Kerala and TN Hill station : Waynad - Calicut - Ooty : Day 01 & 02

Good Day Reader :)

We are bunch of friends who wanted to spend a couple of days out somewhere away from all hustle-bustle of city life, away from work or basically to go on a holiday. We decided to explore Waynad as we had heard about this place from lot of our friends. 

We had a plan for 4 days, so we decided to go to the queen of Hill Stations - Ooty as well. When we started looking for hotel/accommodation option we did not get anything in Ooty for our budget on the required date. As it was available on the next day we decided to visit a beach place - Calicut. I suggest you avoid Waynad if you are travelling with elders who can not walk/trek and infants, because carrying them for long time in the trek will be really difficult. 

Day 1:

We set off from Bangalore early in the morning around 04:00 am and reached Bandipur around 8:30 am. In between we stopped for quick tea and breakfast in Maddur. It was not so great place, as it was early in the morning we did not had any other choice.

In Bandipur we were welcomed by a scenic view of  forest, with lots of elephants and deer.

Elephants in Bandipura National Park 

Bunch of Deer in Bandipura National Park

We reached Waynad around 11:00 am and we checked in into the home stay. We got fresh up and set off to Edkal Caves. It was nice trek up to the hill to the caves. 

few steps while getting down from Edkal Caves

Inside Edkal Caves

on the way to Caves

When we reached down the hill it was already past lunch time we had a quick lunch in the nearby food joints and started towards Soochipura Water Falls. 

Soochipura Water Falls

Soochipura Water Falls

It was already 4:30 pm when we reached the falls. So we had to make it quick towards the fall. It is a walk close to 20 min down to reach the falls. But you will have to trek while coming back. 

After that we did some shopping for chocolates and called it a day after dinner.

Day 2:

After breakfast we checked out and started to Kurva Island. We need to take a boat ride to reach the island. It has very nice water stream where you can get into the water and play. There is around 20 min walk to reach there. We spent time playing in water till noon. 

Motar Boat ride to Kurvadweep  

Walk in the island

Water stream in Kurva Island

After Kurva Island we went to Pookode lake after lunch. We did the peddle boat riding in the lake. 

boat ride

Pookode Lake

After the boat ride, we had some snacks in the food joints near the lake and set of our journey to Calicut.

We went to Calicut only because we did not get accommodation in other places, otherwise you can really skip this time and make a separate trip there. It adds up extra travel and you can go only to a beach in Calicut. But the view on the way to Calicut is awesome. 

We reached Calicut around 8:30 pm, after checking in to the hotel we went to have a diner and called it a day. 

Watch this space for further travel. the Day 03 and Day 04 will be updated soon. 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Tripping :)

3 days in the natural lap of Coorg - Day 1

Kodagu, popularly knows as Coorg is on Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. This is famous for coffee plantation and its ethnic warrior people. A perfect weekend getaway from Bangalore/Mysore/Mangalore or any near by places for all age range group.

We covered  Srirangapatna, Kushalnagar(Bylakuppe and Kaveri Nisargadhama), Bhagamandla, Talakaveri,  Dubare Forest. We stayed in Capitol Village Resort. All destinations can be easily reached with the help of Google Maps.

Day 1:

We set off to Coorg on Saturday early morning from Bangalore. We took Bangalore-Mysore highway. We started by 05:00 a.m. from Bangalore and we took around 30 min break for the breakfast at Kamat Upchar. 

On the way we stopped at Srirangapatna a very famous religious, cultural and historical place. we visited Ranganathaswamy temple, Baillie Dungeon which is very nearby to the temple. There are horse ride available which gives nice experience. Then we visited "Sangama" the amalgamation of 3 holy rivers Kaveri River, Kabini River, Hemavati River. We could cover all this in 1 hour 30 min. Not to forget there are nice locations available for the photography. We clicked very good pics here.

Dungeon - Inside

Dungeon -Top view

Horse Riding

Ranganathaswamy temple

Tippu Death Place

Then we started to Madikeri (Coorg) via Hunsur road. We did not go inside Mysore city to save our time. We stopped for a lunch break at Cafe Coorg. Believe me these guys serve a very delicious South Indian thali at very moderate cost.

Then we headed towards Kushalnagar. A very pleasant whether welcomed us. The town Bylakuppe is mainly inhabited by Tibetans and is very well knows for the Golden Temple and  Golden statues of Gautama Buddha, Padmasambhava and Amitāyus. Stepping inside the temple feels like walking into another world, and the noisy streets of South India suddenly seem to be very far away.There are options available for food and stay and one can easily opt to stay here after a very long drive. But we decided to go further as we had already booked the room at Capitol Village Resort. We spent around 1 hour here. 

Then we headed towards Kaveri Nisarga Dhama. The  hanging bridge is built over the river  and there is boating facility. There are rabbits and love birds to see but in cages. There is deer park where you can feed deers. I love doing this. Main attractions are Tree house and holy river.  Since the depth is not much, you can stand in the rocks in the water and feel the cold water. A very good place just to roam around and surrounded by trees where you can spend more than an hour.

We were tired a bit because of journey and we decided to go to Madikeri and rest for the day. We reached Madikeri after an about 45 min of driving. Roads are very good and you an see lots of greenery over here. But now we had to find our resort. It was a bit difficult to find with Google maps.
But never mind, the manager was so generous he guided us very well to reach the resort.

Resort Entrance

It is a nice beautiful resort with all basic amenities. Located in the mid of coffee plantation as soon as you enter you can here the chirping of birds and insects. Food is delicious and staff is friendly. 

We went and checked in at the resort. We had a room with private balcony to spend our rest of the evening with the delicious  hot pakodas they served. But you don't get the mobile network there for Vodafone provider. There is WiFi network available near the reception area. 

After relaxing for some time we roamed in and around our room. It was a nice pleasant late evening. We had Jeera rice and Dall along with fresh fruit juice for the dinner. We had opted for the room service that evening. Enjoyed our dinner in our private balcony. 

After dinner we discussed about next day's plan and everyone were sleepy by then and everyone went to bed.

I hope the itinerary from day 1  of my trip helped you in planning yours. Find Day 2 and Day3's itinerary here :)

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Tripping :)