[MobiusRocks]

And finally my 1st post in Team Bhp comes here. Had a long thought about what to post first, and decided to go ahead with the latest short trip on a weekend.

It had been quite some time since we went out of Bangalore, and hence all friends decided to go out for a short trip outside the city, and zeroed down to Wayanad. We chose a regular weekend, it was going to be a 2 day trip with focus on enjoying the drive rather that covering all places.

The plan started in office with trigger from fellow bhpian Anoop, and soon we got the hotel booked. We were a total of 6 families, and decided to take 4 cars for the trip:
Fiat Punto Diesel: Steered by bhpian Anoop
I20 petrol : by me
S-cross Diesel : Harsha and
Oldie Fort fiesta : by Avi, who also happens to be the new sensation in office as well.

We started at 5 AM from Nice road entrance in electronic city. Drive in early morning on Mysore road was smooth, not much traffic on the nice road toll either, and not too many trucks. Continued driving towards Mysuru, and all reached at the breakfast stop “Udupi Utsav”, right after Mandya at around 7 AM. Had a good breakfast there and continued the drive.

The first sport was Kuruwadweep, and to reach there we took a deviation from NH, just as google maps suggested. And soon the cars got lost as google map plays differently in each of the phones. This happened near to Kabini reservoir area. We could though connect to each other on call, so wasn’t much of a problem. However, thanks to this diversion we got through some amazing village landscapes:





Village scenery:


A lone truck:


The road continues:


We soon entered Nagarhole national park. Surprisingly roads weren't that great inside. But we could still sail through the good parts where road was there:





All 4 cars again got reunited after crossing Nagarhole national park. Surprisingly, only my car was checked pretty thoroughly by police right after the national park, while the other 3 weren’t. That’s probably because ours was the only one without a kid

We reached Kuruwadweep at around 11 and in another 30 mins, we were at the bamboo raft to take us through to the other side. The raft was pretty big in size, and safer than necessary as well. And without any adventure we were there at the opposite side in 2-3 minutes. Then started the walk to wherever the trail was supposed to take us at island. Clicked a few pictures and the trail ended at a place giving access to Kabini river water itself.

Got our feet wet in river, and the took a group photograph.


We then continued towards Vythiri where our resort was located. Had our lunch on the way in Thalassery restaurant on Kalpetta road near Panamaram. Had a sumptuous lunch then decided to go to Pookode lake instead of our resort. It’s a pretty small but clean and picturesque lake. Row boating there turned out to be fun.

After that we proceeded towards our resort Stream Valley Cottages, which in turn turned out to be good. It looked all green before the sunlight faded away:



Enjoyed bonfire in evening, had an elaborate dinner and called it a night.

[MobiusRocks]

Next day we started late after enjoying resort facilities, and went to Banasura sagar dam. A part of the main road from Vythiri to the dam is under construction and we had to take a diversion, as directed by the locals. The 4 cars were travelling like a train on road:


Then came a steep section which looked like a bit of a test for the 2 petrol cars but easily pulled by both of the cars. Couldn't take pics of this section as had to concentrate on the road.
Managed to only get starting of steep section:


We finally reached Banasura dam parking at 11:30 in morning.Hiked up to the top, and was greeted by the amazing view. But it was very hot and sunny in the afternoon. Unfortunately by the time we reached, boating was closed for lunch. Could not believe that they actually have a 2 hour lunch break. Decided to skip the boating, enjoyed a bit there and then decided to proceed towards Sultan Bathery. Had lunch there and started back at 5 in the evening.

It was then time to cover up the remaining distance as next day was Monday and all had to reach office. Drove slowly inside Bandipur reserve, enjoying the fresh air, and even got to see a wild elephant near the road. Took out the camera and was able to click 2 of our cars, Punto was nowhere to be seen though:





After getting out of national park boundary, maintained decent speed and reached at the decided dinner point Milestone 67 at Mysore road at 9:30 PM, treated ourselves to pizzas and started again towards nice road. Bid each other good bye at nice road entrance at Mysore road, and drove back to home.

It was nearly 12 AM by the time all were back to home. It was a happy trip for all of us and decided to do one more in this month January itself.

[ChiragM]

Hi MobiusRocks

Thank you for sharing this travelogue with us. A good first Team-BHP thread.

Wayanad is a popular quick getaway for all Bangaloreans and its a really beautiful place. Wayanad was one of the first road trips we took back in the day with our old 800 5-speed.

Did you get the chance to go on a safari in Nagarhole?

Could not believe that they actually have a 2 hour lunch break.

Probably someone who eats as slow as I do.

[MobiusRocks]

Hi. Couldn't do a safari in Nagarhole. Do they have jeep safari available? I can try that next time I'm passing through

[saildrive]

@ MobiusRocks

We are planning a road trip Bangalore to Wayanad and would like to get a few tips from you; going to rent a self drive during the Christmas eve

Since it is a nice drive through the jungle; do let me know how safe it is to drive through them. Any particular stretch that I should avoid / vice versa

We plan to leave by 8 am from Bangalore hoping to reach by 4/5 pm.