Reaching Wayanad and Hike to The Edakkal Caves

We took a break on my birthday to head towards Wayanad district in Kerala. What great to celebrate your birthday in God’s Own Country. Surrounded with all the lush greenery and the beautiful weather.

Wayanad

With waterfalls, Caves, wildlife and their tea and coffee estates Wayanad is a beautiful district in Kerala. Formed as a district on 1st November 1980 it has lots of places to offer to visit. So before reaching here we had a decent plan on how to commute between places. Take buses which you might make mistakes in routes but it’s always better to ask someone.

Reaching There

Our bus dropped us at Kalpetta Bus Stand when it was dark. With some people waiting for their morning buses to come. And some pan shops open for a small snack we grabbed some chip packs to fill us up a bit. We headed to the nearby autorickshaws to give us a ride to The Wayanadia Resort Hotel our home for the next 3 days.

The Wayanadia Resort Hotel

The hotel was about 18kms from Kalpetta near Sulthan Bathery. As some of the places where a little far to visit, we thought to switch hotels. To search for a hotel after reaching there, but we got a good offer in OYO Rooms we booked one. The reception was closed but after a little banging at the door the guy welcomed us in and didn’t even charge us an early check in.

The hotel has different options from Dorm rooms to Luxury rooms from Rs 250 – Rs 5000. Depending on your needs. We got a nice room the Garden view Room for Rs 1500/night for three of us. It also has a restaurant attached to it so you don’t have to go far if you are hungry

After the shower we headed towards the restaurant for breakfast. After some Masala Dosas and coffee we enquired the best way to reach the Edakkal Caves.

Towards Edakkal Caves

So we took an auto to cover the 9kms to reach the Edakkal Caves. The road to the caves is covered with trees and small houses adding more beauty to the place. After reaching the spot where the autorickshaw would drop you and you need to walk the rest. The place has shops to buy hats, masks and some small food joints.

Hike to Edakkal Caves

As you start the hike towards the entrance of the caves or the ticket counter. You will come across the Church made of rocks with statues engraved on it. Which was really awesome to see making something out of huge rocks. As you move ahead you will see archery shops which you can try. People say that the king’s used to hunt around and just to represent the same people have these shops.

After reaching the ticket counter we paid for our entrance tickets Rs 20/Person and Rs 100/Camera mostly DSLR if you carrying one. The place is surrounded with trees and a zigzag path to reach the lower part of the cave. As the Edakkal caves consist of two caves, one above the other. The lower cave had nothing to see except it was dark with sun rays coming in through the entrance.

Crossing some rocks you reach the steep metal staircase which leads you to the main attraction of the caves. The ancient carvings of Edakkal Caves, which resembled the people, animals and tools drawn in geometrical shapes. A guide there gave us insights into the history of the caves explaining how the caves got its name from and the carvings showing the figures of people celebrating. It gets its name from the structure the cave is laid in. Edakkal means ‘a stone in between’ which you can see in the top with a stone wedged between two huge boulders.

The caves were once home to people, including a king who used to hunt tigers. The other side had something written on the walls in Sanskrit translating about a king who killed and cooked lots of tigers in the cave.

After learning about the caves and spending some time there we headed back. You have another path to exit the place with long laid out a staircase skipping the other cave. After exiting the place we went towards another destination which you guys have to wait a week to read about. I am trying my best to start posting on a schedule and more content for everyone to read. So Stay Tuned.

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