The hill station of choice in South India – Wayanad, Kerala, India

The hill station of choice in South India Wayanad, Kerala, India

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”

– Erol Ozan.

Even though we regularly pass through Wayanad on our drive from Calicut to Bangalore, we never got a chance to explore the tourist destinations here. This time, we decided to spend 2 days here as a part of our Wedding Anniversary celebration and visited the various tourist destinations in and around Wayanad. Did this trip along with my family, in November 2017.

On the way to Wayanad from Calicut, we planned for a stoppage at ‘Thusharagiri water falls’. Ideally, this is in Calicut itself and can never be considered as a ‘Wayanad tourist attraction’.

Thusharagi water falls:

Thushargiri is a nice sight to the visitor. Two streams originating from the Western Ghats meet here to form the Chalippuzha River. The river diverges into three waterfalls creating a snowy spray, which gives the name, ‘Thusharagiri’. Of the three, the highest waterfall is the Thenpara that falls from an altitude of 75 metres. The First fall is quite near to the parking area and the other ones are a little inside.

Destinations that we went in Wayanad:

1)Thamarassery Ghat Pass and Lakkidi View point:

Lakkidi is one of the top view points in Wayanad. These days parking is prohibited at the view point. Lakkidi is located at the crest of Thamarassery Ghat Pass, which features over 9 hairpin curves that start at Adivaram (downhill)

2) Pookodu Lake: It’s a fresh water lake surrounded by trees. There are boating facilities available in the lake. An Aquarium is also available near the lake. This is one of the main attractions in Wayanad, so please expect rush at all times and sometimes you might end up wasting a lot of time, waiting for  a boat safari.

3)  Karalad Lake:  It is located in Thariode, which is around 16 km away from Kalpetta. This is the second largest freshwater lake in the state, which is quite popular among nature enthusiasts for its peaceful environments.The 7 acres land surrounding this lake is a popular picnic spot, where boating can also be done.

There are some adventure sports like ‘zip-line’ available here.

Aiswarya kudumbasree is a place which I would recommend you. You can enjoy a authentic Kerala Lunch(Malabar Style) from here

4) Banasurasagar dam: This is India’s largest earth dam and second largest in Asia. The whole dam and the reservoir looks stunning with the hills overlooking it from far. There is also speed boat facility available here. Its really nice to see the Government initiatives of installing more and more solar panels in this region. There are jeep services available to reach the dam site from the main gate.

5) Phantom Lake: It is a skull shaped rock, which has an wage similarity to the face of Phantom. In the local area it is popularly known as Cheengeri Mala. Those who are adventurous enough can climb to its upper part. The surroundings of this rock have potential scenic locations.

6) Karapuzha Dam: This is smaller compared to Banasurasagar dam. There is an excellent garden, well maintained. The road to reach Karapuzha dam is a bit tricky, so be prepared for some bumpy ride.

7) Meenmutty Waterfalls (View from Neelimala View Point): I would personally recommend you to take the jeep safari to Neelimala view point from where you can get an excellent view of Meenmutty water falls.This is one of the best view points in Wayanad.

The other places worth visiting are:

• Edakkal caves: We couldn’t cover this places as we need to climb the mountain to reach there.

• Muthanga Wild Life sanctuary and jungle safari
• Jain temple in Sulthan Battery
• Kuruwadeep : We can reach this place only using Raft. Unfortunately we couldn’t take the raft as the islands were closed due to legal fights.

• Chembra peak
• Soochipara water falls
• Tholpetty wildlife
• Thirunelly temple
• Chain tree
• Pakshipathalam Bird Sanctuary

Overall you need 3 full days to cover the top attractions in wayand. There are lot of hotels, resorts and home stays across Wayand (with suits different budgets)

  Route Map from Kozhikode: 
Kozhikode is the nearest airport as well as the railway station.

  Route Map from Bangalore: 

Be aware that there are lot of Leeches here around. You wouldn’t notice them until they suck your blood. In case if you find one stuck to your leg, never try to pull it out. Else, put a little salt on top of it and it would die instantaneously. So please keep a small pack of salt with you.

Also it will be nice to keep a Binocular with you.