The much-awaited Kerala trip started today. After packing our
bags last night, we woke up at 3:30am to take taxi for airport at 4am. The day
started well, as our early morning flight was on time even though there was a good
chance of delay because of the fog. We reached the airport at around 5am and
the flight took off before time.
Because of bad weather the flight took a little more time than usual to reach Bengaluru. We utilized the flight time to catch up on the sleep. And this time, we got a seat near the emergency exit gate, which means extra leg space :).
We didn't have a very clear plan for the journey from Bengaluru to Wayanad, and fortunately we met a gentleman in the flight who was a local of Wayanad. Initially we were planning to take a Volvo to Mysore and then take a taxi or bus depending upon the time in hand. This gentleman suggested us to take bus from airport to Mysore Satlight Bus-stand and then take a bus to Sultan Battery, which is near to Meenangadi, where we were headed.
We took an AC bus from the Airport to Mysore Satlight Bus-stand. It costed us Rs.230 per person and the journey was comfortable. It took approximately 1 hr in the morning and there was hardly any jam, which was very unusual considering Bengaluru's reputation :).
A bus for Sultan Battery was about to leave in few minutes. We hadn't had our breakfast yet, so got some veg pulao and vada-chutney packed, along with snacks such as biscuits and chips. This was a KSRTC superfast bus with ordinary seating arrangements.
Initially we were not sure if it was a good decision to opt for an ordinary bus, but soon we realized it was a good choice. We got exposed to various experiences in this local bus. Probably this bus journey deserves a separate blog-post. But please note that whole journey took approximately 9 hours including a lunch break. Although it was an enjoyable journey but we could have saved time by taking the flight to Calicut. But at the same time, the flight to Calicut would have costed much more.
This bus stopped at the OceanO restaurant at Srirangapatna on Bengaluru - Mysore road. We had one plate of chicken biryani and tea. This was a clean place with good food. Tea was very good and we wanted to have another cup, but it was time to leave for the next leg of the journey.
We crossed through Mysore and some of the beautiful landscapes on our way to Wayanad. On the way we noticed some interesting things like a huge market full of coconut vans, black-colored sugarcanes, different shaped beans, lot of movie posters all around, vegetable farms surrounded by coconut trees, wooden horses (at Channapatana), straight-horned bulls, banana trees spread over acres of land, beautifully fitted burkhas etc. Most of the folks we met were very polite and helpful. This includes our bus conductor, the staff at Oceano restaurant, other passengers in the bus, our auto driver, and our hosts at Treasure Trove.
After a long journey, we reached our homestay at Meenangadi – Treasure Trove. Our host Mr Sunil showed us our cottage.
After taking bath, we headed towards the dining room and enjoyed tasty food cooked by Sunil's wife. We had beetroot vegetable, potato curry, and arhar daal with chapattis.
We are excited about tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.
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