The God's Own Country.


With the Arabian Sea in the west, the Western Ghats towering 500-2700 ms in the east and networked by 44 rivers, Kerala enjoys unique geographical features that have made it one of the most sought after tourist destinations in Asia. An equable climate. A long shoreline with serene beaches. Tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters. Lush hill stations and exotic wildlife. Waterfalls. Sprawling plantations and paddy fields. Ayurvedic health holidays. Enchanting art forms. Magical festivals. Historic and cultural monuments. An exotic cuisine... All of which offer you a unique experience. And what's more, each of these charming destinations is only a two hour drive from the other. A singular advantage no other destination offers.

Kerala, India's most advanced society: With hundred percent literacy. World-class health care systems. India's lowest infant mortality and highest life expectancy rates. The highest physical quality of life in India. Peaceful and pristine, Kerala is also India's cleanest state.

For administrative purpose, the state of Kerala is divided into fourteen districts. Most of these districts offer all the tourism products typical of the State.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Hided Beauty:Enchanting Wayanad


Enchanting Wayanad

Had been to Wayanad with the whole family...uncles, aunts, cousins, all of them. A few snapshots from there.
It rained quite a bit both the days, and we were on the road for quite a bit.

En route Wayanad, somewhere along the Mysore-Gundlupet road




Entering the Kerala border proved a big pain with the Check post having a massive traffic jam. Gave me time to explore the fields around




Viewpoint at Vythiri, this is the stretch that connects Kalpetta to Kozhikode




The hair pin bends seen from the view point, called "Churam" in the local language


Visited poookot lake too, sadly they do not open the gates until 9AM, so we waking up early and making a dash did not help us much.


Pedal-boated a bit with family, and also netted a couple of P. fasciatus with some nice earthen base color as stripes


Also seen were tons of tadpoles, have seen similar looking ones in the streams of the western ghats




There was tons of fern growth...they tend to grow nicely in moist areas.




And where there is moisture, there are leeches too. Thankfully caught one on my leg before it could latch on. Showed my cousins the way the leech "tracks" heat movement, almost like a snake.

Spotted some nice spiders too, a tiny red one which hopped onto my hand. Jumped off before I could transfer my camera from th e other hand.

Managed to click this HUGE Giant wood spider, a good 4"+


We moved on towards "Soochipara" falls amidst tea/coffee plantations. Though these are not really "natural" scapes, the green sure does soothe the eyes. It was heavily overcast and the humidity levels rose. Plus, without a particular light direction, metering enough from a moving bus to expose enough details on the landscape was getting tough!





Made use of every pothole where the bus slowed down to help compose the shot a bit






Even managed a macro, although a crappy one :P


The walk/trek to the Soochipara falls took a toll on some of the family. The walking distance is 1KM+
The falls itself is pretty tall, and the sound of the water thundering down on the rocks helped us reach faster :)
It was just filled with college folks and a few "Revellers", thankfully in about 15 minutes the crowd cleared out


Even with so much greenery around, the landscapes and sights enticed me into clicking a few B&W shots. Landscapes for some inexplicable reason just feel "Stronger"









There's so much more to explore, surely will be going back again to explore more of this captivating district of Kerala.
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