Places: Sivasamudram, Talakkadu, Mysore, Wayanad
Date: 02-Oct-2014 to 04-Oct-2014
Route Mape
First day - Roaming for Room
We started from Bangalore at 4.00 AM in the morning. Took nice road, crossed Kanakapura Malavalli and reached Sivasumdram. First we went to Gaganasukki falls. As it is rainy season more water was coming in the falls. We took some photos. Then went to the Mayura hotel there. It is a Karnataka state government hotel. Rent will be Rs.1500 for ordinary double room. We stayed in that hotel twice before. But this time we were unfortunate. Due to Dasara rush, there was no rooms available for us. Unfortunately there is no other hotels in Sivasamudram.
There we met a Guide. He said that it will cost Rs.4000 per head for one day. We asked only night stay. We said we didn't need any other facilities provided by resort. He spoke with the resort manager over phone and made a deal for Rs.5000 for one night. But that our budget was very less. We couldn't afford 5000 just for one night. So he took us to another local hotel. That was so bad. So we rejected. At last no hotels were found in Talakadu. We gave Rs.150 to the guide [waste of money. Be careful with them] and left to talakadu.
Talakadu and Mysore
Actually earlier that week we had a plan to visit Wayanad. But as Abi got eye infection, we cancelled that trip. But we don't want to waste that four days holiday. So we two decided to go to Sivasamudram and nearby places. As we stayed earlier in Sivasamudram hotel, we though we would stay there and roam around. But there were no rooms so we were in trouble.Just that day before we have cancelled that hotel in Wayanad. We called them again. Fortunately that cancelled rooms were not filled yet. But that room was available for 3rd [next day] night only. We had no place to stay that day. We were so confused.
At last we decided to spend as much as time in Talakadu. Then to go Mysore. As that day was Dasara, Mysore would be crowed. So we can spend that night attending some functions there. We had lunch in one of the river bank side shops in Talakadu. Then took bath in Cauvery river. We need to be there as long as possible. We visited all temples in Talakadu and simply roaming in them.
Talakadu is a small tourist village in the bank of Cauvery river. It seems Talakadu was an administrative head-quarters in the time of Hoysala kings [1100 AD]. That time those kings built some temples in the river bank. As a symbol of unity there were both Shiva as well as Vishnu temples. Eventually by time because of floods in Cauvery, those temples were buried in sand. Recently archaeology department found those temples and re-constructing damaged parts of them.
River Cauvery brought lot of sand to Talakadu. That sand buried even temples in Talakadu. So those temples will be looked like they were built inside pits. One special thing I saw in them was the lathe crafted pillars. There were four among them and they were so finely carved. I could read old Tamil letters sculptured in them. But some of the pillars were damaged by local roughs. The printed Kannada and English in them.
Then we came back to river bank again. We had Churmuri and Pelpuri there. Around 7.00 PM they switched off street lights. all shops were started leaving. We took our car and started to Mysore.
Mysore welcomed with full of lights. All the trees, buildings, road side fences, fences and everything were decorated with lights. You should not even blink once to enjoy all lights. Dasara is very famous in Mysore. Dasara will be the last day of 9 Navarathri nights. Special poojas will be conducted in temples. The whole city will be decorated with lights. All roads were full. Traffic police were everywhere. We roamed nearly an hour to find parking to our car. But luckily we got parking at back entrance of the Palace itself.
We went to the palace. In an year Mysore palace will be open in night for Dasara only. There was a stage prepared and some music event was going on. Nobody was interested in that. They were just admired by the palace itself. Also we. The palace looked like it was built with lights. That was an wonderful view. I'll never forget that in my life.
We decided to have dinner, come back to palace and spend that night there. We went to Mysore town bus stand near by. There was a small food shop. We had one set-dosai and one onion oothappam. We came back to palace. Then only we realized that all lights were off :(. Nobody were allowed inside palace afterwards. People started leaving to their home. We are again confused. What to do!
Sleeping in Jungle
We started from Mysore around 10.30 PM. We had to spend the whole night in car, no other way. But I wanted to sleep. I though of parking the car somewhere little crowed and sleeping in the car itself. But the whole road was empty. I was driving very slowly. Kept fifth gear and took off my leg from accelerator. Car was going in 50 Km like going in with cruising control :P. Wayanad was 150 Km away. So we were about to reach Wayanad in midnight.Unfortunately or Fortunately we were stopped at check-post. The road was closed till morning. There were some more vehicles also. So we kept the car there and slept inside. I had a very good sleep. Morning 6 AM they opened the road. We reached Sultan Bathery at 7 AM.
