It's been quite some time, that Vibha and I visited Wayanad region of North Kerala but recently I realized that I never wrote a good Travel Guide about Wayanad and instead written smaller pieces about some of the main places to explore in this region or things to do.
Let's go one by one and first talk about how to reach Wayanad ?
The basic fact remains the same that medium of commute is dependent on from where you have to start your journey. If it's from different parts of India or abroad, you can catch a flight to Bangalore city. Wait a minute, have you also heard about Calicut international airport which is just 70 odd km from Wayanad? Yes that's probably nearest but tickets can be expensive but make a call on the basis of total cost to reach Wayanad which would include flight ticket and next mode of transportation.
Related Post : In the presence of Theyyams in Kannur || Kerala Diaries
Related Post : In the presence of Theyyams in Kannur || Kerala Diaries
If you land in Bangalore, you can catch a KRSTC bus running regularly to Kozikhode or directly to Wayanad. Some kerala transportation buses are also available. It is highly recommended to plan it well and know about bus timings before hand, to plan your trip well.
Let's also talk about travel by Rail/train. Nearest railway station is Kozikode and beyond that you need to either take a taxi or bus.
Related Post : Journey from Delhi to Wayanad via Bengaluru, Mysore, and Sultan Battery || Kerala Diaries
Related Post : Journey from Delhi to Wayanad via Bengaluru, Mysore, and Sultan Battery || Kerala Diaries
Now that we have talked about the ways to reach Wayand, let's also talk a little about the ways to commute within Wayanad. Be mindful that Wayanad is not a city but a district and it's comparatively bigger. Auto-Rickshaws are used for usual mode of transpiration and you can rent an auto for a day trip. Depending upon the weather condition, you can also chose to hire an AC taxi for your day tours around Wayanad.
Assuming that above details would help you sort out your commute to the beautiful Wayanad region of Kerala, let's also talk about food options before we start talking about some of the main places of interest to explore in Wayanad.
Related post : Beneath the bamboo roof || Kerala Diaries
If you are commuting by car, you would get variety of food from Bengaluru till Mysore and a little beyond that. But after that you would find more outlets serving local cuisine. Vegetarians folks need to be more careful and fish is one of the main dish served at many places and you may find that typical fish smell at such places. One of the safer bets are pure vegetarian places which are not very hard to find and also tea stalls which serve good variety of snacks, if you can fill you stomach with snacks.
Within Wayadanad region there are enough food options of various kinds as it's a touristy place. Take conservative approach when you order meal in restaurants in Wayanad region. You may check out this link to know more why I am saying this. In nutshell, there are various complimentary things that you get with your ordered meal, so if you need to be aware of this fact well.
Related post : Flying through the western ghats towards Kannur || Kerala Diaries
Are there any language issues in Wayanad region?
Somehow this one was one of the key questions folks asked on the blog, when I was posting about various places to explore in Wayanad district of Kerala state. Because of tourism some segments of the population can talk to you in Hindi but majority can't. But as a traveler, you would encounter people at your hotel/home-stay, restaurant, taxi who would either know english or hindi. People with better English are more than folks who know hindi. Lot of foreigner tourists also visit this region, so focusing more on English instead of hindi has an edge.
Related post : Artist we met in Kerala - Tanish Daniels || Kerala Diaries
Usually youth of Kerala is well educated, so wherever you see young folks, you won't face language challenge.
Let's also talk about where to stay ?
While I was in Wayanad with my wife for a week, we only stayed in home-stays but chose to stay in 2 different villages of Wayanad. For first few days we chose Treasure Trove, which is a beautiful home-stay with 2 secluded huts surrounded by Coffee plantation, black pepper and lot of different kinds of trees.
Related post : In the presence of Theyyams in Kannur || Kerala Diaries
Then we moved to a village which is called as Bamboo Village because of the fact that whole community in this village produce various things out of Bamboo sticks. Here we stayed in another home-stay and that was true home-stay experience, wherein we were living in one of the rooms of main house of the hosts and the room was close to living room and kitchen.
Related post : Main places to visit and things to do in Kerala, India
Vibha and I prefer to stay in a Home-Stay when we travel. And the best homestay experience we had was in Wayanad. We loved both the home-stays and both gave us very different exposure to the local culture in Wayanad region of Kerala. Personally I loved the food served in both these home-stays. Some of the dishes may not look very encouraging but if you try you will ask for it again.
