Expedition Wayanad

Statutory warning: The actions in these photos are performed by professionals. Please don’t try this at home. Also, all the data provided are ours only. It’s your choice, whether to believe it or not.

We went to the place where Bill Gates took the photo for Windows XP default wallpaper. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was summer and all the grass was not green, just pale brown.

Windows XP Default Wallpaper
[Seasons Changed and another bush is also there]

Mission I, Location: Chembra Peak
Physical Location: God’s own District [Wayanad], God’s own Country [Kerala], INDIA
Altitude: 2100m above sea level
Reference: http://kerals.com/keralatourism/kerala.php?t=175&sid=f0f275d51c2effc437d86bc46d8cebbd

Mission: Expedition Wayanad

Team:

• Manu a.k.a Dragonfly
• Vijay a.k.a Chaithanya
• Pauly a.k.a Pauly
• Shanavas a.k.a Shanavas

DAY I

I also took a snap of me there, in case you don’t believe me

Vijay took a snap from the other side

I think Bill [Gates] is a stupid when this photo can be taken other than just the plain grassland.

We trekked ~3kms against gravity, so we consider it as 5kms [Total 10kms]

We rested

We reached the [supposed to be] heart shaped lake on top

I wanted to take the photo of the valley

He pushed some rocks from our path

Trekked down

We went to the highest waterfalls in that area

Statutory Warning: Never try this without the help of professionals.

This is as close we could get.

Mission II, Location: Meenmutty Waterfalls
Height: 500m
Remarks: This was the most difficult part of our trip. To get to the place you will have to trek ~1.5km steep inside jungle. Better get a guide, ‘cos chances are many to loose track of your path inside the steep and extremely dangerous jungle.

Adventure is in our DNA

DAY II

We started day 2 with a visit to the Wayand ghat pass

Mission I, Location: Wayanad Ghat Pass
Area: 12kms of hairpins
Remarks: Will take 1hr for a bus to reach from bottom to top [according to our driver]
Reference: http://youtube.com/watch?v=laE9LGdk3-s&feature=related

We visited the place where they shot the movie ‘Predator’

Mission II, Location: Kuruva Islands
Area: ~950 acers, small evergreen forest islands [info from a local]
Reference: http://www.sundaykaumudi.com/insidek/kuruva.stm

Inside the jungle

We climbed the trees

Swung across the rocks

Slept in the trees

Enjoyed the scenery

Conquered islands after islands

Water seemed to be like crystals

Tried some underwater photography

Discovered some rare species of snails

We had to dive to take a snap of this snail with marks on its shell

Had fun with and in water

Tried some different angles of photography

Gave a classic touch to the jungle

Took a group photo

We visited God also [thought we will disturb him for some time]

Mission III, Location: Thirunelli Temple [The one in picture is its annex]
Remarks: More than 3000 years old
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirunelli_Temple

Original Kerala Architecture

The environment was so good, cool, serene and calm with the sun setting in the horizon. You could hear the classical music from the temple. I enjoyed solitude for some moments.

We witnessed a marvelous sunset also

Way back home

Special Thanks to all who helped to make this adventure real

ps: For more photos, visit Dragonflyz photos at flickr.com

Memories

Sometimes in life, some instances or moments or even a period of time, affects you so deeply that, it goes deep in to your memory, so deep that it will be there forever. You may not be remembering it all the time. But all its required to bring back all those feelings is just a music or a smell or a view or a season or something like that which we usually don’t give much importance to. We may not have realized it when we were experiencing it, that all these factors have affected us so much.

Sometimes we may be busy doing things and suddenly something, may be a smell of the fallen leaves of the winter, or a piece of music which used to be your favorite and then long forgotten, it will shock you, you feel the time slowing down, you slowly come to the present, look around or feel around, your brain rapidly searching for that ‘déjà vu’ [been there, done that] feeling, what is it? I have been here or experienced something similar. Everything that was inside your head seems to vanish. You start to think about the memory of yours which changed your day.

I was driving to my friend’s place which is also near to where I did my college days. Music was playing in the car. It was winter and the trees on both sides of the road have shed almost all their leaves. I haven’t noticed any of these until the song changed to one I used to love when I was in college. I and my friends used to go for trips and this was our song for almost all the occasion. Even in the exam mornings, for inspiration, to lighten up our moods we used to play that song. Suddenly I was pulled to the past, I was riding along with my friends hearing the song. I completely forgot what I am supposed to be doing, and I became the old graduation student. I rode straight to my college. Since it was the X’mas vacation, the place was deserted. I stopped my car, walked towards the college building. I stayed there for sometime. The smell of the air, the color of the place, the calm of the mountains near, I desperately wanted to go back to the past, meet all my friends talk to them. I thought about my girl friend, I missed her. I stayed there for some more time, wishing that some miracle will happen and will transport me back to one of those beautiful moments where we all were together and happy. Only when I walked back to my car that I realized my eyes were filled with tears. Then I remembered something said by one of my best friends “Don’t be sad that it is over, but be happy that it has happened to you” while we graduated and had to leave the college.

ps: What I have written here is similar to what happened to me during this X’mas holidays.