Green till your eyes can see, surrounded by glorious trees and fresh breeze all around, painted on a canvas of mountains is this incredibly gorgeous hill station Wayanad, located in Kerala. Wayanad is a great weekend getaway whether you are looking for adventure, relaxation or sight seeing. For us the only purpose of visiting Wayanad was leisure.
How to get there?
We took a flight till Kozhikode (Calicut) and hired a self drive car from there, the views are mesmerizing and with every km it just grows prettier. It’s a beautiful 2.5 – 3 hour drive from Kozhikode that goes through the lush green parts of the western ghats in Kerala treacherous and rough valley roads with lots of hair pin bends so if you are not an experienced driver please take one with you. Check out a small sneak peak from this video of self drive.
Where to stay?
Wayanad has a choice of great resorts from luxurious ones to tree houses to home-stays. We chose a small resort called Chateau woods located in the Choormala region of Wayanad, which was more like a premium home stay, a huge private property with all amenities from volley ball court to pool and Foosball tables.
Google Maps may be able to help you to a certain point but you would need to rely mostly on locals to reach Chateau Woods, as the approach road to the resort is not a firm tarmac one but a narrow lane passing through lush green tea plantations.
We chose to stay in a forest cottage away from the main building, a real experience in itself, to be honest it was little overwhelming for me as I could hear every single living and non-living sound in night but it was great fun as well.
There are quite a few places to trek and visit nearby, we just went to visit two places but were really worth the visit
Soochipara Waterfalls
Soochipara waterfalls is located close to 6 km from Chateau woods, we drove down to the place, the entry point to the falls is at a 1 km walking distance from the falls. The way to the falls is extremely beautiful covered by trees. The location is so picturesque that you would feel like staying there for quite long.
You can take a bath in the waterfall check out the video of Soochipara falls.
Chembra peak
Chembra peak is located around 11.2 kms from Chateau woods, it is known for a heart shaped lake located right at the top, but if you wish to see it you need to start early in the morning. Unfortunately we started late, so by the time we reached the entry for lake was closed. Nonetheless this peak has some breathtaking views and its green till your eyes can go.
You can go do tea picking with the locals if you want, amazing location for photography. Very important you can only go up in a SUV as the roads are broken and the terrain is extremely rough, the entry point near the base has options for vehicles to hire.
Wayanad is one of the best leisure holidays and a peaceful weekend getaway from Bangalore. Serene in the lap of the nature, where you forget the outside world and just be your own true self. It a perfect detox destination from a busy city life, where you can see nature, introspect and a great place to spend time with family.
Some important Tips:
- Carry shoes as the roads are rusty and you need to walk
- An umbrella would be helpful both in sun and rain
- Everything closes by 5 pm so start early
- Do not prefer to drive in night because the roads are little risky and there are minimum street lights
- Not very urbanized so do not go out in night
- Carry some basic medicines with you if you have some health issues or motion sickness
- Always carry a water bottle to keep yourself hydrated
