The 16 hours long bus journey from Chennai to Kozhikode was quite tiresome. As we got down from the bus on the morning of 13th August, the car that we had hired for the entire trip was all ready to go. Thus, we embarked on our journey to Wayanad. Wayanad is about 85 kms drive from Kozhikode. Our driver, who very soon became our uncle because of his friendly/super cool attitude made sure that we had our delicious lunch at a restaurant, stopped the car whenever it was time for us to step out for the stupendous view and also feel the fresh water from the tiny waterfalls. In one corner of our hearts we knew that the day's plan was ruined because of the bus delay. But uncle changed our mind. He took us to the beautiful Pookode lake where we just let ourselves be, watched the mountains and the peaceful lake getting filled with rain water and few boats here and there. Having an umbrella, yet choosing not to unfold it is a thing :) From there we started to our resort. The tower hill resort. As the name implies, the resort is on the top of a small hill that gives you a complete view of Wayanad. All the pain vanished, as we sat there having our evening snacks and chai.
We woke up real early( 4.45 AM ! ) to go out and sit and look the sky slowly getting brighter. Tip: Make sure to wear your jacket as it is really cold over the hills. Nothing beats the morning view from a hilltop, does anything ? As we were sipping our morning Tea, the resort owner suggested us to go to Phantom rocks and Edakkal caves. We had only gone to the starting point of the trek and it started pouring. We chose to just sit there for a while, take few pictures and enjoy the view. The path is quite slippery so wear grip shoes if you plan to trek to the rocks. We didn't get a chance to check if the rocks were actually Phantom.. After that we headed to Edakkal caves.. It was still pouring. We stood in the long queue, got tickets and started walking. The rocks were slippery but we had each other's back. The walk came to an end with 2 humongous caves facing each other. The rain drops dripping from the caves freshen up your mood. After spending few mins, we started back to resort. Uncle took us on the road that leads to a place where Kerala and Karnataka meet. The road was beautiful where the trees served as a canopy. We parked our car and felt the fresh wind on our faces. Also got to be careful as many heavy vehicles use the same path. Nevertheless, we had a beautiful day.
Third Day morning, we had to say goodbye to the amazing Tower hill resort and its people. We spent some time taking pictures, packed and headed to the Banasura sagar dam. It is at Kalpetta. Its apparently the second largest Dam in Asia. Again, this looks upon so many mountains and great views. There is a garden that bears so many different trees and shelters various plants. It is a great place to chill. It also offers great backgrounds for your cover pictures and DPs :)
Writing this now, it is indeed an "August" throwback :)
You may also like to read: banasura sagar dam