Trip to Wayanad -2

Day-2-- July 1^st, 10 am

We woke up on day-2 and the first thing on everybody’s mind was what else, food. Also, we had not covered much in the first day and so we had decided that we need to get a move on day 2 at least. Now if you are aware of the way things are done the Red Blood Boys style, then you know an early start was all but ruled out.

Our first destination for the day was a place called The Viewpoint. The thing that surprised me the most here was that this place, although very picturesque, had no name, just “The Viewpoint”. Having traveled to most hilly regions in South India one has come to expect some fancy name and an even fancier mythological story attached for each tourist attraction around there. Something like “The Devils Peak” or “The Ayyappan’s Point” would been more suitable. Who knows the great Lord Shanmuga could’ve dropped in from the heavens and left his toenail here or something such. But no such story we were aware of here. The stupid place didn’t even have a cigarette vendor. At least there were a few stalls that served breakfast so we filled up on some bread omelets, again literally fried in, what else but coconut oil. There was considerable contesting going on for the single cigarette available and after much debate it was shared between three guys.

You see only a part of the view in the pic, because our cameraman marthas thought that a few wild leaves would be more appropriate for a snap of deep valleys and hills Don’t ask me what Pyro is doing on the rock, I am not sure myself.

The place was in fact very picturesque and served a fine opportunity for Turka and Marthas to take some “solo” snaps for future exhibition to prospective brides. It’s a good thing if we take these pics now, because in a few years I’m pretty sure we all would look like some of the pot bellied South Indian film heroes, without the mooch of course.

Talking of facial hair, a distinct feature of all mallus is the fact they seem to hate the razor. After 2 days in Mallu land I had never come across a single grown man who was clean-shaven. Not one. Everybody had a big mooch and a majority of them looked like they shaved only once a year. Too much coconut oil in their system I guess. Maybe our man DD seen here, can take a clue and grow some hair.

Next, we set off to follow one more of Turka’s build-ups, this one a resort called Vythiri Resort. To be fair, this one had to be one of the best resorts around in South India, barring some of the big fancy ones in Bangalore which are just big hotels with a pool. Vythiri on the other hand, was set bang in the middle of a waterfall, not to mention lush greenery and so the soothing buzz of the stream nearby was always heard.

That’s Hydro Jocko in the pic living upto his name.

The approach to the place can use some improvement but even then, a big thumbs up to whoever conceived of this place. Although a stay will leave a pretty big hole in your wallet, its all worth it I think. We were left ruing the fact that had we come to this place before going to that lousy Sun Valley place, our trip would’ve been much more memorable.

Next destination -- The Edakkal Caves.

There was a famous Kannada movie called “Edakallu Guddada Mele” which was a story of how a wife cheated on her impotent husband in one of these caves. Pyro Jocko was the only one who has seen this movie and so we were narrated the entire plot some 20 times on the way. I personally think it is extremely weird to fornicate in a big, dark damp cave, with various species of bats, algae and mold giving company. But then anything that is shown in the movies automatically qualifies as the cool thing to do.

Reaching the place was much easier, now that we knew the routine to follow. (Routine described in previous post) About 1 km from the caves, we had to park the cab and take the rented jeeps to get to the place. There was a rather prolonged debate to decide whether we would take the jeep or walk it up. In the end some of took the jeep, some others walked. I personally think those who chose to walk, simply took the next jeep. If you are one of the guys who claimed to walk all the way, then please explain to me how you covered the distance of 1 km of a 60 degree steep road in less than 10 minutes. Barring a few Kkrish inspired antics, I don’t see how its possible.

I haven’t been to any of the famous caves Elephanta and such other, so these caves were pretty awe-inspiring to me. Deep gorges, boulders the size of a 5 storey building welcomed us.

The irresistibly handsome hunk you see at the top is me, followed by Jamoon, Slum and Marthas.

We were told by an impromptu guide present, that the caves were named so because of one particular rock getting wedged between two much bigger ones. Here are some more pics of the caves.

He also showed us what he said were prehistoric carvings and some illegible script saying some shit about some king slaying many lions. Why would a king slay all those lions and then get the story carved on a cave wall in a forest in the middle of nowhere was a little beyond me. However, some firaangs who were there found the story very fascinating. If only they gave us sufficient green bucks we would tell them even taller tales.

Next stop was a waterfall some 5 kms from the caves which was, again, very nice, unspoilt by civilization.

That was it then, for the Wayanad trip, we grabbed a few snacks and headed towards Mysore. We had the England-Portugal Q/F to catch and so checked into a big fancy hotel called The Roost.

After a round of washing up and DD wasting an entire shampoo packet on his smooth skull, we headed to the restaurant. I think DD still lives in some imaginary parallel dimension where he has a head full of thick wavy locks. Jamoon and Slum take the trouble of snapping him back to reality every time he has such delusions.

Again the same routine of beer and football followed and was tremendously enjoyed by everyone who had the beer. Our man Jamoon, probably for the first time in his life had more than a glass of beer and still had moderate awareness of his surroundings. Three cheers to Jamoon.

Next day we were back in Bangalore and everyone got back to their dreary old boring jobs, except of course, yours truly, who took the trouble of writing all this.