Edakkal Cave
We went to Edakkal Cave around 7.30 AM. But in parking they said cave will be open at 9 AM only. So we came back 2 KM down to have breakfast. We had Dosai and Kattan Coffee. It was cheap and good. The coconut chutney was too good. Then we went to Edakal cave. Entry ticket was Rs.20 for each of us. We had no water bottle so no bottle deposit.
Edakkal cave was a cave between two stones. Thats why the name Edakkal (in between stone). It had stone drawing believed done around stone age. It was a natural cave lie at 1200 meters above sea level. It is very small one. Some 20 men could stayed inside. The drawings were so messy for me. I saw drawing of a man which looked like Egypt Anuphis. And a drawing of a king. He looked like Red Indian ;). They made lines from left top to right bottom and drew in-between them. You can see only those lines in adjacent wall.
Entry fee to an adult is Rs.20 and charge to camaera seperate. If you have a water bottle, you have to get a bottle sticker with deposit of Rs.200. While coming back you have to show that bottle at the deposit centre and get the money back. No plastic bags or food items allowed inside. The steps were very narrow. Be careful while climbing.
We came back around 11 AM. While coming back the road of full of traffic. It was a very narrow road. We were lucky that we finished our visit early. It will take at least 4 hours for them who came when we start leaving. So it is better visiting Edakkal cave as early as possible.
Soochipara falls
Then we went to our hotel. To find hotel we searched in Google Maps. Like it happened in Talakadu, we struggled a lot with that. It routed me through roads where a car can't even enter. At last somehow we managed and reached our hotel around 12.30 PM.
We started to Soochipara falls around 2 PM. We had lunch at The Woodlands hotels at Kalpetta. Food was good and price was okey. The road was hectic. It seems last time the road was laid in British period. It took around 45 mins to reach there. There was no proper parking near the falls. So we found some safe place road side to park our car.
Entry fee was Rs.30 for an adult. From threre we need to walk around 1 KM to reach the falls. The road was laid with black stone. Most of the people were barefoot as they were planned to bath. As it was rainy season in Kerala more water was coming in the falls. So nobody was allowed to bath in the falls. But we were allowed to bath near that. The drizzles coming from the falling water were more and we become entirely wet in minutes. It was an awesome experience. Luckily it started raining at that time. We enjoyed a lot and we spent around 2 hours in the falls itself.
We left the falls when the guards asked us to leave so they could close. It was so cold there. We had coffee and it was nice for that climate. we returned back to around 9 PM. We filled fuel on the way. Diesel was cheap in Kerala. From room we went to town to have dinner. But they closed all shops at 9 O clock itself also the Woodlands hotel. At last we found one hotel. But food was not good there.
Chempera Peak
The next day morning we vacated our room and started to Chempera peak. It was on the way to Soochipara falls. We reached there at 9.30 AM. We go some company there and bought entry ticket all together.
Chempera peak is the top most attraction in Wayanad. Chempera peak is one of the tallest peaks in Wayanad. But it has a small lake at the top. It was a natural lake. The speciality of that lake is the lake is in the shape of Heart. We have to trek to the peak. It was around 2 KM the peak. There was no other transportation to the peak. It will take around one hour to reach the peak. It is little hard to reach the peak. But the view at the top worth putting that effort. Load as much as carbs, water, prepare your mind and start your trek.
Entry fee for a group is Rs.500. Maximum 10 people could be accommodated in a group. For every extra person Rs.50 extra. Cameras extra. To carry water bottle we need to pay refundable deposit at the entrance. After coming back you'll be so tired. There will be some butter milk shops at the bottom. A glass of butter milk will be Rs.20 there. But every where else it will be Rs.10 only. So if possible load some butter milk in you bottles before you start to Chempera peak.
If you are fit, you can plan visit to Chempera peak and Soochipara falls on the same day as they are so nearby.
As we were just two we found some more people and shared the ticket. From there we have to travel one kilometre in car there we parked our car. From there the treck starts. Initial 500 metres will be flat. After that steep starts.We reached the peak after one and half hour. It was little hard for us as we were barefooted. The view was awesome there at the peak. We stayed there for one hour and then returned.
Then we had lunch and dinner together in the evening and headed back to Bangalore. We reached Bangalore at night 10 PM.
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