A weekend called Wayanad

"Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall - it's great when you stop"-Chris Darwin

We had reached the peak ,2100 m above sea level and the highest point of Wayanad. A panorama of peaks and valleys of deep forests surrounded us, receeding gradually into the carpet of lush green plantations way below.The trek had started late, almost near noon. The sun was beating down upon as harshly as we started the climb. The ascent to Chembra peak is interspersed with flat stretches of lowlands till the heart shaped lake- a natural lake shaped in the form of a heart, believed never to have dried up (“Because love never dies”;) - as a fellow trekker smartly quipped). The hardest part of the ascent began after the lake, not only because it was steep,but because everytime we climbed and reached a peak we could see another one towering infront of us. The terrain was rocky, and the sun flashed directly at us, dehydrating us frequently.To make things worse, a frolicking bunch of Wayanad school kids crossed us on the way, reached the top and met us on their way back while we were still some distance away! The last frontier to the peak is near vertical rock formations. But once atop the peak, the view is simply captivating. Chembra stands imperiously gazing upon the Wayanad landscape...well..almost imperiously! In the backyard of Chembra,lies Vellarimala , taller than Chembra at 2240 m above sea level,but geographically in the Kozhikode district. Discounting for the slight heartbreak caused by the sight of a taller peak after a tedious trek , climbing Chembra is an exhilarating experience.

Wayanad lies on the southern top of the Deccan plateau lined by the Western ghats ,interspersed with dense forest and valleys. The region was known as Mayakshetra (Maya's land) in the earliest records. Mayakshetra evolved into Mayanad and finally to Wayanad. The Folk etymology of the word says it is a combination of Vayal (paddy) and Naad (land), making it 'The Land of Paddy Fields'.

An overnight journey from Bangalore through Bandipur forest brought us to Mepaddy where we were met by our guide, Santosh. We were a large group divided into two tempo travellers.The journey was pretty uneventful except for minor glitches: The music CDs I wrote failed to work . So while people hurled abuses at me , I blissfully went off to sleep in my cosy tempo traveller seat (a divine art I have mastered to near perfection).

Our weekend itinerary included a trek to Chembra and back on Saturday, a tour to Meenmutty falls and Edakkal caves (the only known caves with neolithic stone carvings in South India) on Sunday before heading back to Bangalore. The trek to Chembra was accomplished without any major disruptions this time (much to Santosh's relief , who had accompanied us before on our now infamous Kudremukh trek). As the temperatures dipped after sunset and the shadows of the Wayanad peaks loomed around,we gathered around a bonfire over dinner,drinks and a game of dumbcharade with some thought provoking performances.

Next morning ,we headed over to Meenmutty, albeit later than planned. The drive to the starting point of the waterfall is beautiful , through undulating roads with tea plantations on either side. A steep downward jungle trek begins some distance from this point ,mostly over loose pebbles and rocks. Meenmutty is the largest waterfall in Wayanad. The first sight of the waterfall is spectacular - a three tiered waterfall with a height of 300 metres in an unspoilt natural setting. We climbed our way back after spending sometime near the waterfall.

By the time we reached back , we realised it was too late to visit Edakkal and decided to head back straight to Bangalore instead. Our hopes of sighting some tuskers as we crossed Bandipur forest around sunset were dashed. A stop by at Mysore for dinner later , we reached Bangalore late night,back to the humdrum of our daily lives.

Footnotes:

1. My google search reveals interesting facts about the name – 'Meenmutty' which literally means fishes can come downstream but can not retrace their path back through this waterfall. Why would a fish ever want to retrace it's way back through ANY waterfall remains a semantic mystery to me!

2. The climb back in the heat from Meenmutty leads one straight to a small shop selling buttermilk strategically placed at the starting point of the trek. Two important tips for visitors (based on fellow travellers' experiences):

  - Do not gulp bottles of buttermilk like magic potion (even if you are dehydrated to the hilt or someone volunteers to pay)

 - Do not mix buttermilk with lemon soda ( you better believe this!)

