him for his annual HVK meet. I was quite happy to see HVK and he too to see me.

By this time Sam uncle and Mathew uncle, my friends from our Uttarakhand trip came in and hijacked me to their home. Mathew uncle had just returned from Antarctica and we savored some resources he brought from there. Later I visited Sam uncles home and came back to be taken to the venue where the HVK meet was going to happen the next evening. The morning there was some convoy driving organised and evening a mega meet with dinner was the plan.

Met our DBHPian Dhanush there at the venue. BHPians BolBolero, Jeepcaptian where amongst the other members there. Chatted till late night and returned back to my room and retired. Since I was not joining the convoy drive I had the liberty to wake up a bit late.

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

The plan for the day was to visit the Heritage Museum and then visit Regional Agricultural Research Station and then check out Kaduvakuzhi (Tigers Cave) and be back to the hotel. And for the evening we were to be a part of HVK annual meet celebrations at a nearby club.

Very relaxed day, just about 30KM of over all drive


Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum (Ambalavayal) around 11KM
Heritage Museum - RARS (Regional Agricultural Research Center (Ambalavayal) around 1KM
RARS - Kaduvakuzhi around 3KMS
Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery around 13KMs

The locations for the day were all nearby


continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery


After a lazy wake up and slow breakfast we started our drive for the day by 11:00AM.

We visited Wayanad Heritage Museum

Wayanad Heritage Museum

Wayanad Heritage Museum is also referred as Ambalavayal Heritage Museum. This is an archeological museum and has a grand collection of rare artifacts dating back to 2nd century. These artifacts provide evidence the fact that ancient human civilization prevailed here in a structured form.

This museum has rare form of arts from Neolithic ages and 16th century displayed in the show case. This museum has four blocks. The four blocks of the museum are named as Gothrasmruthi, Veerasmruthi, Devasmruthi and Jeevanasmruthi.

Veerasmruthi, which is the first block displays ‘veerakkallu’ or hero stones which show tiger hunts and primitive wars. These veerakkallu were erected on the tombs of a warrior to signify his heroic deeds.

Next is the Gothrasmruthi block displaying various articles associated with tribal life in Wayanad. The display includes fish collecting bags, ploughs and cow bells which are utilized by local tribesmen.

Another block, Devasmruthi has scholarly artifacts belonging to the Neolithic age and 17 A.D. Terracotta figurines from Kuppakolly near Edakkal cave are displayed in this block. Twenty stone idols from 12th and 16th century have been displayed in this block.

Jeevanasmruthi, the last block displays a variety of hunting traps, ear ornaments, bangles, and necklaces used by tribesmen. Other displays include a writing stone and Neolithic Celt.

What’s more, there is a multi media theatre, adjacent to the museum, offering the details about the district. This Wayanad Heritage Museum attracts close to 500 visitors daily. The Ambalavayal heritage museum, displays collections that appeal to both historians and layman.

Some collections from the museum























continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

Some more collections from the museum






















continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

We then visited RARS Ambalavayal

Regional Agricultural Research Station for High range zone is located at Ambalavayal Wayanad district. Ambalavayal is located about 25 km east of Kalpetta, the district headquarter. The station was established under Ex Service men Colonisation programme Wayanad, in 1946 by the then Madras Government. It became a part of Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala in 1956 and was renamed as Central Horticultural Research Station in 1966. It was transferred to kerala Agricultural University in 1972 and elevated as Regional Agricultural Research Station for High Range Zone in 1983.

The lead function of the station is to provide research support for agriculture in the High Range zone (Wayanad & Idukki districts and Nelliyampathy area of Palakkad district). Cardamom Research Station, Pampadumpara, Idukki district is a substation of RARS Ambalavayal. Research programmes on crop breeding and management aspects of pepper, ginger, rice, scented rice and cool season vegetables; studies on crop weather relationships, soil fertility management etc are undertaken. Research and infrastructure development programmes are funded by a number of agencies including Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), State Horticulture Mission (SHM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), India Meteorological department (IMD) and Government of Kerala. At present there are eleven state funded research/development projects and fourteen programmes supported by other agencies.

Jr. PPG was attracted to the figures made by trimming plants








The office



I was quite happy to get these notes












These notes have helped me a lot in bringing up my trees in Bangalore, more on that at the end of the log.

We then went to check out the saplings on offer, and with a note to come back by the rains to get some of them home.

continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

We then checked out the nursery




























It was 12:00 and we went to RARS canteen. A very simple lunch with fish curry and fish fry was served. I enjoyed the lunch very much, been a long while since I ate such a simple yet tasty lunch.

After lunch we left towards Kaduvakuzhi

continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

Our next destination was Kaduvakuzhi


There was a steep climb to the place


On such roads


We decided to park Civvy and walk the last bit




An abandoned house



Kaduvakuzhi

Kaduvakuzhi is for the daring adventure activists. This is an under ground cave, with a small water body that is accessed through a challenging decent down a narrow passage. This cave is devoid of natural light and owes its name to the “Kaduva or Tiger” that once inhibited this area.

All of us were jittery after seeing the caves, we were not prepared to get down there. Not for us!




Kaduvakuzhi is in a private property and its owner an elderly gentleman showed us through then place. He warned us against going down as he had seen some snakes making their way down there. He told me it was interesting thing to go down there and to see the flow of natural water under the caves. You will have to carry your torch to see across the caves.

If any of you happen to go inside, please post a few pictures and a video for us

continued...

[laluks]

Day 07
28th December 2012
Sultan Battery - Heritage Museum - RARS - Kaduvakuzhi - Sultan Battery

The elderly gentleman asked us to climb over the rocks in his property to get a beautiful view of the surroundings. We could see Karapuzha Reservoir from there. It was an amazing place to enjoy the breeze and see sunset. But we were there in the afternoon.

The view from the rocks
















By 13:30 we called it a day and returned to our hotel. I thought of relaxing a bit by a swim in the pool. The pool water did not inspire me as it looked a bit used, and thought against the idea.

Pool at the hotel




Slept for a while till evening and got ready to attend HVK meet, and drove to the location of the meet

continued...