Kasaragod is not Wayanad
Its a whole new district..the northernmost in Kerala.. Mangalore is a mere 51 kms from Kasaragod.. why are we here ? To see Bekal fort... the fort where Arvind Swamy serenades to Manisha Koirala in the film Bombay. Its 16 kms from Kasaragod... We initially decided to leave our bags in the cloak room at the railway station..but to our disappointment we discover that there is no cloak room at the station.. as our train is only at 22:15 p.m and we have reached Kasaragod at 08:30.. we are left with no option but to check into a lodge... we check into Airlines Hotel or something to that effect... by far the worst place i have stayed in.. lousy staff and lousier service.. buggers charged us extra for a triple bedroom with one bed broken and useless.. lousy place... especially coming after our wonderful stay at Alaska Tourist home in Mananthavady..
Thankfully Bekal Fort eased our irritation.. its a stunning sight but the weather proved to be a dampener.. bloody hot.. True lovers should serenade in the heat..not in the rain like the way Arvind Swamy does in the movie. In spite of the heat, the fort is truly stunning and we found ourselves a spot under a tree where we stopped off for a couple of hours before returning to Kasaragod.
The guys then went shopping for some traditional banana chips at Kasaragod town.. and Sreeps, Vish and Dil bought some Padhmukam which is this herbal powder to which boiled water is added and strained to get this flavoured water which is, i think, supposed to be healthy. All the restaurants we ate in served us water hot and pinkish brown in colour - thanks to this powder. All the restaurants had crockery as well..china flourished.
After dinner we checked out from the hotel unceremoniously and boarded the West Coast express to Chennai at 22:15.
Five days of super fun
In case you get a chance to go to Wayanad..take a nice torch with you.. this is useful in the forest as well as in the towns which go to sleep by 21:00 hrs.. lack of streetlights give it an eerie ambience.. torches will be useful
The fun factor of the trip is the responsibility of forest officer Sujith (Trivandrum range), A.K.Gopalan (Muthanga Range), Guide Rajeevan, Thangu aunty, a couple of auto drivers, Abhay from Alaska tourist home ( i think thats his name)... A big debt of gratitude to them all.
If you are from Chennai...do take the opportunity to go on a auto rickshaw ride.. its tough to find decent auto drivers in Chennai.. tough not to find decent ones in the north of Kerala..
Trip in brief(s) -
8th March 20:15 Board Mangalore mail from Chennai to Kozhikode, 9th March 08:30 Reach Kozhikode, 9th March 17:00 Reach Muthanga Forest, 10th March 14:00 Visit Edakkal caves, 10th March 20:00 Reach Mananthavady, 11th March 08:30 visit Thirunelly temples, 11th March 12:00 visit Tholpetty forest Range, 11th March 15:30 visit Kuruva Dweep, 12th March 01:00 start for Kannur, 12th March 05:00 start for Kasargod from Kannur, 12th March 08:30 reach Kasargod, 12th March 12:00 visit Bekal fort, 12th March 22:15 start for Chennai
Trip cost us 1600 Rs per person.. mainly for the bus rides..food was well worth the price paid... but like the credit card ad says.. the trip : 1600 Rs., the novel experience : priceless
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