Where to go? How many days? Where do we stay? These were the questions we had when we were planning for a short vacation as a family. Wayanad came up as a suggestion and we latched on it. A visit to this district that is situated in God’s Own State Kerala, was a place we one we looked forward to.

This Traveblogue is a two part series. Part 1 elaborates experiences during the drive to Wayanad and our stay at the resort. Part 2 elaborates on the places that we went to and experiences we had, enroute to these places.

Emotions comes in pairs – Excitement and frustration came hand in hand!! Excitement of going on this vacation and frustration while traveling on the highway. People driving in the opposite direction of the traffic, bike and scooter riders NOT wearing their helmets (for heaven’s sake this is highway driving people, I wanted to shout out), people driving in the middle lane and way too slowly, cutting of lanes by drivers and that too giving no indication of it whatsoever and of course last but not the least, talking on the phone and driving.. Whew, seriously!

Here was this pillion rider who was carrying a bunch of hens, all their feel tied up together and their faces facing the road. As he was holding them at their feet, some of their beaks scraped the roads while the bike was going at a good 60 kms per hour. As their beaks scraped the road, a couple of the hens lifted their faces a bit as though to avoid the scraping. Gravity however, made their faces go down again after a few seconds. Their faces would lift again and again the beaks would scrape. This went on a few times. Occurred to me that the need to survive is strong, be it for human or animals. We would do what it takes to keep our head up (Pun intended :-)). As I saw these hens, I suddenly visualised being held like that hen and my nose scraping the ground, and a shudder went through me.

As we drove down, we could see the Western Ghat ranges and it seemed as though there are mountain ranges one behind the other and the ones in the back seemed like a silhouette and yet real.. The one in the front was darker and was sure enough a mountain. So is there one range behind another? This question seemed to strike again much later in this trip. Read on to know!!

As we drove through the forest area, the road ahead looks amazing. Roads that are so well laid and with trees on either side, it makes one want to peek to see what comes ahead.. That’s how life is also, isn’t it? When we think that the journey ahead looks amazing, we want to see ahead and we want to experience what we see. In this case, this sight made me understand that India has her own beauty and much of it is yet to be seen 🙂

There also were these quaint houses that we saw, well spaced out from one another, They were surrounded with so much of greenery. They left me wondering if these were farm houses or if there were people inhabiting these houses at all times. Interspersing this greenery are these vast open lands and they gave a door and a window to the mountain ranges. This mountain had this white zone near the peak. I am not sure if this was a fog or a cloud. I was sure though that this was not smoke. Yet another question – Where was this white thing coming from and where will it go? The mountain looked like it has vegetation and yet looked bare. It is certainly mammoth even from far away but looked so appealing and so beautiful, that I could not take my eyes off it. So long as anything we see is NOT threatening and we resonate with i,t we are fine isn’t it?

The place we stayed in was a resort that was started a few months back and it was in its infancy stage. An advantage in its own way, as it was not really occupied fully. It was so quiet that one could hear the sounds of insects and the chirp of birds. Listen close enough and you would find that each sound and each chirp is different.

There was one sound that we heard that will reach a crescendo and then then taper off; and this sound we would hear from different trees. We came to know that this was from the insect Cricket (the male). It makes this sound apparently during sunrise and sunset and uses it to attract the female Crickets. The crescendo from one tree will taper off and another one from another tree will start. Actually, after a while of hearing this sound, the ears get so much used to it that when it becomes quiet for a few hours, one tends to miss this sound 🙂

The morning walk on the second day of our stay there, was greeted by the sun peeking between trees as though to say a good morning; this walk also revealed the presence of a few streams close-by. The gurgling sound of one of the streams was a treat to the ears and I could see a small ‘less treaded’ path that led from the road, down to the stream. Smooth rocks and boulders were giving me the look of “Come and sit here and watch the stream run by. Enjoy hearing the sound the water makes, when it moves against us.” I resisted the temptation and told myself that I will give in to it, on my return from the walk. Much to my consternation, on my return I saw this young lady washing clothes in the stream. This was so much like what I have heard from people, about them going to the streams to wash clothes, when they were young. Well, looks like in small towns while things have changed, certain things remain as they are :-)..  I told myself, “Better luck tomorrow”, for sitting by the stream.

Tomorrow definitely came and I did get my chance to accept the offer of the rocks and the boulders. It felt good to travel down the path that was ‘less treaded’ and to the stream (Hmmmn!! Wish this ‘feeling good’ also happens when I travel on the ‘less treaded’ path in life too). There were many a small fish swimming there and they were nearly the same muddy colour as the soil.  Camouflaging fishes :-). The water looked transparent and fresh :-). What caught our attention was the way the stream made a way for itself underneath a small boulder, to flow to the other side. “I have a boulder ahead that is stronger than me. I am ONLY a smaller force against the boulder. etc etc..” None of these thoughts seem to occur to the stream. It just finds a way to flow to the other side!! We as humans pride ourselves with our thought process and this thought process also comes in the way of our journey ahead, especially when we encounter challenges. To be as persistent as the stream and to find a way to flow against the challenges and journey forward, in an ethical manner is one thing; and if that way doesn’t work, then to find another way is a different thing altogether!! This moment of seeing the water finding its way under the boulder to flow to the other side, is one that will stay with me for quite some time to come, bringing its own learning in the process.

As we were walking back, we met this lady who was hurrying past us. She turned and smiled as she passed by and said, “I am late”, in Malayalam. As she walked ahead, she also stopped by the small shops by the road side to exchange a word or two with the shopkeepers. She then passed by a house and hollered out to someone inside. The person from inside, replied back. As we passed by the house, I tried peeking in thru the gate but I couldn’t spot anyone inside. Maybe these two people greeted each other frequently at a specified time and hence this became a habit? Interesting!! What I found more interesting was that she said she was late and she still she found time to talk to people for a few seconds, at each stop she made.  ‘I am late’ seems to have its own perspectives 🙂

Be it the early morning walks or the tryst with nature or the hours of much needed quietude and solitude, these moments of being with oneself results in so much of time to contemplate.

While I end this blog and wait to begin writing Part 2 of this Traveblogue Series to Wayanad, I cannot help but think of the many places in India that are as beautiful, and have so much of its culture and nature to offer. For a person who loves to travel and explore places, its people and culture, out comes this travel wish bug of mine, bugging me to travel more..