Spice Garden of South India

Rather than calling it 'the land of paddy fields', I prefer calling Wayanad - The spice garden of India because of its pure and rich variety of spices. Wayanad also has inexplicable mountain caves, thundering waterfalls, large tracts of forest land, ancient ruins, tree houses, jungle trails and exotic wild life.

We halted at Meppadi and covered a few tourists spots from here. Our first visiting spot was Edakkal Caves. Human life existed at least ten centuries before Christ in the cool, prestine wildlife forests. Edakkal, also known as stone inbetween is a kind of rock shelter formed by two huge rocks. There are human and wild life carvings etched on the rocks that are fascinating. The climb through the rocky terrains is tiresome.

The climb up and down made our legs shiver for two days. Somehow, we got out of it gradually as we moved on and forgot about it when we visited the Pookode lake.

We had the traditional kerala food of brown rice, rasam, green chutney, curd, and lemon pickle. The long awaited fish did not arrive even after our plates were empty and we were done with our lunch. We decided to try fish for dinner. As we moved in the hustle bustle crowd of Sultan Bathery, we discovered the unique and hot - Bird's eye chilli. Dear hubby challenged his taste buds as he thought the tiny fruit was harmless. He took a few tiny bits at the edge of the chili and lo behold... he was fuming with smoke and water flowing from his eyes, ears and nose. Several sips of cool water or a banana did not help much for quite some time. This was something we will never forget. Hahaha... Our next destination was Neelimala view point. A jeep drive up the hill through crooked and muddy path ways with bumps all the way lead to a breathtaking scene high above the sea level.

By this time, we were exhausted and tired and relaxed in a small tea stall for chai and bhajji. The sun had already begun to set and out next point of visit to Kanthapara water falls was post poned to the next day. We walked past the streets and the market place to do a bit of shopping and entered a restaurant for dinner. The warm pink coloured herbal water looked refreshing. We ordered fish, chicken kababs and roti for menu and enjoyed the authentic kerala cuisine.

We rested in one of the homestays that belonged to a retired army official, J.C Roy. The cottage was cosy, isolated among the woods. The owner was handicapped as he lost one of his leg fighting the enemy. We listened to him as he kept talking about his passion to drive and modified his two and four wheeler to travel around the town. His family picture showed him with his wife and two grown up sons. The night was very chill and cold. We played our regular ludo on mobile as the clock ticked away past 12 at night. Somehow, the lonely place and chill weather made it difficult to sleep and tossing in bed. Soon, the rays of the sun reflected throught the holes of the balcony door and I sprung out of bed to have a walk around. As usual, I took my camera and walked for almost 2 kms till I returned back to be welcomed with hot coffee by the army soldier's wife. We all sipped our chai, got refreshed and started off for the day to visit other spots.

This water fall was not a big one, but was fascinating. We spent time watching the greenery around and collecting some pretty small rocks flowing near the crystal clear waters.

We felt fresh and energetic in the cool, mystic waters. But could not stay on for long. We then reached the panthom rock view point where we could get a glimpse or panoramic view of the valley surrounded by dense thick forest.

The most exciting thing about the places is to walk with nature, the trees, the rocks, the clouds, the hills, that were there patiently to listen to you and also share their stories, but if we only we had the ability to understood what they are trying to say and what can we learn from them. Nature is the great teacher for great students. We now reached the most awaited Soochipara water falls. The sight was thrilling as we heard water gushing down the rocks melt by its downpour and melodious music. As the water hit down, it raised clouds of droplets over half a km and even without going below it, we all got drenched. None of use wanted to get drenched and so stayed away, but happy at watching how others swam and enjoyed under the water fall.

Soochipara is a 3-tiered powerful waterfall. Though we planned to go to Khozikode, we dropped it on knowing that except a beach there isn't much to view for tourists. So, the journey ends in this misty, greener, clean and pristine, enchanting and hypnotizing, land filled with history and culture. We carried with us beautiful memories of the place, people, culture, spices and marvels of God's creation.