Wayanad, waterfalls, angels in black പിന്നെ സ്വല്പം കണ്ജാവും*

1) 5-April-2008 1:30 A.M we start from our home to Pullachen’s home at Bellandur
2) The buggers at Bellandur think that we will not reach on time as usual. We reach 10 minutes early, donate our blood to the mosquitoes of Bellandur, curse Pullachen and co.
3) 2:20 A.M we start for the ultra mega trip of the century (yeah I am exaggerating it...:D)
4) 8:00 A.M we reach our hotel, freshen up and by 10 A.M leave for the first destination, Edakkal caves.
5) The climb to the cave itself is only reasonably tough. The place is infested by people from Bangalore.
6) We reach the caves only to hear that the peak is actually 1000ft higher than the cave..:( It is just not that the climb is steep and tough, but you got these very narrow paths and people coming up and down. Traffic blocks in Wayanad!!!! Half the time you feel like you will end up at the bottom.



7) I and Pullachen are the first on the peak. Rest of the gang take photos and come up in their own time.
8) In the meantime, I befriend a girl from Fidelity Bangalore. She shows interest in talking with us poor sods, looks quite attractive and even laughed at my seriously hopeless numbers. The dawn of a new era? I asked myself. Well hardly so, half an hour later I learn that she is married and hubby is quite nearby. I made myself scarce.
9) On the way back we come upon a shop which sells the best snacks ever... salted mango, salted pineapple, morum vellam, the works!! The salted mangoes were divine!!! I am salivating right now just thinking of em....:(
10) Seriously tired by now, we ask a local guide the "next best place". As it turns out, it is a waterfall called suchi para vellachattam(needle rock waterfalls).
11) We hit suchi para by 4 P.M in the afternoon. The falls don’t look so attractive. Should we jump in or just take some quick snaps of the bathing beauties is the million dollar question.
12) All of us jump in. We take prime time positions at the bottom of the fall. Absolutely kidilam experience... The water hitting your body feels like it is going to rip you apart... Such force!!!
13) Anand climbs half way up the falls and urinates!!! Bloody dirty mallus.... and to think that I bathed there!!



14) A group of Manglorean students(doctors) come to bathe. The lady doctors are beauuuuuutiful! This angel in a black dress and a falling neck line sits just in front me... and as she moves hither and thither, the force of the water whipping her clothes in all possible directions.... I catch glimpses of utopia...:D
15) We lean on this huge boulder as the lady doctors bathe in front of us... Akbar comes to mind..."if there is a heaven on earth… it is this, it is this, it is this!"
16) Trust Shyam to break the spell! He dishes out comments like "ho evidae ittu avalae rape cheyyan thonnunnu" "da, njan avalae kettikottae.. pleeese" etc only to learn that most of the male doctors bathing with the ladies are good old mallus!!! Later Vali is missing, we find him behind the falls, sitting like a f**** yogi farting to his hearts content.
17) We buy cake for Shyam and print on it "happy 50th birthday", give him a card with absolutely funny lines penned by lolan. His jaw drops in surprise. Somebody pushes a piece of cake into that dropped jaw. Everyone is happy.
18) Search for a decent Kallu shape(Toddy shop) at night ends in failure. We are disheartened and make do with some boring food from Aryaas.
19) Totally tired by now, the first day ends with us slumbering into a coma.
20) Day 2 dawns and to nobody's surprise we get up an hour late. We check out from hotel, have an excellent breakfast from udupi restaurant and are on our way to a jungle safari.
21) When on tour don’t be late is the moral of the story. Safari is over by the time we reach..:(
22) Plan B is Kuruva dweep and believes me, plan B in a place like Wayanad is better than plan A in most places.
23) Kuruva dweep is a series of small islands, with Cauvery water flowing all around. A beautiful place!!
24) We order lunch and plunge in to the water. It is a photographer’s paradise.



25) The best part of Kuruva dweep is that it is not very crowded. We find an isolated spot, take out some ganja and fix two joints. Photos of Shyam smoking his joint...well he looks a pucca addict!



26) Pullachen goes bonkers after his puff. Falling here and there and everywhere. Fortunately he doesn’t break anything. We find a quiet spot for bathing, turns out that it is not so quiet… a girl, her boyfriend and two more guys walk in on our privacy...:( The girl is beautiful so we don’t mind them.
27) All treks I am part of, has this part.... losing our way!!! We wander for two kilometers without a man is sight. This was the "best part of our trip" I, Shyam, pakkan and Aneesh Rajan fall behind... we are high on ganja and walking slow. Shyam starts humming a tune (ee mizhi pozhkayil).... it was FANTASTIC, the tune, our slow easy steps, the rhythm in the song.... we felt completely in "tune" with the surroundings... nirvana!!
29) We take the boat back but Aneesh rajan and Shyam swim across the river at its widest point. Crocodiles in the river were fasting… they reach safely.
30) Absolutely good food when we get back.... with some naadan kozhi kari (chicken curry) thrown in. Again no kallu...:( next time, I am packing toddy from Bangalore!
31) Driver irritates an elephant herd with persistent honking in Nagarhole and waits. An Indica comes behind us and the bull elephant sensing a smaller prey charges it. The madammas in the car are petrified. Fortunately their driver steps on the accelerator and everybody is safe.



32) Stop for beer and food on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Good beer ok food. Reach back in Bangalore by 11 P.M. Total cost Rs.1050 per head including food**. The experience… priceless!

*Don't try this at home!
*That was because Mohana Kris dished out 100 dollars into the fun account.....:D