[sylvan]

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This is a a 60 degree upslope badly photographed

[unoczar]

hmmm.... where did it go??

[sylvan]

Destination - Wayanad
Date - 30 Dec 09 to 02 Jan 10
People - Me and my wife
Stay - Edakkal Hermitage

30-Jan-09 : Started from Singasandra at 6:30AM and proceeded on nice road towards mysore road. A lot have been said about this route. To make it short, I intended to take the following route.
Nice road - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundulpet - Sulthan Bathery - Wayanad

The route I ended up taking
Nice road - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundulpet - Mudumalai - Gudalur - Sulthan Bathery - Wayanad

I missed out a right at Gundulpet and took the straight road exit. The roads were bad and realised the mistake only when I reached TN check post at mudumalai. This costed me an extra 30kms. In addition, I misled another family on an Alto on this route.
finally reached wayanad at 3 PM and climed all the way to Edakkal caves where the resort was located. This was a 4X4 route and I was really worried about the ground clearance of Optra. But all went fine and once I reached the resort, there were 4 other cars that had already arrived. A Wagon-R,Honda City,Indica and Innova.
Edakkal Hermitage is nice secluded resort. the only sound that filled the air was the birds chirping. No TVs in any of the cottages and hence no recorded sounds either.
A silent evening was spent in the resort and ended the day with a simple dinner.

Plan for the next day was Meenmutti falls and Pookot lake.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by sylvan

Destination - Wayanad
Date - 30 Dec 09 to 02 Jan 10
People - Me and my wife
Stay - Edakkal Hermitage

30-Jan-09 : Started from Singasandra at 6:30AM and proceeded on nice road towards mysore road. A lot have been said about this route. To make it short, I intended to take the following route.
Nice road - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundulpet - Sulthan Bathery - Wayanad

The route I ended up taking
Nice road - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundulpet - Mudumalai - Gudalur - Sulthan Bathery - Wayanad

I missed out a right at Gundulpet and took the straight road exit. The roads were bad and realised the mistake only when I reached TN check post at mudumalai. This costed me an extra 30kms. In addition, I misled another family on an Alto on this route.
finally reached wayanad at 3 PM and climed all the way to Edakkal caves where the resort was located. This was a 4X4 route and I was really worried about the ground clearance of Optra. But all went fine and once I reached the resort, there were 4 other cars that had already arrived. A Wagon-R,Honda City,Indica and Innova.
Edakkal Hermitage is nice secluded resort. the only sound that filled the air was the birds chirping. No TVs in any of the cottages and hence no recorded sounds either.
A silent evening was spent in the resort and ended the day with a simple dinner.

Plan for the next day was Meenmutti falls and Pookot lake.

Wah bhai Wah!

Another hidden gem from the south. How many treasures are hidden in our country. More snaps please, lots more.

[phamilyman]

Very nice pics. Me likes. You fellows live in heavenly lands!!

Any pics of the car from the outside?

On a side note I frankly miss how it was not a untarred track but a 4x4 section - you did it comfortably in a FWD, no?

PS: 60 degree slope - no way!!

[sylvan]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Very nice pics. Me likes. You fellows live in heavenly lands!!

Any pics of the car from the outside?

On a side note I frankly miss how it was not a untarred track but a 4x4 section - you did it comfortably in a FWD, no?

PS: 60 degree slope - no way!!

I have just uploaded a few snaps. More to come once I categorize. And yes, it is a 60 deg slope. There are jeeps that frequent passengers upto edakkal caves. This resort is midway between the passenger drop off and edakkal caves. When I drove up first, I was a bit scared as to whether there is really any road past that slope.
A wagonR was groaning its heart out when it climbed this slope.

[Spinnerr]

Waynad never fails to amaze me, lush green most of the time, lot of waterfalls to spend time in. And great fun during the rains.

Could you also put up the tarrif, how to reach this resort, may be your could post a couple of pics and your review in the Accomodation thread.

[s3va]

Thanks for sharing the info. Can you please post more pics of the resort, if you have

[akas_chauhan]

Upload all pictures you have and TFS.
Please post the acco expenses too.

[abhinav.s]

Great pics and yes i was stumped when i first read the thread title! Very short and precise write up too! Looking forward for more pics

[sylvan]

Day 2: Meenmutti falls and Pookot lake
We were told by resort guys that meenmutti falls was indeed a hard trek and it will be difficult for women. We were all geared up for a hard trek and did want to taste some adventure. So we headed towards meemutti which was around 20 kms from edakkal hermitage.
We had to go to ambalavayal->vaducanchal from edakkal to proceed towards meenmutti. There is an exit from the smooth tarmac towards meenmutti which is highly likely to missed by most. I skipped the exit and after travelling 5 kms I reached TN border and had to drive back but this time carefully so that I dont miss the directions. I feel that the directions and signboards in such enchanting places need to be bolder and bigger because we tend skip these indications when enjoying what nature has to offer.
Once we entered the road towards meenmutti, the drive got harder since the road, if anything existed, was too narrow and pretty bad. Optra was really dancing to the tunes of unspoilt nature. After driving for about a km, there was a small ground where I parked the car and we started walking towards the falls. After about 0.5kmwe reached the entrance of the falls where we had to pay 300rs as entrance and will be accompanied by a guide to take us to the falls.

These were some pics during the trek from the entrance to the falls.





Now the falls itself..







This is out guide, 57 yrs old who can trek faster than a 30 yr old.



This is the view that faces the falls.



On our way back, we saw the smaller falls that cascased down to the bigger one. Looking at our enthusiasm, our guide took us through tea and coffee estates back to the entrance.
These pics were shot while walking up through coffee estates.





We left meenmutti with strained legs, peaceful mind and a hungry stomach. Our next stop was at a small restaurant at vaduvanchal. we had a simple kerala meal and started towards pookot lake. We chose our 2nd destination since we wanted to take a simple stroll after a hard trek and pookot lake had the perfect setting. We didnt opt for boating as it was a usual fare at any lake and there our legs were not so cooperative to that.
Came back to the resort by 6pm where a hot tea and pazhampori(sweet banana bhajjis) awaited us.
These were some pics taken at the resort.

[sylvan]

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

Waynad never fails to amaze me, lush green most of the time, lot of waterfalls to spend time in. And great fun during the rains.

Could you also put up the tarrif, how to reach this resort, may be your could post a couple of pics and your review in the Accomodation thread.

I have posted the resort details in accomodation thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-rates-11.html

[sylvan]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Great pics and yes i was stumped when i first read the thread title! Very short and precise write up too! Looking forward for more pics

Thanks. More apt title,I guess, would be "Where did the optra magnum take me"

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by sylvan

Thanks. More apt title,I guess, would be "Where did the optra magnum take me"

He he!! Yes.. The second set of pics are more enchanting than the first and the lush greenery around is a treat to the eyes.

[sudharma]

Originally Posted by sylvan

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This is a a 60 degree upslope badly photographed

Attachment 255649

Good photos. Why not watermark them?