Now let's talk about some of the main places to explore in Wayanad region of Kerala State -
1. Soochipara Waterfalls
2. Pookode Lake with lot of colors & butterflies all around :
Pookode lake is one of the main tourist places in Wayanad and a lot of locals also come to this place during the weekends. The lake has a shopping complex around it and a dedicated area for kids to play. It seems lot of kids love spending time around this lake and that's why it is a good picnic spot for locals.
There is a circular path around the lake where you can walk, notice some colorful birds and butterflies. If you like solitude, this walk gives you that opportunities as it's little away from the hustle bustle. We saw lot of Kingfishers around the lake and that was one of the highlight for us. There is an entry ticket for the lake and for moe details, check out this link.
3. Banasura Sagar Dam :
The location of Banasura Dam is amazing and the colors around this place are mesmerizing. There are various activities around the Banasura Dam - horse riding, boat ride, motor-boat ride etc. There are some artists who can create your sketch or caricature. For more details & tips, check this link
4. Curuva Island :
Curuva island is a unique thing which you would not expect in Kerala state of South India. One needs to enter the island through these bamboo made boats. There is a rope which connects island with other part of the land. The driver of the boat, sticks to this rope so that boat follows the path defined by this rope, as you see in above photograph. There are beautiful walks on the island and there are places on the way where you come across water bodies, where people enjoy diving into the water or other water related activities. We had thought of skipping it but after visiting it, we loved the place. If you like watching birds, this island can have lot of opportunities for you.
5. Edakkal Caves :
Reaching Edakkal caves is little challenging as you need to trek a bit and it's at significant climb. There are tickets for all these places and I must say that Kerala Tourism takes very good care of these places. Do check out more about Edakkal caves, why these are popular & tips, check this place .
Some of the top things to do in Wayanad, apart from main places to explore -
1. Roam around aromatic Coffee plantations :
Coffee produced in Wayanad region is very popular and that makes it a special place for exploring it's coffee plantations. Above photograph shows coffee plant loaded with lot of coffee beans. These dark red fruits contain 2 beans of coffee. So when they start getting blood red, they are took out and dried for a long time. When these fruits are dried, beans are taken out of these covers. So it's important to explore some of these coffee plantations and experience this whole lifecycle closely. Such things make you appreciate the effort and energy goes into producing high quality stuff.
2. Tea Gardens of Wayanad, Kerala :
One the same lines, Tea gardens of Wayanad are equally interesting. Personally I love tea gardens as they look very beautiful in comparison to the coffee plantations.
3. See how Rubber is produced from trees :
Rubber production was a unique experience for me as I had already visited Tea/Coffee plantations. Lot of families have planted plenty of these rubber plants in acres of the land. The containers you see in above photograph are attached to each tree and they are emptied twice in a day. This liquid is then processed and rubber sheets are made. These sheets are then sold to industrial buyers. we have written a long post about this whole process and it's interesting how many folks in the community get job because of this.
4. Cycling around Wayanad :
Cycling around the tea gardens was a cool experience in Wayanad region of Kerala state. There are plenty of other adventure activities in the region and more effective for groups of people. Cycling can be a lot of fun but you can't do cycling everywhere because road conditions are inconsistent.
5. Shopping of Bamboo products
Certainly there are lot of things which you can buy from Wayanad but Bamboo products of this region are special. There are lot communities who are involved in various these small scale industries to produce innovative products. And these communities also export lot of these creations to other countries across the globe.
With these details, I would like take a stop here. Please do share your feedback or questions through comment section below.
Assuming that above details would help you sort out your commute to the beautiful Wayanad region of Kerala, let's also talk about food options before we start talking about some of the main places of interest to explore in Wayanad.
Related post : Beneath the bamboo roof || Kerala Diaries
If you are commuting by car, you would get variety of food from Bengaluru till Mysore and a little beyond that. But after that you would find more outlets serving local cuisine. Vegetarians folks need to be more careful and fish is one of the main dish served at many places and you may find that typical fish smell at such places. One of the safer bets are pure vegetarian places which are not very hard to find and also tea stalls which serve good variety of snacks, if you can fill you stomach with snacks.
Within Wayadanad region there are enough food options of various kinds as it's a touristy place. Take conservative approach when you order meal in restaurants in Wayanad region. You may check out this link to know more why I am saying this. In nutshell, there are various complimentary things that you get with your ordered meal, so if you need to be aware of this fact well.
Related post : Flying through the western ghats towards Kannur || Kerala Diaries
Are there any language issues in Wayanad region?
