Juwal Bose Says

So the second day the plan was different, we had decided to take a vehicle. The thing with the last days experience made us realise that this place was not much connected with buses. After breakfast we went to the Taxi stand and enquired the rates, it was 1300 for an Indica for a day. So we decided to cover Edakkal Caves, Phantom Rock, Heritage museum and Kuruva Island. First was Edakkal caves and we are in mood for a trek to the top.
There are some private parking at the bottom of the road, dont park here. You will have to pay here and then again walk to the top. There is free parking at thestart of the trek road. Also there will be jeeps which will say that the trek is 2 kms and they will cover half for rs 70. DONT take this also, as if you cant walk this then there is no point going top. You will have to walk a lot and may be even try the trek to the tip. Carry a lot of water and get ready to get your hands dirty.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

Entry fees are rs 10 and rs 25 for camera. You will pass through some cave like structures and lots of roack covered areas. After some easy climbing through paved ways and ladders you will reach the real Edakkal cave. There are some kind of drawings and carvings on the walls of the cave. Also when you look up you will see that you are actually standing right below a huge rock which is on its way down. This rock is being held there by 2 rocks on its sides. This is a peculiar sight.

From this point you can either go back or decide to trek t the top. Now the latter is really dangerous. We will have to climb holding on to make shift steps which are actually holes made into the rock. Also there is some ropes being available at some places to haul yourselves up. At some point i was a little bit afraid as i had the responsibility of my cousin. Well anyways we made it to tetop with soem enthusiastic students from some college. It was an accomplishments in itself. Now the thought of climbing down was scintillating. But its just a mind game as we reached back in half the time and it was really very easy when compared to the uphill trek.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

We reached back at noon and decided to head for Phantom rock. There is nothing much to see here as its some kind of wierd rock formation which looks like a head and hence the name.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

We also visited te wayanad heritage museum where the entrance fee was rs 10 and we didnt take the camera pass this tme. Lots of archeological finds of local wayanad was kept there. Main attraction was Veerakkallu which was used to cover dead people in the past. It depicted how they died.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

Then we had food and stopped at the Jain temple on way to Kuruva island. Jain temple access was restricted and we found our way in through the vegetation nearby. THis was bombed by Tippu when he was having his run. Lots of stone carvings and architectural marvel was to be seen here.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

We were late for Kuruva sight seeing as the island closed at 5. So we decided to make things fast. The island is 950 acres of wild area and we can have some soothing time there. We decided not to take the boat and to walk across the rived to reach the island. This was fun. Onreaching the island we had to take tickets for rs 10 and rs 10 for camera. We had half an hour at our disposal and we decided to have a bath in the river. The thing is tat you will get total privacy here and can have all the enjoyment. After bath we thought of going back using the boat, but it seemed to be closed. No one was in sight and then we found 2 lost people who didnt know what to do now. We told them to follow us as we can cross the river to the main land. So the four of us made the adventurous trip back across the river.

From Wayanad Dec 21 08

Now this was expensive day and we decided that we will not be taking vehicle any more. Most of the tourist destinations were over and we thought of winding things up with a visit to Banasura Dam ad Muthanga Wild life sanctuary the next day