Bandipur, Wayanad, Nagarhole

Time: March 14-16, 2025

Place: Bandipur, Wayanad & Nagarahole

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: A short trip to southern part of Karnataka and bit of Kerala. Well. I guess what is called as Bandipur in Karnataka is same as Wayanad in Kerala once we cross over the border. And the same stretch slightly north is Nagarahole. The last time I was here in these regions was way back in 2007 with my Infy colleagues, and on that fateful day my grandparents died in a car accident near Tirupati, so my pals cut short the trip on my behalf and we hurried back to BLR. 

Day 1: This time, we rented a car. Took it very easy in the morning (shouldn't have actually) and left by 11 am. After about an hour's brunch, we went on the new highway to Mysore (fly-over) and entered/exited mysore and entered Bandipur. Spotted few animals here and there, and then entered Wayanad. Without stopping, reached our first destination at 3.50 pm - Edakkal caves - only to find that it will close at 4 pm. So we were no allowed. Alas! If only we had left early! Hadn't thought that a tourist spot will close so early! Anyways, silver lining was that we enjoyed our tree-house home stay to the core! It was indeed very well-made, all of that creaking and being amidst the nature made it all very well indeed that we reached here early in the evening. Nice tea and snacks too! For dinner, we had to walk a few distance to a nearby restaurant, which in fact was a resort. The walk in the night under the moon and with darkness surrounding us was a nice feeling!

Day 2: After nice breakfast, we left early to Edakkal caves. We were one of the first customers, so not crowded at all. Pretty long walk to get to the starting point and then lot of steps to climb. It is truly scenic, the cliff-like massive rocks and we were juxtaposed between the two. And then there were rocky crevices with bottoms invisible! The rocks reminded us of Yana. Anyways, we spent quite a lot of time here and came down the steps amidst monkeys. Lot of hawkers trying to sell stuff, so bought for their sake!

Went back to our home stay for breakfast, freshened up, since we were already sweating a lot - and checked out. Our next stop was Kanthanpara waterfalls. However as we neared the destination, we were told it was closed. So we headed to our next stop which was Soochipara Waterfalls. Had real fun here, the waterfalls was great, we could immerse ourselves inside the gushing stream, etc..

Pookode lake was our next stop. Somehow we drove past it, so had to return back walking after parking the car! Nice place to hang out with towering hills all around, and boating. Although we just relaxed by the lake and had some scoops of cone ice cream - it was really hot! Near to the lake, was Lakkidi view point with hair-pin bends of the road which'd eventually go down to the Kerala coast. We just pakred the car at one of the view points and took some snaps.

Our final destination for the day was our next homestay. This one was ok-ok although this too was amidst nature. But the host's warmth was missing. It seemed more like an outhouse, overlooking a ranch. Thankfully we had packed some dinner on the way, and that was sufficient. 

Day 3: Checked out early and went to Banasura Sagar Dam. This is a pretty big water basin offering water sports. Even though it was still 9 am, we were drenched in sweat. Strolled along the banks and then took some pics and started heading up north towards Iruppu waterfalls. Reached at about 1 pm, and entered a small Shiva temple. It is in this temple that Sadhguru had married Vijji Ma.

Short trek led us to the falls area. Extremely nice falls. They have made some small space even for standing under the falls. It was thundering and a great experience. Had not done this for a long time! After that, relaxed for some time amidst the gushing stream and under the sun to dry myself. Then came back to the parking lot and had some maggi and stuff as lunch. At about 4 pm, we started towards BLR. We did a small deviation just to go via Nagarahole National Park.

It was good that that we did, for we saw many animals - like deer, peacock, monkeys, etc.. Although the road was not one bit good. I guess they were re-laying it, so it was completely bad for more than 10 kms. On the way, a forest officer asked us for a ride to the nearest town, and we obliged. He gave some inside info about being forest officer in national parks!

After dropping him off at the nearest bus stand, we stopped briefly for tea and then rest of the journey was uneventful all the way to home. This was a simple long weekend trip amidst nature, and although there are many things to be seen in Wayanad, Bandipur, Nagarahole, this was sufficient for us - a rocky trek, couple of waterfalls, a lake and a dam with two home stays! The animal sighting was a bonus!