Monotonous Job? Need a Break? Plan a Weekend in God's Own Country :) 

Tripoto
5th Nov 2016

Just another day.. Another breakfast in office & we girls were just talking about our work & everything around. One of us said, "Don't you think a regular 10-7 is getting monotonous and we have nothing to look forward to...? I guess we should just GO.. :)". We heard this, were quiet and after a split second, each of us had a Cheshire cat grin! The next thing we did was decide where to go.. and Wayanad was just what we needed..!! Took the most exciting train journey(Jab We Met style :D) from Bangalore --> Mysore; took a halt and headed out early morning for Wayanad.

Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Photo of Wayanad, Kerala, India by Sandhya Dev
Day 1

Reached the town & went straight to Edakkal Caves ~7:00am. It offers a rock cave trek; Entry Fee: 20/-, Caution Deposit: 20/- for your plastic bottles (Just so you don't dump it there..). The best time to visit in a day is early morning as there are less people, sun rays aren't too harsh & to top it all, Its Beautiful..

After the Caves, it was time to hit the enthralling waterfalls.. We went to Soochipara Waterfalls(a.k.a Sentinel Rock Falls) and spent a good 1 hour there right under the falls.. Although, be a 'lil careful as the rocks under water are slippery, but people are always around to help each other, so no issues ;)

After our packed Day 1 so far, we decided to head to our hotel for lunch and further stay. For stay, we booked The Lantern Stay - A jungle resort located amidst the hills and waterfalls. You can't take your vehicles up till the resort, so you'll have to park it somewhere & a 4x4 hotel jeep will come to pick you up. The ride up till the resort is plain AWESOMENESS; it's bumpy, fun and what's more.. you have so much to see around on the way. They have a great staff(if you get to meet people, do meet Vinu & Vinod -- Helpful, Humble and Great guys). Once in the resort, make sure you have nothing else planned in the town for evening, because the resort takes care of everything!! Be it your 3 meals of day, or a night bonfire or an early morning trek, don't worry.. They got your back :)

Day 2

So, we spent a night in the resort, had a very palatable Kerala cuisine for Lunch+Dinner. The place gets extremely chilly at night so carry something warm accordingly... We planned Chembra Peak Trek next morning(Day 2) but well, comfort found us and we stayed put in the cozy beds till 10:00am whereas we should've left by 6:30am max. Well, anyways.. we left and reached Chembra another 1 hour later.

I definitely don't need words for Chembra Peak; it's breathtakingly beautiful <3 It is a peak 2050m above the sea level and has ~5km of trek to be covered overall (~2.5km up & down). Time taken for trek: 3-4 hours on average. All you sweat is all worth it once you're at the top!! Heart-shaped Chembra lake & the view of Wayanad is just so distinctive that you'll remember it for a lifetime! I want to say how this place is, but i'm just not getting the best of words :(

Now, time for important details:

Total Trip Expense: INR 5000 per person(Trip of total 4 people..and is still relatively expensive as we chose to stay in a tree house, else you can cover it up within INR 3500)

Journey Expense:

Bangalore-Mysore Chamundi Train - just a 2 hour journey, so we picked regular seats rather than AC seater. Cost: total INR 70 for one way journey.

Mysore-Wayanad-Mysore: Booked a NON AC Sedan, costed INR 6000 (way more economical than prices considered from Bangalore, also split by 4 costed INR 1500 each)

Hotel Expense: INR 11,000 (split by 4 - costed just 2750) -- which by the way includes the stay along with 3 meal of the day.