Wayanad: Intense beauty

Wayanad is that beautiful pause, the ever slight hesitation, that nearly realised doubt, so deliciously between a guess and a certainty. Almost real... or unreal. 

On a blissful pause, lulled by my imagination into bucking the tried and tested sights and sounds of a discovery. We took each day at a lazy pace, often plans were made only to be forsaken the next minute, while continuing to slow crawl the day. The soul demanded complete surrender to the experience

It was effortless. For a person who is not very used to trekking or taking in the strong sun, I was happily walking in the plantations, smelling the moist earth and gazing with wonder at Nature aplenty. Getting drunk on the mountain air and wilderness that waited outside my window. Catching the breeze coming off the expansive waters and inhaling the mist. Being strangely weather beaten by evening and looking forward to a good nights rest. 

The thing about living in a plantation house is that there are many people always about. Yet it was a wee bit overwhelming to be surrounded by such open vast lands...the fear of the unknown (animals, ghosts does climb a notch higher, by night) - took some getting used to.

Calm prevailed at nightfall.  If you ignore the animal sounds, the birds tweeting, the odd desolation here magnifies the night, creating a oneness, a stillness. As if speaking directly to the core.  

 

I sat listening to the caretakers stories of wild boars marauding the crop, how the labour had to stay prepared for such an attack, how gun toting hunters would be shooed away... fascinating life. I wondered often before closing my eyes to sleep, will I make a good farmer:D 

Every evening we'd sit in the massive porch on these long Plantation chairs, till it was night time, talking softly amongst ourselves, sipping hot chocolate or eating fresh fruits, while soaking the senses with this breathtaking territory. A lavishly created house from wood, Kerala style, perched on the edge of water, hills in the background, grass so green that it was unreal, thus claiming a reward full of pleasure from nature. 

Every morning I'd wake up for some reason by 5ish, open the curtains,  slide back into my warm bed, and gaze at the lights slowly creeping up in the sky,  dew laden foliage, for a true sense of the intense beauty in this extraordinary setting. And soon would be lulled back to sleep.

The road journey from Kozhikode airport to the plantation traverses through the ghats. Eye catching scenic views, dense forests, lofty ridges interspersed with dense fog, reminded me of Conoor. This lovely hill station snuggled amidst the western ghats, could so easily be the get away for the rich and famous I imagine. 

A word of caution - travelling through the winding route at night aint sensible, because fog swoops in unpredictably and reduces visibility to near zero. Also may be a good idea to hire a four wheel drive, for that ground clearance.