A Trip to Waynad, Kerala...

30th September,2005
Loads of excitement and expectations for the class trip to Waynad, Kerala. Remember waiting at Pavan MW`s house for the bus. The bus arrived late and was far from what was promised. My classmates got into the bus with high spirits and enthsiasm but curses heard midway because of the sad state of the bus we were in. It was rainin heavily outside , the seats were wet and water dripped on our heads.I sat at the foot board of the bus with naveen listening to my classmates playing antakshari.
I managed to get a dry seat later just to wake up in the mornin with a bad knee pain coz of less room for my legs.It was murky at that time as we strolled through the fog. We checked in Hotel Haritagiri Heritage at around 7am.We couldnt resist but to dive into the swimming pool..brr.. it was darn cold! We enjoyed ourselves throughly in the water.A quick shower n breakfast and we left to Edakkal caves.
We had to walk a kilometre on road and further uphill to get to the mouth of the caves.The caves were illuminated by the little light which managed to creep through the gaps between the massive stones overwhelming us.We gazed at the carvings on the rocks with awe.As the guide explained about the carvings, we took snaps and it was then Maddy and I decided to trek further up and explore more caves if any.It was a rocky terrain, We leaped between rocks, crawled through gaps between big boulders,rope climbed on a hill.We then gave a Tarzan call and waited for the rest to catch up.We helped each other climb the sliperry rocks.We climbed uphill till a point where the view was mesmerizing and some dint dare to climb further.
On the way back, Maddy n I decided to go on another adventure and we ended up in a dark cave. We had to make a vertical climb to get to the top.I followed Maddy`s lead in climbing as i dared myself to not look down.We let out a loud cry of jubilation when we made it to the top.As I sat there trying to work my way down, Maddy started to climb down and was half way when I made my move.A sudden thought "What if I..." and OMG i lost my grip and slipped!!! I lay hanging on the rock for my life when Maddy rushed up and supported my weight on his right thigh.It took me sometime to get my senses back and while Maddy struggled with pain I found my grip and we made it down - An incident I cant forget. (In the pic-> Maddy climbing his way up)

Yet another incident as we trekked back when my bracelet fell between some rocks deep down and some localites came to my rescue. Caught up with the gang after a splash of cold water from a well at the entrance to the caves and we had some tender coconuts and lime soda on the way back, still regret leavin my shades at the telephone booth :(
The day had almost come to an end and we played shuttle and bball as the sun set. It was almost dark when we decided not to end the day so soon and to visit another place. It was a long ride to Pookat lake, we could barely see anything there and we ended up dancing to the beats of Sharath`s drums.Returned to the hotel to test our strength at the gym. After a tiring workout we had our dinner and played card games till 3am before crashin to bed.

We set out early in the mornin to the supposedly Asia`s 3rd largest dam...ya right!! Had breakfast there gazing at the HUGE dam! The other side of the dam was a treat to our eyes.We sat numb at the bank gazing at the lake held between hills as some hurled stones into the water.With complaints of have had early lunch at the hotel we left for Soochipara waterfalls. Enroute to the falls we had our heads poppin out of the windows looking at the picturesque tea hills. The chant "Maddy nodu aisaa.." should bring back joyous memories to those who were there ;)



.... to be continued.....