3. Instances of dumbcharade inspiring lateral thinking among enthusiastic, first time trekkers:

a. "Pratighat" - Desperate climbing acts to express trekking on Western "ghats".Commendable lateral  thinking despite failure to communicate.

b. "Reshma ki Chadti Jawani" (yes,we are nasty people:P) - Highly random,adrenaline packed gestures including running around to express “race”(and hence Reshma). Sucessful communication by protagonist.

The new year camping adventure

The sun was setting behind the western Ghats.The four of us watched in silence, perched on the edge of the valley.As the saffron hues of the sky unfolded,our conversations slowly died down. Beneath way below, we could see the flickering lights of the town.The whispering wind grew stronger by every passing minute and the silence was getting eerie. The other groups of trekkers had left long back and we were the only group of four camping in the valley beneath the peak.

Earlier during the day when we had reached the valley just below the peak , we were still unsure of our camping plans. The only source of water in the valley was a small,stagnant waterhole with floating mosquito larvae, quite contrary to the "drinkable water' that we had heard earlier. A guide with another group of trekkers we met had also informed us that the valley was the transit route for elephants and that the wind gets very strong at night.Camping for the night already had some cons - there was too little water for the four of us and the not-so-interesting-idea of an inquisitive elephant toying with the tent in the night. Add to the fact that none of us had ever pitched a tent before. So we decided,well,almost decided to trek back instead of camping. But the futility of carrying camping equipment to 1600m was difficult to ignore. Someone suggested a dry run. So there we were,trying to figure out how to erect a tent for the first time ever!(with ideas as diverse as climbing to the top of the peak to see if we can get GPRS to watch a you tube video on how to pitch a tent:)). Finally , the tent was erected ..or atleast it looked like one:). But the decision was still not to camp. So we packed up , left our backpacks and camping gear in the valley and climbed the 100 odd metres up to the final peak. By the time we came back to the valley , it was already 4. The harsh daylight was fading away slowly and we realised it would get dark very soon.

“Guys,we can just camp , we will go back tomorrow” , like a bolt from the blue Soumyajit suggested as he plopped himself down on the grass.
“Yea,I am cool”- Varun was thrilled (he probably wanted to do a somersault but restrained with great effort)
“Okay didnt we decide just now not to camp? And it's getting late , so camp or no camp we need to decide fast ” - I looked at the three of them.
“Shireen is getting pissed , let's decide” (how I love pressure tactics!) and all eyes turned towards Ayan who had no clue why he was chosen to decide. “Umm..okay..let's camp” , said Ayan. And so , in exactly the way all truly momentous decisions are made,we decided to camp the night in the valley.

We had pitched the tent a little distance away from the waterhole , near a concrete hut (which probably is a storehouse for a Shiva temple also located on the valley) , to get some protection from the wind. There was some firewood we had managed to collect just before it got dark. The plantation owner we had met on our way when we started the trek had given us some kerosene. But the wood was wet , and the wind was now a ferocious roar.The fire flickered for a while and went off. Darkness had fallen and the night sky was bombarded with a million stars,the sky so clear we could even see the milky way.

As it got colder, we decided to move inside the tent and slipped into our sleeping bags. The night went by uneventfully,except for Varun waking up in the middle of the night to declare that our tent has “moved”!!?? I slept like a log (much to the surprise of my fellow trekkers) only to wake up intermittently to the sound of the wind raging throughout the night. Our tent miraculously survived the night despite a missing peg which we discovered in the morning the next day:)

Travel trivia: The trek was to Kotebetta  (literally meaning the fort mountain as it looks like a fort in distance), the third highest mountain in Coorg at 1620 m.Trekking distance is 10 kms each way.

How to get there: Take a bus from Bangalore to Madikeri and from there onwards to Hattihole.The trekking trail starts through plantations and is quite broad throughout except for a rocky ascent for the last part of the trek.

Camping facts: The camping site lies on the way to the waterhole in the valley.Do not camp very close to either the temple or the waterhole.Carry adequate water and make sure you do not leave any trash (plastic bottles,polythenes) after camping. Although we were warned about wild animals (especially because of the waterhole) , we never encountered any , the only signs we came across were elephant footprints in plenty and some pug marks.