Mesmerising Weekend in Wayanad Hills - Banasurasagar Dam Tour & Meenmutty Waterfalls

The Wuhan Chinese virus pandemic has affected the travel patterns of people. Since the 2019 December Valparai Pollachi Tour, I was also afraid of touring places. The weekend tours are the only refreshing tonic for the minds of people working in IT Companies like me. It recharges the battery of mental health.

I visited Wayanad around 2010 (not sure of the date) for the first time. I was traveling with two Irrigation department civil engineers. They were on official duty and I had a mutual friend with them who was a businessman. My intention was to visit the KSRTC office in Sulthan Bathery where my late father worked to get some information. The trip from Nooranad to Bathery was strenuous. We stayed in an Inspection Bungalow at Karapuzha Dam. We didn’t go sightseeing. All I could remember was that we did some shopping and returned. Ever Since that time, the desire to visit Wayanad was burning like a fire deep inside me.

Change of Jobs : Relocation from Kochi to Kozhikode

Relocating to Kozhikode comes with some benefits. I now have an option to travel to northern kerala & Wayanad, the places I loved to travel and have never visited. But the deterrent against free travel was the corona scare. Once I could overpower it, I gathered the courage to travel.

Planning a Wayanad Tour from Kozhikode

We asked a couple of friends who are from Wayanad and got hold of some destinations. Internet research is a great friend and guide. YouTubers & Vloggers provided great information that is helpful for planning a tour. I was planning a one day trip.

The main locations that are to be explored were

1. Banasura Sagar Dam
2. Meenmutty WaterFalls
3. Kuruwa Island
4. 900 Kandi
5. Soochipara Waterfalls
6. Chembra Peak Trekking
7. Muthanga
8. Edakkal Caves

Banasura Sagar Dam

We chose to do Banasura Sagar Dam in this tour. Next thing I did was to book a hotel via booking.com .Then we packed the bags and started to travel in the early morning of a fine Saturday. 

Hotel Booked through booking.com

Thamarassery Churam (Mountain Pass)

We need to travel through these Ghat sections to reach Wayanad from Calicut. The drive was perfect. My 2 month old Tata Nexon car was a workhorse climbing the hills. Throughout the journey there are places you can stop the vehicle for sightseeing and taking some pictures. The view of the land below is breathtaking. Enroute to Banasura Sagar Dam, we stopped at a restaurant and had breakfast. 

Thamarassery Churam connects Kozhikode to Wayanad

Route Map

Kozhikode ➡️ Kozhikode Medical College ➡️ IIM Kozhikode ➡️ Kundhamangalam ➡️ Koduvally ➡️ Thamarassery ➡️ Adivaram ➡️ ⛱️ Lakkidi Viewpoint ➡️ Vythiri ➡️ Thariyodu Padinjarathara ➡️ ⛱️Banasura Sagar Dam ➡️  ⛱️ Meenmutty Waterfalls ➡️ Lakkidi ➡️ 🛏️Sanihara Resort ➡️ Back to Kozhikode

The dam was opened to the public after the Chinese Wuhan Virus crisis. I just parked the vehicle with a parking ticket of 30 rs and then walked towards the KSEB entrance counter. There you need to pay 40 rs each for entering the dam. There is quite a distance you have to walk to reach the top of the dam and the garden. If you can pay some money, KSEB is running a convoy of traveller vans to carry you there. Old people can use this service. However young people and children can comfortably walk to the dam area.

Oonjals (Swings) in the hilly Garden

From the dam top, we moved to the Garden area where there are a lot of swings for entertainment. The swings or oonjal are made with thick tug so even fat people can use them. This can be a great place to remember the good times you have enjoyed swinging in childhood.

Enjoying the sun on top of Banasura Sagar Dam

You can comfortably walk on top of the dam. Those who come by KSEB vehicle are dropped here. Banasura Sagar dam is the largest earth dam in India. You can see a beautiful view of mountains and a reservoir from the dam. In the upstream slope area (ie the area behind me in the photo), it is written as a restricted area and a warning about the presence of poisonous snakes.

My wifi and I enjoyed ice cream in the garden. Note that this garden is on a hilly terrain but maintained well so that we can walk around safely.

