"Green Green and Green!"

Written on : 20-July-2016

Visted During : June 2016

Some more Information

Visit when Waynad is green. Chembra peak takes almost a full day. So, keep some buffer time for other places. Do plan your stay in some homestay or resort. There are numberous Resorts in Waynad and offer the peaceful environment.
Most of the tourist spots in waynad close by 5.00PM and hence plan the travel accordingly.
Do not expect Hotels offering good Vegitarian food and also hotels close by 9.00PM even in the cities like Kalpetta, Suthan Bathery and Meppadi.
(As of June 2016)Note that Jeep drivers in the base of Ghat section to Chembra suggest you to take jeep to reach base point of trek. But, all kinds of vehicles go till the base and there is no need to hire a jeep there.

My Experience and Opinion

From trips every weekend a couple of years ago to - a trip a month, the frequency of trips and treks has reduced to once in a month these days. However, am becoming a little choosy while selecting the places to visit. But, the love for greenery and nature has not reduced. I had planned for a ride to Waynad almost a year back and had to cancel half a way. So, Waynad had been haunting me from almost a year and finally got a chance to plan.
For vegitarians like me and my friends, Kerala throws good challenge to find hotels/restaurants. It is common to skip meals because you dont get time in between your visits to places. But, in Kerala you might have to skip meals because you dont get food! So, be ready for such situations when you plan a trip to Kerala.

The Route To Waynad

One of the reasons you should travel to Waynad is the road that takes you there. It is considered to be one of the finest driving experiences in entire country. For the thick forest, animal sighting that you might get, a curvy road that divides the forest into two, everything that the drive offers is the best in its class. During our travel, we were lucky to see herds of spotted deer, sambar deer, herd of elephants and hundreds of monkeys.
As responsible citizens, please maintain the discipline required in the forest area. Do keep in mind of animal crossings while travelling through forest.

Soochippara Waterfalls

Soochippara is one amongst many waterfalls in Waynad. Even if the waterfalls is not of great height, the waterfalls is within a forest and on a breezy day, can be very nice experience to sit in front and feel the water droplets kissing you. For people who wish to get into water, there is a small pond but the guards there do not allow you near the waterfalls.

Kanthanpara Waterfalls

This can only be included in the plan if you have buffer time, and if the place falls on your way. Not a great water fall and there is no scope to get into water too. Hence, OOO suggests to not visit unless for the reason mentioned above :)

Chembra Peak Trek

The must visit of Waynad. When we planned to visit waynad, chembra was the only reason to drive all the way till waynad. Initially, we had a doubt regarding the closure of the trek due to heavy rain. Thanks to one of my friend from my office who quickly dialed the forest office in Meppadi and confirmed that the trek was still allowed.
Chembra peak trek can be considered as an easy one if done post rainy season or during summer. However, during rainy season the trek is of moderate difficulty considering the slippery path to the peak. Chembra offers breath taking view as any of the western ghat trekking spots do. The green carpet over curvy mountains and deep forest in the base makes it a good spot to enjoy nature.
Most of the tourist spots in Waynad are pretty well maintained by the Kerala government with respect to cleanliness. To trek in Chembra, a deposit of INR 100 is taken for each plastic item you carry and the deposit is returned only on showing the plastic while returning. I wish this is brought into practice in other places of India as well. Do carry some money in hard cash while going to chembra since card payments dont work and you might end up in borrowing money provided you are lucky to get someone who is kind enough to lend you or you might have to return to the city to get money.
You can find people doing all sort of poses in front of Heart pond and clicking photos. If you visit Chembra because you want to click a photo near Heart pond, I would say it is not worth it. It is not of heart shape unless clicked in a particular angle. Chembra is too crowded but is still worth visiting for the greenery.
Trekking fee - 750 for a group with maximum 10 people. (Irrespective of number of people in the group, it is 750.)

Places we Could not visit!

At times, we need to compromise with the plan if things dont work the way we do. Unfortunately, we had planned only for 2 days visit to Waynad and hence had to miss out a couple of places. Amongst them, I repent for not being able to visit -
Edakkal Caves
Neelimale View Point.
Meenamutti Falls. (This falls was not open for visitors since it was rainy season and due to heavy water flow.)

Photos

Videos

Video 1 - Soochipara Waterfalls.
Video 2 - En Route Chembra Peak with "Dil Chahta Hai" background :)

The Most Important asset while travelling - Google Maps

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