Somehow this one was one of the key questions folks asked on the blog, when I was posting about various places to explore in Wayanad district of Kerala state. Because of tourism some segments of the population can talk to you in Hindi but majority can't. But as a traveler, you would encounter people at your hotel/home-stay, restaurant, taxi who would either know english or hindi. People with better English are more than folks who know hindi. Lot of foreigner tourists also visit this region, so focusing more on English instead of hindi has an edge.
Related post : Artist we met in Kerala - Tanish Daniels || Kerala Diaries
Usually youth of Kerala is well educated, so wherever you see young folks, you won't face language challenge.
Let's also talk about where to stay ?
While I was in Wayanad with my wife for a week, we only stayed in home-stays but chose to stay in 2 different villages of Wayanad. For first few days we chose Treasure Trove, which is a beautiful home-stay with 2 secluded huts surrounded by Coffee plantation, black pepper and lot of different kinds of trees.
Related post : In the presence of Theyyams in Kannur || Kerala Diaries
Related post : Main places to visit and things to do in Kerala, India
Vibha and I prefer to stay in a Home-Stay when we travel. And the best homestay experience we had was in Wayanad. We loved both the home-stays and both gave us very different exposure to the local culture in Wayanad region of Kerala. Personally I loved the food served in both these home-stays. Some of the dishes may not look very encouraging but if you try you will ask for it again.
Now let's talk about some of the main places to explore in Wayanad region of Kerala State -
1. Soochipara Waterfalls
Suchipara Waterfalls are beautiful and one needs to trek a bit to reach the place. After parking the vehicle, one needs to get tickets and walk a bit. The path from parking till the waterfall is beautiful with green landscapes all around. Without writing more about it, I will encourage to click here and know more about the places along with some tips.
2. Pookode Lake with lot of colors & butterflies all around :
Pookode lake is one of the main tourist places in Wayanad and a lot of locals also come to this place during the weekends. The lake has a shopping complex around it and a dedicated area for kids to play. It seems lot of kids love spending time around this lake and that's why it is a good picnic spot for locals.
There is a circular path around the lake where you can walk, notice some colorful birds and butterflies. If you like solitude, this walk gives you that opportunities as it's little away from the hustle bustle. We saw lot of Kingfishers around the lake and that was one of the highlight for us. There is an entry ticket for the lake and for moe details, check out this link.
3. Banasura Sagar Dam :
The location of Banasura Dam is amazing and the colors around this place are mesmerizing. There are various activities around the Banasura Dam - horse riding, boat ride, motor-boat ride etc. There are some artists who can create your sketch or caricature. For more details & tips, check this link
4. Curuva Island :
5. Edakkal Caves :
Reaching Edakkal caves is little challenging as you need to trek a bit and it's at significant climb. There are tickets for all these places and I must say that Kerala Tourism takes very good care of these places. Do check out more about Edakkal caves, why these are popular & tips, check this place .
Some of the top things to do in Wayanad, apart from main places to explore -
1. Roam around aromatic Coffee plantations :
Coffee produced in Wayanad region is very popular and that makes it a special place for exploring it's coffee plantations. Above photograph shows coffee plant loaded with lot of coffee beans. These dark red fruits contain 2 beans of coffee. So when they start getting blood red, they are took out and dried for a long time. When these fruits are dried, beans are taken out of these covers. So it's important to explore some of these coffee plantations and experience this whole lifecycle closely. Such things make you appreciate the effort and energy goes into producing high quality stuff.
2. Tea Gardens of Wayanad, Kerala :
One the same lines, Tea gardens of Wayanad are equally interesting. Personally I love tea gardens as they look very beautiful in comparison to the coffee plantations.
3. See how Rubber is produced from trees :
Rubber production was a unique experience for me as I had already visited Tea/Coffee plantations. Lot of families have planted plenty of these rubber plants in acres of the land. The containers you see in above photograph are attached to each tree and they are emptied twice in a day. This liquid is then processed and rubber sheets are made. These sheets are then sold to industrial buyers. we have written a long post about this whole process and it's interesting how many folks in the community get job because of this.
4. Cycling around Wayanad :
Cycling around the tea gardens was a cool experience in Wayanad region of Kerala state. There are plenty of other adventure activities in the region and more effective for groups of people. Cycling can be a lot of fun but you can't do cycling everywhere because road conditions are inconsistent.
5. Shopping of Bamboo products
Certainly there are lot of things which you can buy from Wayanad but Bamboo products of this region are special. There are lot communities who are involved in various these small scale industries to produce innovative products. And these communities also export lot of these creations to other countries across the globe.
With these details, I would like take a stop here. Please do share your feedback or questions through comment section below.
.jpg)