Boating in the Banasura Sagar Dam Reservoir

Boating is the best experience we had at Banasura Sagar Dam. The cost for a ride in the dam reservoir is Rs 1000 for a 5 seater boat. We were a couple so three seats were empty. For larger groups, there are larger boats. But that was not functioning when we visited. The journey through the waters is absolutely satisfying. The hills are so beautiful to watch. On the left side we can see forest areas and on the right side hills where there are some settlements & resorts for tourists. The boat circumambulated some islands. The pilot of the boat offered some more distance after the usual 10 to 15 minutes ride for an extra hundred rupees to which I obliged, seeing the happiness in the face of my wife. Just like when a car or bus encounters a gutter, often the boat jumps up as if it has hit something in the bottom. I deduced it could be a stump under the water.

Boating & Kayaking Facility available at Banasura Sagar Dam

Zipline in Wayanad (Banasura Sagam Dam Eco Tourism)

I was reluctant to enjoy the trip on a zipline but one of my students was working in the Zipline company in Wayanad. He persuaded me successfully to wear the gear and do the zipline travel. My plan was to send my wife only. It was frightening in the beginning and I began to rotate during the trip. The view from the height gives us a different feeling. A ticket costs Rs 300 at the Zipline.

Horror House, Bumper Car & 12D Cinema

Now that we have reached back at the place where we have started your journey. That is, the place where we took the tickets for entering the dam. Here we have a place where children can ride bumpy cars where they have cars that often collide with each other. Then there is a horror house where one pays to get frightened while walking through 2 to 3 rooms. Finally there is a 12D cinema ride where you sit in a small theatre with glasses on and watch an adventure movie. Your seats will then move in relation to the adventure movie scenes where you are in an adventure train ride. I have had a similar ride in Mavelikkara during a Vanitha Exhibition in 2018 (or 2017 I can’t remember correctly). So this didn’t excite me like the first time. I paid Rs 190 to watch this and I sent my wife for the three rides for a combo ticket of 490. 

Meenmutty Waterfalls - A Place to Bathe

Walking down from meenmutty waterfalls

Now it is approaching lunch time. After lunch, we could go to the Meenmutty waterfalls, Karlad lake & Pookode lake. We had lunch from a nearby restaurant. The breakfast was from another nearby restaurant. Both foods were average. After lunch we decided to move towards the nearby waterfalls. The roads are really narrow and the facility is being managed by local villagers who make money from small shops, vehicle parking fees in their courtyards etc. Now we were asked to pay an entry fee of Rs 72 (2 people) and a parking fee of Rs 30. Next thing we had a trek to the top of the falls. There is a viewpoint there. At different points, there are local village women in ecotourism uniforms who check our entry passes. At the end of that trail, we reached a place where we can have a good view of the falls and can stand near it safely. Though the path was deserted when we started the trek, it began to get crowded soon. So we alighted it and went to the other portion which is the bottom of the falls. In that route you are travelling through a small road on foot with houses on both sides and you reach places where you can bathe in the cold rivulet. The bathing is so refreshing and I recommend travellers to carry towels or buy towels from the nearby shop.

A viewpoint in the midst of Meenmutty waterfalls trekking

View of Meenmutty Waterfalls from Top

The trek to the top of Meenmutty Waterfalls

Meenmutty Waterfalls Viewpoint

View of Meenmutty Waterfalls from Top

A Foggy Evening Drive to Hotel

Me engulfed with Fog in Wayanad

Kozhikode is just 2 hours drive away. We could comfortably go back to our home. But we decided earlier to book a hotel to take some rest. We planned to visit a couple of more places like Pookode Lake & Karlad Lake nearby. But it didn’t happen. As we drove back to Vythiri from the Banasura Sagar Dam, the road got covered with fog. This made me realise the use of fog lamps in the car. As we reached the Sanihara Resort where we had reserved a room, we retired to resting for an hour and then went out walking with our jackets to experience the fog. We went to Vythiri, did some shopping and had dinner from a restaurant there and got back in an autorickshaw (tuktuk).

The room at the Sanihara resort was quite okay but nothing exceptional. Next morning we had a good & healthy breakfast from there and we got back to Calicut. This ends our first Wayanad trip as a couple and my second trip in this life.

The End.

Special thanks to our friends Haneef, Akhil, Vineeth for travel inspirations & ideas as well as the Sanihara Resorts for stay & breakfast.

Annexture

Invoice of Hotel Stay

Budget Room costed Rs 2587